TBR Jar Review: Since You've Been Gone - Morgan Matson

This book was my latest TBR Jar pick. Luckily it was just sitting on my shelf, waiting to be picked up and I started reading it almost immediately. 

The book is a story about a girl whose best friend disappears. Not in a “crime-novel” kind of way. Her family just picks up and leaves and she doesn’t tell anyone about it. Emily, the one who gets left, is of course worried, but doesn’t feel like there is anything she can do aside from keep trying to call Sloane, the one that left. 

One day Emily receives a list in the mail from Sloane. On this list is a bunch of weird things for Emily to do. Emily is a bit timid and shy, and was seemingly riding the coat tails of Sloane’s popularity in their friendship. But she decides to step out of her comfort zone and complete all the tasks on the list, hoping that by the end she would figure out where Sloane went. 

I can’t say anymore without spoiling it, so I shall keep the summary to that. Below are a few spoilerey bits, not too much, but just be aware. 

I really liked the plot. I love lists and tasks to be completed, so this book seemed right up my alley. I liked it, but I did have a few problems with it, especially towards the end. I liked that Emily made other friends during the summer, and seemingly stepped out from under Sloane’s shadow. There are some flashbacks to events that happened with Sloane, and a few of these make it seem like Sloane wasn’t really a nice person to Emily, and it seemed like Emily is beginning to realize that. But then in the end I feel like this is sort of glossed over or at least handled very summarily between the girls. 

The ending also didn’t really provide closure enough for me. What about Dawn and Collins? Did Emily fix things with them again or are they still at odds? And what about Beckett? He seems to only be there as a plot development tool. I feel like the first part of the book really focused on Emily and Beckett’s relationship, but then that just fizzled out, and Beckett only made brief appearances when the plot needed some advancement. 

In conclusion, I like the book, but it did have a few weak points for me. I just feel like it was missing the last bit of umph, but it was a fun read. I gave it 3 stars out of 5 on Goodreads. 

The next book from my TBR Jar is “Tipping the Velvet” by Sarah Waters. I’ve just read the synopsis on Goodreads, and I don’t really know how I feel about this book. But clearly I thought I should read it at some point, so I’ll give it a go!