After You Vanished
By: E.A. Neeves
Genre: YA, Mystery
Number of Pages: 336
Published: August 29, 2023
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Dates Read: August 24, 2023 - August 26, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Teddy’s favorite place is Bottomrock Lake, where she’s been a lifeguard every summer, even though it’s the last place her twin sister, Izzy was seen a year ago. Now, she can’t stop thinking of all the places her sister went – Izzy was on her way to become an Olympic swimmer, there’s no way she could have drowned. Plus, her passport is missing.

But when Toby, the boy who was with Izzy that fateful night she vanished, comes to Bottomrock to work as a lifeguard too, Teddy can’t help but want to ask 1,000 questions. How many secrets does Toby have of Izzy’s that she didn’t share with Teddy? And why does undercovering one always lead to ten more?

I picked this up because it mentioned Sadie by Courtney Summers as a read-a-like, and I absolutely love that book and am constantly recommending it, so to have another title that would get to be added to that list was what I was looking for. I had high expectations, and this one didn’t disappoint.

This is most definitely a slow burn mystery with low stakes (no one is coming after to kill Teddy or anyone else) mixed with a bit of romance. There was always something that made me turn the page, even when Teddy would eliminate something. I always had hope it would turn out one way. I will say I think it took me a bit longer to see a few of the curveballs that were thrown, but in the end it was fun to see it all connected.

Though a mystery, this book also focuses on Teddy and her grief of losing not only a sibling, but her twin. And how she uses it to grow out on her own for the first time. Her story in that regard was well written.

Needless to say, this will be on my recommendation list, alongside Sadie, for anyone who wants a good mystery with emotional layers to it.

*Thank you Disney-Hyperion and NetGalley for a digital advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review