Then She Was Gone

by Lisa Jewell

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Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Released: April 17, 2018

Pages: 359

Publisher: Atria Books

Overall: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Setting & World-building: 4/5

Emotional Investment: 5/5

"A man who can't love but desperately needs to be loved is a dangerous thing indeed"

HOLY CRAP! There is no other way to begin this review. Honestly, this was an amazing mystery/thriller book. Totally horrifying, and made me terrified of society, but nevertheless amazing.

Quick Summary: Fifteen-year-old Ellie Mack went missing on her way to the library. Ten years later her mother, Laurel Mack, and family still have no clue what happened to her. One day, Laurel runs into a charismatic stranger, with a poised nine-year-old daughter, named Poppy. But what if Poppy looks exactly like Ellie? What happened to Laurel's daughter ten years ago? Where did she go?

Okay, first of all, not a bright idea to read this book late at night if you have a weak heart because you will fear for your safety. Second of all Lisa Jewell really came out and surprised me with this book. Going into this book I was expecting a breezy mystery with some moral at the end. AHA! NOPE. Our main character, Laurel, is an independent mother of three who is very clearly traumatized by Ellie's missing case. One thing I really liked about her characterization is how many flaws she has. Like something traumatic happened to her and instead of excusing any harmful behaviors that may have produced, the author brings forward some changes Laurel has to make. Mind you that these changes take the entire book, but that's what we call a character arc.

Also, there are a ton of side characters in this book. But I think Jewell did a really good job of writing them because they all somehow help Laurel grow. Her two other children had a relationship that required a lot of mending but allowed her to acknowledge the people still in her life after she shut down. The same goes with Poppy, who is a smart confident girl who got dealt a crappy hand in life.

The actual suspense and mystery aspects of this book were so tastefully done because I actually felt anxious reading the entire thing. I was so keen on finding what happens next that my heart rate picked up and I had to stop reading to tell myself to calm down. I got overexcited. This has to be credited to Jewell's amazing writing. From the beginning of Laurel and Flloyd's relationship, the idea that something seems off is so effortlessly written in. Like it wasn't until I finished that I understood that I was feeling suspicious of their relationship because the writing made only subtle suggestions that something might awry. From the synopsis, you may have theories forming and they may be close to the truth (mine were) but the full disclosure of the truth will still knock you away. It's painful what happens in this book and the delivery was so good I lowkey wanted to scream a couple of times.

I really wanted to point how Jewell writes in different pov's but doesn't clearly state what character is speaking, and how the character is often directly speaking to the reader. I thought this was cool formatting because it allowed you to figure out yourself who was speaking and allowed a little bit more humanity to flow through these characters (despite the fact that they are vile, awful, beings that deserve to die). What actually happens to Ellie broke my heart and what Poppy had to endure was so painful to read. Like there is a letter in the epilogue that Ellie writes and it made me cry because it was so painful and showed her struggles. In the end, there was a mention of famous serial killers, Fred and Rose West- who I know because I'm a true crime nerd- and I thought that was an accurate description of what happens in this book.

Honestly, I'm only taking one star because I guessed a little bit of the story correctly. But otherwise, I think everyone should read this book because it is such a well-done mystery book. Really makes you terrified of kidnappers and general society.

Quotes

"If she could rewind the timeline, untwist it and roll it back the other way like a ball of wool, she’d see the knots in the yarn, the warning signs. Looking at it backward it was obvious all along."

"The blame game could be exhausting sometimes. The blame game could make you lose your mind . . . all the infinitesimal outcomes, each path-breaking up into a million other paths every time you heedlessly chose one, taking you on a journey that you’d never find your way back from."