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twistedreads 's review for:
And Then You Were Gone
by R.J. Jacobs
I think I am going to be the odd man out with this one but I have to say it – I did not enjoy this book. My hopes were so high and I was so excited to read this debut thriller from R. J. Jacobs but no matter what I tried, I could not focus. Six months. It took me SIX MONTHS to finish reading this book and, honestly, the only reason I finished was because it was an advanced copy and I felt that I had to give it my all.
Why didn’t I love this book like everyone else has? There are several reasons. The big one being that I just could not connect with Emily from the beginning and Paolo….well I just plain didn’t like him. No real reason, I just didn’t. When he went missing it didn’t matter to me one bit and let’s face it – if you start out a book by not caring about the characters, you’re just setting yourself up for failure.
My lack of connection with the Emily made the plot accelerate very, very slowly for me. So slow that by the time I found the pace quicken, I didn’t care anymore about what happened. It got to the point where I was reading to finish instead of reading to enjoy myself and there’s no coming back from that.
What I DID enjoy about this book (yes, there were parts) is the mental illness representation and how much that illness was involved in the plot. Emily’s downward spiral into mania throughout the investigation was incredibly well done and allowed for a completely different experience while reading. Again, I was already past the point of no return with this book before Emily started slipping but you can tell that the author has done his homework on bipolar disorder and that makes all the difference to the reader. I learned things. I like that.
And Then You Were Gone was obviously not the book for me, but I do see its potential and the draw for other readers. While I didn’t enjoy it, I can definitely see why so many others do and would still recommend it to someone looking for this type of thriller. I would also keep an open mind about reading future works from Jacobs. I think his writing style is on point and would love to see if other books by him will hit home with me as this book has with others.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a copy of this book to read and provide my honest opinion.
Why didn’t I love this book like everyone else has? There are several reasons. The big one being that I just could not connect with Emily from the beginning and Paolo….well I just plain didn’t like him. No real reason, I just didn’t. When he went missing it didn’t matter to me one bit and let’s face it – if you start out a book by not caring about the characters, you’re just setting yourself up for failure.
My lack of connection with the Emily made the plot accelerate very, very slowly for me. So slow that by the time I found the pace quicken, I didn’t care anymore about what happened. It got to the point where I was reading to finish instead of reading to enjoy myself and there’s no coming back from that.
What I DID enjoy about this book (yes, there were parts) is the mental illness representation and how much that illness was involved in the plot. Emily’s downward spiral into mania throughout the investigation was incredibly well done and allowed for a completely different experience while reading. Again, I was already past the point of no return with this book before Emily started slipping but you can tell that the author has done his homework on bipolar disorder and that makes all the difference to the reader. I learned things. I like that.
And Then You Were Gone was obviously not the book for me, but I do see its potential and the draw for other readers. While I didn’t enjoy it, I can definitely see why so many others do and would still recommend it to someone looking for this type of thriller. I would also keep an open mind about reading future works from Jacobs. I think his writing style is on point and would love to see if other books by him will hit home with me as this book has with others.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with a copy of this book to read and provide my honest opinion.