The premise of the book is great and the author really delivers. Great read. Highly recommended. . Need to read more from this author.

I loved this book! It's the first Lisa Jewell title I've read, but I can say I'll definitely be reading more by this author.

The suspense she created by combining the 'then' and 'now' kept me glued to the pages.

4 brave stars ⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️⭐️️
I finished listening to the audio THEN SHE WAS GONE written by Lisa Jewell and read by Helen Duff. I correctly guessed what happened to Ellie, but still enjoyed Lisa Jewell's style of writing and the way she gradually "fitted the pieces of the puzzle" together. The epilogue was the " icing on the cake" for me. Wow! What a finish!

"Fifteen-year-old Ellie Mack was the perfect daughter. She was beloved by her parents, friends, and teachers. She and her boyfriend made a teenaged golden couple. She was days away from an idyllic summer vacation with her whole life ahead of her.
And then she was gone.
Now, her mother Laurel Mack is trying to put her life back together. It's been ten years since her daughter disappeared, seven years since her marriage ended, and only months since the last clue in Ellie's case was unearthed. So when she meets an unexpectedly charming man in a cafe, she is surprised at how quickly their flirtation develops into something deeper. Before she knows it, she's meeting Floyd's daughters - and his youngest, Poppy, takes her breath away...And now, the unanswered questions she had tried so hard to put to rest haunt her anew...as well as some new ones about Floyd and Poppy..."
- Quote from back of CD case
Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book. I chose to listen to the audiobook.

Incredible read! I hadn't read anything by Lisa Jewell prior to this, and this certainly isn't going to be the last, either. Ellie Mack is a 15 year old girl who is the apple of her parents' eye: loved by everyone. Until one day, she disappears, never to be seen again.

10 years on, her mother Laurel is trying to move on with her life and starts dating a man called Floyd, who has two daughters— one of whom is the spitting image of Ellie.

I couldn't put this down, in fact, I ripped through it in a day and a half. The character building was rich and strong. Laurel's layers were a pleasure to see on display, even in her colder, more disappointing moments. I felt like I knew these characters personally by the end, and felt sad to leave them. That's always a sign of a good book to me.

It has been ten years since Laurel's beautiful daughter Ellie went missing. Since then Laurel's family has fallen apart, leaving behind a broken shell of what once was. Enter Floyd. Laurel has a chance meeting with him and it isn't long before she has moved in with him and fallen in love with his daughter Poppy who reminds her so much of her missing daughter that it takes her breath away.

This book was a clever combination between a mystery, psychological fiction, and women's fiction. The reader couldn't help but feel for Laurel whose life has fallen apart beyond all recognition. We are willing to overlook a few of her stranger decisions as she is so eager to welcome love back in to her life.

As the plot thickens many readers will begin to guess the eventual path that this story will take, but it doesn't make the slow reveal any less breathtaking.

A book certain to toy with your emotions, Then She Was Gone is a compelling read for fans of women's fiction and psychological fiction alike.

THEN SHE WAS GONE is a dark disturbing thriller by Lisa Jewell. This story tells of the tragedy of a missing daughter and the consequences.

She was fifteen, and had her whole life ahead of her. And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone.

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 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 pretty daughter, Poppy.

But Poppy is the spitting image of Ellie when she was that age…now all the haunting memories come back.

So, what happened to Ellie? Where did she go?

This story is told in multiple POVs, in flashback format between “NOW” (10 years after Ellie’s disappearance) and “THEN” the days before Ellie disappeared.

Then She Was Gone is a very fast, enjoyable read and I recommend it to those who like noir fiction.

Many thanks to the author, Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for my digital copy.

This book was a quick read and fits in perfectly with the currently popular novels that are part thriller, part mystery, part plot twist. The story bounces back and forth and at first, I was on board and excited to see where it would go next. But then, bouts of predictability spouted up, distracting from the story. I'm not normally one to try to figure out 'who dunnit' prior to when the book wraps or the killer unmasks themselves. I prefer to stay present in the story and get lost among the characters so I'm always mildly disappointed when certain elements begin to feel obvious. Overall though, it's a good book, worth the read, and one I feel most will enjoy if mysteries and thrillers are your genre of choice.

This book was very hard to read as a mom. It broke my heart. But it was written wonderful. I love all the points of view. I especially loved that Floyd was not a monster at the end. I was expecting something awful to happen to Laurel and was left at the end feeling peaceful. Wonderful read

Similar in style and format to her previous novels which I have enjoyed. Good suspense while developing relatable characters.

Brilliant, I absolutely loved this story. Lisa Jewell, is a new to me author but I will definitely be reading more òf her writing. She has truly grasped the concept of what it feels like when a child disappears. She has made the portrayal of Laurel Mack, Ellie's mother, perfect. I myself lost my son but I knew what happened to him and it was spirit wrenching, I can't imagine how it would feel to not know. Ellie is beautiful her strength of spirit is unbelievable. The way Ms.Jewell has given all the characters such differences of personality and how this disappearance effected them then and in the future. She has weaved a tale so intricate that it is going to draw you in from the first few pages to the tearful ending, the beauty of one young girl. I highly recommend this book if you like a story that grips you and has meat and depth to keep you to the very end. I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley and the publisher, this review is given to show my appreciation for a book well done

My feelings when it comes to this novel are very divided. There were things I felt were very well done, and things I thought could definitely have been improved.

Let's start with the positives:

I really liked the writing style. It was very easy to read this book because it had a very good flow. I had no trouble at all getting through this story, and I thought the descriptions of the various scenes was apt. I also loved the way the author drew up the emotional elements of the story. This is where Lisa Jewell shines. She is able to make the reader connect so well with the characters and really feel the emotions that they are going through. Clearly, there is no problem with this writer's ability to write.

But then there comes the negatives:

This story was just so predictable. The mother-daughter relationship in this book is nothing unique. I've seen it a million times already and while I'm not expecting some crazy variation, there just wasn't anything there to set this one apart. I also didn't like that the first few chapters contained all of the major revelations. It didn't leave a lot to the imagination.

Now I'm pretty bad at guessing what happens in thrillers. In fact, that's why I like them so much: they always have me barking up the wrong tree. But in the case of this story, I had it pegged from the very start. Every prediction I made turned out to be true. And that was really disappointing. Predictability is never a good thing when you're trying to serve up a mystery or thriller because it will make the reader bored. And that's what happened with me. I just wanted to get through the story quickly to see if I was right, and when I did, I felt nothing at all. There were also some parts of the story that didn't really make much sense and that also affected my enjoyment of the novel.

Overall, I have conflicting thoughts on this novel. On the one hand, the writing and the emotional elements of the story are really well done. But the actual plot suffered due to its lack of originality. For those reasons, I'm giving this a 2/5 stars.

I found this book to be a quick, easy read that kept my interest throughout.

This is a book with a missing child scenario that the author has made unique. Ellie has been missing for 10 years- her mother, Laurel, has not been able to move on in that time. A new man and his daughter come into her life, which motivates her to try and find answers to her daughter’s disappearance again.

The author does move between then and now and different narrators throughout the book, which works very well for this story. I grew to care about this family and all that they had gone through.

There was an underlying tension throughout, and yes, I knew where some of it was going, but this did not detract. I wasn’t sure about the ending, but on further reflection, I do think it worked very nicely.
Well written, enjoyable read!

This was an incerdible book!! I loved it from start to finish.
All the characters were so vivid! I’d highly recommend this book and this author!

I would say Jewell’s Then She Was Gone is every parent’s nightmare. No parent expects their child/children to disappear for no reason. However, Ellie did and it placed a dent in their family: between her mom and dad, and between her mom and her siblings.

The story is surprisingly easy to follow which, in my opinion, made the plot twist predictable. My prediction might not have been 100% accurate but it was close. It didn’t ruin the story for me although I would’ve preferred that I wasn’t able to figure a bit of it out.

I liked how the story began. was not satisfied with the conclusion. I found the book's plot to be unrealistic but then what do I know on being abducted? it was a nice read but I am only giving 3 stars as I grew tired when reaching the end.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, what a rollercoaster this was. This isn’t your typical missing girl mystery, this was an entity all on its own. It kept me guessing until the end though I did have my suspicions early on. The book is narrated throughout by different characters, showing what happened from their perspectives. This is a dark, twisted tale of obsession and how it effects the lives of several different families.
It was really well done and I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.

This is a different book for me. I don’t really read thrillers. I prefer magic and sweeping romance, stories about the summer before college and the first year of college. This book is not that.

Right off the bat, I noticed the writing style is very simplistic and jarring at times. The chapters themselves are very short too. The POV isn’t uniform through the whole book. Sometimes it’s third person, sometimes it’s second. The POVs are actually really affective, and add to the dark tone and sinister story.

The characters are problematic and flawed, including Laurel whose POV we get the most. Though Laurel is problematic, her journey and love for her children are striking.

The only thing that truly kept me reading the book is finding out what happened to Ellie. I made many guesses along the way, some right, some wrong. The truth was disturbing and unsettling. It made me feel sick. That’s part of what hindered my enjoyment of the book. This book is dark through and through. It’s definitely a psychological thriller.

I also feel like parts of the ending were disappointing, and like the cops missed things that they shouldn’t have. The plot hole made the ending all the more disappointing.

"Then She Was Gone" is just not my cup of tea. I’m glad I read it because it was different for me, but aside from wanting to know what happened to Ellie I didn’t enjoy the book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

I had read one of this author's previous works and jumped at the chance to read this book. I really enjoyed this book. I read it in one sun filled day on my patio and have a bit of sunburn to prove it. I was immediately captivated with poor Ellie Mack's story. I kept guessing and although part of my guessing was correct, part was not and I was surprised at some of the turns this book took. A satisfying ending that was both happy and sad. I will definitely read more books by this author.

Pretty decent read with some unexpected twists. I cannot imagine the reality of a child going missing and not knowing how or why. The author is able to show how a mother never recovers from this at the expense of her entire family . The author also does a good job in creating characters that have an aura of strangeness and being people who they really are not. I did like this book even though some of the events were far fetched but were needed to connect characters and situations in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

I'm impressed. I really found myself sucked into this story. I loved the pace in which it was told and the varying voices--which were the only way this story could have been revealed. I has certain elements of this story figured out pretty early on, but there were other elements that were surprising and added to my enjoyment.

With my limited free time, any book that has me seeking out opportunities to read because I'm intrigued is a good one. This one had me doing exactly that and for that, I'm very grateful.