Then She Was Gone

Product Information

I read a Lisa Jewell novel last year and connected immediately with her writing style, tone, and voice. When Then She Was Gone showed up on NetGalley last month, I immediately requested it and added it to my reading queue for April. I really find myself enamored with Jewell's characters, plots, and settings, so much that I've added ten of her other books to my TBR and hope to read a few more later this year. I have now read the last few books by this author and look forward to reading many more. To prove a point of mine, it is possible to write a good and suspenseful story without blood, excess gore and constant action. This is the kind of psychological thriller I actually enjoy. Lisa Jewell knows how to take a classic storyline and make it her own. Most of her plots are traditional tales that have been told before in some form, but the difference is that she knows how to take something that could be predictable and put her own spin on it. The atmosphere, characterization, and raw emotion that is infused into each of her novels elevates their status to something that few suspense novelists have attained. The blending of multiple genres in each of her books really creates a unique reading experience; readers of every gender and walk of life have been able to connect with her writing and I feel that's a sure sign of the highest quality of writing. the mystery/thriller stories i have read lately have been really predicable, so im starting a new game with myself where i predict what will happen before i read it, based solely on the synopsis. heres what i think for this one: floyd was involved in ellies disappearance (i dont think it will be a kidnapping, but maybe manipulated to run away?) and poppy is ellies daughter. i also dont think ellie will be dead. i still havent figured out how im going to reward myself for a correct prediction - the game is a work in progress - so suggestions are welcome. lol.

His constant praise of how gorgeous and stunning and amazing Laurel is is nearly just as creepy as him keeping silent about Poppy. All these apparent loose threads begin to be tied to Ellie’s disappearance. Meanwhile, the book explores the reactions of various family members to the tragic event, showing that Laurel was not the only one damaged by the loss. Likewise, law enforcement efforts are summarized: Ellie was last seen on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage captured the morning she vanished. Though the police are diligent, conducting house-to-house searches and pursuing tips received from the public, they find nothing. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary—beyond Laurel’s insistence that her daughter had no reason to flee home—law enforcement concludes and steadfastly maintains that Ellie was a runaway. They speculate she may be living on the European continent.Noelle gets pregnant but loses the baby. Around this time, she starts tutoring Ellie. She becomes obsessed with Ellie and her seemingly perfect life. Populated with fantastic characters, this was a fascinating and moving story about obsession, loss, and family. Some suspension of disbelief may be necessary, but it didn’t really bother me, I just enjoyed what I found to be a unique and absorbing story. As soon as their relationship become serious and she forms true bounding with Poppy, she surprisingly finds out the birth mother Noelle of Poppy who left her is the same woman who has tutored her daughter Ellie. And Ellie wrote at her diary that woman gave her creeps and she didn’t want her tutoring anymore. From Laurel's perspective, in the present) Laurel calls Noelle's parents who report that they haven't seen her in decades. She was supposed to move and go live with them along with Poppy at one point, but it looks like she dropped off the baby with Floyd and disappeared instead. A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.

Jewell teases out her twisty plot at just the right pace, leaving readers on the edge of their seats. Her multilayered characters are sheer perfection, and even the most astute thriller reader won’t see where everything is going until the final threads are unknotted.”— Booklist, starred review Well, this was the refreshing change I’d been looking for! Though some give-away clues are revealed early on, you’re still taken on a journey that will most definitely pull your heart in many directions. Floyd writes books about mathematics and number theory. On their next day, he tells her he Googled her and knows about Ellie. They sleep together. Laurel meets his kids, and is floored when she realizes Poppy looks just like Ellie. Poppy and Floyd have a very close relationship, which unnerves Laurel a little. But overall, Laurel is much more excited and happy due to her relationship than she has been in a long time. It was possible, she thought, that Hanna had met a man, but unlikely. Hannah hadn't had a boyfriend, not one, ever. Someone once mooted the theory that Hanna felt too guilty to have a boyfriend because her little sister would never have one. The same theory could also be applied to her miserable flat and her nonexistent social life. Laurel's daughter in law, Blue, spouts New Age mumbo jumbo about how she didn't like Floyd when she met him because he has a bad aura or some crap like that.When her children were small they'd sometimes say, 'What would you do if I died?' And she would reply, 'I would die too, because I could not live without you.' And then her child had died and she had found out that somehow, incredibly, she could live without her, that she had woken every morning for a hundred days, a thousand days, three thousand days and she had lived without her." I believe in bad vibes and listening to your instincts but why include a stereotypical hippie dippy character to warn Laurel? Thank you to NetGalley, Ariele Friedman, Atria Books and Lisa Jewell for a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. The book opens from Ellie’s point of view ten years earlier. Life is going great for Ellie. She’s doing well in school and the boy she’s had her eye on seems to like her too. Her future is bright.