Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

83 reviews

sebnebula's review

3.5

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Lisa Jewell is a master in atmospheric writing, characterization, and making the most mundane moments so provocative and visceral. However, the mystery itself was over-explained and didn’t leave anything to the imagination, which it could have benefitted from. Can’t wait to read more from her!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Kidnapping, Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Abandonment

chloefay's review

4.5

dark sad

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment

ahranapiza's review

3.75

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, Abandonment

kdes621's review

3.0

dark emotional 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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Murder

ashme's review

3.75

dark sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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I think the book definitely picked up middle way through and I enjoyed the ending more than I thought I would. Made me emotional actually. However, there was a lot of this that was completely predictable which I usually don’t like but I did like the video explanation in the book. Not my favorite book but think it deserved more than 3 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment

vazquezm's review

4.0

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

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

miarae's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious 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: Yes

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I liked the writing and the plot a lot, though I'm more fond of a thriller where you don't find out who the culprit is until quite late on. I liked the twist with Floyd, though I always disliked him as a character. Lisa Jewell is great at creating tension and suspense and I look forward to reading more of her books.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment

hgootz's review against another edition

3.75

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I initially picked this book to be my last book of 2024, but instead ended up my first finished read of 2025. This was not a bad read to begin 2025 with. Then She Was Gone was a book that had moments of predictability,  times where I “I knew it” as a revelation happened, as well as “I should have seen that coming”, but also moments where I was on the edge of my seat, or feeling of shock where I had to take a moment to soak in what happened before I could continue reading. It was also so interesting to have the different POVs presented in this book and get the different perspectives as pieces of the story were lining up together.  Towards the end it definitely gave me vibes similar to the Netflix show You. This book in the end kept pulling me in and made me stay up until after midnight on a work night to finish it, so I can’t say it didn’t hook me. I don’t think I’ll go back to re-read it personally, but would recommend it to others. I’m glad to have chosen this as my second psychological thriller and can’t wait to explore more of this genre. 

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Content Warnings

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

diaryofavoid's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Sexual assault, Grief, Pregnancy, Abandonment

emilyyyhillsss's review

3.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment