Mysteries and suspense novels aren’t usually my favorite thing to read, but after reading Lisa Jewell’s The Girls in the Garden back in 2016, I knew I wanted to read her new release, Then She Was Gone. I was hearing about it absolutely everywhere and it had great reviews on Goodreads, so I just had to read it. It was definitely more thrilling/suspenseful than The Girls in the Garden was, but I’m starting to get more into books like that, and I think this was a great one to work on that with.
First of all, I read Then She Was Gone in two days, so it’s clear that I didn’t want to put it down. It definitely held my attention and kept me wanting to know what comes next, which I think is an indication of a good suspense novel!
The story centers around the disappearance of a young teenage girl, Ellie. When the story begins, the mystery of her disappearance remains unsolved, and narration varies between herself and her mother. In a nutshell, the story is about what happens to Ellie and the profound effects it has on her mother and her own relationships after the disappearance. There are a couple crazy twists that I didn’t see coming, so I enjoyed the experience of reading those.
I enjoyed the fact that this book was suspenseful, but also well-written and about families and relationships. I need my mystery/suspense with some sustenance, and this provided that for me. There were a couple times where I had “oh, of course that’s how it was” moments where I rolled my eyes a little, but for the most part, it was really enjoyable.
However, I do have to include that I did not like this one quite as much as I did The Girls in the Garden (review here). If you’ve read both of these Lisa Jewell books, I’d love to know what you thought, too!
I’m giving Then She Was Gone 3.5 stars. If you’re looking for a fun, suspenseful summer mystery with some interesting characters and some emotional depth, this is a great choice!
