alexandra+gnaden+-+missing+you,+love+sara

= **__Missing you, love Sara__ __-__**__by Jackie French.__ =

- //Book review by Alexandra Gnaden.//
Missing you, love Sara is a book about a families fight for their missing daughter. On the 4th of May, Reenie goes missing. This book is written in semi diary form and is started off as going back and forth from the present to the past, but as the story progresses and the backgrounds of their lives are explained, it begins to just be told in the present tense. We are never given much of an insight into the parents’ personalities. The book is set in present day Australia. The main character in this book is Sara, Rennie’s younger sister. It is made clear to us in the book that Sara has always been very jealous of Reenie because she was in some aspects, the more loved daughter. However, Reenie seems to be very idealised by Sara. We’re given the impression that Reenie was perfect, and was liked by everybody. Sara seems to have a few problems with her confidence as her sister was always the one that was given most of the attention. The way Jackie French has described the reaction given by Sara regarding her sister’s disappearance is a bit unexpected. It doesn’t seem to me that she shows her emotions enough. She doesn’t change her attitude towards things and doesn’t let us know how much she cares. Sara’s mother and father are divorced in this story and the father lives in the country with Sara, while the mother lives in the city with Reenie. Sara and Reenie don’t see much of each other and their parents don’t really talk. The mother is a worry wart and the father seems to be a more relaxed person. We never read about the father crying in the story, though, if you read a bit deeper into the words French has put on the page, you can tell that the father is in fact very upset and doesn’t want to distress his younger daughter even further. The minor characters in this book are really just Reenie’s friends and boyfriend, who are all under suspicion by Sara and her family. Though none of them have a major role, they make the story just that little bit deeper and without them the story wouldn’t have much of a place to go. They give the story a bit of mystery and you are made to be suspicious of Reenie’s friends and question their innocence. This story is told from Sara’s point of view and she mainly tells things how she sees them and explains to us what she thinks about the situation. The story begins from Reenie’s disappearance and flashbacks are used. We get the feeling at the start of the story there is tension between Sara and her mother and even a little with her sister as the jealousy factor comes into play. As it progresses, we feel a bit of sadness through the characters and the story becomes more intriguing as we try and work out just exactly how each character is feeling. We know that before the story begins that obviously the parents have broken up, and we know that Reenie has a boyfriend, Johnny, and he lives out of town just down the road from Sara. The story begins with Reenie’s disappearance and from then on the story is just told by different things that occur. The relationships in this book are family relationships. They revolve around a family going through a very hard time and their fight for their daughter. The main relationship in this book is the one between Sara and her missing sister Reenie. You can tell that Sara really does love Reenie but in some ways, doesn’t know much about her life. I guess that this book is trying to teach us about how important sibling relationships are and how people that are lucky enough to be granted with a sister or a brother should really treasure it and not take it for granted. This book really tackles the issue of being safe and does introduce the concept of murder. This book tells us the truth about certain people out there and it makes us be aware of our surroundings. This book really makes you think about how easily things can happen and how important it is to be careful and safe.

Personally I didn’t really enjoy this book. I didn’t feel that it went very far and there was so much more that French could’ve elaborated on. It didn’t explore the issues nor the characters deeply enough. I think that she kept everything at a very basic level and didn’t use her abilities as a writer to make this story so much more complex and intriguing. As a reader, I don’t feel that it drew me in and I had to push myself to continue reading. I didn’t really like the style of writing that French used; it made the story a little boring. If I was describing it to others, I would say that this book was for an easy level of readers and even some at a young age would be able to conquer it but the different types of adult concepts may be inappropriate. However, there are many imaginative and entertaining parts in this story. Imaginative, as we have to use our brains to work out what actually happened to Reenie, and entertaining as there are certain bits that make us smile. The book was disturbing; mainly because of what it was about and the concepts you have to get your head around. It is suited to some people, but others, like me, may not understand the book thoroughly.