Already Gone

Bridget E. Baker

Jan 2019 · Purple Puppy Publishing

About this eBook

For fans of We Were Liars and One of Us Is Lying, Bridget E. Baker's Already Gone will leave you guessing until the last page.

Lacy Shelton and her sister Hope couldn't be more different, despite being less than a year apart in age. Lacy is captain of the debate team, poised to be Valedictorian of the high school and waiting for an admission letter from Yale any day. Hope is captain of the swim team, but will be happy if she gets into community college.

Hope has taken everything Lacy ever wanted, from pacifiers to high heels. But Lacy won't let that happen again, not this time. She won't let Hope take the new guy in school, and she sure as heck won’t let Hope ruin her chances with Yale. Until a shocking death changes all of Lacy's plans. Now stuck in a court-mandated psychiatrist's office, she's forced to relive the months leading up to the tragedy to determine whether Hope will take her future, too. 

Alternating between Lacy's and Hope's points of view, Already Gone pieces together a tense puzzle of sisterhood, betrayal, mistakes, and ultimately forgiving someone who can be gone in a blink.

keywords: suspense, ya suspense, suspence, romantic suspense, ya romance suspense, we were liars, one of us is lying, karen McManus, big little lies, romance, teen books, best books for teens, clean romance, clean ya romance, summer reads, depression, survivor, college, coming of age.

Ratings and reviews

4.5 stars. Bridget E. Baker is fast becoming a favorite author of mine. After reading her YA post-apocalyptic trilogy and her cute Christmas romance novel for adults and enjoying those I didn't hesitate to try this book. This is another YA novel, but this time around it's a mystery/suspense/contemporary fiction type story. One thing that really stands out to me is how versatile this author is. She does a great job with each of these genres. I'll say right off that this story is a slow build and the mystery and the suspense are very mild. You're just reading both Lacy and Hope's accounts of past events and waiting to find out what went down to cause Lacy to be in a court-mandated psychiatrist's office. The details are very engrossing despite the slow burn of the story. I'll admit I was expecting a lot of danger and ominous events, but somehow this book still did not disappoint me. Despite the lack of any real danger or suspense, the story pretty much grabbed me right from the beginning and I couldn't put it down. That's saying a lot for a book about teens in high school! I thought I was done reading those types of stories, but I'm not sorry I read this one. There was a twist that I did not see coming as well and that made the reading experience even better. There are quite a few themes touched on in this book, but I don't want to spoil the book so I won't talk about them here. This is a well thought out story about two sisters at odds, who also love each other, and in the end this ends up being a somewhat tragic but very sweet story. I highly recommend if you like contemporary teen fiction.

Normally I'm not a fan of books with multiple POVs, but this was written so well (and the overlaps from different perspectives gave such depth and pathos) that it works. Sisters Lacy and Hope are thrown together more than most: they are less than a year apart, so they are in the same grade. Their father has died so they share one parent, who tries her best to give time and attention to both while working to support them. But what they've never had to share is a guy. Hope is the gorgeous athlete, used to dating the most popular guy at school. Lacy is the brainy nerd, used to being ignored by the popular crew. So when a guy shows up who is both a star athlete and a brilliant student (not to mention kind and funny and amazingly good-looking), the sisters find themselves forced to decide which is more important: their relationships with Mason or with each other. The plot was woven very skillfully, allowing the reader to sympathize deeply with each character despite their differences. And the reveal at the end totally surprised me, despite the clues scattered throughout the book. It's rare to see a teen book with such depth and exploration of family and self. It doesn't preach the usual "believe in yourself and love yourself and everything will be okay" message that's so prevalent, but explores how to love self and others, through sacrifice and hard work. Beautiful book that has kept me thinking about it for weeks!

OH, man. This did not go where I was thinking it was going. Have your tissues ready. I wasn’t really sure what to think about Hope and Lacy at first, and kept changing my mind on what I thought would happen next. I was getting a “13 Reasons Why” vibe from it at times. The teenaged characters reminded me of what the kids in that story/show went through with the mixed up feelings, romances, jealousy, guilt. A bit more of a heavy topic with the major chasm between the sisters, but the book was quick so you don’t have to feel stressed long. The sisters mature a good deal throughout the book and I had to reread the start of it again once I finished it. It was refreshing to have a different (but good!) sort of ending to this type of story. A perfect read for a rainy afternoon!

About the author

Bridget won her first writing contest in first grade with a story about a day in the life of a little spot of air. (Who says you need a good hook?)  

She hasn't stopped writing (or talking) since then, although she was briefly derailed by her pursuit of a legal career. Ultimately, boring words, well, bored her. She quit her job to spend less time counting gobs of ill gotten gains, and more time writing stories. 

She loves her husband and all five of her kids (most days). She has a bouncy dog, three pampered horses, the cutest rabbits on earth, almost a dozen backyard chickens, and two demanding barn cats. Every day is a battle between playing with kids, riding her horse Leo, and writing. If her publication speed has slowed down, you should probably blame the kids and the horse.

She makes cookies all the time, and thinks they should have their own food group. In a possibly misguided attempt at balancing the scales between overconsumption and exertion, she kickboxes every day. So if you don't like her kids, her cookies, or her books, maybe don't tell her in person.

Please sign up for her newsletter on her website at: www.BridgetEBakerWrites.com!