I love a book that starts with a body, unfortunately this body is Zoe’s. Found by a member of the search party after she went missing from a cabin on a school camping trip.

We then learn of the impression Zoe formed on all the characters, which in turn gives a different view to the popular girl she seemed to be. Think of the plastics in Mean girls, seemingly sweet and charming but with a hidden cruelty towards others. As each character narrates you get the feeling they aren’t being completely truthful and that many secrets are at play.

Bullying is far from new and as a parent it is one of the most complicated issues to deal with, especially to discover your child was the bully. Nowadays with social media involvement it is a constant torment and added peer pressure makes the people who standby and do nothing as bad as the bully themselves.

My youngest daughter is the same age as Zoe and I thought that would make me connect with her mother Lydia but I started to get angry with her blame of others. As a parent it is your job/duty to raise your child to know right from wrong. Bullying is wrong and Zoe was a spoilt brat, no excuses. However the fact that this book provoked such strong emotions towards the characters was down to the pure quality of characterisation. Like life nothing is just black or white and although Zoe is a bully she is also loved. That is the pure heartbreak of this book.

This is a great whodunnit with layers of mystery and an emotional core.

They find her just as the sun is beginning to rise in the early morning mist. They had begun at dawn, the group of searchers keen to get going. A missing child spurred everyone on. In the end, it was a flash of colour, a bright neon pink that caught her eye. They had been looking for pink.

Nothing tests your faith like being a mother. The first time your children walk to school alone, their first sleepover, when they finally fly the nest. As a parent, you have to believe that everything will be OK.

It’s why, when Lydia’s sixteen-year-old daughter Zoe goes on a school camping trip, she has no idea of the horrors that will unfold. It’s why, when Lydia gets a call saying that her daughter has disappeared, she refuses to give up.

As she searches the mountains, her voice hoarse from calling Zoe’s name, she imagines finding her. She envisions being flooded with relief as she throws her arms around her child, saying, ‘you gave us such a scare’. She pictures her precious girl safely tucked in bed that evening.

It’s why, when they find Zoe’s body, Lydia can barely believe it. It is unthinkable. Her little girl has gone.

Something terrible happened, she is sure of it. Something made Zoe get out of her sleeping bag in the middle of the night, walk out of the warmth and safety of the cabin, into the darkness of the mountains. Driven by the memory of her youngest child, Lydia needs to find out the truth. What kind of mother would she be if she didn’t?

This book was an enjoyable read.
I loved how it was narrated by several different characters. Even though some of those characters were truly unlikeable.
There were lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing and it shows you how one persons actions can effect many lives.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

As a Mum this book is a seriously uncomfortable read. This is not a negative towards the author, this means that it is a book that’s written in exactly the right way.
Parents like to think we know our children and this book puts all of your worst fears in black and white.
When Lydia drops her 16 year old daughter, Zoe at camp the last words she said to her was that she was a bitch. What Lydia didn’t know was that her daughter was a vicious bully, quick to tease and taunt anyone outside of her couple of best friends and those are the last words she will ever say to her.
Zoe had secrets from her Mum and those secrets are only revealed slowly once Zoe’s body is found. 
This book is an emotional rollercoaster ride and you should keep the tissues handy when you read it, which I absolutely recommend you do.

Thanks you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is not what you think it is as you begin to read it, it's better! Love, hate, bullying, deceit ...............you will never imagine where this leads. Well written with great characterization. You will not want to put this book down once you start reading. Enjoy!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Nicole Trope's compelling emotional domestic drama THE GIRL WHO NEVER CAME HOME.

Nicole Trope is one of my go-to authors and I was looking forward to devouring this tale and solving its mystery. I was not disappointed. THE GIRL WHO NEVER CAME HOME is a book that works on different scopes forming a mystery of what happens to a young girl, in addition to those who remain and how they deal with their grief. And that grief takes on many forms for not only the family but also that of friends and those who were in some way connected to the girl and her initial disappearance. It also examines how one can be affected by such a sudden and tragic death and the shadows of the memories they leave behind.

