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The Gaps
What does it mean to be the one left behind?
When sixteen-year-old Yin Mitchell is abducted, the news reverberates through the whole Year Ten class at Balmoral Ladies College. As the hours tick by, the girls know the chance of Yin being found alive is becoming smaller and smaller.
Police suspect the abduction is the work of a serial offender, with none in the community safe from suspicion. Everyone is affected by Yin’s disappearance—even scholarship student Chloe, who usually stays out of Balmoral drama, is drawn into the maelstrom. And when she begins to form an uneasy alliance with the queen of Year Ten, Natalia, things get even more complicated.
Looking over their shoulders at every turn, Chloe and Natalia must come together to cope with their fear and grief as best they can. A tribute to friendship in all its guises, The Gaps is a moving examination of vulnerability and strength, safety and danger, and the particular uncertainty of being a young woman in the world.
When sixteen-year-old Yin Mitchell is abducted, the news reverberates through the whole Year Ten class at Balmoral Ladies College. As the hours tick by, the girls know the chance of Yin being found alive is becoming smaller and smaller.
Police suspect the abduction is the work of a serial offender, with none in the community safe from suspicion. Everyone is affected by Yin’s disappearance—even scholarship student Chloe, who usually stays out of Balmoral drama, is drawn into the maelstrom. And when she begins to form an uneasy alliance with the queen of Year Ten, Natalia, things get even more complicated.
Looking over their shoulders at every turn, Chloe and Natalia must come together to cope with their fear and grief as best they can. A tribute to friendship in all its guises, The Gaps is a moving examination of vulnerability and strength, safety and danger, and the particular uncertainty of being a young woman in the world.
356 pages, Paperback
First published March 2, 2021
26 people are currently reading
1081 people want to read
About the author
Leanne Hall
8 books132 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Leanne Hall is an author of young adult and children’s fiction. Her debut novel, This Is Shyness, won the Text Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Writing, and was followed by a sequel, Queen of the Night. Her novel for younger readers, Iris and the Tiger, won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature at the 2017 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Leanne works as a children’s and YA specialist at an independent bookshop.
Leanne Hall is an author of young adult and children’s fiction. Her debut novel, This Is Shyness, won the Text Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Writing, and was followed by a sequel, Queen of the Night. Her novel for younger readers, Iris and the Tiger, won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature at the 2017 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Leanne works as a children’s and YA specialist at an independent bookshop.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 177 reviews
May 20, 2021
This one is quite promising, realistic, heart wrenching, thought provoking, dark YA thriller which can be easily differentiated from the other books sharing the same genre with its striking approach to the micro aggression, racism, gender classification and unique look to the grief and loss!
The box is more complex, having a slow burn start to give us more layered depictions of characters!
Biracial scholarship student Chloe is having hard time to fit in her ladies college, surrounded around white privileged girls who have known each other since their childhood times, living in the same social circles. As a colored, half- Asian person, coming from middle class family, she tries to lay low not to distract anyone’s attention but young Yin’s kidnapping changes her entire perspective in her new school life.
Especially her mother’s comment about colored people’s getting less attention from media which will probably affect the possibility of the girl’s finding out are eyes opening facts to a new reality. She channels her inner anger, resentment, regrets and fears with her and one day at the art class she stands up for herself after hearing a racist comment which attracts Natalia who is notorious queen bee of the school.
Later Chloe finds out Natalia was the best friend of Yin at their junior years till they got drifted apart. From their perspectives we see their reactions: fear, grief, sadness help her understand each other. Two girls may be polar opposites but the fact never stops them to form a tight bond and genuine friendship because the things their suffer and their common feelings help them complete with each other.
I liked the detailed character portraits and stunning approach to the grief, loss, racial issues, poverty, class inequalities with great LGBTQ representation.
It’s heartfelt, impressive, intense story shaking you to the core that truly enjoy and highly recommend!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing Company for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
The box is more complex, having a slow burn start to give us more layered depictions of characters!
Biracial scholarship student Chloe is having hard time to fit in her ladies college, surrounded around white privileged girls who have known each other since their childhood times, living in the same social circles. As a colored, half- Asian person, coming from middle class family, she tries to lay low not to distract anyone’s attention but young Yin’s kidnapping changes her entire perspective in her new school life.
Especially her mother’s comment about colored people’s getting less attention from media which will probably affect the possibility of the girl’s finding out are eyes opening facts to a new reality. She channels her inner anger, resentment, regrets and fears with her and one day at the art class she stands up for herself after hearing a racist comment which attracts Natalia who is notorious queen bee of the school.
Later Chloe finds out Natalia was the best friend of Yin at their junior years till they got drifted apart. From their perspectives we see their reactions: fear, grief, sadness help her understand each other. Two girls may be polar opposites but the fact never stops them to form a tight bond and genuine friendship because the things their suffer and their common feelings help them complete with each other.
I liked the detailed character portraits and stunning approach to the grief, loss, racial issues, poverty, class inequalities with great LGBTQ representation.
It’s heartfelt, impressive, intense story shaking you to the core that truly enjoy and highly recommend!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing Company for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
May 13, 2022
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me an ARC!
I’m not sure why I got this as an ARC about seven months after its release but who’s complaining?
This book was intense. I was into it from pretty much the first few chapters, and I got so into it later on.
The plot follows the students of Balmoral Ladies College after a Year Ten, Yin Mitchell, is kidnapped. Specifically, it follows Chloe and Natalia - two girls who couldn’t be more different, yet find common ground through the abduction.
Where do they go, those girls that accidentally fall through a gap in the universe? What's on the other side?
I love thriller and mystery types of books. Most of them are murders, so I was kind of thrown off by this one being a disappearance - the tension was written so well and so eloquently that it drew me in pretty much immediately.
The writing was really well-done. The atmosphere and tone of this book were so perfectly tense and eerie, but fittingly powerful. I loved how eloquent it was and how well all the themes came across. Most contemporaries, especially mysteries, don’t really have that quality to the writing, but Leanne Hall pulled it off.
I think the best strength about this book was the characters. Their perspectives were so powerful and I felt like I could feel everything that happened in the book.
Chloe was someone I could relate to. She was half-Singaporean, quiet and did her best to avoid drama at school. As the scholarship student, she couldn’t afford to be mixed up with the more snobby crowd of Balmoral. Her narration style and personality just resonated with me somehow. I loved her perspective, her quiet ambition and the way her emotions came through the writing.
Natalia was very complex, and while I didn’t like her as much as Chloe, I still loved how her personality came across. She was very flawed but acted perfect, powerful yet vulnerable. I loved her development and the way she did her best to do what she thought was right.
I thought it was kind of stereotypical that Natalia was the blonde, pretty popular girl, since for some reason that’s actually pretty overused in a lot of mystery/thriller books. But it didn’t detract from her character.
I loved how they were both such contrasting characters with such different opinions, but their narratives combined in an amazingly clever way. Chloe’s quiet tension and artistic personality was a really good complement to Natalia’s loud and aggressive approach.
“You don't know what it's like to be an outsider or a target, you don't know how easy it is to bring someone like me down. I tried, and I failed, and I just want to go away and be quiet now.”
I loved how between their perspectives, this book brought in a whole aspect of what it feels like not to be seen.
There was Chloe, the scholarship student, half-Singaporean and naturally introverted, who tried to keep any attention away from her. She didn’t know how to express herself and didn’t want to for fear of it coming back to hurt her.
Then there was Natalia, who kept everything under a loud, popular-queen mask, making everyone see what they expected to see in order to hide that she was really falling apart inside. She exaggerated the parts that felt the most expressive to cover up her real emotions.
And then between them, there was this aspect of privilege. Natalia was rich and white. Chloe was poor and mixed. There was a between-the-words narrative about how privilege affects safety.
Honestly, that was what I loved about this book. The narrative on racism and misogyny was so relevant and cleverly done. It started out at the beginning of the book as this atmosphere of paranoia between the girls of Balmoral, the terror concerning Lin’s kidnapping. It was subtle. Then, as the days went on, it increased into more and more fear about crime rates, what might have happened, who else this could happen to, who else it had happened to.
This book was feminist in a very understated yet powerful way, and I was really invested in that.
Why is it so easy to override what girls and women want, what they might decide if they were given any control?
I also loved Chloe’s involvement concerning diversity. I loved how her artistic perspective took on such strength concerning subjects of photography and expression and how she grew over the plot. I loved Natalia’s slow awakening to her own privilege and vulnerability, and how she had to confront the issues she’d been convincing herself were just normal.
Overall, this book was really powerful and very engaging. It carried so many strong messages but it didn’t take away from the plot. The plot itself was intense and carried itself so well, and the characters just added another level of complexity.
I didn’t know how strong this book would be when I picked it up, but I am so glad I read it. I enjoyed it so much, and I was so into the atmosphere of it. It was the kind of book I didn’t know I needed to read. This was so much more than just an elite-school thriller.
If women hold up half the sky, then why are we so disposable?
September 6, 2022
“What does it mean, to be the one left behind?”
The book is beautiful but at the same time has a sense of haunting and thrill.
The books begins with the disappearance of Yin Mitchell and the news breaking whose of the 10th graders of Baltimore Women’s College into a clamour. But don’t be deceived my friends, this is no book of suspense, but a book that travels deep into your soul, exploring the diversity of grief. The whole story fill about how the society and the surroundings, friends, family and the classmates cope up with the incident.
(I would recommend this book to everyone who is in it for a heartbreak, little sorrow. Trigger warning : there is depiction of aggressiveness, depression, death and disturbing thought)
The whole of the society, the diversity of people present is depicted in the story. There are victims, there are people who bask themselves in the light, making everything that happens around them about themselves. There are people who are caring and emotionally strong, there are people with the hardest exterior but unknown to the world how much they are crumbling inside.
Grief is a raw and pure emotion, which is experienced differently by everyone, some may be coping up by opening themselves to others, some by therapy, and some unable to open themselves. The way how grief differentiates everyone and at the same time unites everyone is so beautifully shown in the story. The vocabulary and words used are so descriptive that the image is perfectly formed in behind our eyes.
What is death, is it end of the life, the escape of the soul, beginning of a new dawn somewhere else, is it like the sunset which makes us hope that if not now there would be a sunrise, making us believe in afterlife. What every person thinks is different from others, some very traditional, and others too scientific.
And yet again as we differ in our thought, we unite again in our grief, in the grief of losing someone. This book made me think, it is really the grief that unites everyone more than the happiness. Our happiness may not be felt by others, but our grief definitely reaches the heart of the crowd, gathering everyone shoulder to shoulder in sympathy.
The book has protrayed the raw essence of a gap created by the disappearance or maybe death of a person, a gap that never be filled, a gap which is always reminding us of what it was, a gap that can only be learnt to live by, a gap that can only be won by emotion.
This has been a lot of emotional talk, so let’s me say something else. There was a mention of a series named Devil Creek in the book, that made me so curious that I even searched it upon the net 😅 (I know I’m so dumb there). There is a lot of mentioning of art and photography that has almost encouraged me to open my sketch book and fill the white pages in black, again (I had to almost stop my urge as I am presently taking a break from sketching even if it’s too hard not to slip back).
Now coming to the rating :
Title: apt and perfect ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cover : beautiful and attractive ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Story : deep, emotional and addictive (with cute sibling relationship and parental care snippets)⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Language: descriptive and perfect⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Character development: the main leads character development was intricate, but of the accessory characters- not that much⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is a beautiful wonderful and bold dedication to friendship!!!
(The offendant is not found in the story, so there is no proper closure for poor little Yin, which disappointed me a bit. But hey! The title is itself named “the gaps”, so I will try and cope up with this gap)
Rating : 4.5 stars so rounding off to 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5
The book is beautiful but at the same time has a sense of haunting and thrill.
The books begins with the disappearance of Yin Mitchell and the news breaking whose of the 10th graders of Baltimore Women’s College into a clamour. But don’t be deceived my friends, this is no book of suspense, but a book that travels deep into your soul, exploring the diversity of grief. The whole story fill about how the society and the surroundings, friends, family and the classmates cope up with the incident.
(I would recommend this book to everyone who is in it for a heartbreak, little sorrow. Trigger warning : there is depiction of aggressiveness, depression, death and disturbing thought)
The whole of the society, the diversity of people present is depicted in the story. There are victims, there are people who bask themselves in the light, making everything that happens around them about themselves. There are people who are caring and emotionally strong, there are people with the hardest exterior but unknown to the world how much they are crumbling inside.
Grief is a raw and pure emotion, which is experienced differently by everyone, some may be coping up by opening themselves to others, some by therapy, and some unable to open themselves. The way how grief differentiates everyone and at the same time unites everyone is so beautifully shown in the story. The vocabulary and words used are so descriptive that the image is perfectly formed in behind our eyes.
“Chunjuan wails like an animal in pain, a baby keening in a cot, like someone facing a black, dark void. Her face is a tortured mask. I’ve never seen anyone in so much pain, and still she wails.”
What is death, is it end of the life, the escape of the soul, beginning of a new dawn somewhere else, is it like the sunset which makes us hope that if not now there would be a sunrise, making us believe in afterlife. What every person thinks is different from others, some very traditional, and others too scientific.
“When you’re dead everything stops, the activity in your cells creaks to a halt. Your brain powers down, the sparks that leap from neuron to neuron cease, all your thoughts and memories and what you think of as your personality is gone because your brain machine has stopped. You don’t have a soul, because what you thought of as your soul was just electricity in your brain. You only exist while the machine thinks you do.”
And yet again as we differ in our thought, we unite again in our grief, in the grief of losing someone. This book made me think, it is really the grief that unites everyone more than the happiness. Our happiness may not be felt by others, but our grief definitely reaches the heart of the crowd, gathering everyone shoulder to shoulder in sympathy.
The book has protrayed the raw essence of a gap created by the disappearance or maybe death of a person, a gap that never be filled, a gap which is always reminding us of what it was, a gap that can only be learnt to live by, a gap that can only be won by emotion.
This has been a lot of emotional talk, so let’s me say something else. There was a mention of a series named Devil Creek in the book, that made me so curious that I even searched it upon the net 😅 (I know I’m so dumb there). There is a lot of mentioning of art and photography that has almost encouraged me to open my sketch book and fill the white pages in black, again (I had to almost stop my urge as I am presently taking a break from sketching even if it’s too hard not to slip back).
Now coming to the rating :
Title: apt and perfect ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cover : beautiful and attractive ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Story : deep, emotional and addictive (with cute sibling relationship and parental care snippets)⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Language: descriptive and perfect⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Character development: the main leads character development was intricate, but of the accessory characters- not that much⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is a beautiful wonderful and bold dedication to friendship!!!
(The offendant is not found in the story, so there is no proper closure for poor little Yin, which disappointed me a bit. But hey! The title is itself named “the gaps”, so I will try and cope up with this gap)
Rating : 4.5 stars so rounding off to 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5
Read
November 10, 2022The following book reviews have been shared by Text Publishing – publisher of The Gaps
‘Haunting and beautiful. At first it has the page-turning addictiveness of a thriller and then it evolves into a captivating exploration of grief, guilt and resilience in the face of fear and uncertainty. Hall's characters are meticulously drawn, brave, fierce and vulnerable. A stunning achievement from an Australian treasure.’
Wai Chim
‘A powerful, compelling read about the fragility, resilience and fierceness of girlhood. Unputdownable.’
Lili Wilkinson
‘A creeping psychological thriller about loss and fear and guilt and the fractured relationships that are left behind. Brilliant.’
Robert Newton
'Hall's writing is breathtakingly good. The Gaps is a lightning bolt of a novel about power, privilege, race, art and identity.'
