Where I Left Her by Amber Garza (Review by Taylor Bridgeforth)

This read was fast and all over the place—aka perfect. I loved that it kept me intrigued in wanting to read faster but also keeping the mystery chaotic. In my unpopular opinion, nothing is more terrifying than a teenage girl and Amelia very clearly proved my point. Whitney’s daughter, a fresh 16, thought the world was hers and she was ready to take it on her own; it’s not and she wasn’t. Amelia went to a ‘sleepover’ with an admittedly sketchy friend, Lauren, and wasn’t at the address the next day when Whitney came and picked her up—aka every parent’s worse fear. The mystery was obvious, Whitney wanted Amelia back. And where was Amelia? Who is random Lauren? But what kept me intrigued and watchful was Whitney herself. She was no better than Lauren, aside from the fact that she’s a mother and she cares—HOWEVER, something was off. She wouldn’t let Amelia do ANYTHING! And the few things she allowed; Whitney had to be present. EW! I kept my eye on Whitney but it was impossible to block how Lauren fit into all this. I was waiting for the story to go from mystery to bloody. I had an overwhelming feeling Lauren was going to go off the rails. She definitely had her reasons. However, I am happy about the way to story turned out. I always love reading a story that the reader gets answers to but not the characters and I can just laugh manically by myself. Another favorite is choosing sides of the unstable…Whitney or Lauren? Lauren gets my vote. She just wanted to be as loved and accepted as Amelia (which Amelia took for granted). Amber Garza is easily and quickly becoming one of my favorite authors because her stories and writing is perfect for me—easy and quick.