The Nowhere Girl by Nicole Trope

☆☆1/2
Kindle Edition, 518 pages
Expected publication: January 28th 2020 by Bookouture
About the Book:
If you passed Alice on the street, you couldn’t help but smile. At how she holds hands with her husband, Jack, who she has been with since she was at university. At the adoring way she admires her three beloved boys, the centre of her universe. But if you looked very closely, you’d see how tightly she holds Jack’s hand, afraid to let go. You’d see how carefully she watches her boys, scared to look away. You’d see her smile fading in a matter of seconds, and the secret she hides behind her chestnut-brown eyes. She has told Jack that she ran away from home when she was younger – but she didn’t tell him the whole story. Her husband doesn’t know about the guilt she bears about the little sister she failed to save, the secret that torments her. Now, after a lifetime of fresh starts, Alice receives a message spelling out her past. Everything she cherishes, the world she has lovingly built, threatens to collapse in on her. Without her family, she is nothing – and Alice will stop at nothing to save them.

I have read and enjoyed other Nicole Trope books but, sadly, this did not live up to the standard of her previous books. The story was a little predictable and a lot of coincidences happen. The characters acted pretty much as they were expected to from the very beginning. The ending tied a nice little bow around everything, but it was way too neat. Much of the writing was repetitive and without giving away too much, I will say that the use of a dream sequence feels like a cop-out. I can deal with one or two strategically-placed dreams in this kind of story where one expects to suspend a certain amount of belief, but using a dream for almost the entire exposition of one of the two major plots seems like cheating.

The characters were not fleshed-out and seemed banal. I am normally a Nicole Trope fan so I don't want to be overly-critical. However, this book reads more like one she had to write simply to meet her obligation to her publishers rather than something she had any true inspiration to create. I am hoping she or her editors have tweaked the final product. If you are new to Nicole Trope, don't do this one first, she has many better options which will enthrall you.

Thank you NetGalley, Nicole Trope and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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