Nina Kenwood
'[The Gaps] is simultaneously harrowing and enchanting… Hall’s thoughtful novel explores friendship, victimhood and art. Readers who enjoyed the private school machinations of Alice Pung’s Laurinda but are prepared for the tension of Sarah Epstein’s Deep Water will be drawn into this novel, and will find it hard to escape its pull.'
Books+Publishing
‘Leanne Hall is without a doubt one of Australia’s best young-adult writers. Hall’s work is full of the fear and risk of adolescence, but also the strength and friendships that define it.’
Saturday Paper
'This a cleanly constructed novel examining female friendship forged in a grim atmosphere, and it benefits immensely from realistic teen dialogue and well-distinguished voice creation.’
Age
'This novel perfectly portrays the uncertainties and vulnerabilities young women face daily.’
Otago Daily Times
'The Gaps may well be the best Australian YA of 2021.’
Joy Lawn, Australian
'Rather than traversing the detective novel path, The Gaps explores the emotions of 'those who were left behin.'
after a student is abducted. The experience and the characters will will keep you hooked until the last page.'
Readings Teen Advisory Board
'Hall brilliantly examines the melange of confused messages sent to teenage girls…[proving] she can do gritty realism as well as quirky and magical. There isn't a neat ending to The Gaps, for a pat resolution would go against the grain of the book. It eschews a forensic crime investigation for a psychological portrait of bereavement and a community at loss – and these are not ever easily resolved.'
Sydney Review of Books
'The Gaps is a gutting novel about grief, guilt, and friendship in the aftermath of a horrific crime.’
Foreword Reviews
'Hauntingly riveting… a nuanced exploration of grief, guilt, violence, and resilience.’
Kirkus (Starred review)
‘Chloe and Natalia's evolving friendship is portrayed with aching authenticity…Each, in distinct and perfectly drawn voices, confronts their own vulnerability, rage, fear, guilt, grief, somehow finding resilience in the face of a world that seems to want "their teenage girls ruined”…[The Gaps is] confronting yet compelling.’
Judges comments for the 2022 Prime Minister's Literary Awards
‘Haunting and beautiful. At first it has the page-turning addictiveness of a thriller and then it evolves into a captivating exploration of grief, guilt and resilience in the face of fear and uncertainty. Hall's characters are meticulously drawn, brave, fierce and vulnerable. A stunning achievement from an Australian treasure.’
Wai Chim
‘A powerful, compelling read about the fragility, resilience and fierceness of girlhood. Unputdownable.’
Lili Wilkinson
‘A creeping psychological thriller about loss and fear and guilt and the fractured relationships that are left behind. Brilliant.’
Robert Newton
'Hall's writing is breathtakingly good. The Gaps is a lightning bolt of a novel about power, privilege, race, art and identity.'
Nina Kenwood
'[The Gaps] is simultaneously harrowing and enchanting… Hall’s thoughtful novel explores friendship, victimhood and art. Readers who enjoyed the private school machinations of Alice Pung’s Laurinda but are prepared for the tension of Sarah Epstein’s Deep Water will be drawn into this novel, and will find it hard to escape its pull.'
Books+Publishing
‘Leanne Hall is without a doubt one of Australia’s best young-adult writers. Hall’s work is full of the fear and risk of adolescence, but also the strength and friendships that define it.’
Saturday Paper
'This a cleanly constructed novel examining female friendship forged in a grim atmosphere, and it benefits immensely from realistic teen dialogue and well-distinguished voice creation.’
Age
'This novel perfectly portrays the uncertainties and vulnerabilities young women face daily.’
Otago Daily Times
'The Gaps may well be the best Australian YA of 2021.’
Joy Lawn, Australian
'Rather than traversing the detective novel path, The Gaps explores the emotions of 'those who were left behin.'
after a student is abducted. The experience and the characters will will keep you hooked until the last page.'
Readings Teen Advisory Board
'Hall brilliantly examines the melange of confused messages sent to teenage girls…[proving] she can do gritty realism as well as quirky and magical. There isn't a neat ending to The Gaps, for a pat resolution would go against the grain of the book. It eschews a forensic crime investigation for a psychological portrait of bereavement and a community at loss – and these are not ever easily resolved.'
Sydney Review of Books
'The Gaps is a gutting novel about grief, guilt, and friendship in the aftermath of a horrific crime.’
Foreword Reviews
'Hauntingly riveting… a nuanced exploration of grief, guilt, violence, and resilience.’
Kirkus (Starred review)
‘Chloe and Natalia's evolving friendship is portrayed with aching authenticity…Each, in distinct and perfectly drawn voices, confronts their own vulnerability, rage, fear, guilt, grief, somehow finding resilience in the face of a world that seems to want "their teenage girls ruined”…[The Gaps is] confronting yet compelling.’
Judges comments for the 2022 Prime Minister's Literary Awards
May 13, 2021
Anyone who is a fan of the current wave of crime hitting the YA shelves will love this book. It was a slow read for me at the beginning, but once I was in I couldn't put it down. This is an abduction story, told from two perspectives, you'd be forgiven for not totally getting that you were getting two points of view - at least I didn't realise for quite some time. So, a little bit of confusion at the start. But I've still given it 5 stars so you already know I thought it was good despite the confusion.
It is a missing person story. Yin Mitchell, best friend, great student, well known to all at school, has gone missing. One minute here in school, doing the everyday stuff, next minute gone. Is she murdered? Has she run away? Both of these seem very unlikely, but the fact is, she isn't around anymore and her family are desperate and her friends are scared and upset. We hear Chloe's point of view first, she is a scholarship student, she is new to the school. The others have come through from primary, but she is new. Talented and hard working but with different a different life to the other girls at this private school. And then we meet Natalia, someone who has a posse of acolytes, girls who hang on her every word, she and Chloe are not made for each other they clash and Natalia makes Chloe pay. But tying these girls together is the mystery of Yin. They are both affected, both so needing to know where she is.
There is tension, school politics, mean girls, music, art and conflict. I thought it was wonderful, loved the scenes where the art is described. It is a cleverly constructed, interesting novel.
It is a missing person story. Yin Mitchell, best friend, great student, well known to all at school, has gone missing. One minute here in school, doing the everyday stuff, next minute gone. Is she murdered? Has she run away? Both of these seem very unlikely, but the fact is, she isn't around anymore and her family are desperate and her friends are scared and upset. We hear Chloe's point of view first, she is a scholarship student, she is new to the school. The others have come through from primary, but she is new. Talented and hard working but with different a different life to the other girls at this private school. And then we meet Natalia, someone who has a posse of acolytes, girls who hang on her every word, she and Chloe are not made for each other they clash and Natalia makes Chloe pay. But tying these girls together is the mystery of Yin. They are both affected, both so needing to know where she is.
There is tension, school politics, mean girls, music, art and conflict. I thought it was wonderful, loved the scenes where the art is described. It is a cleverly constructed, interesting novel.
October 22, 2021
In my mind I was picking up a mystery thriller about girls who are kidnapped and some schoolmates who try to discover what really happened. What I got was a suspenseful contemporary book about girls, who try to cope with grieve, fear, and still try to manage their daily life as best as they can.
Chloe, a scholar student, tries to keep her distance from most of her classmates. I found her very condescending to some and actually, I still don’t understand why she would act how she did at some points.
Natalia is one of the popular girls at the school, I don’t know why she is, because she seems to not like anyone and no one seems to really like her. She is speaking her mind but her approach at things feels more like she’s trying to run headfirst through a wall. She says she’s always telling the truth, but she is mean in doing so. Some things don’t need to be said, even though they are true.
The mystery didn’t take much place in the whole story and instead it was more focused on the girls and their life. That, and me disliking both MCs, made me not enjoy this book. I think there’ll be reader who’ll have more fun reading this.
Chloe, a scholar student, tries to keep her distance from most of her classmates. I found her very condescending to some and actually, I still don’t understand why she would act how she did at some points.
Natalia is one of the popular girls at the school, I don’t know why she is, because she seems to not like anyone and no one seems to really like her. She is speaking her mind but her approach at things feels more like she’s trying to run headfirst through a wall. She says she’s always telling the truth, but she is mean in doing so. Some things don’t need to be said, even though they are true.
The mystery didn’t take much place in the whole story and instead it was more focused on the girls and their life. That, and me disliking both MCs, made me not enjoy this book. I think there’ll be reader who’ll have more fun reading this.
March 3, 2021
Here is one of the most important and incendiary books you’ll read this year. A book that will feel eerily timeless no matter when you come to it, because it’s topic is sadly always newsworthy.
Leanne Hall is hands-down one of my favourite authors. Every book she has written - for young adults or middle grade readers - feels ahead of its time in both topic and execution, and the same goes here. Previously she’s played in genre and particularly magical realism; but in this YA book she switches things up yet again ... delving into thriller twists and turns, but beneath that claws this story of friendship, loss and grief. The haunting realities of trauma and fear, and the very specific way that drapes across young girls in their first encounters and realisations of the power imbalances and vulnerabilities before them.
This story haunted me, but it also felt necessary. Leanne Hall just continues to floor me, frankly - this new book from her is brilliant and no less than I’ve come to expect.
Leanne Hall is hands-down one of my favourite authors. Every book she has written - for young adults or middle grade readers - feels ahead of its time in both topic and execution, and the same goes here. Previously she’s played in genre and particularly magical realism; but in this YA book she switches things up yet again ... delving into thriller twists and turns, but beneath that claws this story of friendship, loss and grief. The haunting realities of trauma and fear, and the very specific way that drapes across young girls in their first encounters and realisations of the power imbalances and vulnerabilities before them.
This story haunted me, but it also felt necessary. Leanne Hall just continues to floor me, frankly - this new book from her is brilliant and no less than I’ve come to expect.
January 12, 2021
Thanks you Netgalley for a copy in return for an honest review. Please give me more books like this!!!
So, I'm not a teenager, I don't live in Australia and I've never lost a close friend, and yet this book resonated so loudly for me. The plot is simple and perfectly executed. A young girl is abducted and this is the story of how her classmates cope. The story is told from two sides, and two very different characters. But let me tell you now, this is not what you expect. Having read the blurb I initially thought this was going to be about how rich girl meets poor girl and they bond over murder and try to solve the case. Well no. This is not what this is. This is so much better. Each girl handles things differently and each wants to know what happened to Him, but their stories intertwine beautifully and explore sadness, beauty joy and expectations all at the same time. Chloe is an artist of sorts and through her work the reader gets a real feel for the deeper issues of the book and the character of Natalia is like a transformation. This isn't a crime novel. This is not about Yin or her kidnapper. This is about what it feels like to be a girl. I'm 38 and yet this was raw and honest and made me want to be part of something just like them. I honestly cannot fault this book. It is an unexpected 5 stars for me and I will definitely be reading and recommending more from this author.
So, I'm not a teenager, I don't live in Australia and I've never lost a close friend, and yet this book resonated so loudly for me. The plot is simple and perfectly executed. A young girl is abducted and this is the story of how her classmates cope. The story is told from two sides, and two very different characters. But let me tell you now, this is not what you expect. Having read the blurb I initially thought this was going to be about how rich girl meets poor girl and they bond over murder and try to solve the case. Well no. This is not what this is. This is so much better. Each girl handles things differently and each wants to know what happened to Him, but their stories intertwine beautifully and explore sadness, beauty joy and expectations all at the same time. Chloe is an artist of sorts and through her work the reader gets a real feel for the deeper issues of the book and the character of Natalia is like a transformation. This isn't a crime novel. This is not about Yin or her kidnapper. This is about what it feels like to be a girl. I'm 38 and yet this was raw and honest and made me want to be part of something just like them. I honestly cannot fault this book. It is an unexpected 5 stars for me and I will definitely be reading and recommending more from this author.
January 3, 2022
Starting 2022 off right with some Aussie YA. Despite what the blurb might suggest, this isn't a thriller, or even a mystery really. It's much quieter than that, and all the more lovely for it. It's about friendships, lost and found in that gap between childhood and adulthood. It's about processing grief through art and anger. It's about coming to terms with being a girl when everything from pop culture to the nightly news is constantly reminding you that the world wants to consume and destroy you.
June 29, 2021
"Where do they go, those girls that accidentally fall through a gap in the universe? What's on the other side?"
I finished reading a week before Book Group! I must have fallen through a gap in the universe.
Momentarily, I have more to say...
January 8, 2021
4.5 stars
a huge thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an earc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
the gaps by leanne hall was an extremely interesting, insightful and thought provoking read, and there’s no doubt i’ll continue to think about it long after finishing it. the book is told through two character’s points of view, which i enjoyed, and by the end came to feel connected to both these characters in different ways. the story begins with the abduction of sixteen year old yin mitchell, which is a lingering presence throughout most of the book, though it didn’t centre on the solving of the mystery in the way i had thought it might, which in my opinion was overall a good thing. one thing that i found most interesting about this book was the characters and how they each reacted differently to yin’s abduction, and how they all grew over the course of the story. overall, hall’s writing is nice to read, and in my opinion this book had a good balance of plot and character development, as well as a good balance of povs. i was kept on the edge of my seat throughout reading this, and would definitely recommend it to others.
trigger warnings: mentions of rape, underage drinking, death, abduction/kidnapping, murder, mentions of depression, sexism, racism, objectification of women, mild gore
a huge thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an earc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
the gaps by leanne hall was an extremely interesting, insightful and thought provoking read, and there’s no doubt i’ll continue to think about it long after finishing it. the book is told through two character’s points of view, which i enjoyed, and by the end came to feel connected to both these characters in different ways. the story begins with the abduction of sixteen year old yin mitchell, which is a lingering presence throughout most of the book, though it didn’t centre on the solving of the mystery in the way i had thought it might, which in my opinion was overall a good thing. one thing that i found most interesting about this book was the characters and how they each reacted differently to yin’s abduction, and how they all grew over the course of the story. overall, hall’s writing is nice to read, and in my opinion this book had a good balance of plot and character development, as well as a good balance of povs. i was kept on the edge of my seat throughout reading this, and would definitely recommend it to others.
trigger warnings: mentions of rape, underage drinking, death, abduction/kidnapping, murder, mentions of depression, sexism, racism, objectification of women, mild gore
March 27, 2021
Hall captures so many elements of teenage girlhood in this powerful and fierce novel and it’s remarkable. What is even more impressive is her use of voice to do so. Chloe and Natalia are alive in my mind and moving through this unfair and scary world with courage and trepidation, an all too real state of being for so many girls and women.
February 8, 2023
2.5 STARS
The writing is nice but nothing happens. No closure either.
The writing is nice but nothing happens. No closure either.
dnf
November 29, 2020DNF at 14%
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc
I'm sad that I'm dnf-ing this but I also would rather dnf than give it a low rating. The arc was so oddly formated. Some of the text was red and the alignment was off. Also, there was a character named Arnold who I thought was a stuffed animal, but then it galloped and stuck out his tongue and then I realized he was a dog, and I'm pretty sure it never said that.
I'm just very confused and I might pick it back up when the finished copy comes out.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc
I'm sad that I'm dnf-ing this but I also would rather dnf than give it a low rating. The arc was so oddly formated. Some of the text was red and the alignment was off. Also, there was a character named Arnold who I thought was a stuffed animal, but then it galloped and stuck out his tongue and then I realized he was a dog, and I'm pretty sure it never said that.
I'm just very confused and I might pick it back up when the finished copy comes out.
May 4, 2021
I loved this book. A beautifully written and resonant story about the classmates of an Australian high schooler who is kidnapped, The Gaps is not a teen-sleuth murder mystery, but a poignant examination of the fear and courage involved in being a young woman coming of age in a world where women are so often subject to violence.
