Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

93 reviews

vazquezm's review

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Abandonment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting

Minor: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Dementia, Stalking

miarae's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense 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: Yes

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I liked the writing and the plot a lot, though I'm more fond of a thriller where you don't find out who the culprit is until quite late on. I liked the twist with Floyd, though I always disliked him as a character. Lisa Jewell is great at creating tension and suspense and I look forward to reading more of her books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment

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.

hannahrdt's review

1.75

dark tense

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

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3.5 stars for writing. 1 star for story and content. I would never have picked up this book if it wasn’t a book club book 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting

shaleen64's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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: Complicated

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An enjoyable thriller, that despite being predictable, remained an engaging read.

Whilst none of the characters are lovable in the traditional sense they are well explored which adds depth to the story.

The ending is what both Laurel and Poppy deserved but I couldn't help feeling some sympathy for Floyd. A good entry thriller, but if you enjoy shocking twists and turns maybe give this one a miss.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Suicide

erincies's review

3.5

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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It was a good well written fast read. Only reason I didn’t give it four stars is that I felt the ending wrapped up almost too perfectly for how horrific the dark parts were. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Pregnancy

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Murder

m_moon's review against another edition

1.5

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting

knitswhilereading's review against another edition

2.5

dark mysterious sad 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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting

Minor: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment

sophieamreacher's review

4.75

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Brilliant, twisted, dark, sad. A real page turner. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail