When I think of reads that swept me away this year, I’ll think of this book. So easily was I engrossed by the story and protagonists, the hardest part was when the story ended. There were emotionally hard moments that were beautifully complimented by the tenderness that blossomed between Jess and Adam. In honesty I wasn’t sure what I expected going in, but after reading I without doubt can say Kate Clayborn not only delivered a wonderful reading experience but one of my most favourite reads this year.

After loving Georgie, All Along by this author, I was excited to get into her newest offering. And it did not disappoint! This novel was so thoughtful and brilliant, the prose so lush and dreamy and the characters so real and relatable - I couldn't put it down and devoured it!
Even though the plot might sound convoluted at first what with the true crime podcast element and all, rest assured that Kate Clayborn manages to weave all threads together beautifully and also stays on theme the whole time.
The romance between Jess and Adam was so soft and lovely. It felt incredibly real to me and everything they did was perfectly in character. I also really enjoyed the sister relationship between Jess and Tegan, and also the disruptive and slightly antagonistic figure of Salem Durant, the podcast host. The foursome is described in the text as a kind of broken compass and to me that fit them perfectly.
The true crime element I was the most skeptic about, not loving it in real life. But it made sense for the book and was done in a way that I appreciated (it really helped that it was not a murder podcast but about a con man).
The novel also explores many different kinds of family relationships and really digs deep, getting me in my feels a lot. Clayborn's prose is also always heart-achingly beautiful.
This book will probably end up on my list of favorites for the year. It really moved me and I could relate to all of the characters so much. Highly recommend!!

(Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Clayborn and Little, Brown Book Group/Piatkus for providing me with an eARC for this book in exchange for my honest feedback. All opinions in this review are my own.)

The Other Side of Disappearing was a good, interesting read. It's about the sisters Jess and Tegan who go on a road trip with two podcast producers to find their mom. I liked the whole mystery part of the book. The romance part wasn't really for me because I'm not the biggest fan of instalove.

I can recommend this book to anyone who loves true-crime podcasts and stories about being the eldest sister.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Despite the emotional turmoil the characters went through, this novel still felt gentle and safe. This was in large part due to the main characters themselves. Jess and the assistant podcast producer Adam formed such a tender relationship – one where they listened, cared and were able to be vulnerable. In a way, they were each other’s safe space. This was something they both deeply needed, what with their difficult pasts. Jess and Adam’s relationship evolved organically, as they gradually opened themselves up. They managed to build a solid foundation of trust. Thankfully, this meant there was no jumping to conclusions at a moment when this could have easily been woven into the story for added drama. In this way, Jess and Adam’s relationship forwent angst in favour of compassion and understanding.

For me, the romance was the novel’s main hook. While it did take time to delve into Jess’ complicated relationship with Tegan and her mother, in comparison they stayed on the periphery. Despite this, I still felt like Jess was given enough time to believably heal from the hurt being abandoned caused. The mystery element of the story similarly wasn’t prioritised. It was never really about finding Jess’ mother, it was more about her own personal journey to healing along the way. That journey ended in a satisfying way, as Jess finally seemed secure within herself and open to trusting others again.

OVERALL: Following the heroine’s journey to healing and stability, this novel was a quietly powerful read. The tender romance threaded through felt like a much-needed balm for all her past hurt.

This book takes us on a ride across the country as Jess Greene, her sister Tegan and a true crime podcast duo consisting of Salem Durant and Adam Hawkins, unraveled the mystery of where Jess' mother had disappeared to with a con man.

I'll admit I couldn't get into this as fast as I thought I would. It took me a week to finish it so in between I'd read other books as a way to take a break. It was a unique storyline though, and I was somewhat curious to know what they'd encounter at each stop on their journey.

Jess had assumed guardianship of her sister when their mother left, so seeing the sisters grow closer in a different setup was beautiful.

Jess was also wary of Adam, not wanting him to get close but he eventually did. I loved that he cared for her, could already tell whenever she wanted to take a break from the intensity of some of the discoveries they made. They were good for each other.

