Saffyre has been in psychotherapy for several years. When her therapy ends, she feels like there should have been more to it. She never did actually tell the therapist her trauma. So, Saffyre watches from afar, her therapist, Roan, and his family. She discovers many secrets and actually becomes a friend of Roan’s son. And things are not as they should be.

Well, I will be honest. When I first started this read, I really thought it was going to be a DNF for me. But, the further I went along the more I became hooked. Now, this is not my favorite Jewell novel. It is way too slow of a start. But, Saffyre is a unique character which captures your heart. She is the reason I kept going. And I am very glad I did.

This story just keeps twisting around and you just keep guessing. But, toward the end…you realize one of your guesses is right! You must read this to find out! And the creepy neighbor, Owen. He is a weirdo!

Slow burn….but very much worth the effort! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

Lisa Jewell's latest Thriller, Invisible Girl, kept me up all night. Literally. Last night. I'm exhausted.

Following multiple perspectives in one UK neighborhood, this story had a nice build-up of tension the entire way through. We get present perspectives, most notably that of Cate Fours and Owen Pick, as well as a past perspective from a teenage girl named, Saffrye Maddox.

Cate Fours is a stay-at-home mom to two teenage children, Georgia and Josh. Her husband Roan Fours, is a child psychologist, who keeps late hours and isn't particularly present in the day-to-day functioning of the home. Saffrye Maddox, a teenaged girl with a troubled past, was a patient of Roan for over three years due to self-harming behaviors. When he abruptly decides her care has come to an end, Saffrye feels abandoned by him.

Owen Pick is a single-man in his 30s, who recently lost his job as a teacher due to allegations of sexual misconduct, which he vehemently denies. Owen becomes of interest to the Fours family when Georgia claims he was following her home from the tube station late one afternoon. She's freaked out by the encountered and in turn, Cate becomes equally on edge about Owen's seemingly disturbing existence.

Adding fuel to the fires of the Fours family's suspicions are a string of sexual attacks occurring within their neighborhood. In fact, one of Georgia's friends claims to have been a victim of such an attack after departing their flat one night.

When Saffrye Maddox goes missing on Valentine's Day night, many believe the sexual predator has escalated from groping in alleys to potentially kidnapping, or worse. Owen Pick ends up arrested for the crime. Through the multiple perspectives, the reader is brought on a journey through domestic life that will chill you to the bone.

I loved the way Jewell formatted this story. We start following Cate and Owen on the same timeline and Saffrye's perspective begins farther back. Her perspective, which I personally found to be the most interesting, progresses along at a nice steady pace, ultimately revealing what happened on the night she disappeared.

The lives of all of these characters are deeply intertwined. There's deceptions and mistrust, scandal and heartbreak, twists and turns. Owen's perspective is also extremely interesting. His entire personality, treatment by the media, family and neighbors, offers up a lot to consider. I thought his point of view added depth to the story.

There were many times that I thought I knew who was behind Saffrye's disappearance. I am happy to report, I was wrong every time. One of the people I suspected, I'm honestly so glad it wasn't them. That would have hurt my heart.

Overall, I had a great time reading this one. I felt like it had plenty of tension and drama throughout, while also offering up some great examinations of domestic interactions. Two thumbs up! Thank you so much to the publisher, Atria Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I certainly appreciate it!

Another good read from Lisa Jewell. A family saga involving an entire neighborhood of characters. When a girl goes missing, the list of suspects is long but only one man stands out and is immediately arrested and questioned. But is he the culprit? Or could it be her therapist? Or someone else entirely? This one kept me guessing until the end. I had no idea who was responsible. The ending also surprised me in a good way and I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Not my favourite of Lisa Jewell’s books, to be honest. While I enjoyed it overall, it didn’t grab me like some of her others, and I found myself consistently putting it down to read something else. The concept didn’t feel as strong as some of her more recent books, though I did enjoy the character of Cate.

I have only read one book by Lisa Jewell but I loved it and I was so excited to receive and ARC of her latest novel to read this fall!

I really enjoyed The Family Upstairs but this one sounded a little darker and more intense than The Family Upstairs, but I was really looking forward to it and was eager to sit down on a dark and stormy lazy weekend to devour this one.

