I have read a couple of Lisa Jewell books before but this is different to her normal offering.....and it is brilliant. This is the genre of psychological thriller at its best and beautifully written.. About a third of the way through the book you feel that you have the whole plot line sussed. How wrong can you be! I read this in a couple of days as wanted to find out how all the mysteries were tied together.

what a brilliant read this turned out to be. i couldnt put it down till it was finished, this book will be on my read again pile

Wow as usual Lisa Jewell does not disappoint.

I really enjoyed this book, I swallowed it up in one setting.

The twist in the plot I just didn't see coming. The story took you down a different road and leads you to think something different.
The characters are strong and believable.
It has many emotions running through the story which in their selves can be a completely different story, so many levels but never once did I lose track of who was who and what had happened. That's a clever way to write. I'm looking for ages to the next book already!

There is, at the core of this book, a really good story. Unfortunately I didn't feel that the book, in the end, lived up to that potential.

I'm not a reader who usually figures out the mystery early in the story, and I don't generally read a mystery with a "detective" mindset - I'm quite happy to just read, allowing ideas and thoughts to pop into my head, rather than actively looking for clues and solutions - but in this case, I had 95% of the story figured before I got even a quarter of the way through the book. As if that wasn't disappointing enough, the further twist which appeared close to the end of the book was also obvious to me from much earlier.

I highlighted a couple of passages which made me frown: for example, when a character "silently removed it and said" - you can't really be *silently* removing something whilst also speaking! I was also irritated because it was so very clear that the author had done no research whatsoever before covering "homeschooling" - a minute or two on google would have at the very least shown her that what she was calling it was not what it is usually called in the UK.

Quod verum tutum

This latest offering from Lisa Jewell, Then She Was Gone, is most definitely a page turner. It tells the story of Laurel, who lost her daughter ten years ago, believed to have run away and no evidence has been found to the contrary since. Then the discoveries start happening. Some bones are found and a new man appears in Laurel’s life, who is about to give Laurel closure.
I could not put this book down. I was reading it whilst brushing my teeth and during every second I got at work. The suspense is built up brilliantly and the characters are very believable. Not everyone can relate to what Laurel has been through, but this didn’t matter. You could still emphasize and sympathize with her throughout the story.
I think I worked out what had happened about half way through, however this did not put me off – I still had to read to the end to see if I was right and if I was, what the consequences would be.
I would most definitely recommend this book, its fast paced and full of suspense and keeps the reader on the edge of their seats.

Brilliant. I really enjoyed this one! Will definitely recommend.

Brilliant, emotional thriller. I could not put this book down. Everything was right about this book, the characters, the story, the writing. Thank you!

Over the past few years there seems to have been a huge saturation in the market of psychological mystery type thrillers. Or maybe it's just me thinking so, because I've bought or requested through Net Galley, many books of this type. Then She Was Gone, is another one to add to this genre.

There's nothing much I can add really, the description is easily available to read. The narrative goes back and forth between the present day and the past, and is told from the perspective of four different characters, at different times throughout the book, although mainly from the pov of Laurel and Ellie. As a reader it's not at all difficult to keep on track, the perspectives don't keep changing continually, but rather gently weave in and out.

Other than that, Then She Was Gone, is an enjoyable suspenseful read, filled with characters with shady secrets and questionable pasts. There are many emotional parts with plenty of moving moments. The book has some twists and turns, but I think I may have read so many books of this genre now, that I was able to see where the story was going. However, I shouldn't let this detract from the fact this is a well written book, it certainly didn't drag, and each time i picked my kindle up to read I was looking forward to reading it. It just wasn't "omg that was original" or "well I never saw that coming", but I do now think authors will have to really pull something out of the bag to have a psychological thriller that really stands out and is completely original.

I don't mean to end on a downer, I do think this book is well worth a read, even if you have read a lot of this genre of late. I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for more books written by Lisa Jewell. The ending of Then She Was Gone is particularly touching and I defy anyone to not be moved.

