ARC Review: I’m Not Missing

Genre: YA Contemporary

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Rating: 5 STARS!

Publication Date: July 10, 2018

Synopsis: When Miranda Black’s mother abandoned her, she took everything—the sun, moon, and stars—and Miranda found shelter in her friendship with Syd, who wore her own motherlessness like a badge of honor: Our mothers abandoned us. We won’t go begging for scraps.

When Syd runs away suddenly and inexplicably in the middle of their senior year, Miranda is abandoned once again, left to untangle the questions of why Syd left, where she is—and if she’s even a friend worth saving. Her only clue is Syd’s discarded pink leopard print cell phone and a single text contained there from the mysterious HIM. Along the way, forced to step out from Syd’s enormous shadow, Miranda finds herself stumbling into first love with Nick Allison of all people and learning what it means to be truly seen, to be finally not missing in her own life.

Review: I want to start by saying this book was unlike anything I’ve read recently. It did remind me a bit of Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson, but while that book had a cute, summery feel, I’m Not Missing felt more raw.

This story was just beautifully written. From Miranda’s relationship with her father, to her big lovely family I could not get over how wonderful this story was. Carrie Fountain takes on some serious topics here but it is all done really well.

The main character Miranda was incredibly relatable for me. I was almost always in her corner rooting for every decision she was making. And her relationship with her father was what completely sold me on this book. Most YAs I read either don’t include parents because they’re somehow out of the picture or the parents are barely around for most of the shenanigans. However, in this book, Miranda and her father are close and she confides in him for all of her decisions, big and small.

Such a beautiful book. I absolutely recommend it to contemporary readers!

Thank you so much to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

-Elizabeth