The Missing Season

Whenever another kid goes missing in October, the Pender kids know what is really behind it: a horrific monster out in the marshes they have named the Mumbler. That’s what Clara’s new crew tells her when she moves to town: Bree and Sage, who take her under their wing; spirited Trace, who has taken the lead on this year’s Halloween prank war; and magnetic Kincaid, whose devil-may-care attitude and air of mystery are impossible for Clara to resist. Clara doesn’t actually believe in the Mumbler. But as Halloween gets closer and tensions build in the town, it’s hard to shake the feeling that there really is something dark and dangerous in Pender, lurking in the shadows, waiting to bring the stories to life.

The Missing Season by Gillian French - release date May 21, 2019

I was expecting way more Mumbler in this book than there actually was.  When I went into this, I was hoping it would be some creepy urban legend type monster book, or something even Slendermanesque.  Instead it was way more high school pranks and drama.  Normally I like the high school drama and secrets etc books but I wanted more mystery and Mumbler in this than I got! 

The two best characters were Trace and Bree.  Trace is the comic relief who does probably the most ridiculous things anyone can think of, but that's what makes him great.  Bree is a very strong, do-no-harm-take-no-nonsense type who will never lie to you and only shows emotions when she really has to.  The rest of the cast was just alright.  There was this weird romance part where it was sort of a love triangle?  And it took up WAY more of the plot than romance in a monster book should.  So I was kind of upset.

Specifics for likes/dislikes: There was a TON of sentence fragments everywhere (I guess that's just the author's writing style?) but it was really distracting to the points where my brain autofilled the rest of the sentence and I would lose my place and have no idea what I just read.  So this book took double the time to read because a lot of it half made sense.  And the ending was so short I found it unsatisfying.  It was a good wrap up but I wish there had been more substance in it.

I'd rate this 2.5 stars.  I'd say if you were going to read a book by Gillian French, maybe make sure that book is one of her other ones, like The Lies They Tell instead of this one.  Unless you like plot-deviating sort of love triangles (different strokes for different folks).  Took me a whole week to read since most sentences not even being real sentences didn't have me thrilled to come back for more.  **Also!! Since we recently got the option for it, don't forget to follow with the blue button on the top right!!  Thanks!**

-Taylor

Reviewed on April 26, 2018