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The Night I Disappeared
HELD HOSTAGE BY AN INNER WORLD
Something scary is happening to seventeen-year-old Jamie Tessman. Ever since she and her mother arrived in Chicago, she's been plagued by freaky mind-slips and vivid daydreams about her sort-of boyfriend, Webb. When Jamie's inner world starts taking her hostage and keeping her imprisoned for longer periods of time, she becomes terrified that she is slowly losing her mind.
Jamie's mom doesn't seem to notice anything is wrong. No one does -- until Jamie meets Morgan, a new friend who's had her own "brush with nuttiness." When Jamie disappears into her inner world one night and can't find her way out, Morgan sees to it that Jamie finally gets help. Morgan's aunt, a psychiatrist, breaks through Jamie's paralyzing fear and helps her unravel a tangle of long-forgotten, horrifying secrets in her past....
242 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 2002
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870 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
May 3, 2022
I read this as a teenager and I still think about it so often! It was the first real thriller book I’ve ever read, and I remember being completely floored by the twist!!
November 11, 2016
In all fairness, it deserves maybe 2 1/5 stars because I never put it down. I read it in two hours but it just didn't click me with me. I kept reading hoping there would be more too it.
July 23, 2011
Deaver, Julie Reece. (2002). The Night I Disappeared. New York. Simon and Schuster Publishing Division. (p.242)
Imagine yourself as a 17 year old girl who has no friends and living with your mom who is one of the best lawyers working on a huge case and barely ever gets to spend time with you. Living like that can make you keep secrets, with a difficult life like that; you can go a little crazy. Jamie has. The Night I Disappeared shows you that life as a teenage girl is hard, especially with a mom like Jamie’s. Also that a friend can always help you get through the day. And telling someone can always be the best option. Julie Reece Deaver wrote an amazing book.
Jamie goes to school, but doesn’t get the grades her mom wants her too. But she doesn’t care because she is stuck in her own little world with Webb. Webb is her best friend and her crush. The only person she really talks to and actually hangs out with. But when he goes to Europe and Jaime goes to Chicago for the summer, things change. Secrets come out. And Jaime realizes her life is a lot more complicated than it seems. Her mom is always working on the case in Chicago leaving Jaime all by herself. The idea seems great at first, but soon it gets worse. Starting with the night she went on a bike ride to enjoy herself for a little. Jamie had a daydream about Webb, ran into a parked car and woke up in a hospital. Where she met a girl named Morgan who soon became her best friend. Morgan’s aunt is a doctor and a psychiatrist who helps Jamie come out of a long road of dark, forgotten secrets from when Jamie was just nine years old. But the journey to unravel and sort the long hidden secret is a bumpy road where a lot of horrifying memories come out to remind Jamie that there’s a reason they were kept a secret.
I loved this book. I enjoyed the whole idea where I get to think about what the secret was. Where I could use the clues to find out what’s wrong with poor little nine year old Jamie. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery books. The Night I Disappeared was a fantastic book that I hope you will get a chance to one day read. While reading a book like this I find it fun to go back and find clues. If you have a question, go back and search for it, who knows, you may find out Jamie’s secret before the author can even explain it to you.
Imagine yourself as a 17 year old girl who has no friends and living with your mom who is one of the best lawyers working on a huge case and barely ever gets to spend time with you. Living like that can make you keep secrets, with a difficult life like that; you can go a little crazy. Jamie has. The Night I Disappeared shows you that life as a teenage girl is hard, especially with a mom like Jamie’s. Also that a friend can always help you get through the day. And telling someone can always be the best option. Julie Reece Deaver wrote an amazing book.
Jamie goes to school, but doesn’t get the grades her mom wants her too. But she doesn’t care because she is stuck in her own little world with Webb. Webb is her best friend and her crush. The only person she really talks to and actually hangs out with. But when he goes to Europe and Jaime goes to Chicago for the summer, things change. Secrets come out. And Jaime realizes her life is a lot more complicated than it seems. Her mom is always working on the case in Chicago leaving Jaime all by herself. The idea seems great at first, but soon it gets worse. Starting with the night she went on a bike ride to enjoy herself for a little. Jamie had a daydream about Webb, ran into a parked car and woke up in a hospital. Where she met a girl named Morgan who soon became her best friend. Morgan’s aunt is a doctor and a psychiatrist who helps Jamie come out of a long road of dark, forgotten secrets from when Jamie was just nine years old. But the journey to unravel and sort the long hidden secret is a bumpy road where a lot of horrifying memories come out to remind Jamie that there’s a reason they were kept a secret.
