These days, Beatrice—better known as Beans—is a successful psychologist. As a teenager, though, her mother's unexpected death turned her life upside down, and she spent months in treatment for an eating disorder. She recovered, but ED is still by her side when things get tough...and now, her entire world has tilted on its axis. Beans's mother might still be alive.

"Since She's Been Gone" is a fast-paced read, shifting between past (eating disorder with a side of grief) and present (mystery with a side of eating disorder). The mystery takes place over quite a short time frame, only a few days—this helps keep things moving, though I think I would have preferred a longer time frame to better get to know some of the supporting characters, particularly Eddie,* her boyfriend.

But the book is doing a number of things that are unusual here. This is one of a very, very few books I've read in which the protagonist is an adult who has *had and recovered from* an eating disorder, and one of even fewer in which the character—and the author—is a therapist and has the language to discuss the disorder with knowledge, nuance, and (yay) a general lack of numbers. (If the author does not have personal history or extensive professional knowledge about eating disorders, I would be quite surprised.) This probably sounds like an odd thing to get hung up on, but take it from someone who has a niche reading interest or two—it's unusual, and it's well done.

The time jumps didn't work quite as well for me. It might be that I read the book all in one go, or that the chapters are relatively short, but the shifts in time, while consistent, always felt a bit choppy to me. Because the book avoids the cliché so well in the present-day mental health narrative, I'm also rather disappointed that it uses one of the bigger clichés in YA eating disorder fiction: no spoilers, but Emily and her storyline could be plucked from (or dropped into) any number of books set in treatment centres, and it would be hard to tell the difference. Not the end of the world in a story, but I'd like to know how Emily could have helped to drive that timeline in a less expected way.

I won't go into the mystery much (by the time I read the book, I had completely forgotten what was in the book description, which is just the way I like my mysteries), but I'll say that it seems inspired by the Sackler family—if that's not a rabbit hole you've ever gone down, have fun with Wikipedia! And then look up Nan Goldin, because while she has nothing to do with this book she's done some effective advocacy work on the subject.

*Not to be confused with ED

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Some books have us compulsively turning the pages. Some books pull at the heartstrings. And others give us fascinating insight into a world unlike our own. This books does all of those things. Readers will become instantly and intimately connected to Beatrice, a therapist navigating unexpected life changes that awaken the eating disorder she thought she left behind years ago. Alternating between past and present readers come to understand how Beatrice’s eating disorder came to have a harrowing hold on her in the present as she navigates shocking new information about her mothers death. I was surprised at every turn and didn’t see the truth coming. This is a book for readers who love suspense, family drama and insight into a way of thinking other than their own. It’s also a must read for anyone wanting or needing insight into the complicated world of eating by disorders. It’s a must read.

This book was so good! Absolutely loved this crime-drama-thriller! I was always on my toes. I liked how the story unfolded at an even pace which kept me wanting to know more. At the heart of it is a daughter looking for her mother who she thinks has been unintentionally involved a crime syndicate. It follows a dual-timeline from single POV. I learnt a lot about anorexia too which I really appreciate. I never knew this would be such a dangerous and serious disease. I am proud to feel less ignorant. Great story!

I've seen plenty of books with trigger warnings, but I feel this one needs a large sticker on the front cover. There was A LOT about eating disorders. A LOT. As someone who has struggled with EDs, it was very difficult to read. Additionally, it didn't super feel necessary to the story. It was a conscious decision made for a character, not to move the story. I think that's why it felt so excessive.

As a story overall, it was good! The whole "running out of time" and chasing down leads. I love that kind of stuff. The concept of addiction in the book made sense too (and I kind of get it for the ED side).

Overall, solid book and a really fantastic debut. I look forward to seeing what Sagit Schwartz creates next!

This book packs quite an emotional punch. It was a page-turner due to the underlying mystery throughout the story, but it was also heartbreaking.

Told in alternating timelines, Since She's Been Gone follows the main character, Beatrice (Beans), both in her present life and her past. The first chapter starts off with a bang, introducing the reader to a mysterious, incomprehensible conversation that Beans has with her first patient of the day. From there, we follow Beans on her mission to get to the bottom of the news she's just heard, no matter the emotional or physical cost.

We also get to know Beans on a much deeper level during the chapters that take place in her past. The demons in her past have taken a major toll on her, even now.

I really liked Beans as a main character. Although flawed (who isn't) she is incredibly strong and admirable.

I think this book is perfect for those who want more than just a thriller. This is so much more than that. While it is heartbreaking, it's worth hanging in there for the heartwarming payoff.

***Readers, please take note of the following content/trigger warnings in this book: ED (eating disorder), exercise compulsion, miscarriage, parent loss.

This had all the heart racing delight of a traditional mystery/thriller while at the same time covering topics that often aren’t seen in this genre. I learned so much about anorexia and the mind tricks that our brains use to deceive us. It made me see how the narratives we tell ourselves can either enhance our lives or ruin them completely.
I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!!

—Heidi Shertok, author of Unorthodox Love

It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel! A dual-timeline thriller that weaves in an education on eating disorders. Brilliant👏🏻.
I can't believe how much I didn't know and how much I learned while reading. It was a fantastic suspense but with such a hopeful message.
I'm not sure I've ever read a thriller that combines fact and fiction so well on a very under talked about topic! This book, coming from a licensed psychotherapist, with so much experience in the ED world, has the opportunity to raise so much awareness and decrease stigmas associated with ED.
The relationship between Beans and her dad really did a number on me 😭I can’t wait for this one to be out in the world and will truly will be delighted to see it take off!

Since She's Been Gone is a fascinating novel. I must say that if one is triggered by reading about eating disorder's this is not the book for you. That said.......

Beatrice lost her mom when she was 15. The grief moved into an intense eating disorder that she worked years to move beyond. Her work eventually leads her to become a psychologist.

A new patient tells Beatrice that her mom is still alive and entwined in a nefarious family. Which leads to a look at the opioid crisis.

Told in a dual timeline, the story flows easily between the two.

This is a book you will think about long after you stop reading.

A great emotionally charged thriller that captivates the audience. I read this in one night. I just had to figure out what happened!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me up read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Completely captivating and just what I needed to read. This will keep your mind guessing and your head spinning. Highly recommend to readers of all types.

•Dual-timeline suspense
•Emotional Read
•Mental Health Rep
•Written in First Person

The book has been written in first person. It’s evocative, touching and mysterious. Beatrice Bennett, the protagonist of the story is a psychotherapist and she didn’t have a pleasant childhood. Her mom left her and her father. Since she was in teenage, her father told her that her mom has died. But years later, now a woman came in her office and told her that her mom is alive and she must save her. The FMC is trying to piece it all together and solve the mystery of her mother. But will she be able to find out about her mother?

There are so many inbuilt mysteries in plot. If her mom is alive, why did she abandon them years ago? Did her father know all along that she was alive? I love the backstories of characters and how the author encapsulated the mystery.

The author has brilliantly shown how a child suffers if one of the parent disappears from their life and how much of a trouble a child becomes if raised by one parent. The mystery kept me at edge. I loved the characters and their backstories. And the ending was satisfying.

Thank you Netgalley, Author and Publisher.

I LOVED this book! I couldn’t put this book down. I would think for a moment that I knew what would happen next only to be thrown off…it’s that good! I felt the knots in my stomach as Beatrice (Beans) is on her journey looking for answers and was surprised by every discovery along the way.

I enjoyed the knowledge and education around eating disorders and appreciated how Sagit incorporated it. I wish I had knowledge about the disease earlier on because I definitely would have been better able to understand what friends were going through.

I also loved that I was crying at the end of this book…like the final 3 chapters! It’s a story about true love…the love of a mother.

Thank you Sagit and NetGalley for this arc! I really enjoyed this one! So we have Beatrice. She is a psychologist and books an appointment with a new patient. The patient gets there and tells Beatrice that her mother is alive and possibly in danger. She tells Beatrice to find her and leaves her with a bracelet that belonged to Beatrice’s mother who she believed died years before. Beatrice decides to find her and discovers a lot in the process. While she is doing that, we are also getting a look into the life of young Beatrice and her struggles. I couldn’t put this one down!

