I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

“Take her out back and finish her off.”

She doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know where she is, or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her.

And that she must run.

In her riveting style, April Henry crafts a nail-biting thriller involving murder, identity theft, and biological warfare. Follow Cady and Ty (her accidental savior turned companion), as they race against the clock to stay alive.

The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die was a twisted, mind-blowing mystery that kept me guessing until the very end.

In true April Henry fashion, the book starts right in the thick of things. There’s no 50-100-page set-up, where we have to wait and wonder what will happen. The book opens with the main character, Cady, waking up in the cabin. I actually really love this about April Henry. Sometimes, those first 50-100 pages can be really slow and boring while we’re waiting for something to happen. And knowing something WILL happen, I find sometimes I tend to overlook that 50-page set-up because I’m waiting for the action to start. I can’t speak for other readers, but that’s just me. So not having to deal with that is pretty refreshing.

Cady (who’s name we don’t learn until half-way through the book), was really intriguing. With amnesia, she doesn’t remember who she is, where she is, who is after her or why. This puts not only the character in the dark, but also the reader. Just as Cady didn’t know who to trust, neither did we. Every time she made the decision to do something or trust someone, my heart was in my throat because I always wondered, can she really trust this person?

We, as the reader, are also given two possible theories for what happened, how Cady came to be in that cabin, who was trying to kill her and why. It isn’t until almost the end of the book that we learn which theory is true and, until then, the back-and-forth on what was happening almost made me dizzy with confusion, doubt and worry. It added to the question of who could be trusted and made me second-guess everything Cady decided to do.

I liked Ty a lot, but I never fully trusted him, thanks to the two different theories and wondering which to believe. But he seemed kind and caring through it all. I don’t know how believable it was that he would help a total stranger in the way he did, but we were given an explanation as to why he did what he did and I guess I can understand where he was coming from.

I loved the timeline and the big reveal at the end. It wasn’t at all what I thought it would be. Plus, just as April Henry begins her books right in the thick of things, she also ends them abruptly – not in a bad way, but I got to a point where I had 13 pages left and had no idea how she would fit everything into that last 13 pages and still wrap the plot up nicely, but she did! I don’t read many thrillers, and it was kind of fun being on the edge of my seat the whole time, trying to guess what would happen and how it would end.

Overall, just as I was glad Girl, Stolen was my first April Henry book, I’m so glad I chose The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die as my second April Henry book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved seeing the similarities and differences from the first book to the second. I’m also really excited to pick up my third April Henry book because I’ve come to expect the kind of thrills, twists and turns in her books that will leave me feeling satisfied with the ending. I definitely recommend this book!

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Sixteen-year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of the car while her stepmom fills a prescription for antibiotics. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, the car is being stolen.

Griffin hadn't meant to kidnap Cheyenne and once he finds out that not only does she have pneumonia, but that she's blind, he really doesn't know what to do. When his dad finds out that Cheyenne's father is the president of a powerful corporation, everything changes--now there's a reason to keep her.

How will Cheyenne survive this nightmare?

Girl, Stolen was a fast-paced, suspenseful read that kept me on the edge of my seat.

I loved the main character, Cheyenne. She was strong, brave and resilient, even when it seemed like there was no hope. She was sick with pneumonia and blind, but she never let those things slow her down. If anything, she used them to her advantage. At times, she used these things to seem weak and helpless so she could lie in wait and attempt to escape. At other times, she used them to try and beg for her release. She never gave up hope and never gave up fighting.

I wish I could say I liked Griffin but my feelings are mixed. He claimed he never meant to kidnap Cheyenne, he just wanted the car. He claimed his dad would fix things and let her go. And at times, Griffin is kind and sympathetic to Cheyenne. He even protects her at times. But at every turn, he seemed to make stupid decisions. The issue of grand theft auto aside, he was stupid to steal the car so impulsively. He was stupid not to let Cheyenne go before he got home to his dad. So I really don’t feel bad for him and I can’t fully like him, despite the few kind things he did do. I will say that he was pretty innocent, in the ignorant sense of the word. He was young and scared and didn’t think about the consequences of his actions. He did kind of redeem himself in the end, though.

I also have mixed feelings on the relationship between Cheyenne and Griffin. On the one hand, trying to develop a friendship with your capture can inspire feelings of sympathy with said capture, making the capture see his victim more as a person than just an annoyance that needs to be “dealt” with. At times, Cheyenne tried to make Griffin realize that she was a person, she was sick and – because of her blindness – she wouldn’t tell the cops anything if they just let her go. At other times, she tried to elicit sympathy from him, by saying she was sick and needed her antibiotics. So I can understand the motivation behind it. On the other hand, I don’t know any kidnap victim who would get THAT friendly with the person who kidnapped her.

I definitely felt, though, that I learned a lot about being blind from the discussions Cheyenne had with Griffin. It felt educational and insightful. I didn’t feel like it was being thrown in the reader’s face or shoved down their throat, as some books that try to teach a lesson tend to do, even if not intentionally. At the same time, I didn’t feel like Cheyenne being blind was the main point in the story. It wasn’t her being blind that made me (as the reader) feel bad for her – it was that she was kidnapped and she was sick with pneumonia and scared.

The only part where Cheyenne being blind really played a factor was the end. I need to be SO vague here so as not to spoil you guys, but her being blind and not knowing what was going on also put the reader in the dark, making it more scary and suspenseful. I definitely started crying in fear and worry a few times.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I couldn’t put it down because I was desperate to see how it ended. I would absolutely recommend this book. I have four of April Henry’s books but have only read this one and I must say, I’m definitely glad it was my first April Henry book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it makes me very excited to dive right into the next one!