Then She Was Gone had the makings of a fantastic book, and it was, mostly.

Extremely well-written, good plot, nicely defined characters, and overall I have nothing to point a finger at - but it just wasn’t a home run, maybe more like a triple.

Ms. Jewell is an incredibly accomplished author, and I only wish to be anywhere near her status, but from a reader’s perspective, Then She Was Gone just didn’t feel original enough to pique my interest to a ten, eight point five, maybe.

I would recommend this book for really anyone looking for a good thriller, just don’t expect to remember it for years to come. ( )

Creepy story. A bit improbable. Story of 15 yr old girl who goes missing and her body is not found until 10 yrs later. We learn that she was taken and held captive by her math tutor. This tutor has the girl impregnated and then pawns her off her "boyfriend" as his baby. He ends up keeping the child and 9 yrs later has a relationship with the kidnapped girl's mom. He does this on purpose because he knows the child is not his and this lady his the girl's grandmother. The story ends with him disappearing and guiding her to his message on his computer telling her the story of how he came to have her granddaughter.
Quick read and a lot of drama. KIRKUS: Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can't truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past.

Laurel Mack’s life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned. She drifted away from her other two children, Hanna and Jake, and eventually she and her husband, Paul, divorced. Ten years later, Ellie’s remains and her backpack are found, though the police are unable to determine the reasons for her disappearance and death. After Ellie’s funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. She's disarmed by Floyd’s charm, but when she meets his young daughter, Poppy, Laurel is startled by her resemblance to Ellie. As the novel progresses, Laurel becomes increasingly determined to learn what happened to Ellie, especially after discovering an odd connection between Poppy’s mother and her daughter even as her relationship with Floyd is becoming more serious. Jewell’s (I Found You, 2017, etc.) latest thriller moves at a brisk pace even as she plays with narrative structure: The book is split into three sections, including a first one which alternates chapters between the time of Ellie’s disappearance and the present and a second section that begins as Laurel and Floyd meet. Both of these sections primarily focus on Laurel. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppy’s mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellie’s experiences and Laurel’s discoveries in the present. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot.

Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed. ( )

Mystery

Predictable story. Characters were weaker. How could this book be a Choice Award Nominee last year? ( )

Gripping


I have a few Lisa Jewell under my belt now and I am happy to say that this is just as good as everything else I have picked up. I love a good thriller that has twists and turns and this sure delivers both twists and turns.

"Then She Was Gone" is a novel about a fifteen-year-old girl named Ellie Mack who disappears in 2005.

Much of the book takes place in 2015 and is narrated by Laurel Mack, the missing girl's mother. Ellie was Laurel's youngest daughter. Ellie's remains have finally been discovered, so maybe the family can now have some closure. Not that the family unit is still intact. Laurel was so filled with grief over the last ten years that she had nothing left of herself for her husband or her other children. Now Laurel is divorced and is estranged from her older daughter and son.

The book alternates between 2015, back to 2005, when the story is told from Ellie's point of view. The reader learns what happened to this fifteen-year girl. And, eventually, Laurel learns the truth also.

This is the fifth book I have read by Lisa Jewell, and I'm giving it five stars like I did the others. But, unlike the others, I'm not recommending it for everybody. Something awful happens in this book. Those who don't like reading disturbing things should move on to something else. Not that it's all that graphic. It's just so heartbreaking and hard to get out of your head.

Why do I like this author so much? Because, once I start one of her books, it's hard to put down. Sometimes books, even good books, feel a bit like "homework" to me. But not Lisa Jewell's books. She makes me want to know more about the characters and about what I will discover next. There's a lot of nuance in her characters. Also, I think the fact that Lisa Jewell is British it’s part of the charm. I love the settings, the strange brand names, the unfamiliar expressions, and words not commonly used in the U.S. I love the amount of detail, not too much and not too little.
Lisa Jewell's writing style reminds me a little of Liane Moriorty, although this book has some of the darkness of Gillian Flynn and is as disturbing as a Karin Slaughter book.
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