Book Review- Lisa Jewell's Then She Was Gone

Thank you to Atria Books for providing me with a copy of Lisa Jewell's novel, Then She Was Gone, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Ellie Mack is a beautiful, smart, popular teenager, who seems to have everything going for her. One day, on her way to the library, she disappears and her case goes cold. A decade later. Ellie's mother, Laurel, begins to date a man named Floyd, whose daughter, Poppy, bears a striking resemblance to Ellie. Laurel begins to revisit her daughter's disappearance and discovers new facts of the case. Can Laurel finally find out what happened to daughter? Does Poppy hold the key?

LIKE- I've read several of Lisa Jewell's other novels and I was very excited to be granted a copy of Then She Was Gone. Jewell is masterful at crafting great suspense and mysteries. However, where she really shines is with her characters. She has a gift at tapping into the human psyche and creating relatable, multi-deminisional characters. 

Characters are what shine in Then She Was Gone. I was most drawn to Laurel, the grieving mother who not only lost her daughter, but also saw her marriage collapse under the weight of a missing child. Laurel is just getting her life back together when she meets Floyd and is shoved back down the rabbit hole of her daughter's case. Her anxiety and grief is palpable.  

We do not learn Ellie's fate until late in the story, but she is the narrator in some of the flashback chapters. Of course as a reader, our bond with Ellie is not going to be strong, like her mother's, however these chapters do serve to give us a clearer picture of Ellie and give us a chance to connect with her. Jewell is equally great at writing adults and children, letting us see Ellie's frame of mind and motivations. 

Then She Was Gone heads to some very dark places and is a story that made me anxious. I saw a blurb comparing it to Gone Girl, which was a little misleading. When I think of comparisons to Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, I think that the story must have an unreliable narrator. Then She Was Gone has narrators under duress, but they are not unreliable. I read another that compared it to Alice Sebold's novel, The Lovely Bones, which is a much better comparison with regard to both theme and tone. 

DISLIKE- I anticipated the twist early on and kept hoping that it would not be what I was expecting. It's not that the story wasn't intriguing, but it's always a little bit of a let down when you manage to figure out the twist early on. I did not anticipate the creepy, disturbing aspects of the twist. It gave me chills. 

RECOMMEND- Yes! Jewell is such a marvelous writer that I have to recommend all of her novels, including Then She Was Gone. 

Book Review - Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train

PLOT - Rachel Watson is a divorced alcoholic, who pretends to go to work every day on the train, to keep hidden from her roommate that she has lost her job. The train route passes by Rachel's former home, where her ex-husband, Tom, lives with his new wife, Anna, and their baby. Rachel is still in love with Tom, but during her train trips she begins to fantasize about Tom's neighbors, a seemingly perfect young couple who has recently move into the neighborhood. She catches glimpses of them as the train rushes by their home. When the wife, Megan Hipwell, goes missing, Rachel believes that she might have clues to help solve the case. She may have been the last person who saw Megan alive, but on the same day, Rachel blacked out from drinking, making her witness account completely unreliable. Does Rachel hold the key to Megan's disappearance? Will anyone believe her?

LIKE- Hawkins' The Girl on the Train has been a bestselling novel that I keep hearing about and I finally thought that I had better hurry up and read it, before the film version is released this fall. It gained comparisons to Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. Gone Girl it isn't, but The Girl on the Train does have similarities with regard to an incredibly unreliable narrator and the tone of the novel. I didn't anticipate the ending, and although the twist in Gone Girl packed a bigger punch, this story was a solid and enjoyable mystery. 

Rachel is a fascinating character. I can't remember ever reading a novel with female protagonist that is an alcoholic. It makes her not only unreliable to those around her, but also unreliable to herself. Rachel has so many flaws, yet I easily connected to her and rooted for her to succeed. It was an interesting balance. Rachel is also obsessed with her ex-husband and Megan's disappearance, making her actions a little creepy. How can she explain her repeated appearances in a neighborhood in which she no longer lives? Rachel's behavior makes the story a page-turner. 

DISLIKE- There is a very minor character that is thrown in as a red-herring. I felt not just mislead, but tricked, with the unsatisfying resolution of this character's part in the story. I either needed more to make it a true red-herring, or I would have liked to have felt it was obvious that this character could not be the killer. 

RECOMMEND- Yes, if you like a good mystery. I enjoyed The Girl on the Train. Hawkins has written a compelling, quick-paced story, with strong characters. Did I absolutely need to read this before seeing the film version? Probably not. Possibly they will butcher the film adaptation, but this style of book lends itself very well to the cinema. It seems natural to have turned this story into a film. I'm a fan of Emily Blunt and although she is much more beautiful that I ever pictured Rachel, I think is a great choice for the character.