Review: Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Then She Was Gone

Author: Lisa Jewell

Publisher: Atria Books

Genre/Themes/Demo: Fiction, Suspense

Release Date: April 17th 2018

Page Count: 359

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 9781501154645

Author Website | Book Depository | Amazon | Chapters/Indigo

Goodreads | Kobo | Audible

Synopsis

THEN: She was fifteen, her mother’s golden girl. She had her whole life ahead of her. And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone. NOW: It’s been ten years since Ellie disappeared, but Laurel has never given up hope of finding her daughter. And then one day a charming and charismatic stranger called Floyd walks into a café and sweeps Laurel off her feet. Before too long she’s staying the night at this house and being introduced to his nine year old daughter. Poppy is precocious and pretty – and meeting her completely takes Laurel’s breath away. Because Poppy is the spitting image of Ellie when she was that age. And now all those unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back. What happened to Ellie? Where did she go? Who still has secrets to hide?

What I Liked

The kind-of mystery. This is one of those rare thrillers where you already know the who, what, when, where & how…but what keeps you glued to the page is the why. It’s a thriller that basically tells you what has happened from very early on in the book. However, you have no idea why these events unfolded in the way that they did. There are some very minor moments that you don’t see coming, but in terms of a huge twist or shock, there really isn’t one. Yet, this story still completely worked. It had me on the edge of my seat and never wanting to put it down.

The characters. Many characters can either make or break a thriller. On one hand, they can be the perfect device for a thriller as you can create multiple possibilities as to whodunnit. In other cases though, too many characters can be hard to follow and keep track of if not written well. I wouldn’t say that Then She Was Gone had many characters, but it had just enough to keep me guessing if there was more to the story than I initially thought. These characters all had their own unique personalities that made them very easy to keep track of.

It was realistic. Some thrillers can become way too over the top when it comes to their big reveals or endings. Then She Was Gone kept it realistic and simple. There was no miracle ending or absurd twist of events. The characters were believable and the story was believable, something that I could totally imagine happening in reality…which is unfortunate, but realistic.

The writing & quick pace. As mentioned above, I absolutely could not put this book down. It was extremely fast paced and wasted no time getting to the point. The writing was fabulous as always when it comes from Lisa Jewell which made it even more enthralling and addictive to read.

What I Didn’t Like

I loved it all. This is the second Lisa Jewell novel in a row that I have absolutely fallen in love with, the first being I Found You. I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!

About The Author

Lisa Jewell was born and raised in north London, where she lives with her husband and two daughters. She is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY bestselling author of over fifteen novels, including Then She Was Gone, I Found You, The Girls in the Garden, and The House We Grew Up In. To find out more, visit Facebook.com/LisaJewellOfficial, or follow her on Twitter @LisaJewellUK.