The chapters towards the end were intense. Revelations and epiphanies made for an emotional time but I loved the growth especially in Jess and Tegan's relationship.

Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had heard good things about Clayborn's previous works, notably Georgie, All Along, and so I was excited for this newest book of hers. I found the true-crime podcast element to be intriguing, as it is definitely a phenomenon I have delved into, and having it be used alongside an exploration of the relationship between two sisters sounded very compelling to me. Unfortunately, I found this book to be very hard to get into, and I'm not sure if it was the pacing of the narrative, or just the writing style that I didn't hugely get on with. I also think the synopsis of this was slightly misleading, as I was led to believe that the romance in this would be bigger than I felt it to actually be - I guess as The Other Side of Disappearing does straddle across a few genres, it is hard to pin down.

As a big fan of Georgie, All Along, I was incredibly excited to read my second Kate Clayborn book.

The Other Side of Disappearing is a lovely story focused on two sisters whose relationship is more mother-daughter due to their mother’s disappearance years ago. When an infamous true crime journalist / podcast host and her supporting journalist, Adam Hawkins, turn up on their doorstep, Jess and Tegan’s whole world is flipped upside down. Through Tegan’s manipulations the sisters are forced on a road trip to find their mom and help tell the story of a notorious con man. The adventure unfolds and as the story of their mother and this con man unspools, so do Jess’ relationships with herself and those around her. She begins to rediscover herself, her vulnerability and finds an unexpected safety in Adam whilst facing the ghosts of her past.

Kate Clayborn is such a master at depicting the subtlest, most telling emotional nuances, and this book - like so many of hers! - left me wrecked in the best way.

Jess has spent the last ten years, since her mother's last (but not first) family abandonment, raising younger sister - and protecting her from the curiosity of the world, which would descend on them if anyone found out that their mother had left with the most infamous conman of the last couple decades. She's shut out all of her own former hopes and dreams to focus purely on keeping her sister safe...

So it's a horrible shock when she discovers that her sister, now 18, has contacted the podcaster who made that conman famous and offered to share their family's story. In a desperate bid to keep things as controlled as possible, Jess insists on accompanying her sister, that podcaster, and the podcaster's assistant as they travel around the country researching the trip Jess's mother took with the conman the final time she left her children...

But by the end of the journey, everything will change - and not just because she's fallen in love with the assistant, a man just as strong and caring as she is, who makes her want to step out of the safe boundaries that have protected and caged her for the last ten years.

The whole tone of this book - like Jess - is quiet and yet vibrating with huge emotions kept under tight restraint. Every character feels real; every inflection matters. By the end, I was DESPERATE for Jess and her sister to understand each other, for Jess to open herself up for love, AND for everyone involved - even including the aggressive lead podcaster who originally feels unsympathetic - to somehow end up okay. I cared so much about every one of them! And the ending felt so, so good in every way - not just the right ending for all of them but a PLAUSIBLY right ending that felt just as real as every pained nuance beforehand. It was SO satisfying.

This book will definitely last in my memory.

This book was absolutely beautiful and had me in absolute tears. I loved everything about this book. I love the plot, the writing and most of all the amazing yet complex characters who you cannot help but love and root for.

Jess is such a great main character who has gone through so much in her life. She only wants to protect her sister even if that means putting herself in a situation she isn't comfortable. Her blossoming relationship with Adam was just so god damn adorable and it just made me so warm and fuzzy inside. He is so patient with Jess and works so hard in order to gain her trust. He is a gentle giant who I absolutely need in my own life. One of the things I loved about Jess and Adam was how honest they were with each other. I love when we get to see mature adults actually talking about their feelings and issues!

I really loved the family dynamics and the way that this dealt with such a dysfunctional one. Jess and Tegan's relationship is one that is fractured at the beginning of this book and it was so good to see the bond tighten between the two.

In regards to the podcast side of things I really loved all the twists and turns throughout. I honestly felt for Jess and Tegan having to learn more about their mother this way and what she had been doing when she disappeared from their lives. I loved the mixture of mystery and romance this book provides!