I loved this book. I enjoyed the whole idea where I get to think about what the secret was. Where I could use the clues to find out what’s wrong with poor little nine year old Jamie. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery books. The Night I Disappeared was a fantastic book that I hope you will get a chance to one day read. While reading a book like this I find it fun to go back and find clues. If you have a question, go back and search for it, who knows, you may find out Jamie’s secret before the author can even explain it to you.
November 9, 2013
This book is about a girl named Jamie that has been friends with this kid named Webb for her whole life. The first time they met, he saved her life and he is the one that understands her the most. Webb is traveling through Europe, and Jamie has to spend the summer in Chicago with her mother, who is the defense attorney for this girl. Jamie misses Webb and the case her mother is working a lot of work and she starts doing weird things. Jamie's mom is worried about her, but Jamie says she's fine. Sometimes she daydreams about Webb, gets lost in her mind. When she's daydreaming about him, she thinks she’s actual talking to him out loud but it’s just a dream. That’s pretty embarrassing when she's in public! One day that she’s at the emergency she meets Jamie, a first time have a friend besides Webb. Morgan thinks Jamie should talk to her aunt, who is a psychiatrist. Jamie knows she has a little problem, but believes she's handling it and doesn't need anyone to help her. Then things get beyond her control, and she ends up not only talking to Morgan's aunt, but strapped to a bed in a psychiatric ward.Morgan's aunt, a psychiatrist, breaks through Jamie's paralyzing fear and helps her unravel a tangle of long-forgotten, horrifying secrets in her past.
The things i liked in this book was that it was weird and suspenseful.It was weird and cool at the same time by like the way she was having dreams about Webb and she talked out loud. It was suspenseful by not knowing what she was going to do next. It was always something suprising that came up that you wouldn't expect.The things that i didn't like in this book was that her mom didn't really help her but she helped other people which i thought was very messed up. I think her mom should've helped her get help but it was okay that Jamie seen that she needed help on her own.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend it to people that like suspense, drama, psychology, realistic fiction, young adult, thiller, mental illness books. Its a really good book, i recommend it to any one that likes these types of books and even, if you don't like these types you might still enjoy this book.
The things i liked in this book was that it was weird and suspenseful.It was weird and cool at the same time by like the way she was having dreams about Webb and she talked out loud. It was suspenseful by not knowing what she was going to do next. It was always something suprising that came up that you wouldn't expect.The things that i didn't like in this book was that her mom didn't really help her but she helped other people which i thought was very messed up. I think her mom should've helped her get help but it was okay that Jamie seen that she needed help on her own.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend it to people that like suspense, drama, psychology, realistic fiction, young adult, thiller, mental illness books. Its a really good book, i recommend it to any one that likes these types of books and even, if you don't like these types you might still enjoy this book.
July 19, 2012
My friend last year at the end of the year we had "locker clean out" day and he mysteriously had a ton of books in his locker and he gave them all away, this was one of the books along with an Edgar Allen Poe book that I happened to snag. It's been sitting on my bookshelf for about 2 years now and I never took the time out of my day to actually even read the back of the book or anything, I grabbed it because the cover was cool. Last week I had nothing to read so decided to read it and seriously got into the book. T
The protagonist of the book is a teenage girl named Jamie who finds herself helplessly in love with a guy named Webb. Over the Summer Webb goes backpacking with his family in Europe and Jamie's mom takes on a huge case with a lot of media coverage (she's a lawyer) and while Jamie and Webb are away from each other she starts having serious daydreams to where in a way she kind of black outs. They get dangerous and I really can't say too much without spoiling it, but the plot is magnificent and the climax is one of the greatest because it is seriously something you would never even think of.
