Reviews

I felt bogged down in a couple of books (This Other Eden and A Separation) so picked this up as a palate cleanser and for the dopamine hit to bang out the other/s. Jewell for me is kind of like that piece of cake you know you shouldn't be eating: you enjoy it at the time but are left with at least mild regret afterwards. I always kind of enjoy her characters but her plots are pretty outlandish and often there are zero consequences to actions.

e.g. In this one Saffyre gets in no trouble at all for wasting police time/resources and causing her brother/guardian stress and anguish.

In the acknowledgements Jewell says she does no research and takes no editorial input during the process of writing and I was like, Yeah lady it shows. But then I keep reading her books so?

martinaferro's review

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3.0

This was a weird book. It dealt with some important issues really trivially which was borderline uncomfortable, in my opinion.

carolinerd's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I love a Lisa Jewell thriller. I always devour her books in no time at all and this was no exception. It was very hard to put down.

The plot revolves around the disappearance of a young woman after a spate of sexual assaults in the Hampstead area. The story is told from the point of view of three main characters. Saffyre is 17 years old, traumatized by something awful that happened to her when she was 10. She self-harms, undergoes counselling and becomes obsessed with her therapist. Owen is a 33 year old loner who has never had a girlfriend. He gets accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour and suspended from his teaching job. Then there is Cate, a mother of two teenage kids, whose marriage has been through a crisis due to her suspicions about her husband's behaviour. As usual with a Lisa Jewell novel, we gradually discover how these people are connected and the storylines come together in an intriguing way.

You can expect the usual mix of unhinged, messed-up characters, damaged teenagers, adulterous adults, baddies who seem almost a bit too bad to be believable and people with dark secrets hiding behind a mask of middle class respectability. It also delves into the murky world of toxic masculinity and the 'incel' community, which is pretty disturbing.

A compelling read with lots of neat twists, but I felt the ending could have been stronger.

booksandbea's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 stars
Enjoyed the parts with Owen far more than anything else in the book, really liked the character progression with him. I loved the motivations of Saffyre but I wish we'd seen more of the 'now' timeline for her. Great all round book and easy reading due to the flow of the writing style. Tamer thriller for prolific readers but would definitely recommend

jc522's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

thisjaelynn's review against another edition

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4.0

This was my first Lisa Jewel book and I was impressed by how much I enjoyed it. I really liked the story and the way all the different perspectives worked together to create a puzzle that I had to try to piece together. While I wouldn't say all the characters were precisely likeable, I thought they were well executed and worked together well to create the winding maze of the story.

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