This book delves into mental health issues, particularly eating disorders. For someone that has dealt with that type of issue, it could be a trigger, though. This book explores both eating disorders and the loss of main character's mother. We see how her life was impacted since her mother has been gone and how she tries to put together the events of her past. This thriller certainly takes us on a ride and also is quite emotional at moments. Thank you to Sagit Schwartz, Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this advanced reader's copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. My first from this author and it was just okay for me. I think it had more to do with the plot than the writing. The writing was fine. I do think it will be an enjoyable read for those who like this type of plot so I will recommend.

For me, a dual-time story often means I will connect more with one timeline and that was the case for me with Since She’s Been Gone..

Beatrice (“Beans”) is a divorced psychologist. Her mother was killed in a hit-and-run when she was 15 and in her grief she then succumbed to a severe case of anorexia. Her recovery eventually led her to a career as a clinical psychologist. Her mother was also a psychologist, one who specialized in patients dealing with addictions.

One day a new patient comes in and tells Beatrice that her mother is still alive but in great danger. What follows is an effort by Beatrice to uncover the truth, which winds up putting herself in danger, as well as her boyfriend and his young daughter. There’s a lot of talk about opioid addiction and the evil family/company behind the pills (pretty much a stand-in for the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma). There were too many extremely unlikely events - like finding people who lived somewhere many years before and remembered her mother, etc.

I was way more interested in and fascinated by the journey of the teenage Beatrice. The author writes convincingly about anorexia and how powerful a hold ED (eating disorder) can have on people. The time jumps were clearly labeled (thankfully!) so there was no confusion. At times, it read a bit more like a non-fiction book about ED, but I did learn a lot. This was a debut novel and perhaps the author will mature and refine her style with her next book.

Unfortunately, the present-day timeline didn’t engage me nearly as much, but that’s just me. Others will likely be on the edge of their seats to see how it all turns out.

I bounced between the audiobook and the ebook for this title, which was very convenient. The audiobook was narrated beautifully by a new-to-me narrator, Ann Sprinkles.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book and to HighBridge Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

SINCE SHE’S BEEN GONE
Sagit Schwartz, author
Thriller

Jumping between 15 year old Beatrice and grown Beatrice, this book is a race against time to save her life at 15 and her mother’s life as a grown women. With hitmen on her trail, Beatrice must decide what is most important in her life.

This dual time line book will have you shaking your head. First about the severity of eating disorders, then over the power of what a big pharmaceutical company might do to protect it’s secrets. I expect great things from this debut author and give it a 5 out of five stars.

This book was page-turning while also being filled with emotion. From the very start, it was filled with suspense and I couldn't wait for the upcoming twists and turns. It had some Hitchcock vibes with the cat and mouse and double crossing elements.

I also enjoy a dual timeline story and loved the short chapters which only added to the fast pace of this novel. There were some serious themes especially with Beans' eating disorder - but overall it's one of those books you can binge in one day because you just want to see how it all plays out.

4.5 rounded up to 5

What an incredible debut! I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for more by this author!

Beatrice "Beans" Bennett was 15 when she lost her mom to a hit-and-run. That tragedy turned her life upside down, and she developed a life-threatening eating disorder. She's had to challenge herself to overcome the obstacles to recovery. Now, she's a clinical psychologist trying to help others. One day, a potential patient walks into her office and tells her that her mom's still alive and in danger. She quickly learns that the so-called "patient" is a member of the notorious family that owns a drug company that is largely responsible for the opioid epidemic. Did her mom have ties to this family as well? What secrets was her mom keeping from her? Was it to protect her? In a race against the clock, Beans must find out if her mom is really still alive, where she's been hiding and warn her. Will Beans lose her mom a 2nd time? Will she be able to fight off ED to find out the truth.

Told in dual timelines of Bean's past and present this book was an engrossing read. Bean's journey with her eating disorder was emotional and raw. I thought the author did a great job writing about it. The mystery of Bean's mother's past kept me guessing and turning pages. There were some great fast-paced moments that kept me on my toes. I really liked this book and would highly recommend it.

