"Then She Was Gone", a dark novel with chilling suspense and shocking twists about a 15-year-old girl, Ellie Mack, who suddenly disappears. Ellie was the golden child in her mother, Laurel's, eyes. Who would want to hurt an innocent and perfect teenager? Ten years after this unfortunate incident, Laurel is finally starting to move on from the tragic loss of her daughter and her marriage ending. She meets this charming, handsome, young man, Floyd. Eventually, they fall in love and Floyd introduces Laurel to his daughter, Poppy, who eerily resembles Ellie. This emotional, intense, haunting story explores what actually happened to Ellie and everything that intertwines between the then and now.
This novel is probably the most shocking, twisted, bizarre thriller story I have ever read. It reminded me of "The Lovely Bones" with its suspense and plot including a young female character. While I was reading, I did not find myself guessing what exactly happened to Ellie. Instead, I wanted to keep reading just to find out what the big reveal was, and I did not see any of that coming. For some readers, it may be predictable and easy to figure out if you truly pay attention to the details, but because there is a lot going on, I was too distracted to play the guessing game. The only thing that I figured out correctly is who the antagonist is; their "why" is a plot twist I did not expect.
Let's discuss Jewell's writing style now. The beginning of the story was a little slow for me and I did not fall in love with the way she writes. I found that some of her descriptions were repetitive and dragged. The chapters are short for a quick read with a total of 65 chapters. It sounds like a lot to read but I promise it is fast. I enjoyed that the book is divided into different parts and some chapters go back and forth between "then" (before/during the disappearance) and "now" (present-day after the disappearance). Some chapters are written in the first person while others are in the third person, specifically, Laurel's chapters. Comparing these different narratives, I appreciate Jewell's writing in the first person more and this is when it became a page-turner for me. I personally enjoy the first-person narrative more in stories and I thought it was well done compared to the other chapters. This writing transition was unexpected but I am glad Jewell incorporated this technique since the theme of surprise is a reoccurrence. Given that my impression at first was not captivated, I wanted to keep reading because the synopsis of the book is interesting.
If you are into suspenseful novels that make you mutter WTF under your breath every so often, or are at least into dark thrillers, then I highly recommend this novel. I think I would like to read another book by Lisa Jewell because of her unique story concepts and to see if her writing style is the same or different in all of her novels, but I give "Then She Was Gone" a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Enjoy and Happy Reading!
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