The narrative starts from Chloe’s perspective. She’s a half-Singaporean scholarship student who’s partway through her first year at Balmoral Ladies College, where she’s an outsider in a sea of wealthy and privileged girls who have known each other for years. As sixteen-year-old Yin Mitchell’s abduction permeates the school with terror and uncertainty, Chloe has to deal with the added stress of this toxic miasma on top of her already-heavy workload. When she breaks her usual policy of keeping to herself to tell off a classmate for a racist comment in art class, she catches the attention of Natalia, the ruthless queen bee of the Year Tens.
At this point, I was ready for The Gaps to be a typical high school drama, stereotypes and all, probably with some of the students solving the case at the end. But Leanne Hall thwarts all expectations of the genre, and delivers something entirely different and refreshing. It turns out that Natalia was best friends with Yin in Junior School, and though their friendship has since drifted apart, she’s filled with inner turmoil about Yin’s kidnapping and the end of their friendship. By turns guilty, scared, furious, and vicious, Natalia feels alienated from her high school friend group. When she gets involved helping with Chloe’s term art project, she finds an outlet for some of her overwhelming feelings about Yin and the hole that she left behind.
The alternating chapters from Chloe’s and Natalia’s perspectives are finely-balanced and distinct in voice. Hall’s prose is vivid, at times visceral, and does an incredible job of capturing the intensity of feelings involved in being a teenager. As an adult reader, I felt so much resonance with my own teenage feelings, particularly Natalia’s confusion, guilt, and grief at the loss of a onetime-best-friend. The story doesn’t shy away from the facts of crimes against women and minorities and the horrifying realization (and morbid fascination) that comes with growing up and becoming more aware of gender-based violence. Through Chloe’s perspective, Hall also examines the experience of being a person of color in a white space, be it a private school or the art world, and its intersections with gender and class.
The Gaps has so many real-feeling moments; awkward conversations with parents, the precarious feeling of revealing your work for public scrutiny, the thrill of an artistic concept working in practice, the discomfort of calling people out for things they’ve done wrong, as well as forgiving them. On top of all that, the pacing was excellent and I couldn’t put it down. It’s a wonderful book and has a lot to offer for both teen and adult readers.
Thank you to Text Publishing for the NetGalley ARC.
The narrative starts from Chloe’s perspective. She’s a half-Singaporean scholarship student who’s partway through her first year at Balmoral Ladies College, where she’s an outsider in a sea of wealthy and privileged girls who have known each other for years. As sixteen-year-old Yin Mitchell’s abduction permeates the school with terror and uncertainty, Chloe has to deal with the added stress of this toxic miasma on top of her already-heavy workload. When she breaks her usual policy of keeping to herself to tell off a classmate for a racist comment in art class, she catches the attention of Natalia, the ruthless queen bee of the Year Tens.
At this point, I was ready for The Gaps to be a typical high school drama, stereotypes and all, probably with some of the students solving the case at the end. But Leanne Hall thwarts all expectations of the genre, and delivers something entirely different and refreshing. It turns out that Natalia was best friends with Yin in Junior School, and though their friendship has since drifted apart, she’s filled with inner turmoil about Yin’s kidnapping and the end of their friendship. By turns guilty, scared, furious, and vicious, Natalia feels alienated from her high school friend group. When she gets involved helping with Chloe’s term art project, she finds an outlet for some of her overwhelming feelings about Yin and the hole that she left behind.
The alternating chapters from Chloe’s and Natalia’s perspectives are finely-balanced and distinct in voice. Hall’s prose is vivid, at times visceral, and does an incredible job of capturing the intensity of feelings involved in being a teenager. As an adult reader, I felt so much resonance with my own teenage feelings, particularly Natalia’s confusion, guilt, and grief at the loss of a onetime-best-friend. The story doesn’t shy away from the facts of crimes against women and minorities and the horrifying realization (and morbid fascination) that comes with growing up and becoming more aware of gender-based violence. Through Chloe’s perspective, Hall also examines the experience of being a person of color in a white space, be it a private school or the art world, and its intersections with gender and class.
The Gaps has so many real-feeling moments; awkward conversations with parents, the precarious feeling of revealing your work for public scrutiny, the thrill of an artistic concept working in practice, the discomfort of calling people out for things they’ve done wrong, as well as forgiving them. On top of all that, the pacing was excellent and I couldn’t put it down. It’s a wonderful book and has a lot to offer for both teen and adult readers.
Thank you to Text Publishing for the NetGalley ARC.
March 14, 2022
3.5 to 4 stars.
The Gaps is not a typical thriller or mystery, I usually don't read this genre but from the start of the book, I was into it and got so into it later on.
The plot follows the students of Balmoral Ladies College as they deal with a student abduction. Yin Mitchell, a well liked year 10 is the abducted. The story focuses on two totally different schools, Chloe, an Asian scholarship girl and Natalia, the queen bee of the year level.
This book had me turning the pages very quickly, the tension and suspense was written so well and I was in turn, invested in the outcome.
The writing suited the atmosphere and tone of this book which was fraught with tension. The writing was so realistic that it breathed life into the characters.
The characters made this book, they were so powerful with their thoughts and actions. They were written both so differently and both felt equally
Chloe was a well written character, she's not your typical fly under the radar student, her way of being an introvert and artist really have her some uniqueness.
I loved how someone so uninvolved with Vin as Chloe was could feel emotions about the abduction, showing that abductions affect not just people close to the missing person.
Natalia was very complex, and I loved how bold she was. Her personality really came through with the writing. She is definitely a lot more flawed then Chloe and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Her real emotions when written, felt so real that I could visualise the way she was feeling.
I loved the way they are polar opposites yet they seem to click and contrast eachother perfectly. I loved how Natalia kept everything under the mask to hide her true self, on some level, I really knew how it felt to try to express yourself a different way then you really want to.
I loved Chloe's introverted ways, fear of expression and socialising.
Both of them are not truly seen and I think that's something important to remember about them.
The outlook on sexism and racism was so relevant to the story due to the racial representation and obviously gender experiences. The feminism messages were cleverly written. I loved the way the paranoia of the girls of Balmoral was conveyed. The terror concerning Yin’s kidnapping was also realistic.
I loved the development of Chloe and Natalia. Chloe conveys her expressions into art, as well as important messages. For Natalia, her realisation of the casual things that were normalised was powerful to me and how she realised that normalised things aren't always okay.
Overall, this book was really powerful and very engaging. It has strong yet subtle messages of feminism as well as the struggles of teenagers and the true effects abduction has on the ones left behind.
The Gaps is not a typical thriller or mystery, I usually don't read this genre but from the start of the book, I was into it and got so into it later on.
The plot follows the students of Balmoral Ladies College as they deal with a student abduction. Yin Mitchell, a well liked year 10 is the abducted. The story focuses on two totally different schools, Chloe, an Asian scholarship girl and Natalia, the queen bee of the year level.
This book had me turning the pages very quickly, the tension and suspense was written so well and I was in turn, invested in the outcome.
The writing suited the atmosphere and tone of this book which was fraught with tension. The writing was so realistic that it breathed life into the characters.
The characters made this book, they were so powerful with their thoughts and actions. They were written both so differently and both felt equally
Chloe was a well written character, she's not your typical fly under the radar student, her way of being an introvert and artist really have her some uniqueness.
I loved how someone so uninvolved with Vin as Chloe was could feel emotions about the abduction, showing that abductions affect not just people close to the missing person.
Natalia was very complex, and I loved how bold she was. Her personality really came through with the writing. She is definitely a lot more flawed then Chloe and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Her real emotions when written, felt so real that I could visualise the way she was feeling.
I loved the way they are polar opposites yet they seem to click and contrast eachother perfectly. I loved how Natalia kept everything under the mask to hide her true self, on some level, I really knew how it felt to try to express yourself a different way then you really want to.
I loved Chloe's introverted ways, fear of expression and socialising.
