MARY LAMPHERE AUTHOR

I am purposely posting late because my Book Club discussed Then She Was Gone this morning and I wondered if my review would change based on our conversation. It did not.

1. I was basically disappointed by every aspect of this novel–the characters are sad, lonely, unlikeable, and in several instances, suffer from real yet untreated mental illnesses, while the story meanders back and forth between time and through several points of view, disturbing things happen but are never addressed beyond a superficial, predictable, and occasionally disposable plotline.
2. With nearly 57k five-star reviews on Amazon and buzz words like “bone-chilling suspense”, “riveting thriller”, “deeply emotional and incredibly clever”, I really wanted to like this book.
3. Would not recommend based on blatant conflicts of hype/reviews against my reading experience.

Full Title : Then She Was Gone – A Novel
Author: Lisa Jewell
Genre: Women’s Domestic Life Fiction

Brief Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old golden child, Ellie, disappears and her family falls apart. After ten years, her bones are found. The discovery ends a decade of wondering, hoping, and plodding through life for her mother who jumps into a new relationship with a strange man who has a young daughter that strongly resembles Ellie.

Previous 3 Sentence Reviews
Books:
The Locked Door
The Perfect Marriage
The Burnt House
The Sun Also Rises
The Girl Beneath the Sea
Project Hail Mary
Later
The Line
The Other
I Will Save You
The Island
Wrong Place Wrong Time
TV:
Paper Girls
Movies:
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Menu
The Banshees of Inisherin