Honestly this was an amazing journey of love, both romantic and familial, and learning to love yourself and self exploration. I now need to read Kate's previous book because honestly her writing is just so breathtaking and beautiful!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A great read, which is also quite emotional. Jess has raised her sister since her mother left ten years ago. Now her sister is about to leave for college and Jess is reluctantly.on a trip to search out where her mother went. Another great read from this author.

Kate Clayborn has written a tremendously romantic story between Jess and Adam - kindnesses, touches, glances, moments of understanding and connection between them that just sang in my heart. This isn’t just a romance though, It really is about grief, and there are three threads that twine around Jess and Adam. The first one is the sisterhood. Maybe we know that parenting is hard, but this book shows just how impossibly difficult it is, when both the sisters are already traumatised and suffering from the pain of their mother leaving them. Tegan has all the self-absorption (and casual cruelty) of a teen and Jess is trying to protect her. It takes Jess all the book to realise that pain is where the growth is and that she’s not helping Tegan by shielding her. The second thread is the long-term and really significant impact of parental abandonment. This is what Adam sees when he meets Jess - it’s not Insta love. He can almost feel the pain that she’s radiating. The third thread is the burden that Adam is carrying around mental health and professional sports people after the death of his best mate.. It’s a reminder that professional sports are simply businesses, and the players are expendable and replaceable. We all love a sports romance so bravo to Kate for addressing this so fearlessly.

But back to the romance. Kate is the queen of tenderness. For all of Adam's size - he's a giant - and Jess’ spikiness - she is a black cat - they are insanely gentle with each other, and this is what drew me in. I cried for them both.

This book is a little melancholy (like most of Kate's work) as these are difficult topics. I feel desperately sad for Jess, and initially I was cross with Tegan. But the love is there, and a hard-won happily every after. With a road trip, a mystery, family dynamics, subplots, heroes and villains, there's so much to savour.

Thank you NetGalley, Kate and the publisher for the ARC. It was a privilege to read this. Highly recommended!

If you are looking for a book that will stay with you, make you feel all the emotions and tug at your heartstrings you have to read The Other Side Of Disappearing.

Jess has been taking care of her younger sister since their mom left when she was only twenty one, she had to grown up fast and take over all the responsibilities.

So when her sister has contacted a podcaster, Salem, in order to help find her mother and the man she left them for, she is naturally stressed and unhappy about all of it. But she has never left her sister alone and she won't leave her now, even if going on a road trip and finding clues that might lead to their mother is the absolute last thing she wants to do.

At first it doesn't help that Salem, has with her Adam, an ex athlete turned journalist who wants to start his own podcast and hopes that this will give him the chance.

But with some time spend together their initial attraction grows in to more and it might be the thing to help save both of their sanity in this road trip.

You can't imagine what a bookboyfriend Adam is, words fail me, he is the sweetest, most considered man and he is such a goner for Jess from the very first meeting. Seeing those two dance around their feelings and finally giving in was a wonderful treat in a already amazing book.

I am in own of Jess and her strength she deserves all the love and I am glad she found it in Adam.

* I received an ARC and this is my honest opinion.

I have enjoyed everything Kate Clayborn has written so far, and this was another win for me. However, I believe opinions on this book will significantly vary according to readers mood/ perception of the story.

Although <b>The Other Side of Disappearing</b> is a Romance, with traditional Dual POV, HEA and familiar tropes, the romance does not feel like the central issue of the Story. Instead, we are transported to Jess’s life to discover what happened to her mother and her con boyfriend, after they disappeared 10 years ago.

The mistery was interesting, the romance sweet, but the relationship that shines the most is the one between sisters. The Other Side of Disappearing is more of a journey of self-discovering, healing and family ties, supported by an achingly sweet and lovable MMC, with his own healing journey ahead.

<i>I would like to thank Little, Brown Book Group UK, Piatkus and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for an honest an honest review.</i>

Side note: Most of this book happens on the character’s heads, and I think this was rather done well. However, I wish we could have seen the farm bits while they were happening, instead of being told. I think this would have made their love story more intense and believable.

I’d read one of Clayborn’s books previously and found it enjoyable, so said, why not give this one a try. The blurb described a story so different to what I’m used to. And you know what, I’m glad.

