A review by tyreadsbooks_
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

⟡Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell⟡
★★★★★ 5/5 stars!

⟡ synopsis
Ellie Mack was 15 years old when she disappeared & was declared a runaway. 10 years later, her mother, Laurel, still doesn’t believe it. When she meets a man in a cafe & starts spending time with him & his daughter, she can’t help noticing odd coincidences. She begins to question everything - What happened to Ellie? Where did she go? Who still has secrets to hide?

⟡ Read if you like :
-I Know Who You Are by Alice Feeney 
-Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica 
-dark, unsettling psychological thrillers
-short chapters
-missing persons cases
-suspicious new boyfriends
-seriously twisted characters 

⟡ my thoughts
This is one I can’t believe I haven’t read yet - I went in completely blind, other than knowing I love Lisa Jewell. I was positively hooked from beginning to end. 

This book isn’t a whodunnit. We find out early on the “who”  - but it’s the journey of figuring out the why & how that makes it fascinating. It felt like I was in on a secret. Jewell does a great job of slowly giving you bits of information from each of the POVs - just enough to keep you connecting dots & turning pages. This story unfolded so bizarrely. There is a great blend of suspense, suspicion & grief. All of the characters are very well written & developed, I found myself equally drawn to each narrative.

The last line was so incredibly moving, a heartbreaking & bittersweet ending.

I’d call Then She Was Gone an absolute must read for psychological thriller fans!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings