She was fifteen, her mother’s golden girl. She had her whole life ahead of her. And then, in the blink of an eye, Ellie was gone. Noelle gets pregnant but loses the baby. Around this time, she starts tutoring Ellie. She becomes obsessed with Ellie and her seemingly perfect life. I'll admit, I figured out the plot of Then She Was Gone fairly soon into the book. While it did detract a bit from my enjoyment of the book as the story continued to unfold, I was still captivated by the way Lisa Jewell teased out the suspense, making you wonder what surprises might pop up. Having never read any of Jewell's books before, I worried she might throw in some outrageous or melodramatic plot elements, and I was pleased that she didn't do that. Then She Was Gone was fine as an undemanding beach thriller, but I wouldn't recommend it for readers looking for something new and innovative.

Critical reception of Then She Was Gone was mostly positive. Many reviewers agreed that major characters are for the most part well-drawn. Noelle, for example, is nicely marked by a telling olfactory detail: she smells of “cooking oil and unwashed hair.” Younger characters, like Ellie, Poppy, and Sara-Jade come to life through their words, attitudes and behavior. Laurel, however, at times seems overly gullible. She acts so passively at the beginning it may be difficult for readers to fully accept her as a doting mother whose child has disappeared, and she is so blinded by her new love interest that she does not notice, until late in the game, inconsistencies that should have been obvious. Similarly, some critics noted plot points that seem too coincidental. But, as the Publishers Weekly review put it, the novel ultimately “transcends its plot improbabilities to connect with an emotionally resonant story of loss, grief, and renewal.” Review SourcesFor this review and our full Traveling Sister review please visit Brenda and Norma’s fabulous blog: The book opens from Ellie’s point of view ten years earlier. Life is going great for Ellie. She’s doing well in school and the boy she’s had her eye on seems to like her too. Her future is bright. When her children were small they'd sometimes say, 'What would you do if I died?' And she would reply, 'I would die too, because I could not live without you.' And then her child had died and she had found out that somehow, incredibly, she could live without her, that she had woken every morning for a hundred days, a thousand days, three thousand days and she had lived without her."

As soon as their relationship become serious and she forms true bounding with Poppy, she surprisingly finds out the birth mother Noelle of Poppy who left her is the same woman who has tutored her daughter Ellie. And Ellie wrote at her diary that woman gave her creeps and she didn’t want her tutoring anymore. Laurel's daughter in law, Blue, spouts New Age mumbo jumbo about how she didn't like Floyd when she met him because he has a bad aura or some crap like that. still, not the worst book out there. i definitely would have loved this more if my predictions had been right, but thats completely my own fault. A jewel. A treasure. And even though I had an inkling about where this was going, it didn't diminish my pleasure in this read at all.I won’t go over the plot, I rarely do that, you all read the blurbs on the books I know you do! This is a true thriller to me as it contains an extremely deviant sociopath who is so mentally ill that it’s painful to read her thoughts. You know where it’s going but you just can’t stop it. Ellie is not a character headed for oblivion. She will definitely stay in our hearts for a long time. The author created her character flawlessly, and the amount of hardships she had to suffer makes our hearts numb for some time. The amount of courage and character she showed during the challenging experiences will make us love her more. I think Lisa Jewell has written a chilling novel of suspense, but it is also a book about the power of maternal love, forgiveness and healing and never giving up. Floyd is the second loser in this lovely cast; when he discovers the true origins of his daughter, Poppy, he stalks Laurel, engineers a meeting with her and eventually falls for her. What are the odds of that? Laurel takes Poppy to meet Joshua and see her old house. Poppy is hesitant, but then eager to meet her relatives. However, she refuses to enter the basement, saying she was told never to go down there. Her mom had told her there was a monster there.

At the same time the actual mystery component to it was less satisfying than I was expecting as well. While the mystery and suspense of what happened to Ellie is absolutely at the forefront of the book throughout the entire novel, the resolution of Ellie’s disappearance is more straightforward than I had been hoping for. Jewell teases out her twisty plot at just the right pace, leaving readers on the edge of their seats. Her multilayered characters are sheer perfection, and even the most astute thriller reader won’t see where everything is going until the final threads are unknotted.”— Booklist, starred review Floyd is kind and sensitive and has a young daughter named Poppy, who looks inexplicably like Ellie. Hanna sighs, Laurel sighs too, realizing she has just done the thing she always promised herself she would never do. When the children were small, Laurel's mother would occasionally make small, raw observations about gaps between phone calls and visits that would tear tiny, painful strips off Laurel's conscience. 'I will never guilt-trip my children when they are adults,' she'd vowed. 'I will never expect more than they are able to give.'"the mystery/thriller stories i have read lately have been really predicable, so im starting a new game with myself where i predict what will happen before i read it, based solely on the synopsis. heres what i think for this one: floyd was involved in ellies disappearance (i dont think it will be a kidnapping, but maybe manipulated to run away?) and poppy is ellies daughter. i also dont think ellie will be dead. i still havent figured out how im going to reward myself for a correct prediction - the game is a work in progress - so suggestions are welcome. lol.

From Laurel's perspective, in the present) Laurel calls Noelle's parents who report that they haven't seen her in decades. She was supposed to move and go live with them along with Poppy at one point, but it looks like she dropped off the baby with Floyd and disappeared instead. I have now read the last few books by this author and look forward to reading many more. To prove a point of mine, it is possible to write a good and suspenseful story without blood, excess gore and constant action. This is the kind of psychological thriller I actually enjoy. MY THOUGHTS: I loved this book. I love Lisa Jewell's writing. I love her characters. I wanted, so badly, to know what happened, but I wanted the book never to end. I think I am addicted. I have started another of this author's books straight away. And I seldom, if ever, do that. You know, how you get to forty and you suddenly stop giving a sh** about all the stupid things you worried about your whole life. Well, nine year old Poppy is already there." Thank you so much to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Lisa Jewell for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.As Laurel slowly finds closure, she begins to rebuild her life. She starts dating and it seems as if she has found love again with a single father named Floyd. But something isn’t quite right about Floyd, especially his relationship with his nine-year-old daughter, Polly. The more and more Laurel spends time with Floyd and Polly, she comes to realize that what happened to Ellie was not at all what it seemed. Floyd writes books about mathematics and number theory. On their next day, he tells her he Googled her and knows about Ellie. They sleep together. Laurel meets his kids, and is floored when she realizes Poppy looks just like Ellie. Poppy and Floyd have a very close relationship, which unnerves Laurel a little. But overall, Laurel is much more excited and happy due to her relationship than she has been in a long time.