Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

108 reviews

clarklyn's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

2.75

I have a lot of feelings about this book. I devoured it for one. It kept me hooked from the very beginning and reminded me of Lovely Bones. There really wasn’t a twist in my opinion-

it is pretty obvious who Poppy’s mother is even before the book spells it out for you. I think a real twist would have been Ellie living but maybe that is just me wanting her to have survived. 

I was also very disturbed by the way Laurel talked about her other daughter, Hanna. “Laurel had never accepted Hanna as a consolation prize”…

”Laurel is about to say, Oh, she was much prettier than Hanna”…

”Hanna. Her middle child. The difficult one. The tiring one. The one she wouldn’t want to be stranded on a desert island with. And a terrible thought shot through her, so fast she barely registered it. It should be you missing and Ellie eating beans on toast.“

 I mean what kind of mom thinks this way about her daughter? I understand she is grieving but it’s horrible. Extremely disturbing, IMO, and left unaddressed other than a half-ass voicemail apology.

 

It loses some serious points from me because I was disturbed by how Laurel talked and thought about her middle child and how the book never really addresses these thoughts. The ending was also very unsatisfying and lacked a feeling of justice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Murder

Minor: Animal death and Animal cruelty

dfriend12's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Death, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Minor: Animal death

katounettetae's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

Fun, quick read. I figured out the twist very early on…. But still wanted to keep reading, which is a testament to Jewell’s writing skills. Not my favourite book of hers, but still a great read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Animal death, and Child death

k8_mart's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Child death, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Murder and Rape

jessi_lou95's review

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

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

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

kmthorson2's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Torture, Death, Dementia, Violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Stalking, Sexual assault, Slavery, Miscarriage, Grief, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Murder, Animal death, Self harm, Rape, and Domestic 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