Sophie Last Seen by Marlene Adelstein

 

Having a child disappear is a parent’s worst nightmare, and Jesse has been living the nightmare for six years.

Jesse lost Sophie at the local mall and goes back nearly every day to look for clues that might tell where she is.  She went a bit too far one day and was banned from the mall.

Jesse and her husband Cooper had divorced shortly after Sophie’s disappearance.  Cooper moved on, remarried, and isn’t as obsessed as Jesse.  Jesse lives in the house where Sophie grew up, and she doesn’t want to leave in case Sophie comes back.

Jesse’s obsession with finding her daughter turned into hoarding everything she found that she thought was a clue to her daughter’s disappearance.  She thought notes, shirts, grocery lists, pages from dictionaries, and bird trivia were signs from her daughter.

The reader follows Jesse through her days along with Sophie’s friend Star as they both can’t forget her and hope she will return.  Star sees Sophie as Sophie taunts her, and Jesse sees Sophie as she reads to her and talks to her.

SOPHIE LAST SEEN flows smoothly with some odd, but likable characters.   The book addresses many issues and is a book that will tug at your heartstrings.  The town of Canaan is a town that helps each other out in any crisis.

I enjoyed the book and also felt the pain Jesse was going through with her obsession of finding her daughter, with remembering her daughter and the secret about her, with her hoarding, and with the fact that she did need to move on and change her current life.  I kept hoping it would happen for her.

The tension and suspense ramped up as the book continued.

If you enjoy a bit of oddity, a fast-paced story line, a few ghosts, and characters that will stay with you, then SOPHIE LAST SEEN will be a book you will want to read. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.