The Next Girl by Emiko Jean (eARC Review)

Format Read: Physical ARC

Source: Publisher

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction

Publisher: Penguin General UK, Fig Tree

Publication Date: 9th May 2024

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Abduction, Rape, Murder

Synopsis/Blurb (Taken from Goodreads):

“Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s life is turned upside down when she gets the call Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced in the woods of Washington state—but Ellie’s reappearance leaves Chelsey with more questions than answers.“I stayed up late into the night turning the pages until I learned the truth of what happened to Ellie—and gasped when Jean delivered a truly jaw-dropping twist.” —Jessica Knoll, New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive and Bright Young WomenIt’s been twenty years since Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s sister vanished when they were teenagers, and ever since she’s been searching: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. But happy endings are rare in Chelsey’s line of work.Then a glimmer: local teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace two years earlier, has been found alive in the woods of Washington State.But something is not right with Ellie. She won’t say where she’s been, or who she’s protecting, and it’s up to Chelsey to find the answers. She needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Ellie: for herself, and for the memory of her sister, but mostly for the next girl who could be taken—and who, unlike Ellie, might never return.”

My Thoughts

The Next Girl is an incredibly thrilling and suspenseful book that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. While it may start a little slow, it soon picks up the pace and becomes a page-turner that you won’t be able to put down.

The story is full of twists and turns, and just when you think you have figured everything out, the author throws in some red herrings that will leave you guessing until the very end. The dual narratives from both Ellie Black and Detective Chelsey Calhoun work incredibly well, as we get to see the story unfold from both of their perspectives.

The characters are complex and interesting, and while they may be unlikeable at first, as we learn more about their pasts, they become more and more compelling to follow. Emiko Jean has done an incredible job of weaving together a dark and psychological mystery thriller that will keep you hooked until the very end.

If you enjoy dark and suspenseful thrillers, then The Next Girl is a book you should add to your reading list!

I would like to give a big thank you to the publishers Penguin General UK, Fig Tree for providing me with a physical advance review copy (ARC). These are my honest and unbiased thoughts, and I am sharing them voluntarily.

My Rating