This book is absolutely fantastic. It’s a thriller that has so much depth. The main character “Beans” has had some major tragedy’s happen and she seeks control in developing an ED. (This book may be triggering to fellow sufferers or those in recovery.) The book has mystery, action and some serious heart. I can’t wait to see if this writer comes out with another book because I can’t wait to read another. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this stellar book!

🅶🅴🅽🆁🅴—𝑀𝓎𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓎 / 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓇
🗓ℙ𝕦𝕓 𝔻𝕒𝕥𝕖—𝔽𝕖𝕓𝕣𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕪 𝟞, 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟜

"𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓹𝓮𝓸𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓰𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓭𝓸𝓮𝓼𝓷'𝓽 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓾𝓼."

✂️ P L O T L I N E
Beatrice “Beans” Bennett lost her mom at the young age of 15 in a hit and run accident. She developed an eating disorder and went through a challenging recovering process which lead her to become a psychologist to help others. Now as an adult, a new patient arrives and gives her the shocking news that her mother is still alive and is in danger. This news flips her world upside down as she is forced to uncover the secrets that her mom held from her to discover the truth. This fast moving mystery explores the question “ℂ𝕒𝕟 𝕨𝕖 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕪 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕠𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖?”

💭 ⓂⓎ ⓉⒽⓄⓊⒼⒽⓉⓈ
This book explores so many important topics like losing parents at a young age, drug addiction, and eating disorders. A book that keeps you engaged and guessing the whole time, while simultaneously learning about addiction. I enjoyed this book a lot! Congratulations Sagit Schwartz on your debut novel!!! Make sure to put this one on your TBR for 2024 🧐

📚 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
💫Dual timelines ✌🏽
💫Emotionally charged reads 😢
💫 “The Last Thing He Told Me” meets “Empire of Pain” 📖
💫Eating disorder/drug addiction/ mental health rep 💊
💫Page turning suspenseful reads 🫣
💫Intriguing and informative reads 📝

⚠️ 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨: graphic depiction of ED (eating disorder), exercise compulsion, miscarriage, parent loss, drug addiction⚠️

💊𝕄𝕐 ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀ℕ𝔾💊
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

💕Q U O T E: "𝒴𝑜𝓊'𝓋𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒾𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓈𝑜 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈. 𝒴𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉𝓃'𝓉 𝓁𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒹𝑒𝒻𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊," 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹. "𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻 𝓊𝓅 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁."

🙏 Thank you NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Sagit Schwartz for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts 💕

I am giving Since She's Been Gone 5 stars, but readers should be aware that it may trigger some people because of its heavy theme around eating disorders (referred to in the book as ED). The book is based on a story that has been in the news surrounding a certain family and the opioid epidemic. Having read the book, Empire of Pain by Patrick Keefe, the facts pretty much square with what is in Since She's Been Gone on that topic. This is a work of fiction, though, just to be clear on that.

Our story toggles between the past, when Beans was a teenager whose mother passed away suddenly, and the present, when Beans is a psychologist who has demons of her own to deal with, including anorexia. At the age of 15, Beans and her father are so bereft by the fact of their mother and wife's death, which hits Beans hard enough that she needs to be sent to a center for help with anorexia. It becomes a lifelong struggle for her.

One day, as an adult, Beans goes to work and is confronted by a woman who tells her to find her mother because she is in danger. This is so beyond puzzling and sends Beans on a journey, both emotional and physical. She does not understand why this person does not seem to understand that her mother is dead. Then she disappears without answering any of Beans' questions.

The book is both exciting and suspenseful, and a very good mystery. It keeps up with current events and goes back to the 70's with ease. It is a great read.

I was very lucky to receive an ARC of this book! I really enjoyed it, and actually learned a lot from it. I would highly reccomend this book to any fellow thriller lovers! It was a very engaging story.

I really enjoyed this book! The dual timeline kept me engaged & made me not want to put this book down. It’s a fast paced and keeps you guessing! I loved the stories of Beatrice time at Better Horizons. It really was a crucial part of the story to understand her history and struggles with ED. I would definitely recommend this book to others! (TW: eating disorder)

This book felt very surface level. I felt no depth throughout the story, and I did not connect with the characters.

Mystery and intrigue keep this story moving. Realistic characters add to the secrets and surprises. This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review.