It took me a little while to fall into the story, but once I did, I wanted to take my time with it. Let myself sit in it for a while and enjoy the progression of the plot. It was heartbreaking, uplifting and at times frustrating. But it was told so beautifully and I very much enjoyed it.

And can I just say, Adam and Jess are so bloody lovely to read. Their love for each other is written so purely and it never felt rushed at all. It was a joy to see them come together and know who the other person was with their flaws included.

"The Other Side of Disappearing" is a novel written by Kate Clayborn.

Compelling, intriguing and heartwarming book that kept me glued to the pages from beginning to end. The effervescent style, fast pace and short chapters absorbed me completely, pushing me to finish it in less than a day! "The Other Side of Disappearing" is a novel about complex family ties, focusing on the intense relationship between Jess and her younger half-sister, haunted by the absence of their mother, who several years earlier abruptly abandoned them to run off with a con man. The sprinkling of mystery, represented by the search for their mother and her con man boyfriend, organized by the host of a popular podcast about the con artist intrigued me a lot! Also, I really liked Jess and Adam, the two protagonists with their respective first person povs. They are two complex and troubled characters, portrayed in a fantastic way. The only element that did not convince me was the romance, a insta-love really too insta, hastily developed, without depth and with too much relevance to the rest of the plot.

All in all, it was a cute and intense read, with a heartwarming story and excellent characters, which unfortunately did not fully convince me on the romance side.

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Three and a half stars.

Ten years ago Jess' mother waltzed off with her boyfriend leaving twenty-one year old jess to look after her eight year old step-sister Tegan. It later transpired that her mother's boyfriend was a conman called Lynton Baltimore who made a habit of seducing women and taking their money. Lynton was made famous/infamous by one of the first true-crime podcasts and jess and Tegan have been flying beneath the radar ever since. To protect Tegan Jess rarely dates and has no social media presence, she can only imagine how they would be hounded by the press if anyone discovered their mother had run off with Lynton.

Now Tegan is only a few weeks away from going to college when she drops a bombshell, she has been in contact with the podcaster, Salem, and her assistant, former American football player Adam about finding her mother, based on five postcards which their mother sent Jess (which she had hidden).

Desperately wanting to avoid anything to do with finding her mother, Jess nevertheless can't allow Tegan to go off with Salem and Adam alone, who knows what they might get her to say. So the four of them reluctantly agree to go on a road trip, visiting each of the cities from which Jess' mother sent a postcard, trying to track down her and Lynton.

As soon as he sets eyes on Jess Adam is a gonner, but he has made a deal with Salem that he will help her, specifically get Jess to talk on the record, and in return she will produce a podcast very dear to his heart about the death of his best friend.

Jess has never had anyone to depend on. Her mother left her not once but twice, her father and stepmother looked after her the first time her mother took off, but they made it clear it was only while her mother was away. Similarly, when her mother left the second time, Jess' boyfriend only lasted a few weeks before bailing on her. Since then Jess has been big sister and quasi-mother to Tegan. However, Adam seems instinctively to offer Jess a shoulder to lean on almost from the very beginning.

I enjoyed this but ... OMG the angst and also I found it irritating that there was a lot of things alluded to which weren't explained (deliberately) until much later, its like tell me now or say nothing don't keep being cryptic because when the truth is revealed its been built up too much and ends up being an anti-climax. I felt like the book could have been a lot shorter, and the plot a lot tighter, without all of that.

So ... (three, two, one) I liked but I didn't love it.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

I think this is well written and people will enjoy this but for me I couldn’t get into it. Found the concept quite interesting with the true crime podcast element but the whole mystery surrounding it confused me. I also thought it was a bit insta lovey between the two main characters which didn’t make sense for me.
I do believe others will enjoy this more than I did.
Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the arc.

