You Were Never Here

Kathleen Peacock

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You Were Never Here by Kathleen Peacock

Released: October 20, 2020

Pages: 400

Publisher: HarperTeen

Overall: 1/5

Plot: 1/5

Characters: 2/5

Setting & World-building: 0/5

Emotional Investment: 0.5/5

"All things are haunted--at least to somebody"

I had so many hopes and dreams for this book. Every single one of them was crushed because this book was definitely not for me. When I tell you I am depressed because of the time I wasted on this book in the few hours of free time I had from school, you must believe me.

Quick Summary: Cat hasn't been back to Montogmery Falls in years. When she finally visits she realizes her best friend Riley Fraser, who she also hasn't seen since she left has been missing for 3 months. His brother, Noah asks her to help him find Riley but is Cat willing to help an old friend despite the threat of her secrets being revealed.

First things, this book is advertised as a murder mystery and I assure you this is not a murder mystery. At the most, it is a missing person's case that occupies 35% of the plot with the remaining 65% on Cat's day to day life being back in town. So much of this story is pointless conversations that don't further the plot at all. It was just too slow and filled with too many open endings and unfinished thoughts. Like her whole magic situation. It seemed cool how every female in her family line has this cool ability to touch people and have some sort of reaction. But the origin of the magic was only brought up once leaving it unfinished. Her magic stopping her from forming meaningful relationships through physical barriers she puts around herself (full body covering clothes) was constantly brought up, but almost to a point of being redundant. The last two chapters I felt were all over the place because the plot twist felt unnatural to me. On some subconscious level, I was aware of the plot twist but even still, when it happened it was so random and had no buildup which caused dissociation from the story.

All the characters had one personality trait and I hated that. Cat's entire personality was being the "token best friend". She brought up being alienated all the time when she could have made connections. Yes, her fear of touching people and her magic allowing her to see things may have been a barrier but it's almost like she used it as an excuse. Sometimes she complains she has no friends but also refuses to make any friends and that was annoying. Noah's entire personality trait was being the rough, damaged older brother. Aidan a character who is a potential love interest (this isn't even true because their situation was so weird) was the rule-breaker. Joey loved horror everything. Skyler was probably the most complex character and she's not even a main character. The fact that I know more about her life and passions and personality compared to Cat is troubling. She and Chase are the only reason this book got 2 stars in character. Chase doesn't have a personality at all, he's just a character for the sake of making their friend group big. If he had to have one it would be being the popular guy that hangs out with the misfits. I like him because of his unwavering sense of loyalty to his friends.

Last note, there was absolutely no character arc throughout the book. There sure was an effort but the climax and resolution only happened in the last chapter and even that she still pushed people away. There was so much "telling" of what was happening, rather than "showing" which also just made the climatic parts seem dull and the entire book kind of a bore. I really did want to like this book, like the synopsis on Goodreads made it sound amazing but I was sadly let down.

Quotes

"There are a thousand Riley Fraser's in the world, and the boy on the poster is mine."

"There are no monsters. There is no right and wrong. There are rules, and there are people who break them. You shatter so many rules just by existing."

"I want to be the kind of person who fights monsters and slays dragons. I want to be the kind of person who doesn't run away."