This book is fantastic! Seriously! I'm kicking myself for not reading any Lisa Jewell before this book even though I do have The House We Grew Up In sitting on my bookshelf unread. Shame on me!

Back to this book.

Laurel Mack had a wonderful life and family until the dreadful day when her teenage daughter Ellie goes missing. Her obsession with finding her and the broken pieces of her heart from losing her tear her family apart. Her husband leaves and eventually remarries, her son moves in with his girlfriend, and her relationship with her other daughter turns cold and distant.

One day while Laurel is minding her own business at a local coffee shop enjoying her tea when in walks Floyd. He's a handsome well dressed man and it appears he has his eye on her. He invites her to join him for a slice of cake and from here their relationship develops. Eventually he invites her to meet his daughter, Poppy. Laurel is so taken aback upon sight of Poppy.....she is the spitting image of Ellie. How could this be?

Lisa Jewell wrote a tale about a wicked villain and I loved the chapters when I was in that persons head - this is purposely vague because, ya know, spoilers.

As I frantically flipped the pages I was able to deduce what was happening making the ending a slight bit predictable but I had a hell of time getting there so it in no way took away from my enjoyment of this book. I found the ending satisfying and I turned the last page with a smile. 4.5 stars!

Thank you to Ariele Fredman @ Atria for sending me a NetGalley widget in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! I couldn’t put it down!

I was hooked right from the beginning. Ellie’s disappearance was so mysterious. Even though we get a hint of who was involved in her disappearance early on in the book, the details of what happened are saved until the end. I didn’t want to stop reading because I really wanted to find out what happened to her!

I found Floyd so creepy right from the moment he was introduced. He was a little too good to be true. He seemed like the perfect guy for Laurel, which was too convenient. His daughter was a little odd too. Poppy is very mature for her age and she looks just like Laurel’s daughter. Their appearance in Laurel’s life was suspicious.

Though the novel was very suspenseful, the ending was so emotional that it made me cry. If you’re looking for a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, go read this book!

The introduction to this book from publisher Simon and Schuster Canada says that author Lisa Jewel’s books get better and better with every new book she puts out. I would have to agree. I only discovered Jewel a couple years ago, but I have read every book she’s published since and Then She Was Gone is definitely one of my favourites.

Combine a favourite author with my favourite plot – the mystery of a missing girl – and we have the makings of what is bound to be an enthralling read. I’m a sucker for a good missing persons story, but also incredibly harsh on my enjoyment of them. I need something that will keep me on my toes, something that isn’t overly transparent, something that messes with my head.

From the start, this book did just that. The events and characters seemed relatively normal, nothing seemed overly suspicious, and yet, certain things just felt off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it though as I was strung along into the depths of this strange and twisted plot. I had my theories, though, constantly trying to guess what was going on, but I never felt quite certain and couldn’t figure out how, if I were right, it had happened.

I read through this feverishly. It felt like the answer to all of my questions was just on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t quite grasp it, so I raced through the pages with such anticipation. And then when the answers did start coming, I still couldn’t stop. There was something just so twisted and vile about this, even though it wasn’t an overly graphic or violent story. It was heartbreaking, though, and when it reached that climax point and you finally discovered what fully happened, it was like a punch to the gut.

The only thing that really bothered me through this book was Laurel. I just felt that she was ignoring some HUGE red flags. Sure, blossoming love is blind and all that, but she came across some really strong suspicious evidence and she hardly batted an eye. That just didn’t sit right with me. Maybe I’m being too hard on her, but I thought she was pretty accepting and not on guard enough when things started revealing themselves to her, and she continued to put herself in the direct line of fire even when she did start to suspect something was off.

That said, it was still quite a read and while the motives and fall out weren’t unexpected, it was a thrilling and unique take on the missing girl story.