I love unpredictable books and this book lived up to my expectations and standards.
The protagonist of the book is a teenage girl named Jamie who finds herself helplessly in love with a guy named Webb. Over the Summer Webb goes backpacking with his family in Europe and Jamie's mom takes on a huge case with a lot of media coverage (she's a lawyer) and while Jamie and Webb are away from each other she starts having serious daydreams to where in a way she kind of black outs. They get dangerous and I really can't say too much without spoiling it, but the plot is magnificent and the climax is one of the greatest because it is seriously something you would never even think of.
I love unpredictable books and this book lived up to my expectations and standards.
March 8, 2017
Plot spoiler... (Kinda)
I read this book 12 years ago when I was 12 years old and it has stuck with me over time. It was the first book I ever read that felt legitimately thrilling and full of suspense. It helped shape the way I feel suspense novels should be written, with unexpected endings or surprise twists and turns throughout. Even in my adult life I sometimes examine my memories, or lack thereof, and wonder if my survival instincts are forcing something traumatic to the back of my mind. I don't think I would consider the possibility had I never read this book.
I read this book 12 years ago when I was 12 years old and it has stuck with me over time. It was the first book I ever read that felt legitimately thrilling and full of suspense. It helped shape the way I feel suspense novels should be written, with unexpected endings or surprise twists and turns throughout. Even in my adult life I sometimes examine my memories, or lack thereof, and wonder if my survival instincts are forcing something traumatic to the back of my mind. I don't think I would consider the possibility had I never read this book.
May 18, 2009
this was a really cool book. I couldnt put it down! it was really suspenseful! my favorite part was when Jamie went back into her daydream and she saw how she killed the kidnapper and she found out what really happened that night. This book was about a seventeen year old girl named jamie tessman and how she moved to chicago. she missed her friend Webb so much that she started to daydream about him and the daydreams got so real that they actually out her in grave danger.
August 6, 2011
Morgan and her aunt have cameos in the book (from Deaver's "Say Goodnight, Gracie"), which deals with Jamie, the only child of a hardworking lawyer mother.
After moving to Boston, Jamie begins blacking out and thinking she was with her friend, Webb. The blackouts become a dangerous problem, leading her to therapy with Morgan's aunt.
Slowly, the truth about the night she met Webb unfolds, giving up a secret she's kept locked inside since she was nine.
The psychology details are very true to life and you will be flipping through the pages by the end to find out Jamie's secret. It's not what you'd think.
A decent, short YA read.
After moving to Boston, Jamie begins blacking out and thinking she was with her friend, Webb. The blackouts become a dangerous problem, leading her to therapy with Morgan's aunt.
Slowly, the truth about the night she met Webb unfolds, giving up a secret she's kept locked inside since she was nine.
The psychology details are very true to life and you will be flipping through the pages by the end to find out Jamie's secret. It's not what you'd think.
A decent, short YA read.
September 5, 2012
When I started this book, I would have never anticipated the ending! I had a pretty good idea what Jamie was trying to hide, but I never felt so surprised at an ending before!
THE FIRST 50 PAGES:
It started off good, describing the characters and what she has to deal with; especially when her mother is a very important lawyer in a very important case.
THE MIDDLE:
This is where I felt it dragged in a bit, but I soon realized each detail became important when it came to Jamie's past.
THE END:
Like I said before, I did not expect the big secret and ending to this book! I loves how the book made me think one thing, but give me something entirely different. And for the END end, I felt satisfied with the ending, but I wish I knew what happened to the art student.
December 14, 2008
In This book there's a girl named Jamie Tessman and her mom is a big time lawyer. Her mother never has time for her until the summer break. Jamie experienced a couple of "daydreams" which cause her to completely black out. She was involved in a few accidents because of the black outs and a close friend,Morgan,suggests she get help. Her internal problems seemed to only get worse but with the help of Morgan's aunt she is able to identify her problem and get better. I liked how Morgan's aunt, the psychologist, helped her become sane again. She makes Jamie confront her problem instead of deleting it from her memory.It's an intresting book and definetly a must read!