One thing that I felt after reading Jewell’s The Family Upstairs was that she has a great way of adding substance and depth to all of her characters which is not always the case in the thriller genre. So when I picked this one up, that’s what I was expecting, in depth characters in a fast paced novel.

Summary
The author of the “rich, dark, and intricately twisted” (Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author) The Family Upstairs returns with another taut and white-knuckled thriller following a group of people whose lives shockingly intersect when a young woman disappears.

Owen Pick’s life is falling apart.

In his thirties, a virgin, and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a geography teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct, which he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel—involuntary celibate—forums, where he meets the charismatic, mysterious, and sinister Bryn.

Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family have a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen. He’s a bit creepy and their teenaged daughter swears he followed her home from the train station one night.

Meanwhile, young Saffyre Maddox spent three years as a patient of Roan Fours. Feeling abandoned when their therapy ends, she searches for other ways to maintain her connection with him, following him in the shadows and learning more than she wanted to know about Roan and his family. Then, on Valentine’s night, Saffyre Maddox disappears—and the last person to see her alive is Owen Pick.

With evocative, vivid, and unputdownable prose and plenty of disturbing twists and turns, Jewell’s latest thriller is another “haunting, atmospheric, stay-up-way-too-late read” (Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author). (summary from Goodreads)

Review
This book was more of a slow burn than I was expecting. I mean it definitely picked up and I read it quickly but it starts off a little on the slower side. It also reminded me a little bit of a Law and Order SVU episode with the various sexual assaults so that held my interest and kept things interesting.

Since I haven’t read all of Jewell’s novels I found that I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I know that some of her devoted readers didn’t like this one as much as some of her others but I think this one was a great follow up to The Family Upstairs. It had a lot of twists and turns and it was a little on the darker side but also read like a thriller even if the beginning started a little slower than expected.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the things I love about Jewell is her ability to fully develop her characters. Each one was unique and interesting in a way that if often absent in the thriller genre. I loved each characters unique voice and POV. This one made my skin crawl and held my interest well past my bed time a couple of nights this last week but I wasn’t even sorry a little bit about that.

Even though this is only my second book by Jewell, it won’t be my last. It was a great read with lots to hold my interest. While I might have liked The Family Upstairs better, this was still a great thriller that you should not pass on. It is a dark twisty novel with a slow burn element!

Book Info and Rating
Hardcover, 368 pages

Expected publication: October 13th 2020 by Atria Books

ISBN1982137339 (ISBN13: 9781982137335)

Free review copy provided by publisher, Atria Books, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: thriller, mystery

"But people, you know, they like having someone to blame, don't they? They like knowing who the bad person is."

This is a very slow, dark psychological thriller told from three different points of view. There's Owen Pick, 33 years old, disgraced and suspended from his teaching job after allegations of sexual harassment, whose pitiful living situation puts him directly across the street from the Fours family. Cate and Roan Fours live in a rented flat with their teenage children, Georgia and Josh. Roan is a child psychologist with Cate pretty much a stay-at-home mom. Their marriage is a bit rocky as Cate doesn't trust Roan due to his past behavior and inability to remain faithful. And lastly, there's Saffyre Maddox. She's now 17 years old but is a former patient of Roan's with a history of self-harming. Saffyre felt abandoned when she was pronounced "cured" and has taken to stalking Roan and his family. Things are happening on the street both inside the homes and outside in the dark. Saffyre is watching until the night she disappears. NO SPOILERS.

I feel like this drug on forever and I had no problem putting it down for long periods of time as it was hard for me to get into the narrative. I was unable to identify with any of the characters but Owen's part of the story made me very anxious for him. I didn't find any twists and turns as it all seemed predictable but the content themes of sexual assault, involuntary celibacy (incel), rape fantasy, adultery, were addressed by the characters and the story line. This was not my favorite Lisa Jewell novel, but it was OK.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this e-book ARC to read and review.

Are there any authors that just continue to get better for you? Lisa Jewell is that author for me. Her books are always intricately woven masterpieces of suspense and intrigue. The plotlines keep you on your toes and her artfully crafted characters are detailed and layered…and in the genre of thriller and mystery, this is a rare feat.

Invisible Girl takes us into another chilling and tension-filled storyline, perfect for this time of the year. Told through multiple points of view, we are drawn into the lives of three individuals who keep us guessing, “how well can you really know someone?”

