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dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Laurel Mack has had a hard time moving forward after her fifteen-year old daughter, Ellie, vanished one day on the way to the library ten years ago. It's not until she meets Floyd that she starts to repair the relationships (including with her surviving children) that were damaged when she withdrew into her own trauma after Ellie's disappearance. However, she's thrown off her new equilibrium when she meets his nine-year old daughter, Poppy, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ellie.
This is another book club book that didn't look like what I normally read (contemporary mystery vs fantasy, sci fi, and historic fiction) but decided to read anyways. My specific thoughts when reading the synopsis was "this looks so messed up, I want to read it." It did not disappoint on that front.
The story is told in short chapters in a mix of third person limited and first person PoV, following Laurel in the story's present, Ellie around the time of her disappearance,Ellie's kidnapper, and a lone chapter by Floyd that is the only one told in present tense. Plus an epilogue that I have no idea why it's present that reveals that if a random woman read her used book in a more timely manner could have revealed what happened to Ellie sooner. I don't know what it adds. The mystery was plenty bizarre and tragic without this revelation. Like a lot of books with similar structures, I found the PoV switches frustrating at times. At the start, there's a chapter that ends with Laurel getting a call from the police about a new break in the case, but then we get a chapter from Ellie's PoV when she meets the character we later learn is her eventual kidnapper. Then Laurel driving to the police station. More Ellie. Then finally what the cops found. Good thing the chapters are short. Another issue with the structure is that the reader gets information from other PoVs that tell the audience a lot of information about what happened to Ellie, that Laurel is not privy to. However, it didn't bring me a sense of satisfying dramatic irony so much as a desire to shake Laurel and say "confront him already."
Characters are OK. Most of Laurel's family are likable enough and don't overstay their welcome, but I'm not sure if I would have been as attached to Ellie if she wasn't so similar to me at that age. For better or worse, Lisa Jewell does not shy away from the more unpleasant side of someone coping with a parent's worst nightmare, and at times Laurel's PoV can be frustrating to read about. The worst though, is probably Floyd. Maybe it's the fact that the synopsis hints at a connection with Ellie's disappearance, but it was obvious that something was off with him. However, my big issue is that while Laurel finds him charming, I never did. He comes off as a clingy sex pest with a weirdly clingy relationship with his younger daughter, and the climax revelations make him even worse in retrospect.
This is another book club book that didn't look like what I normally read (contemporary mystery vs fantasy, sci fi, and historic fiction) but decided to read anyways. My specific thoughts when reading the synopsis was "this looks so messed up, I want to read it." It did not disappoint on that front.
The story is told in short chapters in a mix of third person limited and first person PoV, following Laurel in the story's present, Ellie around the time of her disappearance,
Characters are OK. Most of Laurel's family are likable enough and don't overstay their welcome, but I'm not sure if I would have been as attached to Ellie if she wasn't so similar to me at that age. For better or worse, Lisa Jewell does not shy away from the more unpleasant side of someone coping with a parent's worst nightmare, and at times Laurel's PoV can be frustrating to read about. The worst though, is probably Floyd. Maybe it's the fact that the synopsis hints at a connection with Ellie's disappearance, but it was obvious that something was off with him. However, my big issue is that while Laurel finds him charming, I never did. He comes off as a clingy sex pest with a weirdly clingy relationship with his younger daughter, and the climax revelations make him even worse in retrospect.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Kidnapping
Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Dementia, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Car accident, Death of parent
challenging
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:
Complicated
Predictable and terrifying in the sense that I’m sure people like Noel probably exist and that makes me see the world as a little worse than I previously did
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping
Minor: Suicide
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really, really enjoyed this book. It was hard to put down, but I also kept stopping to write my thoughts and theories so I could look back on them and see if I was on the right track. I LOVE that the story was well concluded and the loose ends were all tied. AND IT ALL MADE SENSE! There were lots of surprises and scenes that made me gasp out loud without a lazy explanation (read: “it was mental illness” or “it was all a dream” or “it was all a coincidence”). Great story, great execution, great epilogue!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicide, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cancer, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Abandonment
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
The thrills were so good with this one! It was such a fun and fast paced read. Even though I could predict some of the things that happened, it was a good time!
As we started to learn about the connection between Floyd and Noelle, it was very easy to sense that Noelle couldn't get pregnant. All the pieces fell into place as you knew the set up from the end result in the beginning of the book, but not necessarily the how or why.
How Ellie became pregnant really surprised me! I thought that Floyd was going to play a bigger part in that with Noelle, but it was really just her that was completely unhinged. The fact that she bought sperm and inseminated Ellie was appalling.
I also thought the end of Part Four was fascinating where Floyd was giving Noelle a gift, but Part Five really dropped the ball. It was too happy and easy for the characters. I wanted more drama and for it to keep up pace with the rest of the book. The fact that Blue said Floyd's aura was dark felt like it didn't really come into play.
Poppy was also an interesting character and acted so much older. I was hoping we'd find out more about why Floyd made the decisions she did.
Definitely recommend this one for people looking for a fast, fun, thrilling read!
As we started to learn about the connection between Floyd and Noelle, it was very easy to sense that Noelle couldn't get pregnant. All the pieces fell into place as you knew the set up from the end result in the beginning of the book, but not necessarily the how or why.
How Ellie became pregnant really surprised me! I thought that Floyd was going to play a bigger part in that with Noelle, but it was really just her that was completely unhinged. The fact that she bought sperm and inseminated Ellie was appalling.
I also thought the end of Part Four was fascinating where Floyd was giving Noelle a gift, but Part Five really dropped the ball. It was too happy and easy for the characters. I wanted more drama and for it to keep up pace with the rest of the book. The fact that Blue said Floyd's aura was dark felt like it didn't really come into play.
Poppy was also an interesting character and acted so much older. I was hoping we'd find out more about why Floyd made the decisions she did.
Definitely recommend this one for people looking for a fast, fun, thrilling read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Torture, Abandonment
Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Kidnapping
Minor: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Stalking, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Murder
Minor: Body shaming
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Plot was all over the place, in a bad way. Poorly thought out. 30% of the chapters could have been excluded. Do these authors get paid per page or character count? How can we switch to a POV of a character who is dead, but is being written as if she’s confessing all of her sins from the future? It was very confusing and unjustified. The ending made absolutely no sense whatsoever. What was the reason for Floyd to have confessed his wrongdoings in a letter to Laurel, then take a train to another town just to kill hisself? Surely, he could have just killed hisself without fleeing to another town. Especially since it’s not like he committed suicide in a different city to prevent Poppy from finding out, because she ends up knowing shortly after the fact. For Noelle to have been so “obsessed” with not only Ellie, but also Floyd and wanting a child with him, it felt very forced to have her kidnap Ellie, hold her hostage, rape and impregnate her with SOMEONE ELSE’S sperm, not even Floyd’s 🤦🏽♀️ just to let Ellie die, and not take care of her child. Noelle was written to be this psychopath who is strange, quirky and really obsessive, but it all felt incredibly underdeveloped. As if the author did no research and thought that having Noelle do these weird/quirky things was going to be enough to get that idea across to the readers. It wasn’t. Prime example would be the hamsters. Everything felt forced to me. The relationships, the character’s flaws, the timelines, the interactions, the abuse/neglect, literally everything. This book really solidified the fact that I hate reading books that have children in them. Poppy is nine-years-old but is written having much too mature vocabulary and conversational skills, and made entirely too aware. The backstories were extremely flat as were the characters. The connection between SJ and Laurel was for what purpose? Other than for SJ to be the one to “egg” Laurel on to continue looking into the disappearance of Noelle by telling Laurel she saw Noelle’s stomach completely flat when Noelle was allegedly very pregnant. Poppy’s “cousins” and “grandma” storyline’s were unnecessary. The last nail in the coffin for me to officially “one star” this book was Hannah and Theo. Why make Hannah and Theo (Ellie’s boyfriend) become a couple and get married? As if the whole situation isn’t strange enough. Having Ellie get kidnapped, raped and impregnated by Noelle her math tutor, Noelle do all of these terrible things to Ellie just to secure her relationship with Floyd. Floyd date Ellie’s mother Laurel, while also raising Ellie’s daughter as his own despite knowing it’s not his child and how she was conceived. Then just when you think this is complicated enough, why not have the boy Ellie was dating when she died get married to her sister. What?!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
dark
mysterious
sad
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
Bit predictable and I realised what was happening as the story went on. I hoped I’d be wrong and there would be a big twist but I was disappointed. However I did enjoy this and it did keep me wondering what was happening!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment
Minor: Car accident
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death