Review: Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's not very often that a book almost reduces me to tears but the ending of this heart strings pulling story was just so heart breakingly sad for a couple of reasons.

Ten years ago Laurel`s fifteen year old daughter Ellie went to the library to study and never came home,she just completely vanished without a trace.The rest of her family have moved on and are trying to repair their shattered lives but Laurel has never given up hope of finding her daughter.

Then one day Laurel is swept off her feet by a charming stranger called Floyd and is eventually introduced to his nine year old daughter Poppy.

Pretty,perfect Poppy who is a spitting image of Ellie when she was that age.

Now all the unanswered questions that have haunted Laurel come flooding back.

What happened to Ellie? Where did she go? Who still has hidden secrets?

This riveting part family drama part thriller is split into five parts with chapters interspersed throughout the book that are set in the past.The story is voiced mostly by Laurel but there are also some chapters that are voiced by Ellie and some that are voiced by a couple of other characters.To be honest I didn't really like Laurel that much and struggled to feel any sympathy for her.The rest of the characters are well thought out and believable.Ellie`s chapters where heart breaking and I felt that the author`s portrayal of a scared fifteen year old girl was very realistic.One character was so truly twisted and evil it gave me chills everytime they appeared in the book,this person really was a sick individual.

It's not a fast paced story but it does contain a couple of unexpected twists and some heart breaking moments towards the end.I really enjoyed this book and would happily recommend it to anyone who enjoys a well written,engrossing drama/thriller

Many thanks to Penguin Random house Uk for a arc of this book via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.