Well, this book wasn't at all what I expected it to be. There's a bit of a thriller element, but it's much more of a family drama. I can't say as I liked it too much.

"Since She's Been Gone" by Sagit Schwartz is told in two timelines. One is when the main character, Beatrice aka Beans, is 15 years old and later in the present day, when she's about 30 and is a psychologist. A woman contacts Dr. Beans and says that her mother is still alive and in danger. The thing is, her mother passed away 15 years ago. Didn't she?

A large part of this book is about Beans' trouble with the eating disorder, anorexia. I never expected to be reading so much about this topic. I learned a lot.

The other major topic of the book is opiate addiction and big pharma knowingly pushing opiates despite knowing the damage and danger of the addiction.

Trigger warnings: eating disorders, opiate addiction, baby death, miscarriage, kidnapping, parent loss, abandonment

Annie Sprinkle is the narrator for this audiobook, and she did a wonderful job with all the voices and the emotions.

Characters - 4/5
Writing - 4/5
Plot - 4/5
Pacing - 3/5
Unputdownability - 3/5
Enjoyment - 3/5
Narration - 5/5
Cover - 4/5
Overall - 29/8 = 3 6/8 rounded up to 4 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, High Bridge Audio, and Sagit Schwartz for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This book started off with a bang and I was hooked from the first page. It slowed down a bit in the middle but overall I was impressed by the way everything came together and wrapped up in the end.

This one’s a twisty psychological thriller that dives deep into family secrets and buried truths. When a new patient hints that her mother might still be alive, psychologist Beatrice is forced to confront the past she thought she left behind. The suspense builds as the truth unravels, and the emotional layers keep it grounded. A great pick if you love thrillers with heart!

Since She’s Been Gone was an okay read for me. While it didn’t completely blow me away, I really appreciated its thoughtful representation of eating disorders. As someone who doesn’t personally deal with this, it was eye-opening to get a glimpse into how EDs can deeply affect someone’s life. Schwartz handles the topic with care, and it’s clear she wanted to shed light on this often misunderstood struggle.

The story itself had moments of emotional depth, but I found it a bit uneven at times. There were parts that felt truly engaging and raw, but others didn’t connect with me as much as I’d hoped. The characters were well-drawn, though, and I appreciated how Schwartz gave them complexities and layers, especially in how they navigated grief, relationships, and self-acceptance.

If you’re interested in stories that tackle tough topics with sensitivity, this book might resonate more with you. For me, the highlight was gaining a better understanding of eating disorders, which is such an important and often overlooked issue. While it wasn’t a favorite, I can see its value in starting conversations and offering insight.

3.5 rounded up
I was all set for a thrilling ride, but it didn’t really deliver on that suspense I was craving. Instead, it focused more on Beatrice’s struggles with her eating disorder and her search for her mother.

There were a few moments that had some tension, but it just wasn’t enough to satisfy my thriller cravings. I think this would be a better fit for someone looking for a heartfelt mystery.

On a positive note, the writing was impressive. I feel like I learned a lot about the challenges of living with an eating disorder, which is definitely something more people should understand.

Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook!

This was a very enjoyable book. The narrator was great and the plot was good. It really could have been a bit shorter, and the eating disorder maybe played too big of a role. I feel like, as a psychologist, she should have had a better handle on it, or better tools at her disposal than just telling it to "take a hike." It felt like the centerpiece of the book, and I'm not sure that was neccessary.
Overall a good listen, though.

I had problems with the app playing this audiobook correctly. I will read the ebook when my library gets it and come back to rereview on the netgalley app.
It seemed like an amazing book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

This book was. . .disjointed. I felt like the two timelines just weren't connected enough to be compelling together, and I would have enjoyed each much more had they been more thoroughly fleshed out in separate books. The current timeline was fairly "meh" and didn't catch me, despite being the thing to initially draw me. I found myself more invested in the past timeline following our main character's journey through a difficult and emotionally charged case of anorexia, which I wasn't expecting. The eating disorder (ED) plotline was interesting, informative, and deeply emotional. It's been a couple weeks, and I honestly don't remember exactly how the main story wrapped up, but I do remember the ED story well.

The author's writing style was perfectly fine, and I didn't catch any of my usual pet peeves, but I suggest narrowing the focus on the next book for a more powerful impact. I think Schwartz has a strong future, but I think her strength lies in emotional storytelling with a focus on mental health, not in the thriller or suspense category, which is how this was categorized. I'd love to see a good, emotional literary fiction by her. Again, this was absolutely not a horrible book - it's a good read with some emotional impact, particularly during the past timeline, but it won't be one I reread. I will keep an eye out for future books though.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

I’m not sure how to categorize Since She’s Been Gone by Sagit Schwartz. I guess it’s a mystery, but it also seems to be a bit of a self-help book for Eating Disorders. I did find the information about Eating Disorders valuable and insightful (if not a little preachy), but the mystery wasn’t so compelling.