What begins as an exciting prospect for some and a lot of hard work for others, ends up in being every parent's and every ever teacher's nightmare. A teenager going missing whilst on a school camp. And if that wasn't bad enough, then nothing would prepare them for what was to come. While being a mother is one of the most difficult yet most rewarding job, being a teenager in this terrifying age of social media and constant presence is probably even worse. I'm so glad my teenage years were long over before the birth of social media.

When 16 year old Zoe Bloom goes on a school camping trip to the Blue Mountains with her year 11 class, her mother Lydia never thought it would be the last time she would see her beloved daughter alive. Not only that, her final words to her daughter were those calling her a bitch. How can they be her final words to her youngest child, whom had always been the light of her life? And as Lydia swims through the tidal wave of her grief, she longs to know what really happened to her beloved Zoe and why her life was tragically cut short.

On the first night of the camping trip, Zoe settles into the cabin she shares with her best friends Shayna and Becca. But as it is a four bed cabin with one spare, the teachers place another student with the three girls. Leeanne is one of Zoe's favourite people to taunt. But this time something is different. One of them stands up to Zoe...and no one does that.

So after lights out on the Friday night, Zoe creeps out of their cabin and disappears into the bush. Someone hears her leave, someone sees her walk away...but no one stops her. The following morning Zoe is not in her bed. The alarm is raised, a search party is organised and her mother is contacted. It is a parent's worst nightmare...but one that comes true when at 6am on Sunday morning, Zoe's body is found.

The journey the reader is then taken on is through one of grief, fear, regrets, secrets and the guilt of all those who were there that night as well as those closest to her. Through the eyes of Lydia (her mother), Shayna (her best friend), Jessie (her sister) and Bernadette (her teacher) we are privy to their thoughts and the complex emotions of their private pain as secrets are slowly revealed surrounding the daughter, friend, sister and student known as Zoe. Through them, we see the Zoe as they knew her...and it slowly comes to light that it wasn't always pretty.

Zoe was a beautiful vivacious girl, but she was also a vicious bully. She took inane pleasure in belittling others less popular, less attractive, less anything in her eyes. Her cruelty was as palpable as it was uncalled for. But that never stopped Zoe. She was the star that simply had to shine the brightest while others could only bask in her shadow, and if that meant putting others down to ensure that position, even her best friends, then that's what it would take. No one could outshine Zoe.

But to Lydia, Zoe was her baby girl. She would always remember Zoe as the adorable child she had been as well as the difficult teenager she became. And sadly, she would never get the chance to become an adult, a wife, a mother or anything besides the teenage bully she died as. For her, Zoe would be forever sixteen.

To Jessie, Zoe would remain an enigma and yet she would always be her little sister. She loved her and wished she had been a better sister but Zoe didn't always make it easy. She was mean and cruel but she could also be loving and sweet. Their six year age gap meant the sisters were often strangers with Jessie busy studying medicine and Zoe wrapped up in being a teenage girl. Never again would they have the chance to be sisters. Never again would Zoe have the chance to be anything but sixteen.

There are a plethora of complex issues in this compelling tale of the mystery surrounding a young girl's death. And in this modern day and age, bullying has gone beyond the playground following their victims home via social media. No longer can one escape to the safety of their home for a much needed reprieve from the bullies. Now they can follow them everywhere, night and day in a constant stream of abuse, shaming and humiliation for all the world to see.

But that's the only danger on the internet. Complete strangers can become anyone and what one young girl believes to be a gorgeous boy could in actual fact be a dirty old man. Children are vulnerable, easy prey and despite warnings and the best efforts to educate them to be careful, they often still get caught up in the kindness amidst the cruelty and the promises of clever deception.

Then when, after her death, Zoe was found to have been talking with a boy online, to the point of even dumping her boyfriend, questions begin to arise as to the identity of who it was she'd really been talking to. Who is Xavier? How she did they know each other? Did she meet up with him on that Friday night? Is that why she left her cabin in the middle of the night after everyone was asleep? And where is this Xavier now?

Compelling and addictive, THE GIRL WHO NEVER CAME HOME is a dark story that is emotional and heartbreaking. A perfect mix of contemporary fiction and mystery, Nicole Trope encapsulates each character that as a reader you are able to feel what they feel alongside them. She also deals with the issues facing the youth of today involving social media perfectly, showing how easy it is for the internet to play such a devastating part in destroying lives.

