Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

60 reviews

ashleysager's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Abandonment, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Pregnancy, Suicide, Child abuse, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and Sexual assault

Minor: Terminal illness

maddie_0930's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual content, Torture, Child death, and Stalking

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Cursing, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Grief, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Murder

katerinamckenna's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Stalking, Child death, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual violence, Torture, and Confinement

Moderate: Pregnancy, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Medical trauma

kimveach's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

Good, creepy thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

kccool12255's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

Original (3.25 stars): 

I kid you not when I say this is literally one of the most messed-up books I have ever read. The Liars series had bad stuff like this IN those books, BUT THE PLOT TWISTS MADE SENSE. This book literally feels like a fever dream. I can’t even put it into words. The only thing I can say is that it spellbound me. I literally COULD NOT put it down, I HAD to know how it ended. Just…I can’t. I don’t know what else to say. This book sucked.

Although it’s SO CUTE how Poppy calls Laurel Mama.

Still bad, though.

Revisited (4.0 stars): 

Yes, I reread it. And BOY OH BOY, I was READY for it this time. 

I think that for books like this, you really have to know what you're getting into. You need to know what level of disgusting, messed-up crap is gonna be in these types of books before

you're reading about a girl who gets kidnapped and unknowingly, WITHOUT HER CONSENT, gets inseminated with some random dude's sperm bought on the dark web. This book is MESSED. UP.

you dive straight in. There needs to be DISCLAIMERS. I know that there's content warnings on here, but they should have something actually IN the book before you read it, so you don't go in blind. I don't know, that's just my personal thoughts. 

That being said, for this genre? Then She Was Gone is MASTERFUL in its storytelling, and I think it paved the way for a lot more books like it, like I Invited Her In by Adele Parks. I'll have to fact-check that, but the two fall in the same category. However, where I Invited Her In is basically just a bunch of things happening in quick succession, Then She Was Gone is actually a narrative that is woven through multiple different time frames, and just about EVERYTHING ties together in the end. It's very smart, and honestly just very good writing. 

However, I still take issue for the multiple side character storylines that were unnecessary and kind of stupid. WHY did Hanna have to get with and MARRY Ellie's old boyfriend? That is...a lot, and frankly, it's disrespectful to Ellie on both of their parts. With Theo, WHY would you date your missing girlfriend's SISTER? With Hanna, WHY would you date your missing sister's BOYFRIEND? It's VERY unrealistic, and I do not like the storyline any way you slice it up. It's weird, and kind of gross. And WHY did Sara-Jade need to be having an affair with a MARRIED man TWICE HER AGE? And did she need to be a nude model, or whatever the heck she is? She's just a really weird character, she could've been much better but Lisa Jewell held back.

 

Ellie is very well-written for being a teenager, and no one can fault her for the mistakes she makes that lead to her downfall. You can feel genuinely bad for her and what she goes through down in that basement. 

Floyd, Laurel, and Poppy are all VERY well-rounded characters, and I liked them a lot. Not much to say on that front. Laurel and Poppy's relationship is very sweet, especially in the end.

Laurel gets to be the mother Poppy never had! *sob* Floyd is very well-written in his confessional, I love how his like entire personality is really just a facade, built up to please Laurel. He was in a BAD situation, and you can give him a lot of blame for that, but honestly, he did what he could. I can't believe he KILLED himself, THAT had me shook, but honestly, what else was he gonna do in his life? Noelle screwed up a LOT of people, and I STILL can't believe he killed her. That was just...wow.

 

I would probably rate this book higher, but we have history. Maybe I'll revisit it sometime in the future for a higher rating, but for now, I'm satisfied with what we have. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Blood, Grief, Murder, Infertility, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Violence and Physical abuse

mysterymom40's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Confinement, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Violence, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Torture, Sexual content, and Death

Minor: Suicide

someone is unwillingly impregnated; thoughts of a what could be seen as a psychopath; very disturbing thoughts and actions

samantha_bt15's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Abandonment, Body horror, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

cosxshea's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

1.0

The premise of this book was good enough for me to pick it up, but it was so predictable that I had to force myself to read it. 

Most of the "twists" are revealed in the first half of the book and the second half is just an in depth look into what happened. I read and read hoping something more would happen, but was sadly disappointed.

Jewell, in her acknowledgements says that this is either "brilliantly bizarre, or just bizarre." And I have to agree. I love thrillers, but this was just an awfully sad story about a girl who is kidnapped.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Stalking, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

berryradical's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Wow this book had some dark and grotesque twists and turns. Definitely a book that flexes your gut feelings and hunches. Kept me at the edge of my seat. Careful not to flip to the very last page because it has spoilers. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Child abuse, and Toxic relationship

cdoubet's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Confinement, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Child death, Medical trauma, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship