The Strange Disappearance of Imogen Good
by Kirsty Applebaum (Goodreads Author)

3 out of 5 stars

When Fran goes to visit her aunt and uncle, she discovers that they can’t remember their own daughter, Fran’s cousin Imogen. Imogen has completely disappeared without a trace, and no one remembers her but Fran. There is a mystery surrounding the hidden garden behind the estate, and Fran begins to investigate. Imogen’s diary says that she went to the garden on the day of her disappearance. Fran recruits the girl next door, Bex, to help her find the hidden garden and find out what happened to Imogen.

The mystery is a lot of fun, because we get to see these flashbacks to ancient history, and gradually discover the magic that surrounds the garden. However, I thought that the story jumped too quickly between the flashbacks and the present. The chapters are really short, and I think the story would have flowed along better if we had stayed longer in each timeline instead jumping back and forth so much. The plot also moves rather slowly, and the story could have been condensed quite a bit.

I didn’t like that the writing structure keeps shifting whenever the narrator changes. For the chapters that are flashbacks, we have an omniscient narrator, and the writing is in 3rd person past tense. For the chapters from Fran’s point of view, the writing is 1st person present tense, and the chapters from Imogen’s POV are in 3rd person present. It’s very jarring to be constantly changing back and forth so often, especially since many of the chapters are only 2 or 3 pages long.

But really, the writing itself is great! The descriptions and dialogue are wonderful! You get a beautiful sense of the magic and mystery surrounding the garden. It’s just the structure and pacing that I didn’t like.

I did like all the characters though! We get to know Fran and Bex and Imogen really well, and they are all very memorable and likable. Even the grown-up side characters are interesting and bring a lot of color to the story with all these details about their personalities and habits.

Overall, there were some things that I really liked in the magic and the mystery and the characters, but the story structure just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review.

This book has been screened on the Screen It First website. https://screenitfirst.com/book/the-strange-disappearance-of-imogen-good-2595195