With thanks to NetGalley and Random House U.K, Cornerstone for the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this thriller, it has an unusual story line with great characters that you can visualise within the story. A fifteen year old girl disappears and Laurel will not rest until she finds her daughter. and as this book unravels you are drawn in - it's a gripping read. Fabulous.
SmileyJan

WOW what a great story! Gripping, twisty and thoroughly enjoyable! Had me hooked from the outset and racing through the pages to get to the bottom of the story. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone, its a 5* from me indeed.

My thanks to Random House for the free copy for me to read.
I read a review that the author wrote herself saying that the book was bizarre, her words not mine. I thought the book was strongly compelling and different. I was on different reading level than anything I had ever read before. The story was both unbelievable and believable at the same time, perhaps that is why Lisa Jewell called it bizarre.

Lisa Jewell's writing gets better and better. This book had me turning page after page long into the night. I was desperate for that tingly spidery feeling feeling to be wrong and for everyone to leave happily ever after. An excellent read

A very different approach to the usual format within this genre, looking at the aftermath of a disappearing teen but building to a climax that doesn't disappoint.

As a mother of a teen girl i found the premise of this book quite terrifying, and disturbingly possible. Ellie's sudden disappearance and the effect this has on her over the next decade family is beautifully told and hits all the right notes. The story then starts to wander into something almost darker; a secondary insanity, directly connected to the first. Okay, so the story strays a little into far-fetched territory now, but hey...who's to say this couldn't happen? Stranger things have...

The tension ramps up as the novel progresses and the use of diary style entries from other protagonists is a clever solution to a wholly first person account. The reader is taken from heartbreak to hope via a series of twists and turns worthy of the best thriller writers.

Clever and satisfying.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had a different slant, interesting characters and a vaguely plausible story. I must admit that I had to suspend disbelief at some points, but on the whole the story was good. It had mystery, romance and family interest.
Would be very interested in further books by this author.

I like the 'then' and 'now' narrative and it worked well here. For me this read as a family drama with a side order of thriller. There were a few twists that I predicted but enough that I was unsure about to keep me reading. What I really didn't see coming was the epilogue, and it brought tears to my eyes.

Then She Was Gone

Ellie went missing when she was 15. It's been over ten years and her mum, Laurel, had never given up hope of finding her.

This is Lisa Jewell's fifteenth novel and in her own words, probably her darkest to date.

Told through multiple viewpoints, Then She Was Gone tells the tale of Ellie. Her mother's golden girl, at 15, she goes missing. Ten years later, her mum Laurel has never given up hope of finding her daughter. Then she meets Poppy...a young girl who is the spitting image of Ellie...

I sped through this novel and really enjoyed it, full of obsession, intrigue, secrets and lies. This mystery thriller drew me in and gripped me until the end. Four stars.

Quite a slow paced story but well told with a few twists. Well worth a read

"Then She Was Gone" tells the story of Laurel whose fifteen year old daughter, Ellie, disappeared ten years previously. Laurel has never discovered the truth about what happened to Ellie, until she begins a new relationship and she is introduced to her partner's nine year old daughter, who has a starling resemblance to Ellie. The story moves between the past and the present as Laurel seeks to find out the truth, and it is narrated from the perspectives of various different characters.
The storyline is original and drew me to keep reading more. I found the switching between timeframes and narrators was used effectively here in gradually unfolding the true story behind Ellie's disappearance. In some other books I have found this techniques confusing, but here it worked well.
Towards the end of the book though I struggled with two of the characters' behaviour. After a sudden and shocking revelation and disappearance of another character, they were able to brush it aside too quickly and head off to a party. I found this unrealistic, but other than this I really enjoyed the book and I would like to read more from this author.

I was given an ARC by Netgalley in exchange for a honest and independent review.

Wow! This book is part family drama, part psychological thriller, and it's not a book I was expecting from Lisa Jewell! I had her down as more of a chick lit author, but if she writes more books like this, I will have discovered a new favourite author.

From the first page, I was hooked. In fact, I read 50% in one sitting, then had to force myself to slow down for my impending holiday. There were lots of twists and turns, lots of drama, but it was written in a way that at times you felt you could feel what was coming but not in the way the book was boring; Jewell was always one step ahead of the reader!

I want to read it again!