Jewell’s newest novel takes us into the world of inner demons, the complexities of the human experience and the desire to be accepted. While the plotline isn’t easy or always comfortable, it is thought-provoking and reminds us that life and people, often are layers of gray.

Lisa Jewell has the unique ability to create characters that you don’t always like but remain eager to try and understand. Her writing is nuanced and thought-provoking while also being completely engrossing. If you like your domestic thrillers with a bit more substance too, this book is not to be missed!

Thank you to Atria Books for a gifted copy in exchange for my honest review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Saffyre Maddox, 17, lives with her uncle as the rest of her family has passed away. She is an intelligent girl. At age 10, something bad happened to her and she began to cut herself. That’s when her uncle took her for therapy with Roan Fours, a child psychologist. When Roan tells her that he feels she no longer needs therapy, she is crushed as she has found him to be a good friend.

Roan is married to Cate who is a physiotherapist and works from home. They have two children, Georgia, 15, and Josh, 14. One evening, Georgia comes home scared saying someone was following her from the tube. There is a man who lives across the street who Georgia says is creepy and she’s sure it was him.

Owen Pick teaches computer science and has just been suspended after two girls accuse him of inappropriate behavior. Owen is furious. He is single, 33, and lives in a flat with his aunt Tessie. He has lived there for a number of years. His life is lonely. He does not date and has never been with a woman.

When Saffyre goes missing, Owen is charged while denying everything. What happened to Saffyre and why is Owen charged?

This book goes back and forth among these characters and all is not well in their lives. I could not figure out who the “bad guy” was up until the very end. The author points out how some people’s lives are quite sad and rather gritty.

I’ve read a number of this author’s books some of which I liked and some that didn’t really grab me. This book was OK but I must say it’s not a favorite.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell is a very highly recommended psychological thriller.

Roan and Cate Fours have had some struggles in their marriage after he had an affair but hopefully that is all behind them now. Cate, a physiotherapist, works from home so she is there for their teenage children, Georgia and Josh, while Roan is a child psychologist. When Georgia phones her, nervous that a strange man is following her, it turns out to be Owen Pick, a thirty-three-year-old man who actually is a neighbor and lives across the street from the Fours. Owen immediately is profiled as a creep by the Fours. They suspect he is responsible for the recent assaults of local women. Owen is a computer science teacher who has recently been suspended following a complaint filed against him by two female students. He strongly denies the accusations. While awaiting the outcome of the investigation, Owen begins to spend time online on incel web forums and begins to follow a very vocal, charismatic moderator.

At the same time seventeen-year-old Saffyre Maddox is following Roan. She used to be a patient of his for her self harming, but he released her from his care saying she was no longer in need of his help. Saffyre knows that he released her without actually getting to the real truth about the trauma that occurred when she was ten, which was the cause behind her self-harming. Saffyre knows Roan is having multiple affairs as she has witnessed his actions as she hides in the shadows watching. She also knows where he lives and has watched his family. Then Saffyre disappears on Valentine’s night and Owen becomes the main suspect.

Invisible Girl is one engrossing, disturbing, atmospheric story that kept me glued to the pages. Jewell kept me hypothesizing while the complex and twisty plot quickly moved along. There are enough twists to keep you guessing. I was guessing and making predictions about what was really happening but all my initial assumptions were proven wrong. The connections between all the characters emerged and the misunderstandings and disturbing twists increased. These characters are all broken people in some way.

The writing is great as the narrative alternates between the point of view of Owen, Saffyre, and Cate. Each of the characters is portrayed as unique individuals and in the chapters they narrate you will know who is talking based on their distinctive character development. Owen is a surprisingly sympathetic, misunderstood character. Saffyre is a unique teenager, a loner with a unique, introspective personality. Cate is still struggling with her suspicions of Roan's faithfulness, but she is also full of self-doubt and doesn't want to look into anything deeper since she is afraid of the outcome. Josh also comes in as a notable character toward the end.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria Books .
The review will be posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Since I absolutely loved The Family Upstairs, I was really excited to read Lisa Jewell's upcoming novel, Invisible Girl. I've noticed that Lisa Jewell's novels are either a hit or miss for me. I had mixed feelings about Invisible Girl. The writing style is fast-paced and easy to get into which made me finish the book in a day! The author does an excellent job in creating these deeply complex characters and for discussing the tough subjects of rape and sexual assault. In this book, she had three POVs and I loved how distinct the voices were for each POV. When it came towards the end of the book, I was expecting there to be more of a twist or surprise but that seemed to never happen. Overall, I'd recommend this book if you're a Lisa Jewell fan.

