A review by ogokoo
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

dark emotional sad slow-paced

3.5

Well written, but left me with many things to be unhappy about. I'm not sure what this book was trying to be.
A story about carrying grief and managing to find light in life? A thriller and mystery? A study of sociopathic characters and family dynamics? The structure of the book was odd to me. If the point was to see a mother coping with grief and mending the relationships in her life despite terrible things happening to her, then having all those chapters spelling out the horror of Ellie's captivity really threw a wrench in that. I also didn't like how we were given glimpses at the way Ellie's father and siblings were dealing with her disappearance throughout the book, but then after the final reveal we didn't get their POV. We just got Laurel's. And don't get me started on the implausibility of Ellie's captivity. How did she not try to escape more? Or hurt Noelle? The hamster cages, the locks, anything, try anything! The chapter where Ellie died was just....so tragic and disturbing and unnecessary.
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