Reviews with content warning for Murder - Then She Was Gone

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

322 reviews

sprinumter's review

4.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This is more than just a 4.5 star review! The read was dark, mysterious, emotional, and thrilling- however there were many points where the story was very predictable (hence the 4.5 not 5) as in I knew what the next plot twist was going to be. Regardless, it is one of the most interesting stories I’ve read in a while and very much enjoyed how fast paced and easily digestible the content was. Poppy is my favorite character of them all and I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints from the various characters.

Content Warnings

_youfloweryoufeast_'s review

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad 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: No

4 ⭐️

Genre: Thriller
Age group : Adult
POV : First person & third person & multiple POV
Characters: 4.5/5 ⭐️
Plot: 3.5/5 ⭐️
Setting/Themes: 3/5 ⭐️
Writing: 3.5/5 ⭐️
Thrill factor: 3/5 ⭐️

• Please check TWs & CWs
• mature language, kidnapping, drugging, torture, starvation, chile abuse, forced pregnancy, violence, murder, death, loss of a loved one, gore, suicide, guns
• HEA (as happy is it could get after a horribly heartbreaking traumatising event)

“To anyone who finds this note [it begins], my name is Ellie Mack.

I am seventeen. None of them must feel bad about what happened to me because I am brave and I am brilliant and I am strong.

Yours sincerely,
Ellie Mack”

Let me start by saying this was quite great. I will say that it’s extremely triggering and would advice everyone to search up thorough trigger warnings before venturing into this book. It was a good thriller and the way the story unfolded to readers before it did to characters in the book was good. I’m assuming it’s a deliberate play of the author’s. I liked it. The author references the kidnapping of Colleen Stan but this reminded me of the Fritzl case. Truly horrifying.

Then She Was Gone is the heartbreaking story of a family dealing with grief, the devastating story of a mother who lost her golden child, the terrifying story of how sick lengths some individuals will go to appease themselves and a keep someone tied to them, the story of a mentally bothered man who was nothing but a child to hold on to and the dark secrets he buries, ultimately it’s a story of gore, grief and the audacity. (I mean this in the meanest way possible, sick sick Noelle,SICK SICK Floyd)

Overall, I recommend. If you’re looking for a great thriller, give this one a try.

Content Warnings

mariam_rizvii's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional 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

4.25 ⭐️

Gripping, just absolutely gripping! I could not put this book down. This was such a heartbreaking story and left me feeling very emotional. It is so much more than just a story about a missing teenage girl. I also really loved that we got to see multiple perspectives and timelines - it was so emotional reading from the perspective of Ellie and experiencing what she went through - so tragic 😢 but the way Lisa Jewell wrote this was fantastic and I cannot wait to read more from her!

Content Warnings

rebeccawalter's review

3.75

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Content Warnings

abbs15norm's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious 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: Yes

Content Warnings

albie95's review against another edition

3.75

dark mysterious 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: No

I did finish the book in less than a day, which I feel is some testament to the book itself - the pace was good for me, enough sort of mystery and intrigue to keep it going. I sort of predicted the ending but not fully; I wasn’t disappointed with it at all. Overall it was not literary genius but I found it an easy read that had me asking questions. The characters were not loveable but in some senses I appreciated this - they were flawed, and a lot of the thoughts Laurel had were very human and I liked that she wasn’t painted to be a perfect mother.

Content Warnings