This book was so different then what I expected. Emily’s boyfriend,Paolo, disappears during the night on a boating trip. Now the suspicion is on Emily about his disappearance. I felt Emily’s dread . How is she going to prove she is innocent and where is Paolo ?

Emily, who is afraid of water and doesn't know how to swim, only agrees to go sailing because boyfriend Paolo is a very experienced swimmer. Emily wakes up alone onboard to find Paolo has disappeared, she is in the middle of the ocean, and has no memory of the night before. The story unravels as Emily tries to solve the mystery of Paolo's disappearance while she becomes the police's biggest suspect

I found the beginning and the end exciting but struggled through most of the middle. Emily is bipolar, which comes up multiple times throughout the book but besides contributing to her unreliability, doesn't seem to have a purpose. I also didn't understand why, Emily's mom, a big support to her in the beginning of the book and in her past, suddenly disappears when she is needed most. I wanted to like it, but this book was a miss for me.

“Write what you know” goes the maxim about books, and R. J. Jacobs must know about mental illness being that he is a Psychologist. Emily Firestone has lived with bipolar disorder all her life and, just when she thinks she has everything under control, her hunky boyfriend Paolo disappears. That’s unfortunate, but it happens, right? Well… it’s not that easy. Paolo was with her. On a boat. In the middle of a huge expanse of water. He was a strong swimmer so it’s doubtful that he drowned but, what other explanation is there? The big red flag that points at something more ominous is that Paolo was an epidemiologist and he was working on some kind of secret project. Emily can’t just accept that it was a tragic accident and she starts investigating on her own. The scary thing about mental illness is that even Emily can’t be sure of anything. She’s not paranoid, but maybe she’s reading the clues wrong. I liked the plot well enough, but it was somewhat predictable and none of the twists were truly surprising. But the reason I didn’t connect with the novel was Emily herself. She’s flaky and unreliable but, mostly, not very likable. It’s not a bad novel and it’s interesting enough, I was just removed from the action and wasn’t that invested in Emily solving the mystery.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Crooked Lane Books!

This book had me wrapped up in all kinds of stress, doubt, and surprise. The main character, Emily, is an intelligent psychologist who gets tangled in a couple of murders. Yes, more than one. It’s like nothing can go right for poor Emily! To add to her troubles, she was delicately balanced on the edge of sanity. Suffering from bipolar disorder meant that she was on a precarious mix of medicine and timing; one wrong move and she was in trouble. The author of the book is a psychologist as well, and he clearly used his expertise to define Emily's experience in his book. Emily’s ability to articulate what she was feeling and thinking added so much to the story. I was spellbound.

I really liked And Then You Were Gone. With its witty banter and likable character, it was the perfect blend of entertaining and suspenseful. It was easy to figure out “who did it” but the path to the truth was worth the read.

This book started out slow for me, almost too slow. I considered giving up around 30%, but I’m here to tell you not to!

There are many twists and turns and plenty of times I said, “I didn’t see that coming!” The last few chapters had me gritting my teeth and biting my lip. My nerves were shot and it was almost a sigh of relief at the end. It’s definitely a book I’ll be recommending to anyone who loves a good suspenseful read.

I loved this psychological thriller! All the twists and turns made it unable to put down! I also loved the reference to mental illness in this novel. The cover work of this book is lovely! This book is the quintessential thrilling beach read!!

Fantastic!! A 5 ⭐️ read for me! This was a superb thriller - I didn’t guess the killer and definitely not the conclusion!

Our main character had bipolar disorder and her personality was described so well. I find it extremely difficult for most writers to convey the full extent of thoughts that aren’t “normal”. Even better, she was able to recognize when her thoughts were leading her down the wrong path and to use her symptoms as strengths. I found this extremely empowering to read! And I wasn’t at all surprised that the author is a psychologist.

I highly recommend the book to all contemporary thriller readers! You will not be disappointed!

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book starts off with a bang, but it doesn't hold its stamina. As with many books with a first person narrator, much hinges on the reader's connection with said narrator. I. This case the unreliability of Emily kept me from loving this book.

And Then You Were Gone is a psychological thriller. The heroine is bipolar, so I automatically assume she will be probably be unreliable. I won't spoil anything. The story is engaging and mysterious and leaves you guessing. It's a did I maybe do this but don't remember kind of story for the main character. The story line is well written and keeps you turning the pages from the beginning until the end. The characters are dynamic, likeable and clever. Overall, it's a good read. I recommend for anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

And Then You Were Gone is the first book by R.J. Jacobs that is have read. I enjoyed everything about this book. It was a psychological thriller that kept me wondering how it was going to end. I will definitely be reading more books by R. J. Jacobs.

Emily is starting to feel better, her bipolar and anxiety is under control. When her boyfriend Paolo invites her to go on a sailing trip, she jumps at the opportunity to escape. When she wakes up after their first night on the water she can only find his shoes. She remembers drinking some wine and wonders if Paolo fell and bumped his head. After she gets to shore, she contacts the police but they try to frame her for his murder. Emily starts investigating Paolo's life and discovers that there are some strange coincidences at his work. People seem to be disappearing at a cliff. Can she find how is responsible? This is a quick read that is filled with suspense.

When I read crime novels or thrillers I almost always pick ones in which cops investigate. But when I read the blurb of this book there was one thing that caught my attention instantly. It was the main characters bipolar disorder. Never before have I read a book in which the main character had a disorder like that. So I was really curious what will happen to her. How could someone like her find out what happened to her boyfriend?

The story offers nothing new but Emily’s character and her decisions and her mental state makes the book quite exciting and gives something new. It’s always interesting to read about people like her, about people who don’t act the way you expect them to.

Highly recommended.

A very big thank you to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books the R. J. Jacobs for providing me with this ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced e-book in exchange for an honest review. Sadly this book wasn't for me. I just couldn’t connect with Emily . I didn't like her, she seemed to react very unusually to the situations in the book. Plot was good, but the character threw me off entirely.

I just couldn’t connect with this book and didn’t feel engaged with the plot or the characters. It was slow going and in the end I wasn’t all that bothered about what happened so ended up skim reading it to get to the end. I wasn’t taken with the vaccine part of the plot either. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

interesting concept, i started the book, with no idea what it was about, i knew i chose it so expected a mystery and could see my assumptions. what is he going to do to her? and then later on who is innocent and what can we believe. the first third went a little slowly and felt a bit repetitive, that i couldn't get into it after the very beginning, but then it picked up and i am glad i read it. it was well written, some places very well written

My rating 3.5 rounded up to a 4.

The writing and use of words throughout this book are amazing. A quote book could definitely be made out of this book. I enjoyed the authors observations on mental illness and his descriptions of it.

The plot itself was a pretty straightforward mystery for me. It kept me entertained enough to keep reading, but not on the edge of my seat rushing to finish. Some parts were a little slow.

It was hard to connect with Emily as much of her in this book she was described in her manic state. I understand why this was done, but her poor choices had me shaking my head like I was watching a horror movie.

The ending didn't add much to the story, it seemed too rushed and open which really didn't fit in with the rest of the book.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book starts off with Emily going out on what's suppose to be a fun and relaxing date on a boat with her boyfriend, Paolo. A day/night full of laughter and drinking ends with Emily waking up the next morning alone on the boat. With Paolo's disappearance, Emily is the main suspect. Throw in the fact that she's an unreliable source since she doesn't remember the whole night, oh and the fact that she's bipolar. She faces some difficult times after the boat incident and then becomes obsessed with trying to figure out what happened to Paolo, since she's convinced he's not dead.

Once I was about 25% through, that's when things started to get boring and random. The other characters that are introduced, the theories Emily comes up with, and the way the story goes is not at all what I expected. This book started off so promising at the beginning and there were a few parts where I couldn't put it down. But for the most part I felt like the book was just so random and moved too slowly for my liking. The author kept circling the big mystery of what happened to Paolo and why. The ending wasn't what I expected and it seemed like Emily was a completely different person by then (even though it was only a few months later). I didn't feel any connection with any of the characters and I think the science lab part of it was another factor that I didn't connect with.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC.

Emily and boyfriend Paolo are off on a short boating trip on a lake near Nashville. They have a few drinks and when Emily wakes up the next morning she finds Paolo gone. I had expected her to be stuck on the boat, but no, she sails it back to safety and the search for Paolo starts, police involved. Not much happens for a while apart from Emily's life throwing her one setback after another.
It's a pleasant read so far, but nothing too exciting.
Until finally some clues into Paolo's vanishing appear. Suddenly the story picks up speed, accompanied by Emily's manic episode. More characters enter the trail, all well developed and likable and we are on a fast track to discovery. The reader is kept in suspense until the very end.
Kudos to the writer for letting us in on Emily's darker introspective moods. The descriptions are tragic, yet almost poetic in writing. The final scene is just beautiful.
"And then you were gone" definitely surprised me and I would recommend it to anyone in for a good mystery.

Okay, lots of good and some bad elements in this book that made me give this a solid 3.5 rating.

The good: It was easy to follow and read with a strong plot. All the plot points made sense and there were no loose ends at the end of the book. I may be in the minority here but I really enjoyed Cal’s character because of how put-together he was and for being in for the ups and downs of Emily’s quest for answers.

The bad: First person POV books are so difficult for me to read if I don’t feel a connection with the narrator and in this instance, there was a real disconnect between Emily and my own reading experience. She was just so unlikable. I tried - I really did try. I get that she has so many problems in her life, a lot of which I empathize with, but I just wanted to scream “GIRL, GET IT TOGETHER!” so many times that I lost count. She was a hot mess at the beginning of the book and a hot mess until the end - sort of redeeming herself in the epilogue but there wasn’t enough context for me to figure out if she really did keep it together or if it’s only because of Cal. Second bad: The plot twist I saw coming a mile away but I think I just read too many of psychological thrillers that I’ve spoiled and ruined the surprise element for myself.

Overall, a good book. Didn’t love it but I did enjoy reading it.

I found this to be an interesting thriller. It was a quick read with good characters and a good story. There were plenty of twists for me to get lost in. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.