Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: April 17, 2018

Publisher: Atria

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb:

THEN

She was fifteen, her mother’s

golden girl. She had her whole life ahead of her.

And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone.

NOW

It’s been ten years since Ellie

disappeared, but Laurel has never given up

hope of finding her daughter.

And then one day a charming and charismatic stranger called Floyd walks into a café and sweeps Laurel off her feet.

Before too long she’s staying the night at this house and being introduced to his nine year old daughter.

Poppy is precocious and pretty – and meeting her completely takes Laurel’s breath away.

Because Poppy is the spitting image of Ellie when she was that age.

And now all those unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back.

What happened to Ellie? Where did she go?

Who still has secrets to hide?

Review:

There is something about the manner in which Lisa Jewell weaves a tale, the style of her writing has a mesmerizing quality that makes her books true page turners. Just to be completely honest and upfront I do want to say that I did see several of the big twists coming from a mile away. For whatever reason I wasn’t bothered in the slightest though, there was something compelling about Then She Was Gone regardless of my being able to accurately predict several things.

Missing children stories always get to me on a personal level and when the case is years old, it’s even more heartbreaking. Laurel lost more than just her daughter Ellie, her marriage crumbled and her relationship with her two other children suffered as well. Devastation after devastation for this poor woman and I couldn’t help but hope that she would find some small bit of peace in her life, I felt awful for her and can’t imagine not knowing what happened to your child.

This was an emotional thriller, Jewell writes fascinating characters with complex histories that you can’t help but be interested in. If you’re a fan of the author already, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, it’s a fast paced engaging read with a really strong plot and the kind of book you’ll want to read in one or two sittings.

Then She Was Gone in three words: Intriguing, Spellbinding and Addictive.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.