Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

181 reviews

niclantsov's review against another edition

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

1.0

 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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, and Suicide

sierrabowers's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Miscarriage, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infertility, Pregnancy, Suicide, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Blood, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Stalking, Violence, Child death, Sexual assault, Murder, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, and Trafficking

shels96's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide

mj_86's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.5

I guessed the biggest mystery within the first hundred pages of the book, which made finishing it not as fun. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Child death, Child abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide and Pregnancy

epeolatrist's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Pregnancy, Murder, and Suicide

effervescent_4909's review

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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Pregnancy, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, and Miscarriage

Minor: Murder

dez_rider's review

mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

this book is so good, and it made me cry, but the story itself is amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Stalking, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Grief

bbell99's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Grief, Rape, Child abuse, Child death, Stalking, Confinement, Murder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, and Suicide

Minor: Animal death and Death of parent

caoxtina's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Murder, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Suicide

lauragoose's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

Hard to finish. I'm not sure if the book intended to be surprising or shocking or with having "twists" but it's all plainly laid out. Slow pace. Sad inclusions of diet culture and toxic beauty stands. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Animal death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Slavery, Torture, Eating disorder, Suicide, Death, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Trafficking, Child death, Confinement, Infertility, Miscarriage, Murder, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse