Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings)'s Reviews > The Leaving

FIRSTLY, I must say I did not like the author Tara Altebrando's writing style during Scarlett's/Lucas' chapters at all. In my opinion it was totally unnecessary and broke up the free flow of the text. However, I do appreciate that this is a YA thriller so the very unique design of writing would probably be more suited and be attractive to younger readers of that genre better.
BUT - I did love the opening chapters, I was thoroughly hooked and couldn't wait to see how the story panned out. Six five year old children go missing on a school trip to 'The Leaving'. After eleven years only five come back with no memory whatsoever of where they have been or for how long. Now everyone wants answers.
UNFORTUNATELY - There were quite a few gripes that I had with the story in general - reactions, emotions, unnecessary relationships and memories from being five years old etc - to do with the characters and the plot line but I can honestly say I COULDN'T put this book down, and really wanted to see how it all came together at the end.
Despite the various flaws, this for me was a seriously addictive book, I would recommend it, I hugely enjoyed it - not too sure about the ending- but I'm pleased I read "The Leaving" (although this must sound a very conflicting review to anyone reading this) and I would like to thank the Goodreads Giveaways for my copy.

4 stars.