Both of them are not truly seen and I think that's something important to remember about them.
The outlook on sexism and racism was so relevant to the story due to the racial representation and obviously gender experiences. The feminism messages were cleverly written. I loved the way the paranoia of the girls of Balmoral was conveyed. The terror concerning Yin’s kidnapping was also realistic.
I loved the development of Chloe and Natalia. Chloe conveys her expressions into art, as well as important messages. For Natalia, her realisation of the casual things that were normalised was powerful to me and how she realised that normalised things aren't always okay.
Overall, this book was really powerful and very engaging. It has strong yet subtle messages of feminism as well as the struggles of teenagers and the true effects abduction has on the ones left behind.
March 18, 2021
Fabulous cover and I am familiar with author's name even if I've not previously read her books. While I do read some contemporary YA, it's not my preferred genre but I think I was slightly misled by the description of this book which makes me think that there'd be some mystery solving duo. It's my own fault though for reading into it the way I wanted to rather than what it actually says. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the reading; identified with some characters, shed some tears, and bowled over by the powerful emotions emanating from each protags.
There are 2 POVs in this story: Chloe who comes into Balmoral Ladies College on scholarship in Yr 10 and Natalia, the queen of Yr 10. While Chloe struggles to adjust herself to her new environment where not only is she demographically different but where most of these girls have known each other from primary school, Natalia appears to be in control of everything around her but internally she's ready to combust. When Yin Mitchell, a Yr 10 student at Balmoral, disappeared, Natalia's tight control over her thoughts and feelings begins to unspool.
What hit me most in this novel is the myriad of feelings; of confusion, grief, rage, hopelessness. They were so powerful, it was nearly overwhelming. Maybe I've also forgotten what it's like to be a teen though I've never had an issue like this (a kidnapped friend). Yet amongst this anger against an unfair world, lives keep on rolling forward and whether you'd want to or not, you are swept along. Both Chloe & Natalia along with a number of secondary characters have grown leaps & bound throughout this novel and certainly in a very good way so I guess that's an excellent ending for the novel. I'm left with a teeny bit of unresolved disappointment but I don't want to spoil anyone so I'll leave that one as vague as it is.
Thank you Text Publishing via Netgalley for the e-copy of this book in exchange of my honest thoughts
There are 2 POVs in this story: Chloe who comes into Balmoral Ladies College on scholarship in Yr 10 and Natalia, the queen of Yr 10. While Chloe struggles to adjust herself to her new environment where not only is she demographically different but where most of these girls have known each other from primary school, Natalia appears to be in control of everything around her but internally she's ready to combust. When Yin Mitchell, a Yr 10 student at Balmoral, disappeared, Natalia's tight control over her thoughts and feelings begins to unspool.
What hit me most in this novel is the myriad of feelings; of confusion, grief, rage, hopelessness. They were so powerful, it was nearly overwhelming. Maybe I've also forgotten what it's like to be a teen though I've never had an issue like this (a kidnapped friend). Yet amongst this anger against an unfair world, lives keep on rolling forward and whether you'd want to or not, you are swept along. Both Chloe & Natalia along with a number of secondary characters have grown leaps & bound throughout this novel and certainly in a very good way so I guess that's an excellent ending for the novel. I'm left with a teeny bit of unresolved disappointment but I don't want to spoil anyone so I'll leave that one as vague as it is.
Thank you Text Publishing via Netgalley for the e-copy of this book in exchange of my honest thoughts
April 29, 2021
“If women hold up half the sky, then why are we so disposable?”
The Gaps looks at what happens to an all-girls school and its peers when one of its student goes missing. What adds to the mystery is how history has repeated itself, with similar incidents happening to other girls in the past. Slowly, we are taken through the alternating narratives of Natalia and Chloe - one a popular, former best friend of the missing girl and the other a more distant classmate who attends the school on scholarship. In a letter addressed to early reviewers, Hall outlines that The Gaps took her over 7 years to write. She went through a similar experience to the characters where a haunting tragedy took place at her school, and sparked her need to put it (or a version of it) down on paper.
The book takes a different direction to what you’d initially expect as a reader. It’s not a thriller or a crime novel per se, although suspense is still a significant element to the story. Rather, it’s an exploration of grief, female friendship, art and privilege in a way that’s both nuanced and realistic. Coming from a public, co-ed school, i appreciated the glimpses into private school life through Chloe’s and Natalia’s eyes. Hall also did an excellent job in exploring the subtle racism and microaggressions in high school setting - particularly towards Asian Australians.
All in all this book was a smart and well-written novel that i wish was around when i was in high school and a much more enthusiastic YA reader. I would’ve liked the pacing to be faster and wondered at times whether the book as a whole could’ve been more concise, but that still doesn’t take away from the quality of the writing and the important conversation that it starts.
The Gaps looks at what happens to an all-girls school and its peers when one of its student goes missing. What adds to the mystery is how history has repeated itself, with similar incidents happening to other girls in the past. Slowly, we are taken through the alternating narratives of Natalia and Chloe - one a popular, former best friend of the missing girl and the other a more distant classmate who attends the school on scholarship. In a letter addressed to early reviewers, Hall outlines that The Gaps took her over 7 years to write. She went through a similar experience to the characters where a haunting tragedy took place at her school, and sparked her need to put it (or a version of it) down on paper.
The book takes a different direction to what you’d initially expect as a reader. It’s not a thriller or a crime novel per se, although suspense is still a significant element to the story. Rather, it’s an exploration of grief, female friendship, art and privilege in a way that’s both nuanced and realistic. Coming from a public, co-ed school, i appreciated the glimpses into private school life through Chloe’s and Natalia’s eyes. Hall also did an excellent job in exploring the subtle racism and microaggressions in high school setting - particularly towards Asian Australians.
All in all this book was a smart and well-written novel that i wish was around when i was in high school and a much more enthusiastic YA reader. I would’ve liked the pacing to be faster and wondered at times whether the book as a whole could’ve been more concise, but that still doesn’t take away from the quality of the writing and the important conversation that it starts.
July 9, 2021
TOTAL READING TIME: 4 hours, 25 minutes.
I really don't read as much Australian YA fiction as I should, but books like The Gaps remind me why I should be reading more Australian YA.
This book hit me like a punch to the gut, and truthfully I wasn't expecting to like it this much. I actually met Leanne Hall in 2014, when I was in Year 10 and she visited my Creative Writing class. Our school library had her books, so I tried to read This is Shyness which I unfortunately couldn't get into. Fast-forward 7 years, and The Gaps comes out. I thought, why the hell not? and decided to give this author I met as a Year 10 Creative Writing student another chance.
The Gaps blew me away. Although it says I finished it 5 days after I started it, it should've only taken me 2 days (watching YouTube videos distracted me). I loved the main characters, Chloe and Natalia, so much, but especially Natalia. You can't convince me she didn't have ADHD or some other type of neurodivergence because it was just so blatant in how she spoke and behaved, and I really liked the fact that the 'popular, Queen Bee' type of character was written with this characteristic.
I went into this thinking it was going to be a 'missing girl' thriller, but it's not, which didn't end up disappointing me. This was more about how two girls, each connected in a different way to the missing character, grappled with the aftermath. This was a coming-of-age drama that explored how society constantly lets down young women, and it was brilliant.
I really don't read as much Australian YA fiction as I should, but books like The Gaps remind me why I should be reading more Australian YA.
This book hit me like a punch to the gut, and truthfully I wasn't expecting to like it this much. I actually met Leanne Hall in 2014, when I was in Year 10 and she visited my Creative Writing class. Our school library had her books, so I tried to read This is Shyness which I unfortunately couldn't get into. Fast-forward 7 years, and The Gaps comes out. I thought, why the hell not? and decided to give this author I met as a Year 10 Creative Writing student another chance.
