Take a photo of a barcode or cover
dark
emotional
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
๐๐ง ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆโ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ.
โข
This was my first book in the thriller genre in a very long time and I really enjoyed it. Lisa's storytelling was both captivating and disturbing.
There wasn't much suspense throughout the story and I think that's in part because of how Lisa chose to tell the story. She provided a lot of information upfront on the 'who' and 'why' and the reader just had to figure the 'how'. Because of that, the reveal toward the end didn't surprise me.
I like that each part started with a different narrator and we got to see inside the heads of the main players in this story. Some of the content in the second half were incredibly hard to read, but I thought this was still a good reintroduction into the genre. I can't wait to read more of Lisa's works!
โข
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฉ๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ . . . ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ.
โข
This was my first book in the thriller genre in a very long time and I really enjoyed it. Lisa's storytelling was both captivating and disturbing.
There wasn't much suspense throughout the story and I think that's in part because of how Lisa chose to tell the story. She provided a lot of information upfront on the 'who' and 'why' and the reader just had to figure the 'how'. Because of that, the reveal toward the end didn't surprise me.
I like that each part started with a different narrator and we got to see inside the heads of the main players in this story. Some of the content in the second half were incredibly hard to read, but I thought this was still a good reintroduction into the genre. I can't wait to read more of Lisa's works!
โข
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฉ๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ . . . ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Miscarriage, Suicide
dark
emotional
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:
N/A
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
dark
mysterious
sad
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:
Complicated
Overall, itโs a solid read. A very surprising ending indeed. I get that how itโs organized is very much intentional, but it felt all over the place to me and felt like it took awhile to find some footing and flow. The first half of the book is great. The second half is also good, but thatโs where a lot of the narrative jumping is. The pacing at which things are revealed is nice, but this narrative problem doesnโt lend itself kindly to it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: Child abuse, Death, Suicide
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping
Moderate: Suicide, Violence
Minor: Animal death
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If I, by any chance, saw this book on a thrift store and pick this up without seeing the blurb and read it blindly, I would consider this as a second-chance adult contemporary romance. I kid you not, the first 50/60% of this book felt like some episode on Gilmore Girls. A single mother, still grieving her daughter that went missing 10 years ago met a single dad in a cafe (mhMmMHMMM romantic! but it's not a romance book!!! I didn't come for that!) and the story follows their romantic journey henceforth. Not only that, the mother also meddling on her other daughter love life. Rory and Lorelai-Luke much? And the fact that the mother's name is Lauren, get it, Lauren Lorelai, at a glance they're literally the same name.
If you are looking for a mystery book with a grandeur plot twist, then sadly this book is not for you. You actually could put the two and two together on the 15% mark.
Every trope that I hated literally sitting cozily in this book:
-Witty, smart kid, who retorts smart remarks and give relationship advice to adults, she's nine ffs.
-Unlikable main character, as you know the MC of this book is the Grieving Mother (Lauren). She literally said this after her other daughter told her that she's starving because The Mother's been too focusing on her recent missing daughter, in result neglecting her other obligations. "It should be you missing and Ellie eating beans on toast"Praying that my mother will never act like her.
-The writing is not my cup of tea, it's too one dimensional, I have 0 sympathy towards any of the characters.
I'm going to talk about the Grieving Mother here: Lauren never moved on from her missing daughter, her mind is literally a decade behind her body. That's the only thing she thinks about. And by doing that she neglected all of her other children and husband, and when her husband seem to have moved on about Ellie (the missing daughter) and started feeling happy again, Lauren hated that (she clearly don't want to be miserable alone), resulting in their divorce. Same goes with her children, they left her. I get that Lauren lost her daughter, and the author clearly wanted Lauren to act like how a mother would act losing their child, but it was written poorly, and it resulted to an unlikable character.
This is my first Lisa Jewell book, and I was disappointed. Would I read her other works? Yes.
If you are looking for a mystery book with a grandeur plot twist, then sadly this book is not for you. You actually could put the two and two together on the 15% mark.
Every trope that I hated literally sitting cozily in this book:
-Witty, smart kid, who retorts smart remarks and give relationship advice to adults, she's nine ffs.
-Unlikable main character, as you know the MC of this book is the Grieving Mother (Lauren). She literally said this after her other daughter told her that she's starving because The Mother's been too focusing on her recent missing daughter, in result neglecting her other obligations. "It should be you missing and Ellie eating beans on toast"Praying that my mother will never act like her.
-The writing is not my cup of tea, it's too one dimensional, I have 0 sympathy towards any of the characters.
I'm going to talk about the Grieving Mother here: Lauren never moved on from her missing daughter, her mind is literally a decade behind her body. That's the only thing she thinks about. And by doing that she neglected all of her other children and husband, and when her husband seem to have moved on about Ellie (the missing daughter) and started feeling happy again, Lauren hated that (she clearly don't want to be miserable alone), resulting in their divorce. Same goes with her children, they left her. I get that Lauren lost her daughter, and the author clearly wanted Lauren to act like how a mother would act losing their child, but it was written poorly, and it resulted to an unlikable character.
This is my first Lisa Jewell book, and I was disappointed. Would I read her other works? Yes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Suicide, Murder
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This was a great read that told a chilling story. I did predict the ending, but I thought it was still a great book. I was sad for Elle the entire book and found myself gasping when I found out all of the things that happened to her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
I guessed the biggest mystery within the first hundred pages of the book, which made finishing it not as fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Murder
Moderate: Suicide, Pregnancy
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping
Moderate: Suicide, Murder, Pregnancy