Cover Image: Then She Was Gone

Then She Was Gone

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Member Reviews

Ellie is a happy teenager, she is pretty and clever, has a great boyfriend and a family who loves her. Ellie goes out one day to study at the library and her family never see her again, her disappearance tears her family apart.

Laurel, Ellie’s mum has struggled with Ellie’s disappearance, her marriage has broken down and her relationship with her remaining two children is strained, Laurel has a lot of questions that nobody can answer, where is Ellie, did she run away, did someone take her, is she alive.

Laurel meets Floyd, who has a young daughter Poppy, who is the splitting image of Ellie, Laurel’s relationship with Floyd blossoms but she has an uncomfortable feeling that all is as not as it seems.

This is a riveting story, it has several unexpected twists, with some truly evil characters.
This is an excellent book, a disturbing heartbreaking story which will send chills down your spine.

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Wow! Lisa Jewell how have I not read your books before? This book was a fascinating read; Laurel's daughter disappears,10 years later the story tells of all main characters and their part in this from then and now. I want to shout out to everyone to read this book, it brought me to tears and gave me a few shocks along the way. It has been two days since I finished this and I am unable to start reading another book yet, as I keep thinking of this one. Brilliant story and writing, thank you Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone.

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For me it's all about the strong storyline and Lisa Jewell really delivers in this book. Strong, interesting characters and a cracking mystery with a smidgeon of romance in the side.

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"Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for my advance copy. Another easy read from Lisa Jewell. The story of Laurel who's daughter Ellie disappears on the way to the library years ago never to be seen again. Laurel then meets Poppy, a young girl with an uncanny resemblance to Ellie. The story is told from multiple characters viewpoints to unravel the mystery of what happened to Ellie on the way to the library and why Poppy strikes such a cord with Laurel. Ellie's disappearance distanced her from her other children, leading to years of strained relationships.
A good story with fairly predictable twists if you are a regular reader of this genre, and for the most part a relatively happy ending. Not too many characters making a perfect beach / easy read where you just want to enjoy the storyline without feeling like you need to take notes to keep up with who's who."

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This would be a 4.5 star book.
This is my first proper book by Lisa Jewell, I listened to two audiobooks recently and loved them and I read this book in a day. I am glad I have another of her books lined up in my Kindle.
It is not a thriller as such but there is a big mystery but you get clues throughout the book and there is not a huge surprise at the end, You have known for a while what must have happened, the end just ties all the loose ends together.
The story is about Laurel a 55 years old woman whose 15 years old daughter Ellie disappeared 10 years previously. She has not really recovered from it, understandly, and this has costed her even her marriage to Paul and her relationship with her other two children. Ellie was beautiful and gifted and hard to replace. Eventually Ellie's remains are found in a wood and there is some degree of closure. Laurel meets a new man, Floyd and things seem to get better at last. But Floyd has a daughter who is beautiful and gifted and looks so much like Ellie.
I warn you that although the book is not a proper thriller (there is no action or scary bits in it, no one is ever chased by anyone) this book is very very twisted. But cleverly so. The frightening bits come, don't you worry. But it is a lot more about real loss and pain than the thrills of a chase and therefore a lot scarier. It is a lot better and deeper than the standard cheap thrills psychological thriller that abounds at the moment. This books has more class and does not uses the same cliches' that are so ubiquitous these days. Laurel is far from perfect but she is quite realistic, we feel for her, for her loss and how after the disappearence of her lovely daughter she has madeso many mistakes, like ignoring her living children for instance or letting her loving husband go. But given what had happened to her we forgive her. There are not many heros in this books and even the villans well you will see once you read it. A terrifying book overall. I will publish external reviews closer to the publishing date.

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I absolutely loved Then She Was Gone, I was utterly hooked from the beginning, such a brilliant story.

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Creepy, disturbing, tense and hugely engrossing, I will be (and have already started) highly recommending everyone I know to pre-order Then She Was Gone. Another EXCELLENT novel by the brilliant Lisa Jewell, taking a super dark turn into the thriller genre, which I devoured in less than a week. It's no secret that I would pretty much salivate over ANY book written by Lisa Jewell, but as a lover of more traditional commercial women's fiction, I was blown away by just how well Lisa has managed to tick all those boxes - heartwarming, family, love and secrets - at the same time as writing one of the most unsettling novels, and characters I've ever read. Spine-chilling and sinister, the slow build of twists and turns kept me on the edge of my kindle.

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Another stunner by Lisa Jewell, I was sorry to finish this as loved the character of Laurel a mother who has heartbreakingly lost a child. Her relationship with her own mother and children is at the heart of this story. Ellie has been missing for years and despite the police assumption she ran away Laurel will never accept this. The story has some seriously twisted and sick characters which are scarily easy to believe could be out there. Which characters hold the secrets? This book is happy, sad and heartbreaking with an ending with a difference.

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Keeps you hooked from the start!
Wow! What an enthralling read, just when you thought you knew what was happening, there's another twist. I love how Lisa can make you do a complete 180 regarding the empathy or feelings you have for someone. She, metaphorically, picks you up, spins you round and then sets you back down, leaving you wondering what on earth just happened! Can't wait for the next one!

Many thanks to Netgalley and publisher Random House for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

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I adored this. The accomplished voice and the taut plot. I loved every word.

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In Then She Was Gone Lisa Jewell grabbed my attention from page 1.. Lisa Jewell continued to suck me in as she unwound the story of the Mack family piece by piece until I could no longer put the book down. I was so engrossed and just had to find out what happened next........ Unputdownable - a great read with an excellent story line.

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Then She Was Gone, Lisa Jewell

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers

I love Lisa's writing, have read a few of her novels now. 
This is a typical LJ story, one that slowly unfolds with each reveal giving us more questions til really I had a few wild stabs about what happened but was way off course in the final denouement. 

Laurel, mum, wife and like many of us, nothing more than typical family petty issues mar everyday relations,  life is good - til it isn't.
Ellie, her youngest child, beautiful, golden Ellie disappears. The family are distraught, Lauren retreats, leaving her two older children and her husband to cope alone.
Its a huge problem, who knows how we'd deal. For the Mack family it means life fractures, Laurel and Paul separate, the kids grow apart from their mum, and the impact stays with all of them for many years.  

The story is told partly from Laurel's POV, partly from Ellie with a few other voices thrown in.
I like that format, it lets me see what people are thinking, what their motives are and a story is often very different according to who is telling it. 

Its heartbreaking, I so felt for all of them, poor Ellie, the slightly spoiled teen, to have that happen, so tragic.
The family, on course for normal average family where kids grow up, parenst become grandparents and life is full of happy family occasions - then all that is lost.
Like ripples in a pond the repercussions spread outwards. 

Then there's Floyd, we know he has a bigger part than he's telling but how and why? And Poppy, 9 going on 49, a precocious child, so grown up in many ways but the child she should be is there deeply hidden. Why does she look so much like Ellie, how did she come into Laurel's life, how do the puzzle pieces fit together?

Some secrets get revealed along the way but the finale brings out parts I'd never imagined and made me so so sad for all of them and what they'd been through.
A real tear jerker emotional read, and a story that could so easily be real.
When I was a teen one of my dad's workmate's daughter disappeared. She was my age, 12-13 maybe back in early 70's, taking a short 1/2 mile bike ride to another family member in the middle of  a summers day. Her loss never left her family, tore through them, had such a massive impact on what was a standard family with standard expectations. She never was found, and the mystery has always stayed with me.
As a parent I think I grew to understand even more about the impact her loss had on them, and while reading this novel I recalled so much of the shock and horror of April's disappearance. 

Stars: Five, a gripping read, emotionally gutting at times, ripping through me as secrets upon secrets came out. Sadly very realistic, which makes for a terrific read of course. 

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

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i was lucky enough to recieve an arc of this book to read and give an honest review in no way did this change my opinion of this book or alter my review wow ......... how do you do it lisa you always set my pulse rasing every time i read one of you books i love the way you write. i loved this book i had goose bumps all over reading it chills on top of chills running down my neck. omg........im still holding my breath in breath breath breath.... poor ellie poor poppy poor mack family so so so sad that was an amazing story of love loss and so much heartbreak but also a light at the end of a very black tunnel i loved this book and you will to its a must read one of my top 10 of 2017.fantastic keep them coming lisa jewell.

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I have always liked Lisa Jewell's books and this was something slightly different from her.
Well written and slow paced but you could really get engrossed in the characters. Sick, disturbing and really sad at the same time. I loved it.

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What a tangled mysterious.mess...and at the same time, heart breaking, deceitful and twisted.
Even if you think you know where the story is going, it isn't going yo get there in a simple straight line.
I truly felt for Ellies family and the aftermath of her missing for so long...
A fractured family trying to piece back their lives,years later.
Brilliantly done.

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It's not very often that a book almost reduces me to tears but the ending of this heart strings pulling story was just so heart breakingly sad for a couple of reasons.

Ten years ago Laurel`s fifteen year old daughter Ellie went to the library to study and never came home,she just completely vanished without a trace.The rest of her family have moved on and are trying to repair their shattered lives but Laurel has never given up hope of finding her daughter.

Then one day Laurel is swept off her feet by a charming stranger called Floyd and is eventually introduced to his nine year old daughter Poppy.

Pretty,perfect Poppy who is a spitting image of Ellie when she was that age.

Now all the unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back.

What happened to Ellie? Where did she go? Who still has hidden secrets?

This riveting part family drama part thriller is split into five parts with chapters interspersed throughout the book that are set in the past.The story is voiced mostly by Laurel but there are also some chapters that are voiced by Ellie and some that are voiced by a couple of other characters.To be honest I didn't really like Laurel that much and struggled to feel any sympathy for her.The rest of the characters are well thought out and believable.Ellie`s chapters where heart breaking and I felt that the author`s portrayal of a scared fifteen year old girl was very realistic.One character was so truly twisted and evil it gave me chills everytime they appeared in the book,this person really was a sick individual.

It's not a fast paced story but it does contain a couple of unexpected twists and some heart breaking moments towards the end.I really enjoyed this book and would happily recommend it to anyone who enjoys a well written,engrossing drama/thriller

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