Don't let the happy pink cover deceive you. Look closer and see the fainter picture of the screaming girl in the background, and pay attention to the words "Imagine the perfect revenge", and then you'll have a better idea of what this book is going to be like.

"You Must Not Miss" is the book that would be made if you put Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" and Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak" into a blender. It's about a young girl, Magpie, who has very much been abandoned by the people closest to her, so she is left with imagining up a perfect place of her own in a tattered yellow notebook. But this place begins to warp, and the shadowy things Magpie doesn't really want to acknowledge begin to creep out and send her down a very dark path.

Leno has a talent for just wrapping the reader up in false sense of security with her writing, just before dumping them off the deep end with Mags. There wasn't a single moment I wasn't interested in what was happening. Also, the characters feel very thought-out and real; even the supporting characters add a lot of substance to the book.
The only thing that I wish had been a little different was the plot pacing: the ending happened so quickly, and I think it could have benefited from a bit more build up. It hit a certain point where the reader knew what was going to happen and I think that took away too much of the suspense that had been so good until that point.

If you want a freshly creepy YA story with a dose of magic realism, or just want to read a book that's going to leave you feeling vaguely unsettled like someone is watching you from the shadows, then "You Must Not Miss" is the book for you. ( )

4.25/5 ( )

4.5 Stars ( )

Creepy AF. ( )

This was a haunting, sad, and lyrical novel about parental neglect, trauma, and revenge. It has a similar premise to Coraline, but with a more adult outcome. Probably not Leno's best, but definitely up there.

Trigger warning: sexual assault, alcoholism ( )