Lisa Jewell is a beautiful, talented writer. I love her novels and this is no exception. I sympathized with the characters and felt they grew throughout the novel. This novel has family drama, a mystery to be solved and some tears as well. Great read.

It’s every mother’s worst nightmare. Your child is gone and you have no idea what has happened to her. Your family is in tattered pieces; your life will never be the same. This is how Laurel has to live day to day. Not knowing, grieving, and trying to hang on to the family she has left. Then remains are identified as her missing daughter Ellie. She can finally put this nightmare to rest. But can she? Into her life walks Floyd and his eclectic daughter Poppy. They change Laurels life in more ways than you can expect.
Lisa Jewell did a brilliant job with this novel. The characters are riveting. The story pieces together in each chapter told from the perspective of the different character. This is a book you can not put down. I read the entire book in a day. I was riveted to the story and just when you think you have it all figured out, it adds another twist. A must read novel!

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

Another intriguing fast paced novel by this author. Creepy and tension filled.

It's twisty and turny and shocking and sad, and somewhat predictable. But there is always more to the story. Just when you think you know it all, there's a little bit extra added. You just have to keep reading to find out everything!! You have to keep reading because there is always more. This book did a great job of tying up all the loose ends at the end of the book.

Other people have done a much better job of reviewing this book than me. But it definitely goes deeper than you can ever imagine. I loved it!

A dark and gripping read. Wasn’t what I expected at all. Still an excellent read. Crazy but in a good way. Well done.

Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!
ByMaggie on April 17, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
Wow! I loved this intricate thriller, full of twists of plot. At once heartbreaking, intriguing and hopeful! It was the first book I have read by Lisa Jewell, and certainly won't be my last!

This book was very well written and I just loved the story so much that I just didn't want to put it down.

I do recommend this book.

Then She Was Gone is a suspense/mystery/thriller set in the UK.

The book is divided into 5 parts. There are a few different narrators. The main narrator is Laurel (3rd person POV). She has three kids (Jake, Hanna and Ellie). When Ellie was 15 years old she vanished. It is now 10 years later. We get Laurel's POV in the present. We get some THEN chapters from Ellie's POV (3rd person). And we get some 1st person POVs from some other characters important to the story.

It was interesting to see the impact of Ellie disappearing on Laurel's family. The beginning of the book was very intriguing. And I was invested in finding out what had actually happened to Ellie. It was definitely a heartbreaking story. But I enjoyed how the different POVs filled in the blanks of what happened.

I enjoyed the reveals at the end of each part. A few of them were epic. However, there were definitely things that happened that I predicted.

I was curious how the book would end. The ending was definitely very good. Although I was a bit disappointed that we did not get to see a key scene (at Christmas). The author chose instead to go 8 months ahead and then give us an epilogue. I liked both a lot. Overall, it was a good mystery with some amazing reveals that I should have seen coming.

This is a dark and gripping tale about the mystery of a missing teenage girl and her mother who is trying to let go of the past. Although it is known from the beginning of the book who is responsible for Ellie's disappearance, it turns out the entire truth is much darker and complex than imagined and Lisa Jewell does an excellent job of slowly letting us find this out throughout the novel through shocking twists and turns. The story is slow-paced but never dull and is told through multiple points of view and times throughout the disappearance. The characters are questionable and interesting and you can never quite tell who to trust which made the story very suspenseful. The character interactions and facts that are gradually revealed of Ellie's disappearance really kept me guessing right to the very end. This story is dark, chilling and an absolute page turner. I'd recommend it to any thriller-lover

Lisa Jewell once again captivates me with her writing and story. She is now shifting into the mystery/suspense/thriller genre but still continues to tell the family type stories she is known for.

Laurel's fifteen year old daughter, Ellie went missing ten years ago on the way to the library. Subsequently her whole world fell apart that day. Now ten years later she is still trying to move on from the tragedy. She meets a new man and his young daughter who bears an uncanny resemblance to her missing daughter Ellie. Laurel becomes involved in their lives and begins to question things.

Although I could figure out parts of the mystery pretty quickly (some aspects kept me guessing longer) it was a very well written story. I couldn't put the book down as I wanted to know exactly what had happened to Ellie. I enjoyed all the family dynamics which I feel is always a strong point in all of Lisa Jewell's books. I had to suspend a bit of disbelief on part of the story but it did not take away from my enjoyment at all.

Ellie, 15 was about to take a very important exam. An ideal child, great boyfriend, but all of a sudden she disappeared. It tore the family to pieces. Her Mom could not let go and move on. About 10 years later, divorced and lonely, she meets a guy in a cafe, who romances her and quickly they became seriously involved. She meets his daughter Poppy and then an intriguing mystery evolves. Very well written and worth the read.

