Nowhere Girl by Ruth Dugdall

I'm not sure if it's a good sign or a bad sign that I didn't recognise that this was a series - or that I've read two of the three previous books. But, I did remember the author name, and I remember being fairly affected by one of her books (Humber Boy B, the first book of hers I read). So for what it's worth, I basically read this book without any prior expectations for the characters (the story though, I had expectations).

Anyway, Nowhere Girl is supposed to be the fourth book in the Cate Austin series, but this time, set in Luxembourg. And as it has come to be, the case is what steals my attention, not Cate (no wonder I didn't realise this was a series). Anyway, during an annual fair called Schueberfouer, a girl called Ellie goes missing. At first, the police thinks it's just a simple case of a teenager running away, but obviously, it isn't so simple.

And as I've come to expect, the book proceeded in a way that I didn't expect. I had thought this was going to be about illegal immigrants and human trafficking (and it was about illegal immigrants, to a smaller extent), but it turned out to be very much more about relationships. There was a twist, but it was revealed earlier than the climax, so I wouldn't really say that it was this huge moment. Rather anti-climatic, actually. (Also, the reason why this was a long, extended kidnapping felt rather forced to me)

For me, I enjoyed reading the sections concerning Ellie (there are a two POVs, one for her, and one for one of her 'captors'). I probably felt the most for her, because she did not ask for any of this. She's really a victim here. The other POV, Amina, was equally sympathetic.

However, the ending was particularly satisfying. It was definitely better than Humber Boy B, because there was some form of closure, but not for everyone. It seems like some of the participants in the crime were written off because of their background, and had no ending or seemed to escape punishment. Personally, I wanted to see the boy that betrayed Ellie in jail, but I have no idea what happened to him. The only people on the 'criminal' end that I felt for were the women, and the little boy, to be honest. I thought the rest should have been thrown into jail. Ok, no more or I might give away some spoilers.

Overall, the novel was intriguing. Even though it went in a different direction that I expected, the story was still pretty intense. I really liked Ellie's sections (and the sections concerning here), and the Cate sections were pretty decent too.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for a free and honest review.