Friday, 21 September 2012
I hadn’t heard of Girl, Missing until Kit sent it to me and
I didn’t know it was part of a series until I heard about the third book being
published later this year. I borrowed a copy of book two, Sister, Missing, from
my local library and I’ve decided to review them together because my feelings
on each book are very similar.
Published 2006 by Simon and Schuster
Source: sent to me by Kit
Rating: 2 paws
From the blurb: Lauren is adopted and eager to know more about her mysterious past. But when she discovers she may have been snatched from an American family as a baby, her life suddenly feels like a sham. Why will no one answer her questions? How can she find her biological mum and dad? And are her adoptive parents really responsible for kidnapping her? Lauren runs away from her family to find out the truth, but her journey takes her into more and more danger – as she divers that the people who abducted her are prepared to do anything to keep her silent.
Girl Missing by Sophie McKenzie is set in London as well as
America. Lauren Matthews is fourteen years old and knows that she was adopted
because her parents were unable to have a child. Lauren is assigned homework in
the form of an essay entitled “Who Am I?” and this prompts her to start asking
her mum questions about the adoption when she was three. Her parents haven’t
ever wanted to talk about it so Lauren doesn’t know much. Her mother’s lack of
answers spurs Lauren into an internet search for missing children and she comes
across a baby girl called Martha Lauren who disappeared from Connecticut, USA
around the same time that she was adopted and this leads on her on the hunt for
her birth parents.
I didn’t find Lauren to be the most likeable character. She
doesn’t seem to like her parents or her younger brother, though she does get
along well with her best friend, James, aka Jam. She doesn’t feel like she
belongs with them and is keen to find out about her biological parents. I liked
Jam, he put up with a lot from Lauren but he stuck by her which was admirable.
The story is driven along by the plot and I have to admit I
was intrigued from the start but I found that there were just too many coincidences
for the story to be believable: the essay that starts her search, she just
happens to find herself on the website, the organisation of a trip to the USA disguised
as a family holiday, the fact that the adaptation agency is still in contact
with a woman that used to steal and sell children and that the woman is still
in town, characters showing up in the nick of time etc.
Once the story gets going, Lauren turns out to be quite
stroppy, she doesn’t think much before acting, runs off in America with no real
plan, trusts strangers, bosses Jam around even when his advice is sound and
gets them into even more trouble. At first I understood, if you believed your
parents had stolen you, you’d be in a rush to run away but she never stopped to
think about the consequences for her adoptive parents if they weren’t involved
but the authorities found out. Then she does a back flip and suddenly misses
them as if she thought they were the best parents in the world just because she
doesn’t like the Purditts, her bio family. The new family, made up of her bio
parents and two younger sisters were interesting. I really liked her father,
Sam, and sister, Madison, but didn’t care much for mother, Annie, or sister,
Shelby.
Lauren is also caught up on a memory she thinks she
remembers from her childhood, pre-kidnapping. When she meets Annie she is
disappointed to see that she isn’t as beautiful as the woman in her memory and
she goes on about this a few times and also remarks that she’s annoyed that she
knows she must have ‘fat genes’ because Annie isn’t as slim as she appears –
cue eye roll.
Despite Lauren’s annoying attitude and the fact that the
events seemed too coincidental and predictable, the book did move along at a
fast pace. The ending was wrapped up fairly quickly and in a very positive way
that I didn’t find all that believable, it felt like the ending that a teen
would dream up.
This brings me to book two (this review won’t contain
spoilers for book two but will contain spoilers for book one, though I am sure
that everyone will be able to guess the outcome of book one.)
Published August 31, 2011 by Simon and Schuster
Source: the library
Rating: 2 paws
From the blurb: It’s two years after the events of Girl, Missing and life for sixteen-year-old Lauren is not getting any easier, as exam pressure and a recent family tragedy take their toll, Lauren’s birth mother takes Lauren and her two sisters on holiday in the hope that some time together will help, but a few days into the holiday one of the sisters disappears, under circumstances very similar to those before. Can Lauren save her sister, and stop the nightmare happening all over again?
Sister, Missing by Sophie McKenzie is set for the most part
in a beach side town on the south coast of England. It’s two years since the
events of Girl, Missing and Lauren is now sixteen. After a family tragedy,
which was fairly easy to guess from the blurb, the Purditts are spending some
time on the south coast of England. Her favourite sister, Madison, is now
eight, and they are enjoying spending time together without their sister,
Shelby, who has never liked Lauren and who used to hurt Madison. A day at the
beach ends badly and they are once again left dealing with a kidnapping, but
are not allowed to involve the police.
I had read that this book improved on the first but I felt
the same way about it as I did book one. I still didn’t like Lauren very much,
granted she has reasons for disliking Shelby, but her attitude was much the
same to everyone else in her life. She sees herself as entitled to so much but
never stops to think about others and doesn’t listen to anyone else. Jam shows
up and she spends a fair bit of time doubting their relationship, but rather
than talk to him she just assumes he’s now seeing someone else – I’m really not
sure why he puts up with her.
I found some parts of this story very predictable, knowing straight
away which characters were going to turn out to be against them and again there
were a lot of coincidences, Lauren must have nine lives because people keep
trying to kill her but miraculously she always finds a way out (this isn’t a spoiler
as Lauren is telling the story so it’s clear from the beginning that she will survive.)
The ending of book two wasn’t as happy as the first book and
felt a bit more believable to me. I’ve read that the PoV switches in book three
so while I haven’t enjoyed these books that much, I do want to see if the change
in PoV improves this series.
Girl, Missing and Sister, Missing involve intriguing stories
and if you can see past the main character, you’ll get a fast-paced, mystery in
both cases.
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22 comments:
I felt quite similarly to you about Lauren and the predictability of events in the first book, which is largely why I haven't gone on to read the second book yet. The fact that your feelings about Lauren remain unchanged doesn't make me think I'll be much a fan either.
I am curious what you'll think of book 3 given that it won't be Lauren narrating, so if you get around to reading it, I'm looking forward to your thoughts. Brilliant reviews, AS ALWAYS! <3
These books sound interesting - I like the idea of Lauren needing to know more about her past & identity and following through to get the answers, it's a shame you didn't connect with her; she does sound quite bratty.
Thankyou for sharing your wonderful review/s Mandee :)
Aww, I'm sorry to hear these weren't as great as they seemed, Mandee, but I'm so glad you still managed to like them. Unfortunately, I doubt I'd enjoy these as the MC really does seem to be very irritating and predictability is also a HUGE issue with me. It's a shame since the premises of these books sound SO good, but you never know, I might pick it up someday after all! Fantastic review, dear! :)
Lauren is kind of annoying! I have a soft spot for Jam, though. He's a cutie! There's a third book out now from the POV of the younger sister, Madison, but I haven't read it yet.
The plot sounds really interesting, but the characters really sound annoying. Well, the MC anyway. It's too bad that something are just a bit hard to believe as well. I might give these a shot one day if I ran across them just because the plot is so unique sounding, but I'm not rushing out to get them or anything.
I just read your first review, though it doesn't sound like a series I'd read. I love the premise but I think the coincides and Lauren's poor attitude would start to wear on me after awhile.
-Lauren
Oooh, I have heard SUCH mixed things about this one. Shame you didn't LOVE either of them, but it sounds like you may have liked the second a little more? Tough character to connect with, by the sounds of it :/
Oh, I actually thought it was about another book called Girl, Missing. *sigh*
Anyway, I don't think I would like Lauren much, she sounds a little annoying. But the mystery was good at least :D
Hah, there have been books in which first person narrators died around the middle. It's always a real jaw dropper. Anyway, this doesn't really sound like my thing at all, and it's good for me since I already have far too many books on my tbr. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it as much as you'd hoped. :)
I read the first book years ago, but can barely recall what happened! It didn't blow me away at all, which is probably why I have little interest in picking up the second book now.
Lovely reviews, Mandee!
Well, a predictable and unlikeable main character....I don't think that the interesting mystery is enough to salvage it! Thanks for the honest review. What a cute kitty picture. Love it!
Blerf about it being predictable with a less than stellar main character. It doesn't really seem like my book so I probably won't check this out. Still, great and honest review, M!
I don't think this is my kind of book. I hate it when the main characters are rash. It fustrates me and annoys me. I don't think i'll pick this but great reviews Mandee!
Sangita @ Whisper of Reads.
Shame you didn't enjoy this an awful lot, Mandee. I personally loved them but I think they're targeted towards a younger teen audience which might explain why they're so predictable. Thinking back, Lauren was pretty stroppy and spoilt and always seemed to pick at the things she didn't like about people.
I probably will still pick up Missing Me as I'm eager to read from Madison's POV.
Thanks for the honest review, Mandee :)
Oooh I really like these books! I don't really remember much about them since I read the second one like a year ago, but from what I recall they were pretty good? Anyway lovely reviews AS ALWAYS Mandee dear! <3
I've got to try Sophie McKenzie some time, but these books don't really appeal to me. Will need to look up a few of her other titles. Great review, Mandee
I don't like books with too many coincidences - it feels too convenient!
omg, i love the photos as usual :) Sounds like the books were ok.
How sad. Based on the premise, this series should be sad and tragic and just', very interesting. But with such an unlikeable character, it seems such a waste. Lauren should be the ultimate sympathetic character.
Great reviews!
Being meaning to read a Sophie Mckenzie book for ages, but not sure if these will be the ones that do it for me. weirdly, I got Sister Missing out of the library a few months back but never bothered with it when I realised I hadn't read the first book. And having a reading slump doesn't help much!
Thanks for the review Mand xx
Hey. I felt slightly better about the second book, but I completely agree with you. The annoying characters... there's only so much you can handle. There's a third book I think, but unless I get an unsolicited copy for review I don't think I'll be touching it. Unless you end up liking it.
They are fast-paced though, so I guess they would do well with younger audiences.
I have these both to read and I admittedly have put off reading them due to up and down reviews . I love the honesty of the reviewers. I find it tough when I can't relate to a book:S
Wonderful honest reviews!
Mich
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