At times, The Missing Hours is an uncomfortable read but never dull as Dahl keeps the plot briskly churning ... Claudia isn’t the most sympathetic character, but Dahl succeeds in making the reader care about her ... The Missing Hours proves that money, status and fame doesn’t bring happiness or peace of mind.
The Missing Hours deals with some profoundly serious matters in a realistic way, which is one of Julia Dahl’s many strengths. She provides us with relatable, three-dimensional characters who act like we might act in most situations ... The Missing Hours takes us up and down the emotional ladder with a stop at each rung, where we are privy to everything going through Claudia’s mind. Being the victim of a violent act is a traumatic experience like no other and could take years for the mind to process. That we get to witness Claudia in the exceedingly initial stages of this memory is what keeps the book humming with life and unpredictable throughout.
... a fast-paced crime story ... Dahl takes Claudia’s post-assault emotional chaos—humiliation, anger, loneliness, desperation—and uses them to drive a believable, heartbreaking vengeance storyline. Because sometimes revenge isn’t the healing balm we wish it to be ... The visceral descriptions made me furious, which definitely served to engage me through the rest of the story ... While I appreciated the anger and the desire for revenge, The Missing Hours is also a testament to vengeance being 'a dish best served cold' ... In many ways, the growth of the family into a unit is one of the most interesting and moving elements of this story. I think Claudia’s family would’ve been down with exacting some vengeance of their own.
The Missing Hours is brutally honest about what it’s like to be an imperfect victim, and the horrors and pain of being a rape victim. Dahl is unsparing as she asks the audience if they would believe—would protect—the dignity of a Kardashian-esque woman going through this sort of pain. Dahl does a good job of capturing life in Martha’s Vineyard and the tonier parts of New York, and the sort of college culture that gives rise to horrors like those Claudia is subjected to ... I ended up truly liking her and truly liking Edie. As rich as they are, their lives are not easy, and they come to full life under Dahl’s pen. Even the worst characters in the novel do this, in spite of their horribleness and disgusting choices.
... a harrowing tale ... Dahl makes a dramatic break her from her acclaimed Rebekah Roberts series and takes on the conflicted lives of the arrogantly wealthy and the perils of social media. She is known for her fast-paced writing, but this one moves at breakneck speed and stays with you long after the last page.
Dahl's...thriller is a fast-paced, multiple-perspective story of sexual abuse being dismissed, or even weaponized against its victim ... The plot is intriguing but doesn't quite hit the gritty climax readers might expect. Still, Dahl provides a timely story about an always relevant topic.
... provocative ... For better and worse, the glamour of Claudia’s lifestyle, including a palatial Martha’s Vineyard seaside estate as potential hideaway, make this psychological thriller pleasurable to read, but it also somewhat blunts the trauma of what is an all-too-real scenario. Though Dahl doesn’t hit a home run, credit her with ambitiously tackling a broad canvas.
