Cover Image: Grace Is Gone

Grace Is Gone

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Member Reviews

A solid addition to the crowded suspense genre. A recommended purchase for collections where thrillers are popular.

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This held my attention throughout. The dual protagonists with alternating chapters added a multitude of suspense and drama to the story. The theme of this has been done in many books recently, but I still enjoyed it. I did not anticipate the twist at the end and especially enjoyed that part.

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This was a good page turner but the storyline was too familiar to be considered original. A very sick girl goes missing and her mother is found dead. A black-listed journalist and the sick girl's neighbour try to find her. The girl's father is the main suspect but he is MIA too. Slowly the reader finds out that all is not what it seems like. Is Meg really the devoted mother she appears to be....

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What a breathtaking read! This story has you thinking one thing, only to spin you the other way around during the next chapter. Grace is missing, her mother has been murdered, Jon the journalist who wants to cover the story has a restraining order, and Grace's father is definitely to be suspected, Where is Grace and what has happened? Finding out is a breathless ride.

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Grace is Gone is a plot-driven mystery and suspense novel inspired by real-life events pulled straight from the news headlines. If you are a true crime fanatic, there might not be a lot of surprises for you with this one, but otherwise, this is a page-turner that dives into not only a crime but also a mental disorder.

Although there wasn't a lot of intrigue for me because I was previously familiar with this case, I enjoyed Elgar's writing style immensely and the characters were well developed which I always appreciate in this genre of writing. Her writing was simple yet incredibly purposeful. I loved the balance of suspense, family dynamics and life in a small town and is a great reminder of the question, who can you really trust?

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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This book is inspired by a stunning true story. As a young girl, Grace who is seventeen years old has several health issues and is completely dependent of her mother Megan and her wheelchair. These two women are adored by people of their community. Megan has long suffered abuse by her husband and has lost her first child. One day Meg took Grace with her to start a new life and with this history they are protected and strongly supported by their neighbors and members of their community.
This due has a bitter and heartbreaking truth behind it that is being discovered a journalist called Jon. These investigations and discoveries all happen when Cara, Meg’s next-door neighbor walks into their house and finds Megs battered to death and Grace’s wheelchair empty in the house with Grace nowhere to find. And now Cara is focused on discovering the truth about this murder and is doing all she can to find Grace.
Grace has a diary left behind that is a great help to both Jon and Cara to dig deeper into this murder. this is a very sad and heartbreaking story and knowing that this is based on a true story made me more emotional reading this book. There is an altering narration between chapters that I really enjoyed. Since I was highly aware of Gypsy Rose Blanchard case, I found the story very predictable and the book didn’t hold any surprises thus there was no twist and turns.
If you enjoy reading books based on a true story you will for sure enjoy this read.
Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the ARC.
You can see the full review on my blog: https://bookoholicscafe.blogspot.com/2020/01/grace-is-gone.html
my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/B7Bh2ewAs7L/
my Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3127526981

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An excellent case of things are never what they seem. And regardless of why, is murder ever the answer? I really enjoyed this book even though I figured out, early on, that the mother was the one making her daughter ill. The development of the plot and the characters was worth the read.

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If you don't want a spoiler, don't read the end matter.

Who killed Meg and what happened to Grace are the central questions - there are anomalies in the scene of the crime that pique the interest of Cara (their neighbor) and Jon (a disgraced journalist), so they set off to investigate. As they ask questions, more mysteries appear, like who Meg really is and why someone would take Grace. The answers may shock readers.

eARC provided by publisher.

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I was not expecting what I read, but that was the best surprise! Plot driven and full of intrigue, *Grace is Gone* is fresh and twisty, taken right from the headlines.

