Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell

33 reviews

jpt007's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This was a book I chose to read on a whim while on a Barnes and nobles run with a friend, and wow I just have to say my luck that day was really good! 

Characters- 5/5*
The characters felt rich, deep, and most importantly real. You hated some of them but understood the 3D image of them.

It was impressive Jewell even did that with such a horrible person as Noelle Donnelly. Authors sometimes struggle to give depth to “villains” but Jewell did it beautifully.

Conflict- 5/5*
Once you get into it you couldn’t put the book down. Trust me I tried! 

Plot- 5/5*
The structure of the story was beautifully done. Even the exposition drew you in. Every moment of the journey had thus unsettling feeling that just made the book so much better.

Setting- 4.5/5* 
It was basic but that was the point. I added the the gravity of the story an every day neighborhood. My only complaint is as someone not from London I was lost with a few thing and would have loved a hair more description. (But that’s just me being knit-picky)

Theme- 5/5*
Even after life gives you hell you can find a way to live again, it will take time, but you can do it.

also never inform gut feelings!

I wasn’t expecting to cry from a book like this but at the end I was left with a message I really needed to hear.

Overall Score: 4.9/5⭐️

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a thrill and needs a reminder of why they like to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Cursing

maddie_0930's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexual content, Torture, Kidnapping, and Stalking

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

katerinamckenna's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

ramblingreader65's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Low four star

Likes: love the pacing and love that it's set in Britain. It reads like a great bbc mystery. The twists were good but predictable. The ending was good! 

Dislikes: the main character who you're supposed to love, I didn't. She was supposed to be the victim but I didn't think she was. The antagonist was flat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, Stalking, and Pregnancy

adeline's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Suicide, Grief, and Pregnancy

jasminealizae's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

Plot was all over the place, in a bad way. Poorly thought out. 30% of the chapters could have been excluded. Do these authors get paid per page or character count? How can we switch to a POV of a character who is dead, but is being written as if she’s confessing all of her sins from the future? It was very confusing and unjustified. The ending made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

What was the reason for Floyd to have confessed his wrongdoings in a letter to Laurel, then take a train to another town just to kill hisself? Surely, he could have just killed hisself without fleeing to another town. Especially since it’s not like he committed suicide in a different city to prevent Poppy from finding out, because she ends up knowing shortly after the fact. For Noelle to have been so “obsessed” with not only Ellie, but also Floyd and wanting a child with him, it felt very forced to have her kidnap Ellie, hold her hostage, rape and impregnate her with SOMEONE ELSE’S sperm, not even Floyd’s 🤦🏽‍♀️ just to let Ellie die, and not take care of her child. Noelle was written to be this psychopath who is strange, quirky and really obsessive, but it all felt incredibly underdeveloped. As if the author did no research and thought that having Noelle do these weird/quirky things was going to be enough to get that idea across to the readers. It wasn’t. Prime example would be the hamsters.

Everything felt forced to me. The relationships, the character’s flaws, the timelines, the interactions, the abuse/neglect, literally everything. This book really solidified the fact that I hate reading books that have children in them. Poppy is nine-years-old but is written having much too mature vocabulary and conversational skills, and made entirely too aware. The backstories were extremely flat as were the characters. The connection between SJ and Laurel was for what purpose?

Other than for SJ to be the one to “egg” Laurel on to continue looking into the disappearance of Noelle by telling Laurel she saw Noelle’s stomach completely flat when Noelle was allegedly very pregnant. Poppy’s “cousins” and “grandma” storyline’s were unnecessary. The last nail in the coffin for me to officially “one star” this book was Hannah and Theo. Why make Hannah and Theo (Ellie’s boyfriend) become a couple and get married? As if the whole situation isn’t strange enough. Having Ellie get kidnapped, raped and impregnated by Noelle her math tutor, Noelle do all of these terrible things to Ellie just to secure her relationship with Floyd. Floyd date Ellie’s mother Laurel, while also raising Ellie’s daughter as his own despite knowing it’s not his child and how she was conceived. Then just when you think this is complicated enough, why not have the boy Ellie was dating when she died get married to her sister. What?!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

astoriareader's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

sharlapeggy's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Bit predictable and I realised what was happening as the story went on. I hoped I’d be wrong and there would be a big twist but I was disappointed.  However I did enjoy this and it did keep me wondering what was happening!! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Car accident

ellengrever's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Sexual violence

angieinsp26's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Death of parent