Review: The Night She Disappeared by April Henry

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

Gabie drives a Mini Cooper. She also works part time as a delivery girl at Pete’s Pizza. One night, Kayla—another delivery girl—goes missing. To her horror, Gabie learns that the supposed kidnapper had asked if the girl in the Mini Cooper was working that night. Gabie can’t move beyond the fact that Kayla’s fate was really meant for her, and she becomes obsessed with finding Kayla. She teams up with Drew, who also works at Pete’s. Together, they set out to prove that Kayla isn’t dead—and to find her before she is.

Review:

Lately, I've been on the lookout for more YA mysteries, and just my luck, The Night She Disappeared by April Henry fit the bill perfectly! Creepy, thrilling, and well written, The Night She Disappeared had me hooked from the very first page.

It's was a quiet, normal Wednesday night. Business was slow at Pete's Pizza, and Kayla and Drew were counting down the minutes until they could leave. Then a pizza delivery call came in for one Meat Monsters pizza. Kayla left to deliver it, but she never came back...Gabie, another delivery girl at Pete's Pizza, is shocked to hear about the disappearance, and even more startled to hear that that night the guy asked for the "girl in the Mini Cooper" as she's the one who drives that car. Knowing for sure that the man intended to capture her, Gabie begins the hunt to find out who took Kayla, and even gets Drew to join the team. However, will they be able to save Kayla before it's too late? More importantly, will the kidnapper strick again? Only time and more pages can tell!

One of the aspects I loved most about this book was the plot. It was thrilling and exciting! April Henry perfectly put together all the clues and events to the point where there wasn't a time when I wasn't on the edge of my seat dying to know what would happen next. I especially enjoyed how realistic she made this book, because not only did it increase the scare factor, but it made everything just a bit more dire and drastic as well. I also enjoyed how April Henry told the story from various POVs. Drew, Kayla, Gabie, and even the kidnapper got their own voice in this one, and it truly made for one well developed read.

Talking about the characters, I liked seeing from all their perspectives as well. Gabie was the typical "girl next door" but throughout the book she truly bloomed into a smart and daring girl, one who would go to the uttermost extreme to save someone else. Drew, on the other hand, was much the same at first. He didn't say much, nor did he really make a spectacle out of himself, but by the end of the book he grew into someone fierce yet kind and amazing. I also just loved seeing Drew's and Gabie's relationship bloom too! The most disturbing part of the book would probably have had to be Kayla's scenes. They added an extra bonus to the novel, and really put the reader in her shoes.

Lastly, April Henry's writing and world building in this one was great! I loved how well she developed the characters and plot lines as well as how she truly had me feel like I was right there with the characters, solving the mystery right along with them. My only complaint would be how I felt the ending was a little rushed, but other than this book was pure goodness.

The Night She Disappeared is the perfect read for fans of YA mysterious and thrillers! But word of warning: don't start this one too late or you'll be up all night like I was!

Grade: A+

The Night She Disappeared (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads) will be released March 13, 2012!

Source: Publisher via Netgalley (Thanks Macmillan!)

More about the author/book: website/1st chapter/blog/twitter