Reviews with content warning for Rape - Then She Was Gone

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

89 reviews

meluelmil's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

Really, really enjoyed this book. It was hard to put down, but I also kept stopping to write my thoughts and theories so I could look back on them and see if I was on the right track. I LOVE that the story was well concluded and the loose ends were all tied. AND IT ALL MADE SENSE! There were lots of surprises and scenes that made me gasp out loud without a lazy explanation (read: “it was mental illness” or “it was all a dream” or “it was all a coincidence”). Great story, great execution, great epilogue!

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lorenaslibrary's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

3.0

2023 book club read #1

quick notes:
- this woman writes some very twisted books lol
- easy to guess where the story was gonna go
- again, really messed up

Spoiler: it reminded me of the movie Don't Breathe (2016)

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laruru's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this thriller and liked that the plot twist is somewhat hinted at in the beginning, but you read the entire book hoping your predictions are wrong, the book is pretty dark and twisted. It was a little slow in the beginning, basically an extended version of the blurb - Laurel meeting Floyd and his daughter who looks exactly like Ellie. But the story picks up around part three and things get interesting. I liked the change of POVs, each one gave a different vibe to the story. Overall, a quick and easy read, would recommend.

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corinnemarycox's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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biblio_millie's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

It’s a decent book but I knew what had happened at about 40% in and the rest was just finding out the details and character development.

Content Warnings

beth_s98's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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jasminealizae's review against another edition

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sad slow-paced

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

1.0

Plot was all over the place, in a bad way. Poorly thought out. 30% of the chapters could have been excluded. Do these authors get paid per page or character count? How can we switch to a POV of a character who is dead, but is being written as if she’s confessing all of her sins from the future? It was very confusing and unjustified. The ending made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

What was the reason for Floyd to have confessed his wrongdoings in a letter to Laurel, then take a train to another town just to kill hisself? Surely, he could have just killed hisself without fleeing to another town. Especially since it’s not like he committed suicide in a different city to prevent Poppy from finding out, because she ends up knowing shortly after the fact. For Noelle to have been so “obsessed” with not only Ellie, but also Floyd and wanting a child with him, it felt very forced to have her kidnap Ellie, hold her hostage, rape and impregnate her with SOMEONE ELSE’S sperm, not even Floyd’s 🤦🏽‍♀️ just to let Ellie die, and not take care of her child. Noelle was written to be this psychopath who is strange, quirky and really obsessive, but it all felt incredibly underdeveloped. As if the author did no research and thought that having Noelle do these weird/quirky things was going to be enough to get that idea across to the readers. It wasn’t. Prime example would be the hamsters.

Everything felt forced to me. The relationships, the character’s flaws, the timelines, the interactions, the abuse/neglect, literally everything. This book really solidified the fact that I hate reading books that have children in them. Poppy is nine-years-old but is written having much too mature vocabulary and conversational skills, and made entirely too aware. The backstories were extremely flat as were the characters. The connection between SJ and Laurel was for what purpose?

Other than for SJ to be the one to “egg” Laurel on to continue looking into the disappearance of Noelle by telling Laurel she saw Noelle’s stomach completely flat when Noelle was allegedly very pregnant. Poppy’s “cousins” and “grandma” storyline’s were unnecessary. The last nail in the coffin for me to officially “one star” this book was Hannah and Theo. Why make Hannah and Theo (Ellie’s boyfriend) become a couple and get married? As if the whole situation isn’t strange enough. Having Ellie get kidnapped, raped and impregnated by Noelle her math tutor, Noelle do all of these terrible things to Ellie just to secure her relationship with Floyd. Floyd date Ellie’s mother Laurel, while also raising Ellie’s daughter as his own despite knowing it’s not his child and how she was conceived. Then just when you think this is complicated enough, why not have the boy Ellie was dating when she died get married to her sister. What?!

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chaptersofchase's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

Then She Was Gone 🍃

Genre: Mystery
Trope: Missing Child
Format: 🎧
Pub Date: 4.17.2018
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

"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."

Then She Was Gone was raw, emotional, and unsettling storytelling at its finest, and I believe this may be my favorite from Lisa Jewell. It's been a few weeks since I finished reading this one, and I still think about the story; it has stuck with me more than I anticipated.

When I finished the last page, I had to sit there for a moment and think about what I'd read and how utterly heartbreaking it all was. I felt like I had the whole story figured out and knew the direction LJ was leading me, but I was so very wrong.

It's hard for me to describe my feelings without giving everything away, but I'll leave you with this — one character in this book deserved so much more from their precious life.

😔 A story that will stick with you long after you're finished
😰 Raw and unsettling
👥 Multiple perspectives
😬 Edge of your seat reading
✨ New favorite from Lisa Jewell

❌- there is some reasonably disturbing content in this book. If you have questions, please DM me.

Read Then She Was Gone if you enjoyed reading Verity from Colleen Hoover or Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier.

______
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Content Warnings

xolindsey's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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lapluie8's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This is the first novel I read by Lisa Jewell and it did not disappoint! I was captivated from the very beginning. I was running scenarios and trying to answer WHO, WHAT, WHERE & WHEN. I rated it a shy of 5 stars just because it started to get predictable in the middle. I do love the POVs of the characters. However, I’m curious to know the POVs of the others’, like the father, the sister, the brother and the boyfriend.. But overall, I enjoyed reading it. A page-turner for me!

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