This book surprised me. I thought it was possibly a mystery/thriller – see “sudden disappearance” in the title. But this is instead a story about grief. Sally loses her older sister Kathy in a car accident. The story is set over 15 years, told to Kathy by Sally before, during, and after her death.

Sally’s parents struggle badly with their grief. And Sally finds herself drawn to Kathy’s boyfriend, the only other person who understands how she feels. He was also the one driving when the accident happened. 

There’s a melancholic tone throughout, it’s a story about pain and loss after all. Yet Sally’s voice manages to be refreshing, somehow humorous, and heartbreakingly honest. 

Moving and elegantly written, this dark coming-of-age story was exactly the book I needed this rainy January. 

Favourite quote: “I was thinking that there was nothing better in this world than to discover someone who was weird in exactly the same way I was weird. To be weird and then loved for it.”