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Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

158 reviews

dark tense slow-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: Complicated

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dark emotional sad slow-paced
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i loved the twists in this book i hate when i can guess but a few of them really caught me by surprise. the characters felt fleshed out and human and the emotion and writing was brill. didn’t feel very tense apart from towards the end but that’s really the only thing.

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faythfarrar's profile picture

faythfarrar's review

2.0

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jpt007's profile picture

jpt007's review

4.75
adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

This was a book I chose to read on a whim while on a Barnes and nobles run with a friend, and wow I just have to say my luck that day was really good! 

Characters- 5/5*
The characters felt rich, deep, and most importantly real. You hated some of them but understood the 3D image of them.
It was impressive Jewell even did that with such a horrible person as Noelle Donnelly. Authors sometimes struggle to give depth to “villains” but Jewell did it beautifully.

Conflict- 5/5*
Once you get into it you couldn’t put the book down. Trust me I tried! 

Plot- 5/5*
The structure of the story was beautifully done. Even the exposition drew you in. Every moment of the journey had thus unsettling feeling that just made the book so much better.

Setting- 4.5/5* 
It was basic but that was the point. I added the the gravity of the story an every day neighborhood. My only complaint is as someone not from London I was lost with a few thing and would have loved a hair more description. (But that’s just me being knit-picky)

Theme- 5/5*
Even after life gives you hell you can find a way to live again, it will take time, but you can do it.
also never inform gut feelings!
I wasn’t expecting to cry from a book like this but at the end I was left with a message I really needed to hear.

Overall Score: 4.9/5⭐️

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a thrill and needs a reminder of why they like to read. 


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kaydenm13's review

5.0
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

This was an interesting story, and I didn't predict a part of the climax.  I definitely thought the storytelling was stronger in the The Family Upstairs series, but this one was fine. The whole
hamster
thing was weird though and kind of felt like a detail added later to increase ~weirdness~.

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tori2629's profile picture

tori2629's review

3.75
dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

You think you know exactly what's going to happen from the summary. Then, just 50 or so pages in, you are SURE you know what's happened, and you will think "Wow, is this just the most predictable book ever???" But, then, when things are finally revealed, you realize, "Hm. Well, this went in a different direction than I expected!" I do feel like it being obvious what happens to Ellie, and how she connects to Floyd and Poppy, was kind of the whole point. The story isn't a mystery about "what happened to Ellie." It's about her Mum, Laurel finally putting the pieces of her life together and moving on afterwards.  

Overall, I liked the book. It got a little slow in the middle, and I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable, not even Laurel or Poppy, really, but the plot was compelling enough that I wanted to see what happened, and how things wind up in the end. I was pleasantly surprised. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark mysterious sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings