The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers on May 6, 2025
Genres: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths, Fiction / Thrillers / Crime, Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
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“Sisterhood is knowing someone fully and loving them anyway.”
Nicole “Nic” Monroe is in a rut. At twenty-four, she lives alone in a dinky apartment in her hometown of Mishawaka, Indiana, she’s just gotten a DWI, and she works the same dead-end job she’s been working since high school, a job she only has because her boss is a family friend and feels sorry for her. Everyone has felt sorry for her for the last seven years, since the day her older sister, Kasey, vanished without a trace. On the night Kasey went missing, her car was found over a hundred miles from home. The driver’s door was open and her purse was untouched in the seat next to it. The only real clue in her disappearance was Jules Connor, another young woman from the same area who disappeared in the same way, two weeks earlier. But with so little for the police to go on, both their cases eventually went cold. Nic wants nothing more than to move on, from her sister’s disappearance and the state it’s left her in. But then one day, Jules’s sister, Jenna Connor, walks into her life and offers Nic something she hasn’t felt in a long hope. What follows is a gripping tale of two sisters who will do anything to find their missing halves, even if it means destroying everything they’ve ever known.
I had very high expectations for this novel and though it was good and I did not guess the ending, it did not grab my attention the way that I was hoping it would. Though the pacing starts slow, it ramps up into a whodunit territory. While the ending wasn’t my favorite this time around, the book becomes became hard to put down since I was wanting to know what happened. The pacing was tight, the small-town secrets were juicy, and there were just enough red herrings to keep me guessing. I wasn’t mind blown, but I was thoroughly entertained, which is all I can really ask for in a thriller.
I rated this novel 3.5 stars. I’m not sure if this book was a winner for me specifically because I felt disappointed in the ending, but I really enjoyed the narration! With layered characters, thoughtful writing, and unexpected twists, this novel is a strong, emotionally resonant read, perfect for getting out of a reading slump.