The Leaving

 By Tara Altebrando

Blurb: 
Eleven years ago, six kindergarteners went missing without a trace. After all that time, the people left behind moved on, or tried to.

Until today. Today five of those kids return. They're sixteen, and they are . . . fine. Scarlett comes home and finds a mom she barely recognizes, and doesn't really recognize the person she's supposed to be, either. But she thinks she remembers Lucas. Lucas remembers Scarlett, too, except they're entirely unable to recall where they've been or what happened to them. Neither of them remember the sixth victim, Max. He doesn't come back. Everyone wants answers. Most of all Max's sister Avery, who needs to find her brother--dead or alive--and isn't buying this whole memory-loss story.

Review: 
The first scene of this book is a flashback of Avery when she is a 4 year old girl, she is clinging on to her mother while her parents are being interviewed on tv. Her brother Max who is a year older has gone missing along with 5 other children after a mass shooting at their kindergarten. 

It then jumps 11 years where a group of 5 of the lost ones come out of their dream like state and sort of recognise one another. They each came back with a clue and directions on how to get home. This then leads to these five going home and arranging to meet back up the next night, where they awake to talk about what they had learnt about what happened, they were unaware how long they'd been missing for.

Avery and her family are devestated because Max never returned home. This is when a hunt for him begins. Lots of new things are discovered about their disapperance and they all undergo tests to see if they can see what drug has been used on them.

Lucas one of the characters who had gone missing and returned, seems to be a magnet for trouble, but he always seems to find a way out of it or he discovers evidence which proves the accusations wrong.

This book was fast paced right from the start, and to read the different point of views from the different characters that were missing was really good. It was also nice to have Avery's point of view on how her family were coping since the others were back but Max wasn't.

I'm not usually a fan of several love triangles but in this book I didn't really mind it as they weren't sure whether what they were feeling was actually love or whether it was just the trauma that they had experienced together that brought them closer. I also found it really nice to see how the families coped with their return and how life changed for them.

It was great to discover the little things that they started remembering, about where they were kept, and who their friends were. It was nice to see them develop their relationship with their families too and for things to change and for the children who returned to accept how their families coped.

Each character's story was interesting to read to see how each of the parts link together and discovering new things because of what other characters have said was a nice touch, it helped understand things a lot more.

There was a few twists within the story that had you on your toes wanting to read more, so I could barely put the book down. The only thing that stopped me was my migraines and being physically exhausted from them.

To be honest I don't really think that there was anything that I could solidly say I disliked, I just wish that it was longer and we found out more about the person who kidnapped them and whether the drug actually worked for the people they were trying to test it for. But then again if it was true I would hope it would become true one day so many people lives could be changed. I'd also have liked to see what happened to all their lives afterwards and see who stayed in a relationship with who.

There is actually one point thinking about it what I disliked is that it sounded like a mixture of the 3 Netflix original series, the 4400, the returned, and the OA. But I didn't really mind this because I did like all three series and there was certain points that were different but I could definitely see these series in it.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys suspense, thrillers, adventure, love triangles and twists. The ending of the book was also quite satisfying, I feel complete where as most standalone books still end on a sort of cliff hanger, everything was covered. I just personally would like to have known what happened to the children who returned in the future.

Favourite Character: Kristen

Read: 02/08/18 - 06/08/18

Reason Behind Favourite Character: Kristen knew there was friction between her and Scarlet when they returned but she didn't know why it was just a feeling. After several hypnosis sessions she discovered the reason. But what made me like her the most was that she put this feeling to one side and tried to be friends with Scarlet because her life had changed and she wanted it to be different. For her to admit something that most people wouldn't do for several years was really brave of her and for that reason she became my favourite character even she wasn't a main one.

4 stars out of 5

written by Sammie