The Gaps blew me away. Although it says I finished it 5 days after I started it, it should've only taken me 2 days (watching YouTube videos distracted me). I loved the main characters, Chloe and Natalia, so much, but especially Natalia. You can't convince me she didn't have ADHD or some other type of neurodivergence because it was just so blatant in how she spoke and behaved, and I really liked the fact that the 'popular, Queen Bee' type of character was written with this characteristic.
I went into this thinking it was going to be a 'missing girl' thriller, but it's not, which didn't end up disappointing me. This was more about how two girls, each connected in a different way to the missing character, grappled with the aftermath. This was a coming-of-age drama that explored how society constantly lets down young women, and it was brilliant.
March 31, 2021
"Was she scared of anything? Yes. I can almost hear the thoughts of every single girl in my year level. We're all scared, of almost everything."
This book was a surprised. The cover is pretty but kind of quiet - darker colors with muted definitions. But the story is explosive, tackling things like race and socioeconomic struggles. The biggest subject tackled, though, is violence against women. It's an undercurrent in the whole story -because Yin is missing. And every young girl at this school knows it. It's in the silence in the halls, the gaps in text messages, the slight pause before they list girl's names.
"Where do they go, these girls that accidentally fall through a gap in the universe?"
The story is told from two POV. Each of the points are struggling with the disappearance for different reasons because one knew the girl and one didn't. The female friendships and struggles, the layers of racism in the hierarchy, the rich vs the poor - all are tackled with grace and respect. I really enjoyed this story and appreciated the nuances and layers.
This book was a surprised. The cover is pretty but kind of quiet - darker colors with muted definitions. But the story is explosive, tackling things like race and socioeconomic struggles. The biggest subject tackled, though, is violence against women. It's an undercurrent in the whole story -because Yin is missing. And every young girl at this school knows it. It's in the silence in the halls, the gaps in text messages, the slight pause before they list girl's names.
"Where do they go, these girls that accidentally fall through a gap in the universe?"
The story is told from two POV. Each of the points are struggling with the disappearance for different reasons because one knew the girl and one didn't. The female friendships and struggles, the layers of racism in the hierarchy, the rich vs the poor - all are tackled with grace and respect. I really enjoyed this story and appreciated the nuances and layers.
February 2, 2021
Nuanced and unsettling (in the good way).
Lots to think and talk about with young women.
Lots to think and talk about with young women.
March 20, 2021
If you loved/liked Sadie I definitely recommend this!
July 6, 2021
*9/10*
This book, wow. it was very relatable, the main characters being 15/16 year old girls in year 10 at an Australian religious private school. even the plot was relatable in that a kidnapping could easily happen to any of us. most of the characters were well written and there was quite a bit of diversity (as in not all the characters were white and straight) but some of the more ‘diverse’ characters seemed to be more token characters rather than contributing to the actual book. also the ending wasn’t exactly satisfactory in that there was no closure, but overall i really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend!
This book, wow. it was very relatable, the main characters being 15/16 year old girls in year 10 at an Australian religious private school. even the plot was relatable in that a kidnapping could easily happen to any of us. most of the characters were well written and there was quite a bit of diversity (as in not all the characters were white and straight) but some of the more ‘diverse’ characters seemed to be more token characters rather than contributing to the actual book. also the ending wasn’t exactly satisfactory in that there was no closure, but overall i really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2022
2.5 STARS
Letdown is the word I use to describe this book. Why did the author have to build all that suspense with the connected past disappearances and abductions if she was going to end it like that? No closure.
Letdown is the word I use to describe this book. Why did the author have to build all that suspense with the connected past disappearances and abductions if she was going to end it like that? No closure.
February 16, 2021
“If women hold up half the sky, then why are we so disposable?”
‘The Gaps’ by Leanne Hall is one of those stories that stays with you because it begins with a tragedy- an abduction of a sixteen year old girl from her home but follows the stories of the girls left behind.
Yin is a popular, talented student at Balmoral ladies college and once news and conspiracy theories spread about her disappearance the girls in her class all process their fears individually. Some take up the investigation themselves, some make lists of what to do if attacked, but Natalia and Chloe form a strange alliance to face their fears head on. Where Natalia is bold and brash, Chloe is shy and introverted but when Chloe begins an art project which places a young girl at its centre it allows them both to externalise and focus their emotions.
Hall creates a haunting narrative that questions the vulnerabilities and value placed upon young women. This brilliant story is chilling at times but also poignant and thought-provoking in so many ways; an amazing read.
‘The Gaps’ by Leanne Hall is one of those stories that stays with you because it begins with a tragedy- an abduction of a sixteen year old girl from her home but follows the stories of the girls left behind.
Yin is a popular, talented student at Balmoral ladies college and once news and conspiracy theories spread about her disappearance the girls in her class all process their fears individually. Some take up the investigation themselves, some make lists of what to do if attacked, but Natalia and Chloe form a strange alliance to face their fears head on. Where Natalia is bold and brash, Chloe is shy and introverted but when Chloe begins an art project which places a young girl at its centre it allows them both to externalise and focus their emotions.
Hall creates a haunting narrative that questions the vulnerabilities and value placed upon young women. This brilliant story is chilling at times but also poignant and thought-provoking in so many ways; an amazing read.
March 1, 2021
4.25 stars
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“I see every fallen body on the cover of a crime novel, and I can’t help thinking that everyone wants their teenage girls ruined.”
(First off, I totally didn’t just read this entire novel in a single night.)
I’ll be thinking about this book for a while. Honestly, its beauty kind of snuck up on me, but then it quietly gripped me and refused to let go. At first, I expected it to be like a regular YA murder mystery, but I was wrong—in the best way possible.
Although The Gaps begins with the abduction of sixteen-year-old Yin Mitchell, her disappearance acts more as a frame for the other girls’ stories, namely that of Natalia and Chloe, her classmates at Balmoral Ladies College. Chloe and Natalia are very different—in terms of class, personality, personal style, and more—and these differences shine through in the narration styles of their chapters. Chloe provides a more measured, contemplative perspective while Natalia is bolder and more impulsive. At first, the two girls operate in different social circles, but through their emotional vulnerability, they become friends. I loved Natalia’s sense of humor, and she’s the sort of character who would intimidate but inspire me in real life.
The Gaps also discusses a lot of important social issues. For example, in one scene, Chloe reflects on the over-sexualization of victims and how the media often pays more attention to certain missing and not-missing women (usually those who are rich and white, both of which Chloe is not). Natalia also subverts standards; she’s not afraid to be herself at Balmoral, even if her loudness or her style of dressing makes some of her more religious classmates uncomfortable. Additionally, Chloe, Yin, and some of the other side characters deal with racism due to their Asian heritage, which forced me as the reader to think longer about how Yin’s disappearance would affect the characters differently due to their backgrounds and others’ perceptions of them.
Occasionally, I thought some sentences were a bit awkwardly worded, but there was also plenty of lyricism in the simple language to balance that out. I also think some of the side characters could’ve been fleshed out more since there were a lot of names thrown at the reader throughout the book, but in a way, it was also realistic because people do have many friends and acquaintances, especially in school settings, and it helped expand the impact of Yin’s disappearance.
I would definitely recommend this book to others, though maybe to readers looking more for an exploration of grief and friendship than a mystery.
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
“I see every fallen body on the cover of a crime novel, and I can’t help thinking that everyone wants their teenage girls ruined.”
(First off, I totally didn’t just read this entire novel in a single night.)
I’ll be thinking about this book for a while. Honestly, its beauty kind of snuck up on me, but then it quietly gripped me and refused to let go. At first, I expected it to be like a regular YA murder mystery, but I was wrong—in the best way possible.
Although The Gaps begins with the abduction of sixteen-year-old Yin Mitchell, her disappearance acts more as a frame for the other girls’ stories, namely that of Natalia and Chloe, her classmates at Balmoral Ladies College. Chloe and Natalia are very different—in terms of class, personality, personal style, and more—and these differences shine through in the narration styles of their chapters. Chloe provides a more measured, contemplative perspective while Natalia is bolder and more impulsive. At first, the two girls operate in different social circles, but through their emotional vulnerability, they become friends. I loved Natalia’s sense of humor, and she’s the sort of character who would intimidate but inspire me in real life.
