Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.27 AVERAGE
3.27 AVERAGE
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for a free copy of this upcoming book!
-
When Emily wakes up on a boat alone, she knows something is wrong. Her boyfriend Paolo is missing. Being bipolar and the lack of evidence aboard, Emily is an automatic suspect. Not believing this is happening, Emily goes on her own private investigation of what happened to Paolo. But when other murders start happening, Emily knows she cannot stop until she knows the truth.
-
What I loved: The plot line in general was well done. Not that the premise was new, but it was well written. Bipolar is not a mental disease usually done well in books. But not here. I felt that Jacobs wrote about a stereotyped disease well and though you may not like Emily, you could understand her angst. Because everything was an absolute battle for her.
-
What I didn't: There is about 10% of the book that drags a bit. Keep it moving. Also, the twist wasn't a twist. It was totally guessable and that's coming a lot from me because I don't figure out many.
-
Overall, this was a well written debut and I look forward to future books by R.A. Jacobs.
-
When Emily wakes up on a boat alone, she knows something is wrong. Her boyfriend Paolo is missing. Being bipolar and the lack of evidence aboard, Emily is an automatic suspect. Not believing this is happening, Emily goes on her own private investigation of what happened to Paolo. But when other murders start happening, Emily knows she cannot stop until she knows the truth.
-
What I loved: The plot line in general was well done. Not that the premise was new, but it was well written. Bipolar is not a mental disease usually done well in books. But not here. I felt that Jacobs wrote about a stereotyped disease well and though you may not like Emily, you could understand her angst. Because everything was an absolute battle for her.
-
What I didn't: There is about 10% of the book that drags a bit. Keep it moving. Also, the twist wasn't a twist. It was totally guessable and that's coming a lot from me because I don't figure out many.
-
Overall, this was a well written debut and I look forward to future books by R.A. Jacobs.
If you came with a warning label, what would it say about you?
And Then You Were Gone was a great thriller if you are a fan of quick-paced novels with unreliable narrators. The book begins as Emily and her boyfriend, Paolo, go on a romantic overnight sailing trip to get away from the stress of their jobs. Emily is a child psychologist and Paolo is a scientist doing vaccine research. Waking up the next morning and ready to head back to shore, Emily can find Paolo nowhere on board the small boat. She steers the boat back to shore and immediately calls the police, who begin a search and then an investigation with Emily as the person of interest. The rest of the book is a whirlwind of Emily's struggle to cling to her sanity (literally, as she is bipolar) and to find out the truth. We hear Emily's inner dialogue, and it never seems that she wants to prove her innocence so much as she just wants to find out the truth behind Paolo's disappearance and her friend's death.
The author of the book, R.J. Jacobs, is actually a psychologist and has done work with veterans (one of the supporting characters in the book is a vet). I really enjoy and appreciate when authors are actually in the niche of the characters and/or plots that they write about. I feel that it helps the books feel so much more authentic. I think it gave much more to Emily's condition and to Cal's character as well. Plus it fed into the thriller vibes as well. The build and the timing were awesome. Emily was a perfectly unreliable narrator! All of that being said though, there were a couple inconsistencies or repetitions of text throughout the book that are relatively easy fixes I think. Too much about the not taking meds and counting down...I felt like she should have snapped already or whatever ticking timebomb should have happened would have happened. I either needed that to be clarified again, or I needed it to happen. It was just repeated so many timed without anything actually happening that I just got confused. Then her cane being lost and resurfacing then being back at a crime scene? A little oopsie there. If she was on probation, Who's checking in on her? Where did Marty go?
So those are my feelings. I thought the writing was good, the book was exciting, the pacing was pretty quick. Emily wasn't my favorite character but her unreliability was spot-on and was perfect for this book. With just a little more editing, this book could be brilliant.
And Then You Were Gone was a great thriller if you are a fan of quick-paced novels with unreliable narrators. The book begins as Emily and her boyfriend, Paolo, go on a romantic overnight sailing trip to get away from the stress of their jobs. Emily is a child psychologist and Paolo is a scientist doing vaccine research. Waking up the next morning and ready to head back to shore, Emily can find Paolo nowhere on board the small boat. She steers the boat back to shore and immediately calls the police, who begin a search and then an investigation with Emily as the person of interest. The rest of the book is a whirlwind of Emily's struggle to cling to her sanity (literally, as she is bipolar) and to find out the truth. We hear Emily's inner dialogue, and it never seems that she wants to prove her innocence so much as she just wants to find out the truth behind Paolo's disappearance and her friend's death.
The author of the book, R.J. Jacobs, is actually a psychologist and has done work with veterans (one of the supporting characters in the book is a vet). I really enjoy and appreciate when authors are actually in the niche of the characters and/or plots that they write about. I feel that it helps the books feel so much more authentic. I think it gave much more to Emily's condition and to Cal's character as well. Plus it fed into the thriller vibes as well. The build and the timing were awesome. Emily was a perfectly unreliable narrator! All of that being said though, there were a couple inconsistencies or repetitions of text throughout the book that are relatively easy fixes I think. Too much about the not taking meds and counting down...I felt like she should have snapped already or whatever ticking timebomb should have happened would have happened. I either needed that to be clarified again, or I needed it to happen. It was just repeated so many timed without anything actually happening that I just got confused. Then her cane being lost and resurfacing then being back at a crime scene? A little oopsie there. If she was on probation, Who's checking in on her? Where did Marty go?
So those are my feelings. I thought the writing was good, the book was exciting, the pacing was pretty quick. Emily wasn't my favorite character but her unreliability was spot-on and was perfect for this book. With just a little more editing, this book could be brilliant.
Advanced reader copy provided by Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review.
This book was pretty average. It's a really slow read for me and I did my best to continue reading. The plot however was pretty interesting yet the writing style, even amidst how beautifully written and how unsettling and chilling it was, it didn't really reel me in and keep me attached to the plot or the characters. Sometimes, I would have to reread parts of the book due to the fact that the plot was quite slow at some points and it would be quite confusing in an unnecessary way. I feel like the slow start was exhausting to the point that the thrill slowly died out and I was not exactly surprised with all the twists.
It isn't a bad read. The writing and the use of words are beautiful. The characters and the plot are really interesting. The only problem for me was that its slow start may put people off.
This book was pretty average. It's a really slow read for me and I did my best to continue reading. The plot however was pretty interesting yet the writing style, even amidst how beautifully written and how unsettling and chilling it was, it didn't really reel me in and keep me attached to the plot or the characters. Sometimes, I would have to reread parts of the book due to the fact that the plot was quite slow at some points and it would be quite confusing in an unnecessary way. I feel like the slow start was exhausting to the point that the thrill slowly died out and I was not exactly surprised with all the twists.
It isn't a bad read. The writing and the use of words are beautiful. The characters and the plot are really interesting. The only problem for me was that its slow start may put people off.
Note: Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for sending me a free advancing reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
In this novel, Emily finds herself in a fast paced, live or die situation. Her boyfriend is missing and the town of Nashville is undoubtedly convinced she’s the reason why. On the surface, Emily is a calm, well-collected child psychologist helping children through traumatic situations. But lying just below is her own unsolved problem that she can’t escape: she has Bipolar 2. Emily is great at handling her mental illness as an adult, but her spotty past and inability to remember what happened the night Paolo disappears adds credibility to the police’s suspicions. Emily know’s that she is innocent, and she refuses to accept that Paolo is really dead. But what else could be going on here?
Answer: So. Much. More.
As sad as I feel about not loving this book, I just didn't.
I felt like R.J. Jacobs came up with a really good idea for his first novel. I mean, this was not at all what I was expecting per the synopsis (be forewarned), but it wasn’t a bad plot either! The story moves fast and even though I could kind of see some of the ending come (AKA who the bad guy was), it didn’t feel like a bad story to read.
The issue here was more in the characters. This was most definitely a character driven tale, and that made the book less enjoyable because Emily (the main character) was also less enjoyable.. to put it nicely. I was immediately glad to see some mental health rep go into this book, and I truly applaud Jacobs for tackling such a hard topic early on in his writing career. However, Emily suffering through her hypo-mania (though completely realistic and not at all the problem) while trying to solve numerous murder mysteries made the story a bit chaotic. Not to mention the fact that Emily was a suspect from the very beginning of the book yet the police never detained her while she was clearly (at the least) a danger to herself.
The other characters were woven in and out of the book for convenience. Novels like that are always harder to feel enamored with, because you feel like you’re never actually getting to know the people in the book. It’s even harder when the one person you do get to know is someone you don’t even like.
There were a lot of discrepancies throughout the story. There was one obvious one to me that I won’t write out because I don’t want to ruin it, but it stuck out like a sore thumb to me. Let’s just say it has to do with mixed up timing. Another, which I can tell you without ruining anything, places Emily and another character on a rooftop for quite some time. They are sipping from coffee cups and suddenly the other character leans against Emily’s desk. Outside. On the rooftop. A whole floor above her office where her desk is actually stationed. I know a lot of people don’t care about little details like that much, but they drive me absolutely insane.
Overall, I struggled with how to give this a final rating. It was definitely a quick read and I was eager to prove myself right in the end. The story itself was good, but the execution lacked, making it less than it could’ve been. I’m really not sure what it was that it feels like it was missing, but it’s like I just know that if it was in there then the book could be a good 4-4.5 stars for me. I think it’s just better characters, honestly. So yea, I’m settling on 3 stars because I don’t dislike it enough for 2 and I don’t love it enough for 4. I’m basically just… indifferent.
In this novel, Emily finds herself in a fast paced, live or die situation. Her boyfriend is missing and the town of Nashville is undoubtedly convinced she’s the reason why. On the surface, Emily is a calm, well-collected child psychologist helping children through traumatic situations. But lying just below is her own unsolved problem that she can’t escape: she has Bipolar 2. Emily is great at handling her mental illness as an adult, but her spotty past and inability to remember what happened the night Paolo disappears adds credibility to the police’s suspicions. Emily know’s that she is innocent, and she refuses to accept that Paolo is really dead. But what else could be going on here?
Answer: So. Much. More.
As sad as I feel about not loving this book, I just didn't.
I felt like R.J. Jacobs came up with a really good idea for his first novel. I mean, this was not at all what I was expecting per the synopsis (be forewarned), but it wasn’t a bad plot either! The story moves fast and even though I could kind of see some of the ending come (AKA who the bad guy was), it didn’t feel like a bad story to read.
The issue here was more in the characters. This was most definitely a character driven tale, and that made the book less enjoyable because Emily (the main character) was also less enjoyable.. to put it nicely. I was immediately glad to see some mental health rep go into this book, and I truly applaud Jacobs for tackling such a hard topic early on in his writing career. However, Emily suffering through her hypo-mania (though completely realistic and not at all the problem) while trying to solve numerous murder mysteries made the story a bit chaotic. Not to mention the fact that Emily was a suspect from the very beginning of the book yet the police never detained her while she was clearly (at the least) a danger to herself.
The other characters were woven in and out of the book for convenience. Novels like that are always harder to feel enamored with, because you feel like you’re never actually getting to know the people in the book. It’s even harder when the one person you do get to know is someone you don’t even like.
There were a lot of discrepancies throughout the story. There was one obvious one to me that I won’t write out because I don’t want to ruin it, but it stuck out like a sore thumb to me. Let’s just say it has to do with mixed up timing. Another, which I can tell you without ruining anything, places Emily and another character on a rooftop for quite some time. They are sipping from coffee cups and suddenly the other character leans against Emily’s desk. Outside. On the rooftop. A whole floor above her office where her desk is actually stationed. I know a lot of people don’t care about little details like that much, but they drive me absolutely insane.
Overall, I struggled with how to give this a final rating. It was definitely a quick read and I was eager to prove myself right in the end. The story itself was good, but the execution lacked, making it less than it could’ve been. I’m really not sure what it was that it feels like it was missing, but it’s like I just know that if it was in there then the book could be a good 4-4.5 stars for me. I think it’s just better characters, honestly. So yea, I’m settling on 3 stars because I don’t dislike it enough for 2 and I don’t love it enough for 4. I’m basically just… indifferent.
Soooo this was almost a DNF for me. A few chapters in, I just wasn’t really feeling the writing style, the story telling felt a bit forced, and I wasn’t really drawn into the characters. But by chapter 3, this book took off and just didn’t stop. It did feel like some of the manic behavior by the main character, who suffers from bi-polar disorder, felt a bit forced to fit the narrative, and I figured out the who-done-it well before Emily did. But overall, it was a quick, fast-paced, suspenseful read that kept me intrigued. A solid 3.75 rounded up for me and an author that I would definitely read again.