THE BASICS
- Title:Then She Was Gone
- Author: Lisa Jewell
- Genre: Thriller
- Structure: Interchanging character perspectives
- First Line: “Those months, those months before she disappeared, were the best months.”
Synopsis: THEN She was fifteen, her mother’s golden girl. She had her whole life ahead of her. And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone. NOW It’s been ten years since Ellie disappeared, but Laurel has never given up hope of finding her daughter. And then one day a charming and charismatic stranger called Floyd walks into a café and sweeps Laurel off her feet.
Before too long she’s staying the night at this house and being introduced to his nine year old daughter. Poppy is precocious and pretty – and meeting her completely takes Laurel’s breath away. Because Poppy is the spitting image of Ellie when she was that age. And now all those unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back. What happened to Ellie? Where did she go? Who still has secrets to hide?
THE GOOD
To be honest, I was not into this book at first. Typically, I know what I’m going to rate a book by page 50. I thought I was going to give this a low rating. It’s unusual, if not completely unheard of for me, for a book to advance so well that it bounces back from a low rating. Well, guys, the impossible has arrived. I would recommend this book for those who are into thrillers and mysteries. Check out some of the reasons why below:
- The story will have you hooked. It’s the type of dark, twisted story that you can’t stop reading. It’s like watching a car accident in slow motion. There were so many moments where I was turning page after page, trying to get to what happens next. There were even points where I was flustered with myself because I felt like I wasn’t reading fast enough.
- The characters are incredibly distinct. Not every author achieves this and it’s actually a pretty difficult task to achieve. In most books, there are qualities to the characters that interconnect them. These “qualities” can only be described as the author’s creative take on writing. It’s extremely unusual for an author to keep their voice while creating vastly unique voices for their characters. There are no character overlaps. Everyone you run into has their own story and I think that keeps the book interesting.
- This book is a fast read. If you’re looking for a great read to take with you on vacation for your spring break or summer vacation, throw this one in your beach bag! In fact, be sure this isn’t your only book, otherwise, you’ll be out of reading material within a day or two.
THE UNFAVORABLE BITS
This section is pretty minor. One of the first things I noticed were some grammatical glitches. Grammar problems drive me insane when I read a novel. The process of getting a book published is excruciating. Minimally, with all the edits, editors, publicists, and read-throughs, there should be no grammatical errors. Ever.
There are also some cliche character tropes that have been way too overdone in the literary world, particularly when it comes to the mystery/thriller genre. There’s only so many ways you can spin a story or a trope before it’s something we’ve all seen and heard before.
Overall, the writing quality and technique is nothing to write home about. It does make for a fast read, but there is a lot more room for improvement on the technical aspect of things. For example, there were many scenes throughout that held more of the “telling, not showing” idea, which is a big no-no when it comes to creative writing. There were also several situations of grammatical tense confusion and inconsistencies in those tenses.
As always, I give you a heads up about strong language or graphics in case you’re sensitive, or if the person you’re recommending the book to is sensitive. This book does have some graphic details and strong language. Nothing that’s going to make you grab your pearls.
CONCLUSION
Ultimately, I rate this book 3/5 stars. The story is great. This the perfect thriller to take with you when you’re going on vacation and need a good book for the beach, car, or plane. The characters truly make this story unique. If you like any books by Gillian Flynn (such as Gone Girl), then this is right up your alley. However, the writing is so-so and you will run into your standard mystery/thriller tropes. Those negatives aside, this is a great choice for any mystery/thriller lover to add to their collection!
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