. This story starts where most stories end with discovery of the remains of a 14 year old girl who has been missing for years. Ellie Mack was a good studious girl not the sort of girl that you'd think would run off. Her mother, Laurel was never convinced that she had although the police seemed to believe it. Yet the discovery of Ellie's remains doesn't bring Laurel closure. It just makes things more complicated especially when Laurel begins dating a man who may have a connection to Ellie's disappearance . This book will shake you to the core and yet you won't be able to put it down. It's a horrifying thrill ride of a page turner.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-copy of Then She Was Gone in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

One day, ten years ago, Laurel Mack's daughter Ellie never makes it home. For ten years she is distraught, without having any closure, Laurel ceases to be the wife and mother she has always been. She gets divorced and her two remaining children grow up, move out, and pursue lives of their own that don't include her very much. After Ellie's remains are finally discovered, Laurel starts to move on, slowly but surely. She meets a new man, but there is definitely something off about him. Laurel gradually pieces together connections between her new boyfriend and the missing Ellie. Laurel thought she had closure, but now that she seems so close to some answers about what happened to her daughter all those years ago she is desperate to find out more.

This was my second Lisa Jewell novel and I think I am quickly becoming a big fan! For a psychological thriller, Then She Was Gone had a lot of emotion in it, and a lot of realness. It examines what can happen to a family after tragedy hits. But it also has enough mystery and suspense to drive a very steadily paced plot. I enjoyed the alternating POV's of the characters and Jewell's writing is so natural and easy to read, I read this one in just a day and a half, I couldn't put it down. Then She Was Gone might be the perfect thriller for those who don't always reach for the genre. I really enjoyed it and look forward to more from her. I give this one five stars!

In a few words – this book is twisty in the best way.

Laurel Mack’s daughter Ellie disappeared ten years ago. Heartbreakingly, when Ellie disappeared she was only 15 years old with her entire life in front of her. Ellie was preparing for her exams, planning her future post high school, and then she was gone. Laurel attempts normalcy in her life going through the motions until she meets Floyd. Suddenly, Laurel’s world begins to change and Floyd and his daughter Poppy bring a ray of light into Laurel’s dark world. The story moves between the now, which focuses on Laurel and her relationship with Floyd and then, which unravels the mystery of Ellie’s disappearance.

This was my first time reading a novel by Lisa Jewell and I was pleasantly surprised. This book had me guessing until the very end. The most fascinating thing about this book was the characters. I thought Jewell did a phenomenal job on her characters in this novel. I felt connected and attached to them and when I book was over I was left heartbroken that their story had ended.

This is not the kind of thriller that will get your heart racing with high-octane action. Instead, the author created a character, Ellie Mack, that you cannot help but adore and leads you down a trail to discover the details around her disappearance. I personally could not stop turning the pages of this psychological thriller until I knew what happened to her.

The ending was worth the wait.

I am a big Lisa Jewell fan, having read all of her previous books. She is expert at drawing the reader in with interesting plot lines, well-developed characters and surprises that continually pop like 4th of July fireworks. Then She Was Gone has all of that. You will be spellbound, I have no doubt.

But I'm giving this 3 stars rather than my usual higher ratings for Ms. Jewell due to a high creep (EWWW!!!) factor, multiple stalkers, and a story line that requires some suspension of belief for it to work. Rarely are there as many sick and sad coincidences in the real world as occur within these pages, and for that I am very grateful.

I will eagerly await Ms. Jewell's next book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for letting me read an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After my unexpectedly pleasing experience with another of Jewell's novels, THE GIRLS IN THE GARDEN, I have been eager to try her latest work; THEN SHE WAS GONE is a highly compelling page-turner, especially for mystery fans.

Packed up to walk to the library, nearing the end of her high school career, Ellie Mack leaves home and never returns. Her parents, devastated, try to move on after all efforts have been exhausted. Years later, her mother receives information about new clues and that’s when the story really takes off. I’m so glad I gave this one a try; highly recommend!

3.5 rounded up. Thanks to Net Galley and Atria for the DRC. This book is now for sale.

