Review: The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer

The Girl in the Red Coat

by Kate Hamer

Publisher: Melville House

Pages: 336

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Carmel has always been different. Carmel's mother, Beth, newly single, worries about her daughter's strangeness, especially as she is trying to rebuild a life for the two of them on her own. When she takes eight year-old Carmel to a local children's festival, her worst fear is realised: Carmel disappears. Unable to accept the possibility that her daughter might be gone for good, Beth embarks on a mission to find her. Meanwhile, Carmel begins an extraordinary and terrifying journey of her own, with a man who believes she is a saviour.


Kritters Thoughts:  A little girl goes missing and a mother is devastated and in this book both the missing girl and her mother take turns narrating the story before she goes missing and the many days after.  

First let me say, I enjoyed the alternating narratives and I liked that we, the reader, had Carmel's perspective along with her mother, it made the book feel a little more unique as I think I have read quite a few books recently with children going missing.  With this perspective, it was hard because Carmel obviously had a limited vocabulary so there were moments in her chapters where I was confused as to what she was trying to tell us, the readers.

Second, it took a long time to find out why she was kidnapped and as we had her perspective in chapters, I was surprised it took so long to find out why she was kidnapped.  Then when we find out it was just kind of ehh.  Don't get me wrong, I love some religious crazy, but I don't feel like we got the set up before she was kidnapped to work with the after.  

This book didn't blow my socks off, but it didn't fall flat, it coasted in the middle for me.  I wouldn't rule this author out and would definitely try her next book, but maybe with a little caution.


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row


Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.