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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
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
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy
Moderate: Dementia, Death of parent
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy
Moderate: Dementia, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty, Stalking
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
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Dementia, Stalking, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Murder
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting
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.
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
Graphic: Mental illness, Kidnapping, Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Pregnancy
Minor: Dementia, Death of parent