3.5 ⭐️’s
In her debut novel, Schwartz takes us into the life of Beatrice “Beans” Bennett, a clinical psychologist with a past of her own. When a young women shows up in her office with a cryptic message telling her that the mother she believed dead is very much alive, Beans is shocked. Her mother was killed twenty six years ago when she was fifteen. Her death led Beans to develop an eating disorder (ED). Suffering from anorexia, Beans almost lost everything. Recovered and in a healthy relationship, she hasn’t been quite truthful about her past. Beans immediately dives in to investigate her mother’s life. Has her mother really been alive all these years? If so, why did she leave? The more Beans investigates, the more she learns about her mother’s dark past, a past that’s connected to Big Pharma. With her investigation, Beans has now put herself and her loved ones in danger. Is her mother alive and is there any way out for Beans? This book dives deep into ED giving us an inside look at those that suffer from eating disorders. It also exposes the opioid addiction and Big Pharmas complicity. A interesting and entertaining read, but the investigation was a bit on the unbelievable side. This was a dual read/listen for me and I found the narrators voice to sound too old for Beans, but was able to look past it as the story progressed. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books, HighBridge Audio and NetGalley for and ARC and ALC of this book.

This book does not read like a debut at all. It was amazing from start to finish. This was a psychological thriller at its finest. SINCE SHE’S BEEN GONE will give SAGIT SCHWARTZ a firm place for authors to watch.

This book moved at a very fast pace. The chapters were short, and each chapter left me needing to know more. I never hit a point where I felt like I could take a break!

Along with the psychological suspense this was a deeply emotional tale of family and a missing mom who may still be alive. This is a great book for thriller lovers and book lovers in general. This book appeals to all audiences.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

What a ride!! Beatrice’s life is turned upside down when a new “patient” tells her that her late-mother, is actually alive!

This book is full of secrets and suspense at every turn, which made it really hard to put down! Very fast paced and kept my attention throughout.

I loved the commentary of psychology, grief, and eating disorders. The author handled these subjects so well with sensitivity and expert knowledge. Also, the ending!!! So good.

Highly recommend if you love thrillers! 4/5 stars!

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Crooked Lane Books for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

For 25 years, Beatrice has believed her mother is dead. Until a stranger tells her that not only is she alive, but she is also in danger. As she tries to determine who is telling the truth, her old frenemy, ED(eating disorder) rears its ugly head yet again.
Beatrice suffered from anorexia after she lost her mother, and the stress of searching for the truth may make a relapse. Told from that terrible time after her mother died, and in the present, Beatrice must figure out why her mother left her while once again, battling the voice of ED.
There is a lot about eating disorders in the story, and I learned so much about this terrible disease. I was hooked on the mystery surrounding Beatrice‘s mother and also how she struggled to overcome her addiction. The backstory was engaging and heartbreaking and I won’t say anymore for fear of entering spoiler territory. I read this book on a rainy Saturday and I was satisfied with how it ended.

It is hard to believe this one is a debut, it was very well done and had an incredible tie in of how a childhood trauma can cause an eating disorder (ED) that will haunt our protagonist Beatrice “Beans” Bennett all of her life. Her mother died when she was 15 from a hit-and-run accident and Beans was left devastated. The result was the aforementioned ED that she struggled with and her subsequent recovery led her to become a clinical psychologist in her adult life. One day a new patient arrives and tells her that her mother is not only in fact alive, but she is in danger. This sets Beans down a path to find the truth, but her ED is right there with her, ready to rear its ugly head as she does so.

I have not read a thriller like this before, there are obvious trigger warnings in here and I thought the use of ED in a story such as this was both very well and smartly done. Often in thrillers significant trauma occurs but is brushed over until the ‘killer is found’ or the story wraps up, and rarely do we deal with the stress they go through so I loved this perspective and thought it only enhanced the overall plot of what was going on with Beans’ mother.

I loved listening to the audio it was well done overall and I was glad I read it this way. It was a one day read for me as I needed to know what was going on and how it would end, and I was not disappointed. I definitely recommend this one, just be aware of the triggers related to ED.

Thank you to Thriller Book Lovers Promotions, Crooked Lane Books, and Macmillan Audio for the copies to review.

A dual-timeline thriller that follows a woman who discovers that the mom she lost years ago from a hit-and-run might still be alive and involved in a dangerous, decades-long coverup.

I’m not someone who reads this genre often, but I absolutely flew through this and read it in a single day. The dual-timeline plot moves at lightning speed with reveals and intrigue around every corner!

The female main character in this story has battled disordered eating for much of her life, so a lot of the novel revolves around that. I have never read anything that explores an ED in the way this novel does - it was incredibly informative and poignant, especially with the first-person POV.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and the author for access to this eARC in exchange for my review!

Beatrice “Beans” Bennett was 15-years-old when she lost her mother in a hit-and-run accident. The loss she felt caused her to develop an eating disorder, which after a long recovery process, she was able to channel into becoming a clinical psychologist. When a patient turns up at her office saying her mother is still alive, and in danger, Beans will stop at nothing to find her.

Schwartz’s debut novel was fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. The dual timelines and short chapters made this book a page turner that I didn’t want to put down. It was interesting how she incorporated Beans’ ED (eating disorder) throughout the book, and the past chapters were very eye opening.

The present day chapters touched on tough topics including the opioid crisis which were very impactful in the way Schwartz wrote them. The twists and turns kept me guessing throughout, and I really had no idea how it would all come together. This action packed book is a must read for thriller lovers, and I can’t wait to see what Schwartz comes up with next.

Thank you to the author, Thriller Book Lovers Promotions, and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

A well done and twisty thriller. Beans, a psychologist, has struggled mightily since her mother Irene died years ago but she's channeled her mental health issues into helping others. Now, though, her life is turned upside down when a mysterious woman turns up and tells her that her mother is still alive. This is a tad implausible in spots and a tad over the top in others (the whole Irene plot, to be honest) but it's a sensitive portrayal of mental health and eating disorders. And, it's also a page turner. No spoilers from me but know that this one holds surprises along the way. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

Real Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

I always appreciate authors who take the time to do their research when writing novels about mental illnesses, and Sagit Schwartz certainly knew what she was doing when she went to research and write Beatrice, the protagonist of Since She’s Been Gone. Beatrice has anorexia, which grew inside of her like a possessive demon in the wake of her mother’s death when she was a teenager. Like an alcohol or drug addiction, you’re always in recovery from an eating disorder, and that’s a very important part of this novel. Schwartz’s research and sensitivity to the subject is evident in every page and it’s deeply appreciated by me. Not because I have dealt with an eating disorder but because I deeply appreciate any and all authors who endeavor to appropriately research and depict mental illnesses in literature.

The story as a whole is a little less impressive because it seems pretty standard and I didn’t really buy the emotional and sentimental ties between Beatrice and her mother. Maybe I was missing something, but I wasn’t buying into the story. I didn’t feel invested or connected.

It’s a decent story, but not a great one. I’d check it out, though.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Domestic Thriller/Suspense Thriller/Thriller

I’ve decided not to finish this book, for now. I started it but it just isn’t capturing my attention. The writing seems very simple and the plot just didn’t intrigue me like I was hoping it would. Maybe I can try it another time but right now it’s not grabbing me.

I enjoyed this book more than I expected too. It was very informative and the Author did a great job giving a realistic account of eating disorders, drug addiction, and meant health issues. The plot was intriguing and the character development was great, I was invested in main character “beans” and couldn’t wait to see how the story would end.

Since She's Been Gone is an impressive debut that blew me away.

I have been anticipating this book since I first heard about it ages ago. I sat on it for months. I have a habit of "saving" my favorite things, my most anticipated things.

With release day coming up, the saving had to stop.

This was an emotional journey, as eating disorders, specifically anorexia, were a big part of the story.

I appreciated the honesty and vulnerability that was front and center as the MC battled her demons. This was secondary to the main story but was so well done, I sometimes forgot that wasn't the main point. The eating disorder was so well developed, it was like it's own character.

The thriller part of the story is very action packed, and very intense. This book has been likened to The Last Thing He Told Me and that is a fitting comparison.

This was a fantastic debut!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC. This had tons of family drama that kept me interested and on the edge of my seat. I loved the dual timelines and shorter chapters. It really sucked me in and made me feel like i was watching a movie!

Wow, what a rollercoaster of a story! This one had me on my toes with so many twists and layers.

Beatrice, aka Beans, lost her mother as a young teenager and, as a result, fell into the depths of a severe eating disorder. Through an intensive in-patient program, therapy, and support groups, she battled her way into recovery. Years later, she discovers her mother may actually still be alive. Her past rears its ugly head as she tries to figure out what happened to her mother.

I enjoyed the dual timeline this story was told in. It gave layers to the plot and helped you understand the complexity of all of these life events happening to Beatrice. While there is a suspense to the search for her mother, it's also very much about family, loss, and grief, and how those things can impact a person in many different ways. This book had me on my toes, and I never saw the ending coming!

I received an advance ebook but the review is my own. This book will be released on 2.6.24!

Tags:
-suspense
-mystery

Check trigger warnings:
-eating disorder
-miscarriage
-loss of a parent
-cancer
-addiction

First person/Single POV