A young girl goes missing on the same street as her old therapist lives. Where has she gone? 
This story line was really promising but it fell flat for me. The beginning of the story started off with such an eerie and suspenseful feeling but as the story went on, and we got to know the characters, it just seemed too far fetched to me. 
With three points of you, Saffayre, Cate, and Owen, the reader is constantly trying to figure out who to believe. It is hard to like any of these characters so the story really drug on and on. I am just really over the unreliable narrator gimmick .
I've learned that Jewell's writing is really hit or miss for me. I loved Then She Was Gone but the last three of hers (The Family Upstairs, Watching You, and Invisible Girl) I didn't love.

Another fabulous psychological drama from Lisa Jewell.

A mom... dad... two teenage kids ... a troubled teen ... a teacher accused of sexual harassment... a doctor who treats kids with psychological issues.

The story told from three perspectives keeps you guessing until the last few pages and when you think you’ve figured it all out, you realize maybe you really haven’t.

I loved the complexity of the characters, with Sapphyre and Owen being my favourites.

Although it’s a slow burner, there’s a lot going on in this story if you are paying attention

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-ARC of the below book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Title Invisible Girl

Author Lisa Jewell

Release Date October 13 2020

Initial Thoughts

I picked this one up because I really enjoyed the other book of her’s I read last year- The Family Upstairs. I am not frequently a Thriller reader and I like that her thrillers have slightly slower pacing and aren’t quite as terrifying as others. They more seem to deal with the scary things inside of characters’ minds, rather than focusing so much on the blood and gore.

Some Things I Liked
I really felt compelled to finish this one. It kept me captivated until the very end. Cate was my favorite character and I just felt so terrible for her throughout the entire book. While she isn’t the main character, she is so integral to the whole story and I felt like her development was the most impactful for me.

One Thing I Wasn’t Crazy About
Unfortunately I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending. Without giving too much way it felt almost too simple to have been a mystery the whole time. It wasn’t terrible, I think I just wanted a little bit more from it.


Final Thoughts
This was a compelling read with a unique draw. I wanted the incel plotline to be more important to the story, but I really enjoyed the small bits of amnesia that played into the story a lot. The characters were interesting and well developed and I am definitely looking forward to what Lisa Jewell writes next.


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 Stars



Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria Books for a copy of this book!

Lisa Jewell does it again with another mystery that will have you guessing (probably incorrectly) until the very end.

Saffyre Maddox is missing and all clues point to loner Owen Pick. Owen's own memory of the night of her disappearance is foggy and he begins to question his own innocence. Told in numerous points of view (a neighbor, Owen and Saffyre herself) from past to present - which eventually meet in the middle - readers will be left wondering just what happened to Saffyre on Valentine's Day night.

Jewell's ability to create dark, suspenseful moods in her novels is just perfection. The tense mood is only amplified by flawed characters that will never quite gain your trust. You're left constantly waiting for the next clue, wondering if figured it out.

You haven't.

I love how you always think you have it figured out!! Every book I read by Lisa Jewell is not a disappointment. The twsits and turns the small things that plague the back of your mind and make you third guess the second one lol. Such a good psychological thriller in time for spooky season. ♡

Owen Pick’s life is falling apart. In his thirties, a virgin, and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct, which he strongly denies. Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family have a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen. He’s a bit creepy and their teenaged daughter swears he followed her home from the train station one night. Meanwhile, young Saffyre Maddox spent three years as a patient of Roan Fours. Feeling abandoned when their therapy ends, she searches for other ways to maintain her connection with him, following him in the shadows and learning more than she wanted to know about Roan and his family. Then, on Valentine’s night, Saffyre Maddox disappears—and the last person to see her alive is Owen Pick. review: This book is a bit of a slow burn, and with that said, I enjoyed this book and kept turning the pages to see how this would play out! This book has a lot of layers to it and the author does a fantastic job of peeling them back *just* enough to leave you wanting more! I really wasn’t sure how exactly this book would end, but I enjoyed the ending. I always find Lisa Jewell’s books to be less twisty and suspenseful and more focused, giving you small clues that still provide a great ending! rating: 4 out of 5 ⭐️

Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Atria Books,  and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

Owen Pick is a geography teacher who gets suspended for misconduct against some of his female students.  He denies it.  Still a virgin in his thirties, he does not get along with his father, and is currently living with his aunt.  Owen finds solace on a website where a man name Bryn takes him under his wing.  Bryn is part of an incel group (involuntary celibate), and he wants Owen to help him in his war against  a world who is denying them the women they deserve.

