The story: In the early aughts, Abby, Bree, and Chelsea were best friends and students at the University of Iowa. On Halloween night, they get in a fight, Abby runs off, and is never seen again. Her suspected killer is later arrested and convicted of another murder, but Abby’s death is never officially solved. Twelve years later, Bree and Chelsea have drifted apart but are brought back together as Abby’s suspected killer is soon to face the death penalty for his other crimes. The story is told from three points of view: present-day Bree, present-day Chelsea, and flashbacks from Abby’s point of view, leading up to her murder.
Why I read it: My BFF leads a virtual book club that focuses on books celebrating the Midwest, and Don’t Forget the Girl is the next book on the list. I love a good page-turner, and this one intrigued me.
How I felt about it: Don’t Forget the Girl is good. I finished it in just a few days. It’s less of a thriller and more of a close examination at how Bree and Chelsea have slowly unraveled after suffering the trauma of losing their best friend in a violent and disturbing way. Both of them have made bad choices and both of their lives are falling apart (especially Bree, thanks to choices that are not just bad but are spectacularly bad). Rebecca McKanna is an engaging writer–while several reviews I read complained about not liking Bree and Chelsea, I think those people are missing the point. Bree and Chelsea–along with basically every other character other than the serial killer–are written with a lot of facets, some of them appealing and sympathetic, and some of them off-putting. I can’t think of a single character here (again, other than the serial killer) that I didn’t empathize with or at least understand why they did what they did. It’s just a lot of imperfect people in tough situations, which may not make for likable characters but does make for realistic ones.
It seems like this is being marketed as a thriller, but it shouldn’t be. It’s a mystery, sure, as we don’t find out what really happened to Abby until the end. But even that is secondary to what seems to be the McKanna’s real goal: exploring who these three women are and were, and how Bree and Chelsea were shaped by what they went through. It’s not perfect (my least favorite aspect of this book is that the Abby chapters are written in second person, which is jarring at first), but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this book. I would definitely read more by this author.
