Then She Was Gone

The murder-mystery novel Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell had been a gift to me from one of my good friends for my birthday. Well... last year's birthday. There are certain people I trust with buying or recommending books to me (my cousin, my mom, a few of my close friends, etc.), but she was just not one of them. A few months after my birthday, she mentioned, "Oh yeah, I kinda just pulled it off the shelf at Target." That is perfectly fine. This friend always makes the most amazing and thoughtful baskets as gifts (the book was part of it). I also began to quite literally judge the book by its cover. I fear I do judge books far too often. The book had been sitting on my shelf for ages, and I kept telling myself that I would read it. Then, a few months ago, another one of my friends actually started reading the book on her own. It was, apparently, incredibly good, so I started to read it too. Long story short, this book managed to pluck me out of an awful reading slump! Let's talk more about it!

Then She Was Gone is one of the very few murder mystery books that I have genuinely enjoyed. Generally, thinking about disappearances spooks me out. To me, they usually feel too real. This book didn't quite feel that way. The entire thing was believable, and definitely could happen in real life, but I wasn't necessarily anxious the entire time. The plot was so specific that I never feared that it would happen to me. The book was incredibly written to the point that I was invested in the book, and I was able to disassociate with the external world.

The premise of the book is very mature, so I feel that it is necessary to address the plot before recommending it to someone. If you are interested in knowing the mature side of the plot, you may click below. If not, I will just say the premise deals with murder, sex, abuse, and (obviously) kidnapping.

T.W. Spoiler

The main kidnapped teenager is forced to carry a child through pregnancy. Once she had given birth to the baby, her kidnapper took the child away from her to raise as their own. The kidnapper ends up murdering the teenager and is subsequently killed by someone else.

Ultimately, I think this book was incredible! It definitely got me out of my reading slump, and the plot engaged and excited me. This book is mature, but that, in no way, shape, or form means that it was a bad book. I honestly loved this book, so thank you to the friend who got me the book and thank you to the friend who recommended it.  Also, this was a shorter post, but I'm not really standardizing the lengths. Thank you and READ A BOOK!