By Lisa Jewell

3/5

⭐⭐⭐

“Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter. And then she was gone. Ten years after Ellie’s disappearance, her mother, Laurel Mack, is trying to put her life back together when she meets an unexpectedly charming man in a cafe. Before she knows it, she’s meeting Floyd’s daughters-and his youngest, Poppy, takes Laurel’s breath away. Because the eerily precocious Poppy is a spitting image of Ellie. And now, the unanswered questions she’s tried so hard to put to rest begin haunting Laurel anew. Where did Ellie go? Did she run away from home, as the police have long suspected, or did something more sinister happen? A haunting page-turner of ‘sheer perfection’ (Booklist, starred review), Then She Was Gone is a gripping and emotionally resonant tale of one mother’s quest to uncover the clues she failed to recognize and finally discover the truth of what happened to her daughter.”

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell was good but not great. I couldn’t get into the main character Laurel, she was bland and infuriating. This woman had favorites in her children and that really turned me away from feeling anything for her. She goes as far as to wish her other daughter Hanna had gone missing and not Ellie. This favoritism would continue throughout the book until the end. I felt that there should’ve been some backlash toward Laurel for her behavior. She essentially just turned her back on her entire family and refused to pick up the pieces after Ellie’s disappearance.

However, the villain in this tale is one you will hate forever. An individual you will wish harm on to the end of days. I felt the villain deserved so much more than what they got in the end.

The ending is my favorite not because it was powerful. Someone gets the last word in this book…and it’s chef’s kiss.

I do have another book of Lisa Jewell’s on my TBR, but I’ll be pushing that further out. The writing is good don’t get me wrong, but Laurel was not the main character I was hoping for.

“Lisa Jewell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen novels, including The Family Upstairs and Watching You, as well as The Night She Disappeared and Invisible Girl. Her novels have sold more than five million copies internationally, and her work has also been translated into twenty-nine languages. Connect with her on Twitter @lisajewelluk, on Instagram @lisajewelluk, and on Facebook @lisajewellofficial.”

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