#Review - The Missing Season by Gillian French #YALIT #Thrillers #Suspense

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
Release Date: May 21, 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Thrillers & Suspense

From the author of Edgar Award finalist Grit and The Lies They Tell comes a tense, atmospheric novel for readers of E. Lockhart and Marieke Nijkamp about friendship, truth, and the creeping fears that can’t be outrun.

Whenever another kid goes missing in October, the Pender kids know what is really behind it: a horrific monster out in the marshes they have named the Mumbler.

That’s what Clara’s new crew tells her when she moves to town: Bree and Sage, who take her under their wing; spirited Trace, who has taken the lead on this year’s Halloween prank war; and magnetic Kincaid, whose devil-may-care attitude and air of mystery are impossible for Clara to resist.

Clara doesn’t actually believe in the Mumbler. But as Halloween gets closer and tensions build in the town, it’s hard to shake the feeling that there really is something dark and dangerous in Pender, lurking in the shadows, waiting to bring the stories to life.

 

Gillian French's The Missing Season is set to the backdrop of a small town working-class town in Maine with a colorful cast of characters and an unsettling past that features a character named Mumbler. Pender is like so many other towns in America—a small factory town with a failing economy confronting unemployment and drug abuse—a setting we rarely see in YA fiction. Once again, Gillian has perfectly captured this unglamorous but very realistic setting. 

Pender is where we find Clara Morrison as the new kid on the block who just happens to be starting high school later than anyone else which makes her the next human conversation piece. Clara is soon charmed by a gang of weirdos like Bree, Sage, Trace, Landon, Ivy, and Kincaid who skip class to hang out by the old skate park. Soon enough, she is taking part in their prank wars, their banter, and all of their teenage chemistry that the author has so perfectly captured.

Clara and Kincaid have almost insta-romance made all the more powerful by the fact that he seems so off-limits. But as the two characters are drawn together, the stakes only feel higher. Clara plays the part of the stalwart skeptic, but as Halloween approaches (the Mumbler’s favorite season) she is thrown into disarray when a fellow classmate that she knows disappears without a trace. As the rumors grow louder, Clara and gang find themselves as targets of a unknown villain who may be responsible for other disappearances as well.

The Missing Season blends a bit of urban legend with true crime to mostly keep readers on their seat and entertained. Truth be told, I lost interest somewhere in the middle all of the juvenile pranks that these kids play on people they have no respect for. Not their property, not their animals, especially not their vehicles. Readers get the quick introduction campfire story style in the beginning to introduce both our lead and the readers to the local legend and the history of missing or dead kids before it quickly fades into the background. It isn't until Clara falls for Kincaid that she realizes that someone is watching her. Not impressed wih the ending. It was a non-stop prank show for much of the story then the symphony decided it wasn't going to play any more and walked off stage taking any creepy feelings you might feel by reading about the marsh and its history.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble |  Kobo