October 1, 2011
I loved this book! I read it all within a couple days and could not put it down. Then I passed it on to my little sister and she felt the same way! Beautifully crafted--the whole time I felt like I was transported into the main character's body experiencing everything firsthand.
February 27, 2018
I read this book probably about 12 years ago and it’s always stuck with me. I finally read it again and loved it just as I did then! It has everything you could ever want in a book. Drama, intensity, sadness and in the end it’s wrapped up perfectly. It makes you lose your breath and hope everything works out in the end. It shows that talking to someone doesn’t make you crazy, it allows you to get help for what you need. There is nothing wrong with getting help and working to heal yourself from a past you don’t want to remember. It’s a really incredible book and shows that reality is not so bad, because sometimes living in our own world hurts us more than helps even if we think it causes no harm being in a fantasy world.
This book has profanity which isn’t my favorite in a book, but other than that it’s outstanding.
This book has profanity which isn’t my favorite in a book, but other than that it’s outstanding.
January 17, 2024
This was a book from my childhood that I had decided to give a re-read. It's an interesting concept, but ultimately, I don't think any of the characters are very flushed out. The ending was pretty abrupt and jumped forward in time in an awkward way. I think the way the ending was handled affects the story in a negative way. Nevertheless, I know that it had left a lasting impression on me as a kid and I think that it is a useful topic for young readers, even if some things could have been done better. The mystery is intriguing enough to hold my attention, even now as an adult. Not too bad of a book.
April 14, 2020
I read this book several years ago...at an age that may have been a bit young to read this book.
However, it has stuck with me my whole life.
Not to toot my own horn, but I am usually extremely good at being able to guess the twists and turns a book tries to throw at you.
And although there were times I knew something was up and I had theories about each, I never would have guessed the ultimate twist at the end.
I honestly cannot remember if the writing style was impressive or not. But the story line 100% was.
However, it has stuck with me my whole life.
Not to toot my own horn, but I am usually extremely good at being able to guess the twists and turns a book tries to throw at you.
And although there were times I knew something was up and I had theories about each, I never would have guessed the ultimate twist at the end.
I honestly cannot remember if the writing style was impressive or not. But the story line 100% was.
June 26, 2020
Me rereading a book I havent seen in at least 10 years is a little shocking. This is a pretty thorough PTSD story that completely envelopes you. I'm having some personal feelings about it that I'm unsure about, but I read this in two hours. It literally is like a movie. And the book is twenty years old. A young adult novel that old that holds up this well is a rare find.
June 11, 2023
when i first got this book i didnt know what to expect. but as i kept reading, things kept clicking in my brain and i caught on. the book was predictable to me maybe because i relate to jamie and i have ptsd just like her. i guess that means the author did a good job at portraying ptsd lol. overall, i did really enjoy the book.
March 20, 2021
This was a great book to read, it provides a human account of what a traumatic past experience can bring you in your future. There are some things you just don't want to remember, things that you have kept locked away but manage too resurface.
March 21, 2018
This book had some neat twists in it, and it was a fun, quick read.
November 12, 2018
Una lettura per ragazzi adolescenti bellissima, mostra i lati misteriosi e interessanti della nostra mente, soprattutto in casi estremi(e non dico altro)
March 22, 2019
One of my favorites from childhood. The book that hooked me on thrillers. Need to read again.
July 2, 2019
Very good story!
July 10, 2019
Really good book. Love it!
January 17, 2020
An easy but delightful read. It keeps you guessing!
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May 26, 2020The Night I Disappeared by Julie Deaver is about a girl named Jamie and how moving to a new city can unravel her past.
May 31, 2023
Book is amazing!
Highly recommend it especially if your into surprises. I've read this book over 10 times since 2010. I wish it had a part two.
Highly recommend it especially if your into surprises. I've read this book over 10 times since 2010. I wish it had a part two.
June 20, 2023
HOLY CRAP
January 11, 2024
Very twisty and turny. I love a good psychological thriller, but wow, this one knocked it out of the park.
August 22, 2024
This book here was the first book I read because I wanted to read it, and I was so glad I did. This became my favorite, and I've read it more than once.
March 19, 2025
I read this as a child and it always stuck with me!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews