A Wigwam for a Goose's Bridle

Leanne Hall is an award winning young adult and children’s writer. Thanks to NetGalley and her publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of The Gaps, her latest offering to be published this March.

The community of an elite school is shocked by the abduction of a Year 10 student. In the days that follow, we see the story from two perspectives. Chloe is the scholarship student from a different area of town who is just trying to fit in. Natalia is the Queen Bee. They seem like polar opposites, but through this traumatic experience they come to have more in common than expected.

I really struggled to get into this novel with the first couple of weeks post abduction really dragged for me. I got to a point where I had to put the book down and read something else. When I returned, however, the plot picked up significantly and I finally found myself emotionally invested in the outcome.

This book is not your standard mystery. To be frank, it’s not really about what did or didn’t happen to Yin, the abducted girl, or who did it. It’s about the girls left behind. It’s about adolescence which is a tricky enough transition as it is, suddenly further disrupted by trauma. It’s a story about finding your cause and finding your voice.