Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Title: Then She Was Gone
Author: Lisa Jewell

My Rating: 4 stars

Ten years ago, Laurel's 15 year old daughter Ellie went missing. Soon after, Laurel and her husband divorced. Now, years later, she has let a new man enter her life, but she is shocked when she meets his daughter and she looks just like her Ellie.

We learn this much from the summary. I went in thinking that the man's daughter might be Ellie, but in the first few chapters, you learn that the man's daughter is young, and so it seems predictable that it will be Ellie's daughter. It is also quite predictable who took Ellie. At first I was disappointed by these things, but then I realized that these things were meant to be known and not surprises. Once I accepted that, and that this wasn't a true thriller, I liked the book much more.

Initially, I didn't like the author's writing style and wasn't sure I would finish the book, but I kept going and got into the story and style. I didn't find Laurel particularly likeable, but she did grow as the story went on. I loved the character of Poppy, as did everyone else in the story.

The changing viewpoints were interesting in that new character viewpoints were added as the story progressed. It added to the urgency of the novel that may not have been there otherwise.

Comments

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