Girl Forgotten - April Henry 🎧

Piper Gray starts a true-crime podcast investigating a seventeen-year-old cold case. 

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. 

Well, this was underwhelming to say the least. It tries so hard to be the next AGGGTM and to add "quirky" new things but falls flat. I couldn't care less about Piper's interactions with Jonas and the plot moved at a snail's pace, the reveal was just meh.

When you look at the entire plot line it's not that bad, it's just a bit too boring for me - you've got the new kid in town starting a podcast about a local cold case. Sounds fun. BUT I expected a bit more "investigating" or "deducting" instead, she just repeats everything that was already discovered by the police on her podcast and rewrites it in her own way (basically like every student ever trying to write a 50-page essay). Well, this is not an essay, this is a book that should entertain me, not sound like a school assignment. Ironically though, Piper starts this podcast EXACTLY for that purpose 😂

When it comes to Piper, she was okay enough. While I'm probably gonna "forget the girl", I didn't dislike her while reading, I just didn't love her either. I appreciate that from the start she said her goal is not to solve the case but to shine a light on it and maybe motivate and remind people to start talking about it again. She definitely accepted that she was "just a teen" and not a detective. Although, that meant that she didn't "try as hard." Her podcast was mainly telling the cold case story in a new way.

If you thought this book would have a new Pip x Ravi ship, it does not. The romance is basically nonexistent, which is not a bad thing usually, but this time it is. Why? Because the interactions between Piper and Jonas are purely of the "my teacher made me help you with your assignment so here I am" to "actually, we might be friends because we share the same passion". Then suddenly, after The Big Reveal, they have a romantic relationship. IMO there was no chemistry nor any romantic scenes between them so I wish they just stayed friends, it would feel more natural.

I did appreciate the insight into the podcasting world. Jonas had some decent advice on how to start a podcast, how to write it, which equipment to get etc. Those bits were interesting. There's also one more point that I actually LOVED reading about and I thought it was written in a lovely way - Piper's relationship with her father and stepmom. Their interactions are awkward at first, but they go on to create close bonds and show how much they care for each other. These character developments were wonderful and when I was nearing the end of the book, I cared more about how Piper would get along with her stepmom than who killed Layla 😂