Scan barcode
A review by niclantsov
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
If I, by any chance, saw this book on a thrift store and pick this up without seeing the blurb and read it blindly, I would consider this as a second-chance adult contemporary romance. I kid you not, the first 50/60% of this book felt like some episode on Gilmore Girls. A single mother, still grieving her daughter that went missing 10 years ago met a single dad in a cafe (mhMmMHMMM romantic! but it's not a romance book!!! I didn't come for that!) and the story follows their romantic journey henceforth. Not only that, the mother also meddling on her other daughter love life. Rory and Lorelai-Luke much? And the fact that the mother's name is Lauren, get it, Lauren Lorelai, at a glance they're literally the same name.
If you are looking for a mystery book with a grandeur plot twist, then sadly this book is not for you. You actually could put the two and two together on the 15% mark.
Every trope that I hated literally sitting cozily in this book:
-Witty, smart kid, who retorts smart remarks and give relationship advice to adults, she's nine ffs.
-Unlikable main character, as you know the MC of this book is the Grieving Mother (Lauren). She literally said this after her other daughter told her that she's starving because The Mother's been too focusing on her recent missing daughter, in result neglecting her other obligations. "It should be you missing and Ellie eating beans on toast"Praying that my mother will never act like her.
-The writing is not my cup of tea, it's too one dimensional, I have 0 sympathy towards any of the characters.
I'm going to talk about the Grieving Mother here: Lauren never moved on from her missing daughter, her mind is literally a decade behind her body. That's the only thing she thinks about. And by doing that she neglected all of her other children and husband, and when her husband seem to have moved on about Ellie (the missing daughter) and started feeling happy again, Lauren hated that (she clearly don't want to be miserable alone), resulting in their divorce. Same goes with her children, they left her. I get that Lauren lost her daughter, and the author clearly wanted Lauren to act like how a mother would act losing their child, but it was written poorly, and it resulted to an unlikable character.
This is my first Lisa Jewell book, and I was disappointed. Would I read her other works? Yes.
If you are looking for a mystery book with a grandeur plot twist, then sadly this book is not for you. You actually could put the two and two together on the 15% mark.
Every trope that I hated literally sitting cozily in this book:
-Witty, smart kid, who retorts smart remarks and give relationship advice to adults, she's nine ffs.
-Unlikable main character, as you know the MC of this book is the Grieving Mother (Lauren). She literally said this after her other daughter told her that she's starving because The Mother's been too focusing on her recent missing daughter, in result neglecting her other obligations. "It should be you missing and Ellie eating beans on toast"Praying that my mother will never act like her.
-The writing is not my cup of tea, it's too one dimensional, I have 0 sympathy towards any of the characters.
I'm going to talk about the Grieving Mother here: Lauren never moved on from her missing daughter, her mind is literally a decade behind her body. That's the only thing she thinks about. And by doing that she neglected all of her other children and husband, and when her husband seem to have moved on about Ellie (the missing daughter) and started feeling happy again, Lauren hated that (she clearly don't want to be miserable alone), resulting in their divorce. Same goes with her children, they left her. I get that Lauren lost her daughter, and the author clearly wanted Lauren to act like how a mother would act losing their child, but it was written poorly, and it resulted to an unlikable character.
This is my first Lisa Jewell book, and I was disappointed. Would I read her other works? Yes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Murder, and Suicide