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Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Graphic: Child death, Death, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Abandonment
This served its precise purpose of being the thriller distraction I needed, hence my rating. Helen Duff was an excellent narrator. It was exactly what I needed.
Pretty shit way to use your main Irish character - legit no reason for her to be Irish, other than being a British author with implicit biases.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Kidnapping, Pregnancy
Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Gaslighting
Minor: Domestic abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Moderate: Miscarriage
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting
Ellie Mack has a great life as a teenager, but suddenly goes missing before her GCSEs. Her mother, Laurel, struggles with not knowing what happened to Ellie because she doesn't believe that she ran away. Years later, Laurel gets a new boyfriend, but when she meets his daughter Poppy, she can't help but be reminded of her own daughter. The book alternates between the past when it happened and the present when Ellie's mum Laurel learns more about what happened.
The parts from Ellie's POV were heartbreaking and her emotions came across in a really distinct way. I liked how there was more of a mix of POVs with more characters towards the end because it helped bring pieces of the narrative together. I think Laurel's point of view also improved as the book went on and her character developed. I did get interested at the very end of the audiobook because I wanted to see how the characters would react to the information. It was a pretty quick read, and I enjoyed the writing too. The descriptions of relationships were probably my favourite part!
Unfortunately, I found the plot reveals pretty obvious and I guessed really early in the book, which meant I wasn't eager to get to the end to see what was going to happen. This was such a huge part of the story so I was disappointed. I recently got into thrillers for the mystery and excitement, which I just found lacking in this book. It wasn't until the very end that I got interested, and it was just a bit too late. I think I also thought that the ending would be more dramatic than it was. I didn't hate the book, but I was mainly just disinterested and I'm honestly surprised that this book is so popular... (although I'm glad others were able to enjoy it)
Overall, I was underwhelmed by this book. Jewell conveys emotions well, but unfortunately I wasn't captivated by the actual plot that much and it didn't surprise me. I don't regret reading it, but I don't know if I'll read more by Lisa Jewell because I haven't liked either of the ones I read. Still, this book does have good reviews so if you're interested, don't let my review put you off. It contains content including child abuse, kidnapping, death, and grief.
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Kidnapping, Grief
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment
Moderate: Animal cruelty