After You Vanished by E. A. Neeves

After You Vanished by E. A. Neeves. Disney Hyperion, 2023. 9781368092708






Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 3



Format : Paperback



Genre :  Mystery



What did you like about the book? A year after Teddy’s twin sister, Izzy, a well- known competitive swimmer goes missing at Bottom Rock Lake, Teddy finds herself struggling with grief and desperate to piece together what happened the night her sister disappeared. She doesn’t believe Izzy is dead; her body has never been recovered from the lake and Izzy’s passport is missing. When the boy Izzy was last seen with, Toby, starts working as a lifeguard alongside Teddy at the very lake from which her sister disappeared, she begins to suspect Toby has secrets. Determined to unearth the truth, Teddy befriends Toby, but everything she learns about that summer only leads her to more questions about what was going on in her sister’s life before she vanished. Told by Teddy directly to Izzy, this story is both heartbreaking and strengthening, as a young girl comes to terms with the emptiness that death leaves behind.



I enjoyed the way this story was told, directly to her sister. To me it truly encompassed the lack of closure that a sudden death brings and the desperate need to hold on to something, anything, when we grieve. 



Anything you didn’t like about it? This is a slow-paced mystery with no big reveal at the end. Just acceptance, which works fine but made for a slightly unsatisfactory ending. 



To whom would you recommend this book?  High schoolers, fans of We Were Liars and That Weekend . 



Who should buy this book? High school libraries



Where would you shelve it? Mystery, realistic fiction



Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? No but a good one to keep in mind for dealing with loss and death. 



Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City and State: Edwige Epossi, Natick High School, Natick, MA



Date of review: November 13, 2023