Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

105 reviews

dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was expecting more. This book was very predictable from the beginning, and I kept thinking it was the author's intention so that the reveal would hit all the better. Unfortunately, the reveal didn't hit for me. I didn't predict it to the t but my guess came very close. What I did like were the relationship dynamics, the character development and the writing! The plot was nice as well. I would've preferred if we didn't get the multiple timelines. I'm guessing the author wanted to create a tense atmosphere by letting us in on what happened before Laurel made her discoveries, but to me, this killed the suspense. 

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ponyoloveslex's review

4.5
dark hopeful mysterious sad tense 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: Complicated

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canngrob's review

3.5
dark mysterious fast-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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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Lisa Jewel took me on a twisty, horrifying journey. The characters were complex and mysterious, everyone has secrets and the relationships feel so real and tender, especially the mother daughter relationship throughout. 
I knew pretty much the way the story would unravel from early on but that didn't lessen the shock, sadness or horror at how the life of Ellie Mack ended and the family struggling to come together again, but also the beauty of the moments when they finally did.
My favourite Lisa Jewel so far.

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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

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tetrootz's profile picture

tetrootz's review

3.75
dark mysterious sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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twiller's review

3.0
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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akoyareads's review

2.5
dark emotional sad slow-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: Yes

 
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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kmthorson2's profile picture

kmthorson2's review

3.75
dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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