This is my third title by this author, and she is consistently strong. Our protagonist is Laurel, who is struggling. Her daughter Ellie--her favorite child—is missing. She’s been missing for years, and it hasn’t really gotten any easier. Her marriage is over because Paul could move on, while Laurel could not; she is no longer close to their other two children, because all her thoughts and feelings went to the child that was missing.

Then one day she meets Floyd. He is warm and delightful, and his daughter Poppy, who seems too good to be true, calls to her.

I have read other reviews that suggest that the mystery here is easily solved. That’s true. But it hardly matters, because I wasn’t in this thing for the mystery. I was in it for the character. There are so many observations, small tidbits of mom-philosophy, some of which I didn’t know anybody shared with me. I have notes in my reader, where I usually ask questions or point to technical aspects of a story, that simply say, “I know, right?”

All of the characters in this story are Caucasian, and so I suspect that the main target audience is white mothers in their forties and beyond. I recommend this story to everyone in that demographic that enjoys women’s fiction.

Ellie Mack disappears when she is 15 years old. Fast forward ten years and her Mother meets a man who has a daughter who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ellie.

This is a great psychological suspense. You figure out the mystery pretty early but that doesn’t ruin the suspense of the story. This book is told from the viewpoint of different characters and goes between the past and present. Besides being a psychological suspense this is a story about a family torn apart by a tragedy. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy of this book.

Ten years ago, Laurel Mack’s teenage daughter, Ellie, disappeared without a trace. The police say she ran away, but Laurel wasn’t so sure. After her daughter disappeared, her marriage fell apart, and Laurel still struggles with her incomplete life.

Then she meets Floyd, a charming author, at a café, and finds herself involved in an intense relationship. Soon she’s meeting Floyd’s youngest daughter, Poppy, who looks exactly like Ellie.

Now Laurel wonders if there’s a darker motive behind Ellie’s disappearance, and she’s desperate to find out the truth as she seeks to untangle the strange relationship between Floyd and Poppy.

I had a hard time putting this book down, but the characters were all a bit strange and distant to me. The mystery surrounding Ellie’s disappearance was compelling, but there were several layers of creepiness connected to Laurel and Floyd, and even the decidedly odd Poppy. Basically, while I was intrigued, I didn’t find any of the characters likable, and their motivations weren’t entirely believable to me.

Lisa Jewell was born and raised in London. Her newest novel is Then She Was Gone.

(Galley provided by Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.)

4.5 Stars

This was my fifth book by Lisa Jewell. I know when I see her name, I'm in for a good thrilling page turner that will keep me up all night.

However, part way through this book I had determined that I knew exactly what happened to Ellie, a child who turned up missing at the age of 15. Out the front door on the way to the library in which she never arrived. I was so bummed that I had it figured out. I was thinking, with all the 5 star ratings, what's up?

Alas, just a few more pages in and while it was pretty similar to what I thought was actually going on, it did sway a little differently. Well, duh, it is Lisa Jewell.

However, with that being said, for me, I found this to be a decent read, not my favorite, but a helluva lot better than some books I've read.

The characters were out there. Noelle was cray, cray; Floyd was very strange and very creepy which certainly rubbed off on his daughter, Poppy, and Laurel was too trusting, too quickly.

I really liked the ending and am certainly glad that I got to enjoy it.

Kudos to the author for the entertainment and thanks to Atria Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

If you are a fan of a psychological thriller this is the book for you. I was fascinated and horrified at this tale of the lengths people will go to for love. A vivid expanse of the fine line between severe mental illness and the ability to function in society. Anyone who meets a potential new partner will look at them with a jaundiced eye after reading this book. Simply riveting.

Wow—just wow. This book moves so quick, buckle up and get ready! Once you start, it flows so wonderfully that you don’t even realize you’ve spent two hours and are 200 pages in.

I thought the characters in the story were well written, and the plot, though a bit predictable, was satisfying and enjoyable. This book reminded me of Chevy Stevens or Mary Kubica—so fans of those would enjoy this book. The narration moved between past and present and between different characters, which helped move the story along.

The ending was great!!

I received an advance copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

**important to add: I requested this book and when I didn’t hear back right away, I decided to get it as my Book Of The Month. Worth it!!

This is the third title I've read by Lisa Jewell and I've decided that her novels are all consistently good. It is nice to discover an author who you know you will read automatically - a 'go to' author.

First we meet Laurel Mack. Laurel's youngest daughter vanished ten years ago. Her daughter, Ellie, was the light of her life. When Ellie disappeared physically, Laurel disappeared emotionally. She was no longer 'there' for her two remaining children, or for her husband, Paul. Her marriage ended three years after Ellie's disappearance. Paul met another women who was there for him in a way that Laurel no longer could. Now Laurel has sold the family home and moved into a flat by herself. She has a tenuous and somewhat cold relationship with her daughter Hanna, and her son Jake.

Laurel is finally trying to create some sort of a life for herself. When she meets a man one day in a cafe, she thinks that - just maybe - she can salvage her life and have some happiness. His name is Floyd Dunn, and he is a single Dad to his nine-year-old daughter, Poppy. When their relationship progresses, Laurel meets Poppy and gets a feeling that something is not quite 'right'. For one thing, Floyd seems besotted with her. Unnaturally so. He home-schools her and she has little knowledge of what it is to be a normal 'child'. Also, Poppy looks eerily like Ellie, her daughter who walked out of her house ten years ago never to return.

"Poppy is clearly a strange child, who is both charmingly naive and unsettlingly self-possessed. She is cleverer than she has any need to be, but also not as clever as she thinks."

Ellie Mack. Just weeks before her sixteenth birthday, Laurel's daughter, was on her way to study at the library. her GCSE's were coming up soon and she wanted a quiet place to revise. On her way to the library she meets up with her old math tutor, Noelle Donnelly. Ellie had never really warmed to Noelle. She found her habits strange and she 'smelled'. Ellie even went so far as to label Noelle a 'bunny boiler' in her diary. Noelle tells Ellie she has a practice paper that will help her when she writes her math GCSEs, she suggests that as she just lives around the corner, Ellie should quickly drop by and pick it up. This tiny decision sealed Ellie's fate forevermore...

Noelle Donnelly is a lonely woman. Extremely clever, she nonetheless finds it very difficult to make friends and she is estranged from her family. At the age of forty-one she is still a virgin. She loathes herself, and this, along with other events in her life, cause her to become mentally unstable. So... when she meets a man and falls in love with him, that love is unhealthy and obsessive. In her efforts to keep him in her life, Noelle concocts an audacious, devious, and psychotic plan.

"A man who can't love, but desperately needs to be loved, is a dangerous thing indeed."

Laurel Mack begins to have suspicions that Floyd Dunn is not who he says he is. Something is awry. She just can't discern exactly what that is...


"Then she was gone" is told via several points of view. The narration is cleanly defined with no chance of the reader becoming confused. The timelines vary and skip back and forth, but at no time is the reader misled as to when the actions take place.

This novel expounds on the notion that one tiny decision, one route chosen, can, in the long run, change a life's path irrevocably. Loss of a child, the most horrible thing that can happen to a parent, affects not only the parents, but the siblings as well. Sometimes in irreversible ways.

Coincidences are not always innocent.

"Then she was gone" moves at a steady pace, increasing the reader's disquiet with every page. Although I had figured out what happened about a third of the way in the book, this did not in any way deter from my enjoyment of the remainder of the novel. I am a reader of crime fiction that finds it equally as important to learn the how and the why as it is to learn what happened.

The characters are sympathetic, none more so that the teenaged Ellie Mack.

A brilliant novel that I absolutely must rate highly and recommend frequently.

It's been ten years since Laurel Mack's beloved youngest daughter, Ellie, disappeared. She was fifteen and adored by her parents and boyfriend. Intelligent, bright, and excited about her future, Ellie was just about to sit for her exams when she vanished. In the years since her daughter's disappearance, Laurel's marriage has fallen apart, and her relationship with her two remaining children is strained. She is resigned to her lonely life until she randomly meets Floyd one day in a coffee shop. The two begin to date, bringing some joy and excitement back into Laurel's solitary life. She also meets Floyd's daughters; the youngest, Poppy, reminds Laurel so much of Ellie sometimes that she can barely stand it. As Laurel tentatively allows herself to feel happy again, she also cannot help but to again question Ellie's disappearance. What really happened to her daughter? And why does she feel so strangely drawn to this young girl who looks so very much like her long-lost daughter?

This was a great one. It drew me in immediately and then just kept going. Jewell slowly doles out these tantalizing, fun snippets and clues that you have to carefully piece together. The novel is composed of interesting, suspicious, and strange pieces of information; as it progresses, it's wonderfully creepy and menacing. The result is an incredibly well-done novel that has you frantically turning the pages. In fact, I had worked some of the plot out and still found myself willing the book forward, wanting Laurel to do the same. It was compulsively readable, and I read the entire second half in one sitting, staying up late to finish it (and this is saying a lot, because sleep is a precious commodity in my life).

The book is divided into three parts, each with some varying narrators, with Laurel as the thread that ties it all together. This works really well at building suspense. It's also heartbreaking at times. It's so awful and terrifying to think of your child going missing, and there are parts that made me cry. And, in turn, the book is realistic. For instance, Laurel comes across as a very true-to-form. She is truly a grieving mom and Jewell also captures the complexities of being a mother quite well too.

Overall, this is an excellent psychological thriller. It's incredibly easy to get absorbed into its well-written plot and strong characters. It also has a tender side, as well. Even when you might see where (some) things are going, it's completely impossible to put down, as it rushes toward a crazy and exciting conclusion. Definitely a great read! 4.5 stars.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).

As the story opens, Laurel Mack has not seen her daughter in 10 years. The youngest of Laurel's 3 children, Ellie simply disappeared when she was 15 years old. In the aftermath, her 2 older children have suffered in their own ways, Laurel's marriage disintegrated, and Laurel has struggled to carry on. A chance meeting -- or was it really? -- with a charming and handsome man in a coffee shop brings new light and hope into Laurel's life. Floyd is caring, intelligent, clearly falling in love with Laurel, and has 2 daughters who had different mothers. The oldest has faced challenges but is doing better. The youngest, Poppy, lives with her father full-time. Floyd is homeschooling her and, while she extremely intelligent, she lacks social skills. Her mother disappeared long ago. Laurel cannot help but notice Poppy's resemblance to Ellie, but initially chalks it up to her grief at losing her youngest child. But as Laurel's relationship with Floyd deepens, the answers to Laurel's questions bring no peace -- only more questions and a growing sense that the story Floyd has told her about his relationship with Poppy's mother may not be the whole truth. Jewell crafts a tense, emotional tale founded upon every parent's worst nightmare -- the disappearance of a child without a trace and years of suffering without any answers about what happened to him/her. Indeed, Jewell breaks readers hearts in a story that is both psychological thriller and a look into the life of a family torn apart by one horrendous act that changes each of them. Despite what may seem as a fantastic premise, Jewell's attention to detail and focus upon Laurel's internal suffering and never-wrong mother's intuition makes the story entirely believable. Then She Was Gone deserves to be a best-seller savored by fans of psychological thrillers and family dramas alike.

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell is a very highly recommended addictive novel of psychological suspense.

Ellie Mack was fifteen, the youngest of three, and her mother's favorite when she disappeared in 2005. There were never any clues and her case soon went cold. Laurel Mack's whole life seemed to crumble after her daughter Ellie disappeared. Her marriage with Paul ended and she became distant to her surviving children, Hanna and Jake. When a final piece of evidence was discovered ten years after her disappearance, Ellie is finally closed and Laurel is trying to put her life back together, even though she still feels she has no real answers as to what happened to Ellie.

When Laurel meets a charming man at a café, author Floyd Dunn, she is surprised to find herself actually accepting a dinner invitation. As their relationship becomes more serious, Laurel meets Floyd's daughters and his youngest daughter, Poppy, takes her breath away because she so resembles Ellie. When Laurel learns that Floyd’s former partner vanished five years earlier after dumping Poppy with him, it brings back unanswered questions and memories of Ellie's disappearance. But when Laurel learns that Poppy's mother, Noelle Donnelly, was also Ellie's math tutor, it seems to be too coincidental.

Then She Was Gone is a wonderful example of how excellent writing and superb planning can elevate a psychological thriller to a perfect rating. Will most readers figure out what likely happened to Ellie very early on? Yes. Is the insight into the characters and the journey of discovery more important than this one big puzzle piece? Oh, yes! Many readers (and reviewers) of suspense novels can predict how a plot is going to go, sometimes very early on in the novel. Personally, I believe in this case Jewell acknowledges that truism and doesn't give a whit about it. In fact she uses this detail and guessing/knowing is only going to increase the suspense and deepen the mystery.

Part of the clever, skillful writing is found in the structure Jewell chose to present Then She Was Gone. The novel is told by several narrators and is split into three parts. The first part has chapters that alternate between the present day events and ten years ago at the time of Ellie's disappearance. The second section begins as Laurel and Floyd meet. The first two sections are primarily narrated by Laurel. The third section has several narrators and those voices are in different time periods, past and present. The structure keeps the pace quick. This, in turn, increases the tension and the psychological suspense, while simultaneously building an uneasy anxiety in the reader.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books via Netgalley
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4 high stars

I find that Lisa Jewell’s books are always a cut above the spate of books with “Gone”, “Girl” and “Lies” in their titles. For one, she can really write. And also her main characters are not breathless naive young woman, but usually middle aged women or men with recognizable emotions. I’ve now read four of her books, and Then She Was Gone is one of my favourites.

The story focuses on the effects of the disappearance of Laurel’s daughter, Ellie. The story is told in two timelines and from a few points of view. Mostly the story focuses on Laurel approximately 10 years after Ellie’s disappearance, but parts of the narrative are from Ellie’s perspective at the time she disappeared. Ten years on, Laurel still struggles with Ellie’s disappearance but she is feeling emotionally buoyant enough to start a new relationship with Floyd, who has a lovely daughter Poppie. Somehow — I’m not telling how to avoid spoilers — this leads Laurel down the road to figuring out what happened to Ellie.

I must admit that I guessed much of the mystery early on. That’s not because the plot is predictable, but because Jewell does a lot of foreshadowing. But I thought that Jewell did a fantastic job with the characters, especially Laurel. She is smart, devastated but functional, equally self aware and self deluded, at times funny, and doggedly determined to find out what happened to Ellie.

For those who worry about gruesomeness, there are no gruesome details but, on an existential level, given what we find out about what happens to Ellie, this one is not for the faint of heart.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

Laurel’s daughter Ellie goes missing one day, never to be seen again. Her disappearance changes Laurel’s life forever and she’s determined to not give up, even after ten years. When Laurel has a chance meeting with Floyd, she decides to attempt a normal life and pursue things with him. Things escalate quickly and it’s not long before she’s being introduced to his nine-year-old daughter, Poppy, who has a striking resemblance to Ellie when she was that age. Laurel can’t help herself and she begins digging into Ellie’s disappearance and connecting the pieces as they come to her. Y’all I absolutely devoured this book! I think I read it in less than 24 hours. The storyline totally drew me in from the start and kept me wondering what happened to Ellie. Although I had an idea of what may have happened to her, I wasn’t prepared for how the story unfolded.