As with all of Nicole Trope's books, THE GIRL WHO NEVER CAME HOME is unforgettable, thrilling, emotionally charged and unputdownable. But keep the tissues handy, especially regarding Walter. I didn't shed a tear for Zoe but I bawled bucketloads for Walter.

As always, thoroughly recommended for those who love a touch of mystery to their contemporary fiction...or vice versa!

I would like to thank #NicoleTrope, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheGirlWhoNeverCameHome in exchange for an honest review.

I gave this one a 3.5. It really reads more like a YA than literary fiction and the tag line of it being a "gripping page turner' might have been a bit of an oversell, but the overall story was good.

Sixteen-year-old Zoe (daughter of Lydia and baby sister to Jessie) goes away to a weekend at school camp and disappears sometime between lights out and breakfast. It doesn't take very long for searchers to find her body. While the police and school try to figure out what really happened, Lydia and Jessie struggle with their mourning, amplified by the earlier death of their husband/father after a cancer diagnosis. 

I thought this read more like a YA book because of the underlying themes of bullying, teenage relationships -- both romantic and platonic, and secrecy/privacy in the teenagers' lives. I like YA, but I just didn't think that's what this was supposed to be.

I thought it was interesting how the author told Zoe's story, balancing her mother's ideological view of her personality with stories of her kindness to others as a child with the other students' views (including those of her best friends) who saw her as a mean bully. And, I thought Jessie's story as the older "perfect" sister was handled well.  

However, I didn't think it was that hard to figure out why Zoe disappeared or who was responsible. With only so many characters in the book, it was easy to see who really didn't like Zoe and why, so I didn't find the conclusion very shocking. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.

I really liked this book especially once the pace started to pick up because I felt like the start of the start was too slow for my liking. I enjoyed the book being narrated by several different characters because it provided me a deeper understanding of their relationship with Zoe and how her death effected them individually. I also like how the characters first chapters felt like they were being introduced as suspects for example Lydia – The Mother, The Day After The Accident. 

So this is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but I really could not stand Zoe as a character once I found how awful she was to others. She didn’t deserve to die for what she did but I also didn’t feel any sympathy for her. At times I really liked Lydia and I felt really sorry for her especially since I felt like she was hurting the most. But after awhile I got annoyed with her because she kept blaming others for what happened instead of blaming Zoe for her own actions. I felt bad for Jessie and Bernadette because they both got made to like Zoe’s death was their fault. 

This book had a lot of mystery, suspense, twists and turns throughout which I think made the ending unpredictable for me which I liked.

I recieved an advanced copy for free, and this is my honest opinion.

Zoe, a year 11 student, is on a school camping trip and goes missing. It's not long before she is found dead from a fall. What follows is the unraveling of details leading up to the tragedy. With voices from her mom, her best friend, her teacher and sister, you  witness all kinds of heart ache. You also see the many sides of Zoe and uncover many secrets and lies. 

As a parent, there is no greater heartache than that experienced when losing a child.  This book exposes the effect of death, and life of those around us; however, I didn't feel deeply connected to anyone in the book. It was such a tragedy that impacted so many, I would have expected to feel my heart breaking as well. 

3.5 stars 

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm so broken hearted right now!  The Girl Who Never Came Home really moved me.  It's told by everyone involved's  perspective from the teacher  in charge to the girls family and friends.

I think a lot can be learned from this story.  Bullying can happen to anyone by anyone.  I also think,  that in this world of social media, bullying happens even more.  Everyone needs to be able to speak out about being bullied and expect to be believed.  More should be done to deter bullies and we should all foster the "in a world were you can be anything, BE KIND"

Beautiful. Poignant. Heart breaking. Stunning writing. I just could not put this book down. Felt for every single one of the characters. So well written. An exquisite triumph of a book. One that will stay with me for a long time. Please read this one.

