Reviews

And Then She Vanished by Nick Jones

agnesperdita's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

fripperychick's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

pcro99's review

3.0

Nothing like a good time travel story. Or even a mediocre one. This was a decent start to a series that becomes increasingly convoluted with each successive book. Now, I actually listened to audio book for this one and I'm loathe to base a review of a book based on the audio book production. Ray Porter is the narrator and he is my all time favorite. But producers made the odd choice to have Porter speak in an American accent for the main character, who is very British. This is confusing enough but then becomes moreso as Porter then gives British accents to the other characters. Certainly not a make or break thing for the book overall but it does bump the listener and is more of a distraction than anything.

As for the book itself, overall, a good story. Not great but good enough.

leahthebooklover's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

3.75

Time travel books are so wonderfully varied in how they tackle the subject. Sometimes a device or machine is involved, sometimes a portal or touchstone/object. In the case of Nick Jones's character Joseph Bridgeman, it's an altered state of consciousness that triggers his time traveling ability. The book doesn't try to get too science-y in providing an explanation of how this phenomenon might occur, the reader is simply asked to suspend their disbelief and go with the story. Once Joe learns he can indeed travel back through time, he spends a considerable amount of the rest of the book trying to gain control over his newfound ability, as well as trying to understand the"rules" that govern how far back he can travel, how long he can stay in the past, and the consequences of his actions in the past. His ultimate goal is to go back to a day 22 years in his past, a day he will never forget, because on that day, he was a 14 year old boy charged with accompanying his 7 year old sister Amy to a traveling fair.  When she disappears without a trace from the fair, in a split second, while he is distracted, his life is changed forever. He becomes obsessed with going back to the fair and finding out what happened to Amy, and perhaps even prevent her disappearance. As I said, the book doesn't dive too deeply into the science of HOW Joe can time travel, but there are some interesting discussions about the ethics and morality of changing the past, even for the noble purpose of saving a child's life. Both my husband and I enjoyed listening to this book, which is right in my wheelhouse (time travel and solving a mysterious disappearance? Yes, please!) but is far outside my husband's preferences. He thought it dragged a bit in the middle, but I appreciated the obstacles our main character had to overcome. Ray Porter narrates this book, and he's a talented narrator (one of the best, imo) but as other reviewers have noted, an odd decision was made in having him speak with an American accent for the main character Joe (and it's a first person narration), even though the setting is in England and the character is British. All of the other characters speak with a British accent, so it's a little jarring to have our main character's voice so out of place. Other than that, it was a solidly intriguing story. 

johanad's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

lyndajdickson's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

gugna's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

reventrant's review

4.0

There are a few parts that don't hold up to scrutiny but overall it is an enjoyable book if you're looking for something a little different.

allyhanson's review

3.0

Honestly don't know what was missing from this book, I definitely enjoyed it while I was listening to it and the premise was really great but it just wasn't super memorable. 

It might've been the simplistic writing style, it's so simple that it's understandable that it's the kind of book that could appeal to a wide audience but I would have appreciated a bit more stylisation to the writing.

Another issue I had was that the conclusion of the book wasn't exactly a satisfying ending for me.

But don't get me wrong it is a good book and anyone who appreciates a time travel novel will probably enjoy it, I just felt it was a little lacking.

oox's review against another edition

3.0

Review for all 3 books:

The plot was fairly interesting and the characters were decent, though I never got very attached. The biggest problem IMO was that the prose was absolutely boring in book 1, and though it improved a bit, it still left a lot to be desired. The were also very silly mistakes in the writing of repetition in word choice or even characters seeming to check their watch twice in the span of a few seconds.

The sentences that were clearly supposed to be punchy, introspective, and inspiring generally felt lackluster and boring. I enjoyed these books but they were by no means great.