As I mentioned, I found the novel very true and real. Some people may think that this plot has too many wounds and that it is very heavy, when it is in fact reality, and shouldn’t be shielded for being that way. Although, I do understand that plots like these aren’t for everybody, and that it may trigger emotions. I don’t exactly recommend this novel for those who couldn’t take works like ‘Too Late’ and ‘It Ends With Us’ by Colleen Hoover. Please take the warnings seriously, and don’t just read the book knowing you might not handle it and write a review on how bad it is for that matter. Molly, her boyfriend, and daughter didn’t feel like a real family. All characters were flat, I couldn’t get emotionally invested in anyone. Molly’s actions were foolish, and she came across as TSTL rather than traumatized. One plot hole that people keep pointing out is Rachel inviting the bad guy, the murderer of her family, to dinner at her own house, fully knowing who he is and what he is capable of (which protective, sane mother would do this?). The climax of the dinner scene is bizarre, too; after the call Rachel got from her boss about her blunder with the broadcast sign-off, somehow it didn't occur to her that dinner with her family's murderer would be a bad idea, even after she had pretty much admitted on air that she was Molly Foster? Also, why would her best friend and boyfriend think the sign-off blunder is funny instead of be concerned about it when she hasn't had history of saying things like that? Molly herself was marginally interesting. But unfortunately an interesting main character does not a good book make. Especially if that is the ONLY positive quality.

Missing Molly is an entertaining psychological thriller that features a pile of unique, well developed characters and a current theme that fits with the times. Some of it is unbelievable and at times the relationships fell flat, but I was swept up in this story, desperate to know why Rachel had left her name behind and had done so much to hide it. I really appreciated her weakening resolve to keep it quiet and loved how the mystery finally was revealed to the characters only at the very end. I was entertained and I liked the guessing game of whether Rachel really was Molly or if in fact she was psychotic, although I found myself searching for red herrings that I never found and didn’t get caught up in unexpected twists and turns like I’d hoped. There was one incident that initially surprised me but one I’d read it it made perfect sense and I was able to come up with the reasons behind this and who had done what quite easily. Two: Again, very hard to believe that when someone's identity is in question (especially in relation to a heavily media-hyped story) DNA testing isn't the first thing authorities would do. The ending was also quite terrible. If there is one thing I despise in a thriller, it’s abrupt endings. The Sopranos did it and it infuriated millions! Maybe learn from that and add an epilogue? One: All the bad guys speak in a sing-song voice. I very much doubt that this is a general psychopathic trait. Makes the story unbelievable. Then when the main character asks a 3-year-old to tell me where they were in London I just lost the will to live.Rachel Holloway’s community paper is in big trouble. If they can’t cook up some marketing magic to draw in sponsors, the paper will fold. (Pardon the pun.)

All-in-all, the book felt cheap. I guess I should have figured, considering that the tag line is “an unputdownable thriller that will leave you breathless” or whatever. For the love of God, stop calling mediocre books “The Next Gone Girl!” It was nowhere close. And, from now on, I think I’ll ignore any thriller that approximates itself as The Next ANYTHING. The main character was written perfectly. She was strong, confident, down to earth, and would do whatever it took for her family. She loved her boyfriend Matt and her daughter more than anything. After she gave birth to her daughter her paranoia increased because she was worried someone would hurt her. This is completely normal due to the tragedies she witnessed as a young girl. She knows who murdered her family and she knows that if she is found they will murder her new family as well. All she wanted was a life of her own, one that she didn’t have to constantly look behind her shoulder. To find out if she ever receives this you will have to read the book. The side characters were also well written. They all had their own personalities and characteristics. I really loved the best friend. She was exactly what Molly needed in a friend and was able to trust her more than others. I loved how much Matt loved Molly. It was so obvious he was crazy about her and really wanted to get her the help she needed. Also, minor spoiler, but the so-called “best friend” was a total bitch. She was only interested in the promotion of her own self interests. At no point was she actually a “friend” to Rachel/Molly. She was a jealous twat who was too consumed by envy to congratulate Molly on her own accomplishments. She often talked down to her, as though she were a mental patient with a learning disability.Natalie Barelli and Lucy Price-Lewis in tandem do a great job of the drunken 'pissed' Rachel and her inebriated ramblings to her boyfriend before passing out. It not often that an audiobook will get you to the point of audibly yelling to warn the characters.

While I was definitely interested in knowing what came next and I enjoyed the slow reveal of the information discovered during the investigation and its impact on the various characters, I don’t imagine it’s going to be one of those books that lingers in my mind, with me thinking about the characters weeks later. I didn’t particularly love or hate any of the characters and unfortunately I didn’t emotionally connect to any of them. Another plot hole to me is earlier in the book when Rachel/Molly pretends to be a friend of a dead Molly Foster on the internet and another stranger chimes in and says that he is a detective. The entire office decides to believe the stranger claiming to be a detective but not the stranger claiming to be a friend of Molly Foster. Why? They have no reason to believe or doubt either of them. The second book I’ve read by Natalie Barelli with one more sitting on my shelf waiting for me. Can’t wait to get to it! Highly recommend!The pacing was terrible. The plot was interesting, and I had high hopes for it. However, the dialogue was dry and unimaginative. The chiding tones of the narrator while acting out the antagonists grated on me like nails on a chalkboard. (Both protagonists droned “littttttlllle Molllyyyyy,” too often and it was annoying to the point where I stopped the book and had to just listen to a good song, because at least I would have a break in the monotony.) Are you telling me that a whole police station worth of cops somehow missed a 12-year-old coming into the station, crying and covered in blood? The same girl who had gone missing, same girl whose family had been found murdered, same girl who everyone had been looking for? Everyone somehow just didn't pay attention to this girl coming in, just didn't hear her say who the killer was, somehow missed her run out again? Really? Nevermind the entire police station, you're telling me somehow all the streets that she passed by on her way to the police station and on her way leaving the police station and leaving the town just happened to be empty of people? That's quite a conspiracy theory right there. Molly is so stoooopit. She invites this murderer/BFF couple to her HOME for dinner and has her 3yo daughter at the table. Hmmmm? I wonder what the bad guy will do with this new info? Bad guy and his dad were just perversely evil, no character development at all. So much missed potential! They were just mustache twirlers, no true villain feel. I mean - honestly - it was like eating junkie calories....but sometimes junkie-calories satisfy the ‘here&now’. Only to remind us - that we promise ourselves to eat better at our next meal.