Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

175 reviews

ivories's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious medium-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 tells of a mother who has not gotten over the death of her teenage daughter and after 10 years she meets a child who looks just like her missing daughter. There are multiple POVs. I wish each chapter started with the name of the character that was speaking. I'm not a huge fan of romance novels and this book spent a lot of time developing a relationship.  The ending felt rush and predictable. It was entertaining read and I finished in one sitting.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicide, Kidnapping, Stalking

alexisdavis528's review

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

---

This book has a great mystery to it and it definitely keeps you intrigued. It is a slow burn and the main character is incredibly dull in the beginning. Overall I'm glad I stuck through the first few dry chapters, because it ended up being an extraordinary story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Torture, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy

Moderate: Infertility, Physical abuse, Stalking

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence

j_lynne's review

5.0

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: N/A

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping

wreadaptation's review

4.0

sad medium-paced

---

That was gut-wrenching and the twist was good. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault

jasmine0705's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Kidnapping, Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Stalking, Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death

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

---

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. 

---

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

---

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.

diaryofavoid's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment

lizethsreads's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

---

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. 

---

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

richarawrites's review

2.0

challenging emotional 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: No

---

The pacing was a bit slow, but I liked the story. I did feel a bit of deja vu while reading it, which immensely took me out of the story.

It’s a very sad story which leaves you wondering how anyone will find out the truth. I found empathy for Ellie, she really didn’t deserve what happened to her. I wish the tutor wasn’t so callous, but I understood the reasoning behind her shitty behavior. There are many women in this world who are exactly like the tutor, so she was the most believable character for me. As was Ellie. She was just a child, with her whole life ahead of her, as so many real children are. I feel for these two characters the most, as I felt like I spent the most time with them.

With that being said, Floyd could have been written better. It felt like shit was just happening to him and he was just accepting it. The only time he really stood up for himself was when he

killed the tutor,

and even that came out of nowhere. There was no buildup to that supposed burst of anger. He’s really just a boring character with no backbone.

I wish we had spent more time with Laurel finding out what a shit mom she’d been and making amends with her children, even Ellie. I hated the tutor explaining things to the reader. We’ve established she’s an unreliable narrator, so there could have been a second pov for certain events. I also wish we spent more time with the sister and how she started dating her boyfriend. That would’ve been a nice plot point instead of breezing past it:

The ending, I felt, was rushed. We don’t spend too long on everyone’s emotions or sitting with them as they learn the truth of what happened to their family member.

Overall, the book was an emotional letdown. I was expecting more emotionally from the characters given the nature of the story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death, Miscarriage