Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

225 reviews

jessi_lou95's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Animal death, Car accident, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Mental illness

emmad861's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Take this review with a grain of salt, at least in the pacing department, because this was the first time properly listening to an audiobook, which obviously takes much longer than regularly reading. That probably warped my perception of its pacing.

I read this book for my book club and I was not entirely looking forward to it. I'm not in an era of my life where I'm looking for mystery as a genre and I'm not really into true crime, which is what this seemed to be adjacent to at first. This seems similar to the other thriller/mystery I've read for my book club, The Silent Patient, where the author thought up the twist first then wrote the book around it. Like the author thought, hey, wouldn't it be fucked up if

a teenager was kidnapped and forced to have a baby?

That's my book, now I just have to write the rest of it. Maybe that's how all mystery/thriller books are, and if so, I just don't love that kind of storytelling. 

I think this story would've been great as a novella or maybe even a short story. I didn't need that much detail. I'm sorry.

The descriptions of Noelle keeping Ellie in her basement just felt like torture porn at some points.

I guessed that there was maybe a supernatural explanation,

like Poppy being a genetic clone of Ellie or something

, I think just because I wanted to escape how sad it actually was. If I wasn't reading this for a book club I think I might've DNFed it. I can appreciate and enjoy emotional stories but I was struggling to get through

Noelle's POV

and struggling to enjoy myself at all. It was satisfying at the end of course but was it satisfying enough to make it worth it? I don't know. I don't think so. 

I teared up at one point when

Laurel left her apologetic voicemail to Hannah. That was the most touching part to me. And Hannah's wedding made me tear up as well. Along with Ellie's letter in the epilogue.

Even if I didn't completely love the story at that point, I had spent so long with the characters that I couldn't help but care for them.

I get that Noelle is literally unhinged and all that but, really, all that for Floyd? Because he wrote some math jokes??? Girl raise your standards. All that for a man??? Delusional behavior. Goofy even.

And when Laurel was watching the video Floyd left her at the end all I could imagine was her going "I don't give a shit about your childhood just tell me about how your ex killed my daughter please. Jesus Christ." Like, do you think she cares about your life story?? She's got other shit to worry about. Anway-

At the end of the day, I have to give this book props for the emotion it was able to inspire in me, even if it sometimes felt like too much. My primary purpose for reading is enjoyment, and I will admit that I sometimes would rather read something fluffy and light than something with more depth and sadness if it's going to ruin my day. I've got enough shit to worry about it my own life. But I'm sure people really into mystery and abduction stories would really love this book. And shoutout to Helen Duff who narrated the audiobook on Spotify, I loved your voices. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Pregnancy

ellieisreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Death, Confinement, and Child abuse

Moderate: Abandonment, Suicide, Stalking, Rape, and Murder

tetrootz's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Stalking, Infertility, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Alcohol, Grief, Rape, Murder, Confinement, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Child death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Sexual assault

twiller's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicide, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Murder, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Death, Infertility, and Toxic relationship

akoyareads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

 
This book didn’t read like a thriller, there was no thrill or suspense, just sadness and desperation for answers. I think that the plot being predictable was intentional. that Everyone told their side of events connecting all the pieces like a lifetime movie.

This book was so devastating I almost cried at the end when I read Ellie’s letter, because she was never given a chance.I had so much hope that she would return to her family even after her remains were found.

But Laurel was a horrible mother and her apology to Hanna felt so so shallow because we knew it truly meant nothing. She still thought that it should’ve been her that was taken, she still thought that Hanna wasn’t as beautiful as Ellie. And even tho I pity Hanna for having such a horrid mother I think dating my missing little sister’s bf is a bit trashy. One great lesson that needs to be learned is that there aren’t just horrible men out there, but women too. Women that will do vile things for the validation of men, those are the women you stay away from because they will go to the earths end for a crumb of 

male validation. 

There was no silver lining to the book just poppy being passed around from one sad shell to the next, and then both trauma dumping on her. You don’t tell her the actual truth about her mother but u tell her that the man that’s been raising her for all those years took his life because of guilt? That didn’t make sense to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Murder

jrosek5's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy and Child abuse

koreydobbert's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Addiction

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Murder, Animal death, Kidnapping, Addiction, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

Minor: Death of parent, Infertility, Medical content, Terminal illness, Car accident, Grief, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

emmaklieve's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage

Minor: Rape, Animal death, and Child death

spellbindingtomes's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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.

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This was my first book in the thriller genre in a very long time and I really enjoyed it. Lisa's storytelling was both captivating and disturbing. 

There wasn't much suspense throughout the story and I think that's in part because of how Lisa chose to tell the story. She provided a lot of information upfront on the 'who' and 'why' and the reader just had to figure the 'how'. Because of that, the reveal toward the end didn't surprise me.  

I like that each part started with a different narrator and we got to see inside the heads of the main players in this story. Some of the content in the second half were incredibly hard to read, but I thought this was still a good reintroduction into the genre. I can't wait to read more of Lisa's works!

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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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Death, Stalking, Abandonment, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide, Animal death, and Miscarriage