The Next Time You See Me

The first adjective that comes to mind regarding The Next Time You See Me is thoughtful: Holly Goddard Jones has put so much thought into the characters that populate her small Kentucky town. I want to say that they defy steretypes, but that's not exactly it. They seem, on the surface, very stereotypical: the unfulfilled teacher in her unhappy marriage; her black-sheep sister, who drinks, sleeps around, and goes missing, setting the plot in motion; the black athlete turned detective; the golden new boy in town, dating the queen bee; the socially awkward teen pariah; the overweight nurse with a heart of gold. All of these are characters we know -- or think we do.

But Jones makes all of them so human, so nuanced, and leads them to show more intersect in such unpredictable ways, that we want to know them as individuals, not cliches. We follow their slow, deliberate dance, waiting for the next fresh pairing, because we care where they end up. In this way Jones revives the rather tired missing-person plot, prompting us to see it anew. What happens when the body is found by the teen pariah -- and she doesn't run screaming to her parents? What happens when the killer turns out to be someone with whom we truly sympathize?

Jones reminds us how complex people really are. Over and over, she asks us not to judge a book by its cover, but to see the world through others' eyes. The Next Time You See Me combines murder mystery with the dramatic, character-driven complexity of Julia Glass's The Whole World Over. It's a thoughtful thriller. show less

I thought this was a well-written character study of how a senseless crime affects several different people living in a small town in Kentucky. While the characters were well-developed and the story rang true, the overall mood was quite bleak and hopeless, and this knocked off a star for me. It's not that I require the books I read to be happy but that I need to feel like the terrible events that happen at least can effect some positive change in the characters' lives, and I didn't get that sense here.

Set in the small town of Roma, Kentucky, this novel is told through the viewpoints of four separate characters. Emily is a socially awkward eighth grader, harboring a secret crush, who discovers a body in the woods. Susanna is a middle school teacher, unsatisfied wife and harried mother. Her wild sister Ronnie is missing and no one will take her concerns seriously. Tony is the detective who is back in his hometown after an injury that destroyed his baseball career. Wyatt is a 55-year old factory worker who is tormented and bullied by his co-workers and whose only friend is his dog, Boss.

I really enjoyed the complex characters and the way the author captured the small town southern feel. The four characters slowly unwrap their stories show more along with the miseries of their lives in a way that totally drew me in to the story. I thought it was a terrific character driven mystery in a setting that is perfectly captured in an authentic way. If you are looking for a standard murder mystery this is not the book for you. If you are searching for a compelling story with characters who are realistically portrayed this may be just what you're looking for. show less

From the book flap:

“In THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME, the disappearance of one woman, the hard-drinking and unpredictable Ronnie Eastman, reveals the ambitions, prejudices, and anxieties of a small southern town and its residents. There’s Ronnie’s sister Susanna, a dutiful but dissatisfied schoolteacher, mother, and wife; Tony, a failed baseball star-turned-detective; Emily, a socially awkward thirteen-year-old with a dark secret; and Wyatt, a factory worker tormented by a past he can’t change and by a love he doesn’t think he deserves. Connected in ways they cannot begin to imagine, their stories converge in a violent climax that reveals not just the mystery of what happened to Ronnie but all of their secret selves.”

My take on show more it:

When I read Holly Goddard Jones’s short story collection, GIRL TROUBLE, I was struck by how well Goddard Jones drew her characters. Somehow she made every person in her stories recognizable members of Anytown, USA without turning them into stereotypes. I’m not a writer, and I’m not really a book critic, but that seems like a very hard thing to do. Therefore, I was thrilled when I found out that the author’s next project was a novel; I could only imagine how good her characters would be with so many pages to devote to them!

Holly Goddard Jones’s THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME did not disappoint me at all. The individuals populating the fictional town of Roma, Kentucky were people I felt I knew, and the glimpse offered into their lives was unsettling, sad, and oftentimes appalling. In the book, Ronnie Eastman’s disappearance is not really much of an enigma, but that’s surprisingly okay because the suspense in the novel builds through the characters’ thoughts, actions, and reactions, not the attempt to solve a crime. THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME is also a frank look at bullying, and it’s a reminder that bullying can be just as real and devastating in the adult world as it is for kids.

Ultimately, THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME looks into the secret selves of ordinary people, and that is what makes this book both fascinating and disturbing. show less

If this is what Holly Goddard Jones does for a debut novel, I can’t wait for what comes next!

Set in a small southern town, the Next Time You See Me has a cast of realistic characters who have their lives changed when a woman disappears. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is how the ripples affect all segments of society from the outcast 8th grader to the prominent lawyer. Scenes play out everywhere from the middle school to the factory to the honkytonk.

This is a novel that allows you to feel exactly how the characters are feeling and with very few exceptions, you can be sympathetic to every one of them. While it could be considered a mystery, the mystery is secondary to the exploration of how the disappearance and show more subsequent discovery of a body in the woods changes the lives of those involved. This story makes you feel life in a small town as if you lived there yourself.

There is some strong language and definitely some adult situations and violence.

I received this book through Goodreads giveaways and I appreciated the chance to read and review this book. show less

This book was good, but depressing, but good, but I hated the ending.

The story is told from several character's POV, and I have to say that each of these characters is depressing in his or her own way. There's just so much desperation going on, not so much outright, but it's there. You'll cringe at some of the things these characters do, and feel sad for them, and also think about all of the pathetic things you've done and had thought you'd successfully forgotten.

And yet it was a good story, very absorbing even though it wasn't so much a suspense novel as a character study. Well-written, I mean, you could see and imagine and feel just like you're supposed to, when reading fiction.

But the ending, I hated the ending, it did not alleviate show more the depressing-ness at all, and I try to avoid actual life circumstances that are actually depressing, let alone made-up ones that I bring upon myself. Still, it was good. Worth reading, but maybe only if you are on a relentlessly cheerful streak that you'd like to put a stop to. show less

I won this book from Goodreads. I enjoyed this book - again I wish I could give it 3.5 stars. I liked how the characters lives were intertwined and I definitely didn't see the twist coming at the end with the 'who did it' part of the story. However, all the characters were very sad and depressing and the setting itself was very depressing.