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada
Publish Date: April 17, 2018

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Simon & Schuster Canada for the ebook ARC of Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell.

Ellie was her mother’s golden child. She had her whole life ahead of her. She went missing at the age of 15.
It has now been ten years since Ellie has disappeared but, Laurel has never given up hope of finding her daughter. One day a charming and charismatic stranger called Floyd walks into a cafe and sweeps Laurel off her feet.
Laurel and Floyd hit it off right away and before too long she is staying over at his house and meeting his nine year old daughter.
Poppy is intelligent and pretty - and meeting her takes Laurel’s breath away. Because Poppy is the spitting image of Ellie when she was that age.
And now all of these unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back.
What happened to Ellie? Where did she go? Who still has secrets to hide?

I give this book a rating of 5 stars and I highly recommend it. Right from the beginning it had me hooked. I couldn’t put it down and when I did, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The book had me guessing for the most part of it. It had quite a few twists. This is the first Lisa Jewell novel that I have read and it definitely won’t be the last!

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell is a fast-paced book that will take the reader by surprise. This is a creepy thriller that is well written and has many points of view to give the reader lots of perspectives. The characters have so many layers and they will really tug at your heart strings.

I have really been enjoying the thriller genre lately and Lisa Jewell has become an instant auto-buy author for me after reading this fantastic book. The story moves along at a quick pace between the before and after time periods. It had me glued to the pages to find out where the plot was headed next. The details surrounding Ellie’s disappearance are very believable and you can imagine this happening to any family. The one thing that I found a little bit hard to understand was the poor police work because some of the evidence is not hard to find. However, I concede that this sort of thing happens in really life, so I can look past it.

Multiple perspectives in a novel such as, Then She Was Gone, always seem to be the perfect way to describe the events that take place in a mystery. Laurel is the main character, so it is mostly her story. However, Jewell does also take us into the mind of the perpetrator. This can get a bit unnerving at times. Ellie’s story is also interesting to read, and I think that the author did a fantastic job writing from a teen’s perspective.

There are so many rich, faceted characters in this novel. Even the secondary characters have layers to them that unfold as the plot thickens. I love how Laurel is constantly working on her inner struggles. At the same time, she is so desperate to find her daughter. Also, Ellie is a very head strong character. Her story is just so heartbreaking that I was in tears by the end of the book.

Fans of the thriller genre are sure to enjoy Then She Was Gone. The writing is brilliant and the characters are perfectly developed. Lisa Jewell has created a believable story that is both disturbing and heart-wrenching.

Well that was one humdinger of a story! I read this in just over a day, once hitting the half way mark I knew someone else had to cook supper last night.

I was draw right in here, it's every parents worst nightmare - that of losing a child. When there is no closure just existing as time speeds by wondering, hoping for a miracle. With this story alternating in points of view gave me different perspectives, getting to know the characters better. The characters are flawed and believable, the story was engrossing and kept me flipping the screen. The chapters weren't overly long, hence just one more chapter and before I knew I was too absorbed to slow down.

Then She Was Gone is more than a story of Ellie's disappearance, it's about mental health, insecurity and forgiveness. Written with feeling I couldn't help but feel Laurel's pain and heartache. The author's writing style is one I enjoyed, as the plot flowed and the voices changed it was done smoothly not disrupting the energy of the story.

Lisa Jewell is not a new author to me, I enjoyed I Found You and look forward to searching out more of her books.

This is the first of jewells books i have read and i look forward to reading more. This story had me hooked! I was filled with mix emotion and horrified about what happened to Ellie.

This book is incredible. I still have goosebumps.... While reading it, I was torn between putting it down and rushing to finish it. I wanted to know what happened, and then I didn’t. The kind of torture that Ellie’s mom had to endure is unbearable and unbelievable. The different perspectives were interesting for a full view of what happened. If you are like me, you will hold your breath until the end. Great book!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy.

Excellent, good pace that kept my interest throughout. I am glad that there was not too much description of Ellie locked in the basement, sometimes that is very hard to read. I liked the characters and how they were developed over the course of the story. I felt compassion for all of them at the end of the book. It left me thinking about the book after I finished it. An emotional book for me. A very good read!

Outstanding suspenseful book that wouldn’t let go until finished. Ready for more by this authir

Told in multiple points of view this riveting domestic thriller will keep you reading. The family dynamics and resulting chaos that is the result of a missing child is well portrayed and I quickly became attached to some of the characters.

A really great read with a plot that teases and twists at just the right pace, leaving me on the edge of my seat unable to put the book down until it was finished. The 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.