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I enjoyed the book. I'm very familiar with the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case, since I'm an avid watcher of Dateline and all those murder shows on the Investigative Discovery Channel and Oxygen Channel. So the book seemed very predictable and didn't hold any surprises. There didn't seem to be any twists or turns because I expected everything that happened. The biggest shock is that no one realized what was actually happening to Grace. Susan was actually jealous of the relationship that Meg had with her daughter. Shouldn't the doctors have noticed something? It wasn't like this was occurring over months, it was years!!!! How were Jon and Cara able to figure everything out? Why didn't they tell the police what they discovered? It always ends badly when regular people decide to play detective and solve the crimes on their own. I wasn't a fan of any of the characters.

Definitely recommend the book, especially if you aren't familiar with Gypsy Rose. I think it would have been a completely different book if I didn't know what was really happening. I look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from HarperCollins Publishers through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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This was an enjoyable read, if a little predictable. I immediately recognized the news story it was based upon (verified by the author's epilogue), but it was a plausible fictionalization of this type of scenario. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I were not familiar with the true crime story. Reasonably well-written and well-paced, I would recommend to fans of domestic thrillers.

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This was an awesome book and awesome storyline! I kept turning the pages faster and faster to see how the book would end. Definitely a must read!

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So tense so chilling ripped from the headlines.Read this in one day Inwas so caught up I couldn’t put it down highly recommend.#netgalley#harpercollins

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I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Grace is a young girl with multiple health issues and Meg is her loving mother. The truth behind this duo is heartbreaking and enthralling.

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Grace is a young girl who is very sick and dependent on her mother for care. Meg is a mother who appears to be ever so present and loving in her very sick daughters life. After Meg has suffered abuse from her husband and the loss of her first child she takes her daughter Grace to start a new life. Then one day Meg is found dead by her neighbor and good friends daughter Cara and to the horror of the town Grace is missing. Jon a journalist who isn't quite sure the mother daughter duo is who they say they are delves into the crime scene partnered by Cara and they soon find out more than they had bargained for.

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A fast, psychological read based off the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case. If you're familiar with that, then the twists won't be all that surprising, A good plane read.

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Fantastic book--I like the alternating narration between chapters, how these two characters were drawn together by Grace's disappearance. The reader discovers the story as the narrators do. I guessed what was going on with Grace and her mother fairly early in the story, but I still wasn't sure how everything tied together. I think this was a very well crafted, suspenseful novel. Very enjoyable, and unlike so many books like this, it had a satisfying ending.

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Grace Nichols, suffering from a panoply of illnesses, and her mother, Meg, are the beloved center of their small town. Meg has put her own life on hold as she’s cared for her sick daughter into her teenage years…until the night when Meg is murdered and Grace disappears. A down-on-his-luck journalist with a history with the family, Jon, and Grace’s only friend, Cara, awkwardly join forces to search for Grace, and they serve as narrators of separate chapters, interspersed with Grace’s diary entries. What Jon and Cara find after placing themselves in significant peril is not what they expected. The underlying question of the book is whether murder can ever be justified and, in spite of the author’s attempt to deal with the question in a balanced manner, this book answers the question unequivocally as it uncovers hidden secrets. Damaged characters abound, and the difficulty inherent in trying to uncover the truth about revered community members causes its own damage.

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Read this book. You will fly through it wanting to know all the secrets and where Grace has gotten to. I was able to figure out parts of the story earlier than I probably would have ONLY because I had read a similar story a year or two ago. Emily Elgar creates memorable characters and situations.- Jon, the journalist who has ruined his career over his obsession with this family, Meg, the long suffering mother who takes care of Grace, Grace the long suffering but brave and sick teenager, and the neighbors, Cara and her mother.
Meg has been brutally killed in her own home, and someone has taken Grace- the very sick teen who is disabled. Is it her estranged father? Some local sicko? Who would kill a gracious and loving mother in such brutal fashion? Who would kidnap a sick teen? Read it to find out. I think this makes for a great book club read too. Lots of juicy items to discuss.

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I wasn't able to get into this book. It didn't grab me and pull me in. I tried my best to read it, but just couldn't get into it.

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