If someone picks up this book with the intention of reading a good mystery or thriller, they will be disappointed. I think the author should have stuck with the domestic drama aspects of the story, toned down the “preaching,” self-help dialogue and dumped the mystery, this may have been a really good book.

The audiobook narration was decent enough, although slightly robotic.

3.75ish stars

This was an intense story that dealt with a lot of serious topics while still creating an engaging, suspenseful, and dramatic narrative. It wasn’t quite what I expected, but for the most part, I enjoyed it. I will be curious to see what the writer creates next.

I really enjoyed this book. I went into it thinking it was more of a mystery, but it was heavy ED focused. It worked though, and brought heavy emotions. I would definitely recommend.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Wow! What a brilliant debut!

This book starts off with a bang, and does not let up! Trigger warnings from the author are mentioned in the foreword, so check them out before starting.

Very rarely do thrillers pack an emotional punch for me … this one did, and I even shed a few tears. Schwartz’s beautiful writing elicits high emotions and all the feels.

Beatrice, aka Beans lost her mother as a teenager. The pain and implications of the hit and run accident left her with tragic mental health issues and with an eating disorder leading her to a treatment facility.

Twenty five years on she is a practicing clinical psychologist and is still coming to terms with her demons. The novel is told via a duel timeline giving us a well rounded look at Beans life in the past and present, with some very clever twists and turns that will keep you glued to the pages. I binged this book in one sitting!

Super highly recommended! 🤩 Many thanks to @highbridgeaudio & @netgalley for an ALC 🙏

I would classify this book as fiction and not a mystery, and it should come with a very big trigger warning for anyone with or recovering from an eating disorder (ED). At least half the book is Beans' history with ED. The book is told entirely from her perspective and alternates between the past and the present. While the recovery and thinking process of her particular ED was very interesting, I had a hard time wrapping my head around the connection between it and her mother's disappearance. I found the ending to be very unbelievable as it wrapped up in a very pretty bow with hardly any big feelings. Without giving anything away, there should have been big feelings. I can tell you I didn't feel anything and I should have been crying my eyes out! The narrator did a great job at portraying all of the characters.

Thank you NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for the ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Since She's Been Gone gripped me from the very beginning--I'm usually a little slow to get into thrillers, but this book wasted no time. The story and the Sagit Schwartz' unweaving of the tale kept my interest the entire time. Every twist I thought I had unpuzzled was incorrect! (Thank goodness because that automatically makes a thriller no-good.)

Maybe it was just my hormones, but this novel even made me a little teary-eyed at its resolution. A thriller has certainly never done that to me before. I highly recommend this book and I'm thankful for the opportunity from @netgalley and @highbridgeaudio to receive the audiobook as an ARC.

Since She's Been Gone is available now in all reading formats. #sinceshesbeengone #netgalley

This is an unusual thriller as it tackles not just the mystery but also mental health issues of the main character. Patricia (aka Beans) developed an intense eating disorder after her mother's death that lead to inpatient therapy. After battling her addiction, Patricia becomes a psychologist to help others through their troubles. But a new patient sends Beans back down her own difficult road of relapse.

I loved that this book addressed triggers, background and predilection towards issues, and how it felt to go through such a difficult time. Schwartz entertains and educates at the same time. Excellent work on behalf of the narrator as well (I couldn't find her name but her voice reminds me of Wendie Malick at times)

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random house, and the author for my advance copy of this audiobook

This novel is a slow start. The book itself takes quite a while to pick up steam, which I think is due to the dual story-time lines between the main characters present life and examination of her past life dealing with an eating disorder.

Outside of that, I really enjoyed the story and the authors way of drawing parallels between the widely publicized opioid epidemic and the more secretive life and details of ED.

I listened to the audio version, (thank you NetGalley) and I will say that contributed to the slow pace of the book. The Narrators tone and voice acting were good but it was read so slowly. Speed it up if you go with the audio book. 1.5 speed made the tone seem normal.

This was an average read.for me. This novel primarily focuses on the eating disorder topic with a little bit of mystery sprinkled in. I felt like there wasn't a balance between the two topics. I wanted more mystery. However It's a well written story that offers valuable insights on eating disorders and mental health.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the E-ARC. And to Highbridge Audio for the ALC.

All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

This audiobook was just a little bit slow to start, but once it picked up I really did enjoy it. I’d definitely recommend this one to thriller lovers

If you’re in the mood for a dual timeline, suspenseful thriller with plenty of twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat, you’re going to want to check this one out.

I binged it in a day and was wholly invested in both the main character’s search for the truth about her mother, as well as the emotional deep dive into her own dark past that this search triggers.

This was such an impressive debut and I look forward to reading more from Sagit Schwartz!

I listened to the audiobook and thought Ann Sprinkle did an outstanding job capturing the suspenseful atmosphere and bringing the main character Beatrice to life.

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.