Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

Author: Tiffany D. Jackson
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Date of publication: May 2018

Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried. When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.

As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?

Monday's Not Coming is a dark story about a girl whose best friend goes missing.  Nobody seems concerned, except Claudia.  Claudia sets out to figure out what happened to Monday and will do whatever it takes to get answers.

I have mixed feeling about this book.  I won't say it's an "enjoyable" read because the story is kind of grim.  I did like Claudia.  I had to admire her strive to keep trying to figure out what happened to her friend and to make the adults listen to her.   I will admit though, she acted very young for a 14 YO.  The reveal was a surprise and made things make a lot of sense and I was glad ti stick with it.

What I had issues with were the timelines and the slang.  The timelines were kind of confusing.  Going between "the before" and "the after" was confusing enough.  Add in "1 or two years before the before" and the story was a little hard to follow at times.  It all makes sense in the end, but I can see why some would give up on the book early on.  As for the slang, it was all over this book. I get that it's an urban setting, but it was a bit over the top. I don't think one person used the words "of" or "are" in a sentence.  The teachers don't even seem to use proper grammar and I found that a little odd.  It just didn't make for as smooth a reading experience as I would have liked.

I do recommend this one.  I would say it's good for the over 16 crowd as they do talk about some adult stuff in the story.  This is the first book I have read by this author.  I am interested in seing what else she comes out with in the future.