Across the street from Owen, Cate (a physiotherapist),  and her husband Roan (a child psychologist), and their teenage daughter and son are waiting for their house to be finished so they can move out of the area.  There are secrets in this house.  They all find Owen a little creepy.

Then there is Saffyre, who was a patient of Roan's for three years,  and feels he didn't delve deep enough to get to her big secret.  However, Saffyre hasn't given up on Roan, and has been following him.  Unfortunately, she's finding out things she really didn't want to know.

Meanwhile,  there is a sexual predator on the loose, and when Saffyre goes missing, everyone assumes the worst.


My Opinions:

First, please note that I ended up loving this book.  But my feelings certainly didn't start out that way.  I struggled with the pace and direction the book was taking at the beginning.  I found it slow and a little disjointed, as I didn't understand the timeline.  However, once I finally got into it, the book was suddenly a fast read -- mainly because I didn't want to set it down.

The characters were interesting, most of them very flawed, and all gave me one reason or another to dislike them.  On the other hand, I felt sorry for a couple, and I loved Saffyre (who was also rather flawed).  The main characters were deep enough that I cared what happened to them.  That's important in a book.

It is a rather dark read, with topics that include Incel, sexual and physical abuse, self-harm, infidelity, and mental health issues.  It is definitely a little creepy.  However, none of those things really bothered me, and the ending was definitely satisfying.  The twists kept me spinning, and the one thing that left us all hanging at the end was perfect!

Overall, despite the slow start, it was a good book!

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️. I don’t know where to start with this review. I was very excited that I received an ARC from NetGalley because Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors. I’ve read The Family Upstairs, I Found You and Watching You...all were 4-4.5 stars for me. But to be honest Invisible Girl was just not as exciting to me and I was a little disappointed when comparing it to the others that I’ve read by Jewell. I just couldn’t get into the story and was bored the first half of it. It did start to pick up around the 50-75% mark but I guess it just seemed like too much going on at once but nothing super exciting, if that makes sense?! I didn’t care for any of the characters and I almost felt like I wanted to skim to the end just to finish it....but I didn’t. I read it all and it did come together in the end so it does deserve 3 stars. I’m just not sure I would recommend this one. I won’t stop reading Lisa Jewell books because as I stated at the start of this review, I really enjoyed the other books that I’ve read. This was just a miss for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

To see other reviews I’ve left on previous books, check out my Instagram and Goodreads.
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A damaged teenager goes missing on Valentine's Day. Several people saw her that night as they returned home from their dates. It wasn't that unusual to see her in her favorite black hoodie walking the streets at night. One of them knows what happened.

Lisa Jewell used an interesting approach in getting her point across. The book starts slow and steady and then quickly changes to a fast-paced thriller after the crime occurs. She introduces us to the cast of characters from our own vantage point, much like in our own lives when we observe our neighbors and acquaintances. We never truly know them. It's impossible to read people's minds. The real thrilling part of this book is she gives us the chance to do what we can't in real life. We get a glimpse inside their heads and see that each of them is hiding a part of themselves from everyone. It is only when this crime occurs and people start digging for answers that these things are brought to light that everyone discovered their assumptions were totally wrong.

I thought this was a smart and entertaining book, executed perfectly! It allowed me to indulge in a more character-driven thriller. Not many thriller writers have that ability. I have found Lisa Jewell's books to be hit or miss. (I did not like the last book, The Family Upstairs.) This one was a sure hit!

I’ve been a long time fan of Lisa Jewell’s books and I can honestly say they are some of my favorites and she never disappoints me.
This book is about a girl gone missing. You have three different POVs including the missing girl’s. Just like what I’ve come to expect from Jewell’s books there are many twist and turns along the way. There’s always a couple of unlikeable characters along with family drama, my favorite. I devoured this book in about two days. Loved it!