Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

344 reviews

taylormoore's review

4.0

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Kidnapping, Stalking

Moderate: Sexual content

dr_steph's review against another edition

2.5

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Pregnancy

Minor: Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Murder

hgootz's review against another edition

3.75

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I initially picked this book to be my last book of 2024, but instead ended up my first finished read of 2025. This was not a bad read to begin 2025 with. Then She Was Gone was a book that had moments of predictability,  times where I “I knew it” as a revelation happened, as well as “I should have seen that coming”, but also moments where I was on the edge of my seat, or feeling of shock where I had to take a moment to soak in what happened before I could continue reading. It was also so interesting to have the different POVs presented in this book and get the different perspectives as pieces of the story were lining up together.  Towards the end it definitely gave me vibes similar to the Netflix show You. This book in the end kept pulling me in and made me stay up until after midnight on a work night to finish it, so I can’t say it didn’t hook me. I don’t think I’ll go back to re-read it personally, but would recommend it to others. I’m glad to have chosen this as my second psychological thriller and can’t wait to explore more of this genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Dementia, Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual assault

janecassar's review

4.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy

The premise of this book is a child who is kidnapped/dead. About 2/3 of the way through the book, we find out that she is forced into pregnancy (I marked this as sexual assault, but not entirely sure), emotionally/physically abused, given numerous pet hamsters (which they talk about being dead), and briefly understand that the kidnapper is mentally ill and has suffered miscarriages/infertility. At the end of the book there is the death of a parent and death by suicide.

emilyyyhillsss's review

3.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment

tallulah13's review

3.0

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I like Lisa Jewell’s novels quite a lot! They’re never quite 5 star reads for me, but always a go to when I want a pretty solid and definitely entertaining mystery/thriller. 

The twists were guess-able but it was an entertaining ride nonetheless!

Two baddies in different ways was a fun take also.

My biggest criticism was how some of the characters were written re: their ages,

specifically SJ and Poppy. I kept forgetting SJ was 21 and even for a super gifted kid Poppy was just off.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping

Moderate: Death, Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage

lizethsreads's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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If it wasn’t because I struggled a bit to get into it in the beginning, this would be the absolute perfect book. The writing was pleasant, the characters felt real. The storyline was just heartbreaking and still hopeful. It’s honestly everything I want in a book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Miscarriage, Kidnapping

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Abandonment

aahegedus's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

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This book is twisted and constantly leaves you on the edge of your seat. It starts out a bit slower, but then you can not put it down!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy

Moderate: Dementia, Death of parent

themegface's review

4.5

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping

Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault

bassicallymimi's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse