All The Missing Girls

This was my first book after being on a serious reading hiatus. As mentioned in the last post, I picked it up at the office where plenty of books have been donated over the years. I had finally been itching to read something for a bit but wasn't really sure where to start. On the recommendation of a co-worker, I perused the pleasure reading shelves. I figured since this would be my first book in a while, and I was just grabbing some book without having much background knowledge beforehand, there was no need for me to develop a concrete checklist of all the things I wanted in a book. I did at least have the idea of wanting to read something suspenseful that would surprise me in the end but that was about it.

After reading several jacket covers, I came across Megan Miranda's All The Missing Girls. The premise definitely intrigued me, so I felt satisfied that it would at least be an adequate first book.

Talk about really underestimating its value.

First off, as anyone can find online, this story is told in reverse. Crafting a novel chronologically is already feat -- doing it in reverse while still keeping it suspenseful and engaging is a damn miracle. I can't even begin to imagine the level work, energy and creativity that had to go into this story, but it's definitely not one on which the rest of us average mortals are operating. Not to mention the courage you'd need to take such a risk, because there are so many ways that it could have backfired. Yet for some reason as I was reading, it felt natural for the story to unfold in reverse.

As far as surprising me went, I've got to admit that although the resolution to the mystery behind the missing girls wasn't a jaw-dropping shock, the circumstances surrounding it took me off guard. I didn't exactly expect the how of it all, and that was really satisfying. I believe a combination of the circumstances with the reverse storytelling really keeps the reader in a delicate balance of being curious and engrossed. In other words, the pacing felt spot on; I neither wanted to come to a dead stop nor rush to the end. At any given point, I was thoroughly wrapped up in the moment.

Of course, all this was further accentuated by the writing. My heavens the writing. I know I mentioned earlier that there had to be a ton of work (naturally) that went into the life of this book. That said, Miranda undoubtedly has a gift with words matched by few. The voice that I was listening to in my mind as I read along was simply beautiful -- I have no other way to describe it. And now thanks to this book, I have one of my favorite analogies to describe people, which I intend to use regularly:

"People were like Russian nesting dolls -- versions stacked inside the latest edition. But they all still lived inside, unchanged, just out of sight."

I've got to be honest. Other than Haruki Murakami, I rarely pay attention to the way an author writes. I'm usually the type of reader that as long as I'm lost in a story, everything else can just pass by me. Since this book, however, I find myself paying attention to word choices, phrasing and arrangement if only that when a piece of text catches my eye, I'd like to think it's something I would've written though I know it'd have to be from a better version of currently abilities. I'm pretty sure there are a variety of reasons for my attentiveness, but I'm mostly going to chalk it up to my own experience with writing (really the lack thereof if we're being real) and the way in which time has affected it.

In any case, All The Missing Girls has all the right elements going for it -- voice, pacing, language, suspense and a rare kind of storytelling. I'm looking forward to reading more of Megan Miranda's work if only to just take the unique storytelling ride that is special to her. Until then, I'll close out with a simple quote that resonated fittingly with me the moment I saw it:

"[Time] shows you things if you let it."