A story of teenagers , social media and bullying . Well worth reading . A good story reflecting current life and times

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Girl Who Never Came Home’ by Nicole Trope in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A party of sixteen-year-olds are on a school camping trip in the bush when Zoe disappears during the night.  After searching for nearly a day her body is discovered with head injuries.  Has Zoe been deliberately pushed off the track or is it an unfortunate accident?

‘The Girl Who Never Came Home’ is the story of teenage angst, bullies and being bullied. Despite not liking the subject matter, the story had an interesting plot and characters but I thought Zoe was a very unpleasant person, spoilt and used to getting her own way, whereas I felt sorry for who was being bullied.  I didn’t enjoy this novel although I’m sure I’ll be in the minority but this is my honest opinion.

I got, The Girl Who Never Came Home, by Nicole Trope, from NetGally for a fair and honest review.


The Girl Who Never Came Home is an emotional story of what happens when a young girl is found dead, after going missing from a school camp.

This is a novel that works on a number of different levels, form a simple mystery of what happened to the young girl, in addition to those who remain how individuals  deal with grief.

The Grief in the book takes many forms not only the  grief of the close family members of the young girl, but of friends and people who were involved on the school trip. It also examines how we can still be affected by the death of a loved one, can have repercussions many years into the future.

The book is written through the views of a number of people from, he mother Lydia, her sister Jessia as well as a friend and the teacher who was in charge of the school trip. Each person has their own chapter which means you know when the perspective changes.

However a weakness of the story is the changing perspective, as when they changed sometimes it was difficult to work out the relationship, with Zoe at the start of the book, even though the chapters had the persons name at the start, it would have been nice if it had the relationship to zoe, as well as the name.

One of the advantages of the way the book was laid out, was the way that it enhanced the mystery, as each person gradually revealed their connection with the causes of Zoe’s death and how they feel guilty about what they could have done differently.

 
Who would I recommend this book for? As well as people who like novels that are based on relationships and how our actions can have an affect on individuals, when added to the action of others. In addition it is for every parent to realize, even though we think that our children tell us everything, even though we never did it ourselves as children.


If any of the above are tropes you enjoy in a book or you just like having a puzzle to solve then you should read Nicole Trope’s latest book The Girl Who Never Came Home.

My Review:

I loved, loved, loved this book so much!!!!! I’ve read many of Nicole Trope’s books and this one was by far the best. I’m telling you this woman does not disappoint when she writes. 

This book centers around Zoe and what happened at camp that caused her death. Zoe was only sixteen and what possibly could’ve happened to her on that trip. Did she commit suicide? Did she fall by accident? Or did someone just hate her enough to kill her? You find out this answers and do much more. 

I’m a big fan of Nicole Trope and all her books. I don’t eat or sleep until it is finished. This one was no exception. I couldn’t put this down for the life of me. I had to find out what happened to poor Zoe and why. I can’t say enough good things about this book. What I really loved about this one was the alternating chapters of each character. You got different perspectives and got to feel what they felt. It was not one sided. I also loved the story line. Who doesn’t love a good murder mystery. That ending though is truly what made this book wonderful. It truly shocked me. I also loved the fact that this author wrapped up everything up in a neat little bow. No stone was left unturned. Nothing was left hanging. This book is definitely going to be in my top reads of the year. 

Between the plot, characters and all the twists in this book it made it an easy and fast read. I would definitely recommend it and happily give it 5 Hearts❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

A good example of bullying! Told by different characters, this mystery is a puzzle until the reveal. Zoey is not a very likeable person but there are a lot of life lessons from her story.

This book is told from different perspectives and it was done so very eloquently and in a way that the reader understands each of the relationships. Zoe is a bright 16 yr old who has a bit of a mean streak in her. Her online accounts show a beautiful young girl full of life.  One day Zoe attends a camping trip with her school and she never returns. Her body is found and this is where the true story comes out. We are given information from family, friends and teachers but the one who most stands out is Zoe’s mother. Her heartbreak is shattering. I have lost a son and I can honestly say that the writer hits the emotions perfectly. Each character puts a piece of the puzzle together and you will fully understand at the end how it all comes together. Was Zoe’s death an accident or was it because she was a bully? Somewhere along the way we learn that there might just be many reasons teenagers do the things they do.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

While away at a school camp, 16 year old Zoe goes missing and is later found dead.

Loved that it was told from multiple view points, that of her best friend, her mother, sister Jessie and one of the teachers so we get to know how each related to Zoe and what each really thought of her before she went missing, during the investigation and when the final outcome is revealed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel,  it's a story of complex relationships, hidden secrets and a reminder of the danger that social media can play in people's lives.

The characters were realistic and believable, plenty of twists had me suspecting most of them at one time or another and a page turner from start to finish.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC for my honest review.

#TheGirlWhoNeverCameHome #NetGalley
Thanks NetGalley, Bookouture and Nicole Trope for an ARC to review.
Release date 4 Nov 2020.
Being a mother is one of the most difficult jobs ever yet the most rewarding. Being a teenager in this terrifying social media circus world is more difficult and horrible. 
When 16 years old Zoe goes to a camping trip with the school her mother never thought it's the last time she will see her daughter alive. Nobody expected what happened that night even the ones who planned it.
As a mother this book was painful, it's a reminder to really connect with your kids and take the time to discover who they really are, what they are capable of, what are their dreams and fears, insecurities and hidden evils. It's a reminder to watch out for what is happening in their cyber lives, who do they connect with.
It's a reminder of how far bullying can damage several lives not only the bullied.
It's a reminder of how awful social media ignorant judgements could fatally hurt people's lives.
It's a reminder of how you are not just your job, that life is so much more and it ends only when your time on earth ends. As long as you have a purpose your life will keep going. You can be grieving but life goes on.
It's a reminder of forgiveness and second chances, that you have to forgive people and most importantly you have to forgive yourself to move on.
Engaging well written thriller though emotionally heavy.

This is an intriguing tale, with interesting and complex characters that are believable and easy to relate too. 

Zoe is a beautiful vivacious girl, but she’s also a bully. When she goes away on a school camping trip, no one expects that to be the end, but when Zoe goes missing and is found dead, we are taken on a journey through the thoughts, fears, regrets, secrets and torturous guilt of all those who were there that night as well as those who were closest to her. 

Nicole lays out the story in a very clever way, allowing us to slowly discover the truth through a whole host of characters. 

Hearing their side of things, and seeing them struggle with what has happened, while also wrestling with their own sense of guilt and culpability.

There was not a single character that I felt wasn’t real, wasn’t really grieving or wrestling with their own involvement t or failure to act.

It also deals with some complex issues. In the modern age Bullying has gone beyond the playground, children can no longer escape to the safety of their home and gain a well needed reprieve. The bully’s are now able to follow them everywhere, attacking them night and day, in constant streams of endless abuse, torture and public humiliation, via social media and the internet. 

But that’s not the only danger of the internet, complete strangers can become anyone, and what a young girl believes to be a handsome Boy, could actually be a dirty old man. Children are easy prey and despite parents and teacher best efforts to teach the youth of today, to be careful, to be smart, they often get swept away by kind words, sweet promises and clever deception. 

Faced with all this how can today’s youth survive, do you know who your child is really talking too. 

Nicole deals with this issues beautifully and shows just how easy it is for the internet to play a devastating part in destroying lives.

I was hooked from the first page to the last and would definitely like to read more by this author in the future. 

A big thank you to NetGalley, Nicole Trope and her publisher for allowing me to read and advance copy of this wonderful book, in exchange for an honest review. I have truly loved it.

The Girl Who Never Came Home by Nicole Trope is another compelling and thought-provoking read from this author.  I just love Ms Trope's writing, and her ability to create such fully fleshed out characters and well developed storylines that will hold you on the edge of your seat.  If you haven't read her novels, update your TBR list immediately.

Zoe Bloom is on a school camping trip when she goes missing one night.  Told from the multiple perspectives of Zoe's family, friends, and teachers, it becomes apparent that not everyone adores the popular and vivacious sixteen year old, contrary to how it appears on her Instagram posts.  Is Zoe's fate the result of a terrible accident, or does someone close to her have a more sinister agenda?

This is an interesting story that goes far beyond the typical whodunit.  It
explores not only the impact of social media, but also makes a strong statement about the ripple effect that alters lives far beyond a single horrific event.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.