Getting into the story, I was skeptical about how the romance part of it would pan out, given the plot. Two sisters go on a roadtrip with a podcast host and a journalist, to find their mother who ran off with a con man. I didn't expect for how Adam and Jess would immediately take notice of each other, and how they would grow to have very strong feelings for each other over a short span of time.
This story is much more than a love story. There's the sister-sister dynamics that are far from the usual, with a super protective big sister who stubbornly stays contained and in control and keeps her whole focus on raising her sister. I loved how Jess and Tegan's relationship grew from their road-trip and having to face some tough reality.
Salem, the podcast host, is an important piece of the story as well. She is the driving force that buckles the tenuous atmosphere of it all.
I really enjoyed this story. I love how Kate Clayborn wrote Adam's pov, especially the first time the journalist/podcast host duo meet the sisters. It is beautifully written!

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley UK. All opinions are my own.

The Other Side of Disappearing was a book that I definitely did like, much as the review I’m about to write may at times seem to contradict that. I always know, going into Kate Clayborn’s books, that it’s going to be good, and this was! (I realise stressing this makes it sound like I’m trying to convince someone of something but truly, I liked it. If that’s all you need from this review, feel free to skip the rest.)

The issue was, I think, that I set my expectations too high. Looking at my previous ratings of Clayborn’s books (4 stars, 3 stars, 4 stars, 5 stars), it’s obvious I would enjoy it. I think the issue for me was that this one came directly after my absolute favourite (Georgie, All Along), which hit all the right notes for me. So, as much as I tried not to think like that, this one had a few points where I couldn’t help but think how it matched up to Georgie and find it a little wanting.

Let me give a brief rundown of the plot here, because now is the time to get into some specifics, beyond “well, it wasn’t Georgie”. The story follows Jess, who is the sole carer of her younger half-sister Tegan, after their mother abandoned them to shack up with a conman about 10 years previously. Jess knows all this, her sister does not. And then there’s Adam, who is working with Salem on a follow-up podcast regarding this conman (the reason Jess knows this is who her mum went off with is because of the original podcast). Tegan, behind Jess’s back, gets in contact with Adam and Salem because she thinks they might be able to find this conman (and thus her mother). Only, instead of being able to leave, with only a note to Jess to explain things (which, hello, seriously shitty move when Jess’s entire trauma is down to the fact that her mother did this to her twice and the second time never came back! A shitty move that I never felt was properly confronted, by the by), Jess happens to be home when Adam and Salem arrive. Unwilling to let Tegan (aged 18!) go off alone with two strangers (understandable), Jess comes along on this cross-country roadtrip to find her mother.

Now, the sticking point for me, which relates to how quickly the romance progressed. Perhaps this involves rose-tinted glasses on my part, but it definitely felt like Adam and Jess had a kind of insta-infatuation going on. Not insta-love, because they didn’t claim to be in love with one another until at least a reasonable point, but insta-obsession. Like how Adam, within moments of their meeting, can’t stop thinking about Jess but in a fawning “oh she’s wonderful [deep sigh]” kind of way. In a “I have to tell Salem I can’t do this podcast since I like her too much” kind of way. Dude, you met her five minutes ago! When I type this out, perhaps it does feel a bit irrational, but I don’t know how better to describe it. And it annoyed me anyhow.

So, it follows that they would get together too early for me, too, and that they did! It was somewhere in the region of 45% through the book and, as I’ve said many a time, I prefer slowburning romances where they don’t get together for at least two thirds of the book. I want the tension! I want the will-they, won’t-they! Well here they definitely will, it’s just a question of which of the myriad traumas Jess has after her mother’s abandonment will push them apart first (okay, that’s tongue-in-cheek of me. I do apologise. I did actually quite like how Clayborn set up and dealt with the inevitable third act breakup even if I am, otherwise, almost entirely opposed to such things).

See, I told you it’d sound like I didn’t like the book! To counteract that, let me close by emphasising that I did like this still. The characters were good, the writing too, and the emotions did, at points, Get To Me (as intended). And I think, if I had gone in with more reasonable expectations (i.e. remembered that my average Kate Clayborn rating outside of Georgie was 3.67 — that is, closer to 3 than 5), I would have liked it a lot more.

Seeing the relationship between the sister's develop and change as secrets are discovered, this makes it a very intriguing read.