Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
Release Date: March 28, 2023
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Thrillers & Suspense
Piper Gray starts a true-crime podcast investigating a seventeen-year-old cold case in this thrilling YA murder mystery by New York Times bestselling author April Henry.
Seventeen
years ago, Layla Trello was murdered and her killer was never found.
Enter true-crime fan Piper Gray, who is determined to reopen Layla’s
case and get some answers. With the help of Jonas—who has a secret of
his own—Piper starts a podcast investigating Layla’s murder. But as she
digs deeper into the mysteries of the past, Piper begins receiving
anonymous threats telling her to back off the investigation, or else.
The killer is still out there, and Piper must uncover their identity
before they silence her forever.
April Henry's Girl Forgotten is about a high school senior named Piper Gray who starts a true-crime podcast investigating a seventeen-year-old cold case. Almost 20 years ago, a young woman named Layla Treller went missing after a Halloween party and was later found murdered. The prime suspects in the case were never charged, and the case, while gathering national interest, is now considered a cold case. 17-year-old Piper Gray has recently moved in with her father and stepmother, is now the new girl at North High School.
Piper learns that all seniors are required to do a senior project in order to graduate. Piper, who is a huge fan of Dead, Deader, Deadest which is a true crime podcast, chooses to do her own podcast focusing on what really happened to Layla. The story is told through first person narrative, podcast transcripts, newspaper articles, while each chapter is fairly short. Piper finds a sort of friendship with Jonas who is the schools black sheep after a car accident changed his life, and others.
He was driving a car when his girlfriend grabbed the wheel during a fight, causing an accident that took her life and cause Jonas to have his leg amputated. People still blame him for the accident, so he doesn't like that Piper is causing renewed trauma to Layla's family, who still live in the area. Layla does her research, interviewing anyone she can find, including brothers who both might have had a relationship with Layla, her best friend, Layla's mother, a school resource officer who seems too friendly with young people, and even her own language arts teacher, Mrs. Wharton.
Piper's friendship with Jonas grows from curiosity to friendship as he tries to guide her into what it takes to make a podcast. To make matters worse, Piper, who lived with her mother, is not saying what really happened to her. Instead, she makes up a story that eventually blows up on her. Now, she has to put her trust in a father who wasn't there for her, and a stepmother who looks at her like she had snakes on her head.
The
unfortunate thing about books centering around podcasts are that they
are mostly written in the same manner and end in the same predictable
way. A girl, or boy chooses to dig into the past. The past doesn't want
to be brought into the light, and the past makes hard for the
storyteller. That being said, this was a good mystery. I didn't seen the killer, and there's a whole bunch of people who could have been the main villain.
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