The Gaps also discusses a lot of important social issues. For example, in one scene, Chloe reflects on the over-sexualization of victims and how the media often pays more attention to certain missing and not-missing women (usually those who are rich and white, both of which Chloe is not). Natalia also subverts standards; she’s not afraid to be herself at Balmoral, even if her loudness or her style of dressing makes some of her more religious classmates uncomfortable. Additionally, Chloe, Yin, and some of the other side characters deal with racism due to their Asian heritage, which forced me as the reader to think longer about how Yin’s disappearance would affect the characters differently due to their backgrounds and others’ perceptions of them.
Occasionally, I thought some sentences were a bit awkwardly worded, but there was also plenty of lyricism in the simple language to balance that out. I also think some of the side characters could’ve been fleshed out more since there were a lot of names thrown at the reader throughout the book, but in a way, it was also realistic because people do have many friends and acquaintances, especially in school settings, and it helped expand the impact of Yin’s disappearance.
I would definitely recommend this book to others, though maybe to readers looking more for an exploration of grief and friendship than a mystery.
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February 25, 2022
A fierce and breathtakingly accurate study of the dangers, deliberate and casual, that face women and girls daily. When 16-year-old Yin Mitchell is abducted, the ‘Yin-shaped gap’ she leaves in the lives of her high-achieving family and the girls of exclusive and driven Balmoral Ladies’ College is forever, and things will never be the same for misfit scholarship student, Chloe, and leader of the school’s bitchnado, Natalia.
My copy is bristling with ‘Yes! This!’ dog ears, from ‘LET. US. PRAY.’ (p. 16) through to:
‘I can hear the thoughts of every single girl in my year level. We’re all scared, of almost everything.’ (p. 97)
‘Where do they go, those girls that accidentally fall through a gap in the universe? What’s on the other side?’ (p. 126)
‘I see every fallen body on the cover of a crime novel, and I can’t help thinking that everyone wants their teenage girls ruined.’ (p. 158)
‘If women hold up half the sky, then why are we so disposable?’ (p. 211)
‘Chunjuan wails like an animal in pain, a baby keening in a cot, like someone facing a black, dark void.... I’ve never seen anyone in so much pain, and still she wails.’ (p. 316)
‘The Gaps’ felt very immersive and close to me. I could ‘see’ everything I was reading and while it’s very much of its time (viz, right now) it’s also a time machine. Nothing much has changed since Miranda flounced into a gap in space-time over 100 fictional years ago - girls are still falling through the cracks, disappearing through the gaps and endemic misogyny and violence, not magic, not alien life forms, are doing that. A very vital read.
My copy is bristling with ‘Yes! This!’ dog ears, from ‘LET. US. PRAY.’ (p. 16) through to:
‘I can hear the thoughts of every single girl in my year level. We’re all scared, of almost everything.’ (p. 97)
‘Where do they go, those girls that accidentally fall through a gap in the universe? What’s on the other side?’ (p. 126)
‘I see every fallen body on the cover of a crime novel, and I can’t help thinking that everyone wants their teenage girls ruined.’ (p. 158)
‘If women hold up half the sky, then why are we so disposable?’ (p. 211)
‘Chunjuan wails like an animal in pain, a baby keening in a cot, like someone facing a black, dark void.... I’ve never seen anyone in so much pain, and still she wails.’ (p. 316)
‘The Gaps’ felt very immersive and close to me. I could ‘see’ everything I was reading and while it’s very much of its time (viz, right now) it’s also a time machine. Nothing much has changed since Miranda flounced into a gap in space-time over 100 fictional years ago - girls are still falling through the cracks, disappearing through the gaps and endemic misogyny and violence, not magic, not alien life forms, are doing that. A very vital read.
August 15, 2021
It's after midnight, and I've just finished this book, which is never a good time to finish an excellent book and go to sleep. I have many thoughts and feelings about it.
I turned thirteen in 1991, growing up in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne, when Karmein Chan was taken from her home, in the latest of the so-called 'Mr Cruel' abductions, and I immediately recognised the influence of this event on the story, and the experiences of being a teen during this time. However, it could as easily be seen as a reflection on more recent events, with young women still assaulted and murdered by men on a regular basis.
The story recounts an unlikely bond that grows between two protagonists: Chloe, the scholarship girl who doesn't speak out, and Natalia, the cool girl who has a past connection with Yin Mitchell - a student who has been taken in what initially seems like a series of abductions.
But this is not a crime novel - it's a study in grief and the loss of innocence, as these young women struggle to understand the world that they live in, social attitudes to young women's bodies and the way they are portrayed in culture, and the role that art and protest can play in addressing and challenging these ideas. It also engaged in themes of Asian Australian identity which, whilst not the central focus, strengthens this novel through diverse representation.
This is not an easy read - it pulls no punches and offers no uplifting message of hope - but nevertheless it is an honest and important novel, and by far Leanne Hall's best work.
I turned thirteen in 1991, growing up in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne, when Karmein Chan was taken from her home, in the latest of the so-called 'Mr Cruel' abductions, and I immediately recognised the influence of this event on the story, and the experiences of being a teen during this time. However, it could as easily be seen as a reflection on more recent events, with young women still assaulted and murdered by men on a regular basis.
The story recounts an unlikely bond that grows between two protagonists: Chloe, the scholarship girl who doesn't speak out, and Natalia, the cool girl who has a past connection with Yin Mitchell - a student who has been taken in what initially seems like a series of abductions.
But this is not a crime novel - it's a study in grief and the loss of innocence, as these young women struggle to understand the world that they live in, social attitudes to young women's bodies and the way they are portrayed in culture, and the role that art and protest can play in addressing and challenging these ideas. It also engaged in themes of Asian Australian identity which, whilst not the central focus, strengthens this novel through diverse representation.
This is not an easy read - it pulls no punches and offers no uplifting message of hope - but nevertheless it is an honest and important novel, and by far Leanne Hall's best work.
August 19, 2022
When I read the blurb I thought the book was going to be about two girls coming together to solve the mystery of what happened to Yin Mitchell, 'an abducted girl' who attends the same 'Balmoral Ladies College' as them.
This is not at all what the novel is about.
The Gaps focus is on girls coping with loss and the terror of facing the 'real world' where not all mysteries get solved, and not all villains get caught.
And while it's brilliant in it's way of examining these things through the main characters, I found the book hard to enjoy as there is no closure, no mystery to solve. It's just two girls trying to go on with their daily lives in the midst of a tragedy.
I also found that the said 'friendship' between the two girls never really seems to happen. They almost know nothing about each other and by the end of the book they are acquaintances at best. The wait for their friendship to blossom ultimately made the book slow and I was left unsatisfied with the ending not only because there's no closure to Yin's disappearance, but because it didn't really feel like the book went anywhere at all. Nothing happens.
While it did analyse grief well, the other aspects of the characters remained cardboard cut-outs who's development only began at the very last pages of the book.
This is not at all what the novel is about.
The Gaps focus is on girls coping with loss and the terror of facing the 'real world' where not all mysteries get solved, and not all villains get caught.
And while it's brilliant in it's way of examining these things through the main characters, I found the book hard to enjoy as there is no closure, no mystery to solve. It's just two girls trying to go on with their daily lives in the midst of a tragedy.
I also found that the said 'friendship' between the two girls never really seems to happen. They almost know nothing about each other and by the end of the book they are acquaintances at best. The wait for their friendship to blossom ultimately made the book slow and I was left unsatisfied with the ending not only because there's no closure to Yin's disappearance, but because it didn't really feel like the book went anywhere at all. Nothing happens.
While it did analyse grief well, the other aspects of the characters remained cardboard cut-outs who's development only began at the very last pages of the book.
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