promi7107's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
nleclairdo's review against another edition
5.0
I am a fan of Lisa Jewell’s writing, but this one, BY FAR, is my favorite! ❤️
The plot follows the disappearance of Tallulah, a daughter, a girlfriend, and a mother. It is told in three separate time periods in alternating sequence by three different points of view (Tallulah - the missing girl, Kim - her mother, and Sophie - a newcomer to the town and mystery writer).
This is a compelling, carefully crafted mystery/thriller that I just simply could not put down.
I absolutely fell in love with Tallulah’s character, as I can relate to many of her emotional struggles. Some of the passages were literally (pun intended) exact thoughts or considerations that I have had when assessing my own relationships. I even bookmarked some of the passages as they were so elegantly written.
Jewell’s depth of character and gripping storytelling, as always, is top notch. Slow burn in the beginning but the pace picks up quickly. You feel invested in the story and the characters as the mystery unfolds. And to top it off, the climax and the epilogue wrapped things up so perfectly. I am so often disappointed at this point in most thrillers, but I was left with actual chills in the end. …Actual chills. I had to pause and have a moment of silence to appreciate how much I loved this book!
I so rarely give a book 5 stars, but I will definitely reread this at a later date. I enjoyed it that much! Highly recommend.
The plot follows the disappearance of Tallulah, a daughter, a girlfriend, and a mother. It is told in three separate time periods in alternating sequence by three different points of view (Tallulah - the missing girl, Kim - her mother, and Sophie - a newcomer to the town and mystery writer).
This is a compelling, carefully crafted mystery/thriller that I just simply could not put down.
I absolutely fell in love with Tallulah’s character, as I can relate to many of her emotional struggles. Some of the passages were literally (pun intended) exact thoughts or considerations that I have had when assessing my own relationships. I even bookmarked some of the passages as they were so elegantly written.
Jewell’s depth of character and gripping storytelling, as always, is top notch. Slow burn in the beginning but the pace picks up quickly. You feel invested in the story and the characters as the mystery unfolds. And to top it off, the climax and the epilogue wrapped things up so perfectly. I am so often disappointed at this point in most thrillers, but I was left with actual chills in the end. …Actual chills. I had to pause and have a moment of silence to appreciate how much I loved this book!
I so rarely give a book 5 stars, but I will definitely reread this at a later date. I enjoyed it that much! Highly recommend.
tinathesmall89's review against another edition
5.0
I cannot express just how much I LOVED this book! I loved the twists and turns, I loved the mystery and that while I was reading I was trying to figure out what had happened. I loved the connections to Sophie and her book with the crime and the fact that while the present was being played out I could also read what happened in the past at the same time and from different perspectives. The book was beautifully written and put together. I wish I could have seen more on what happened once Tallulah finally came home, regardless I loved that she got a happy ending even if Zack didn’t. I didn’t like him but his ending was sad. I especially loved the epilogue and finding out what happened to the lever that no one knew how it had appeared! That was a nice tie in along with what had happened to Guy. This was a wonderful book!
bookedbyruqs's review against another edition
4.0
The Night She Disappeared is an excellent thriller, steeped in mystery and drama, with a strong emotionally-compelling mother/daughter love story at its core. It starts off as a slow burn with a chilling atmosphere and multiple points of view, which soon all converge into a gripping and unputdownable story.
This one begins with the plot of countless other mystery/thrillers: a daughter goes missing, leaving behind a distraught mother who will do anything to find her. The difference here is in the vivid characters, in how Kim and Tallulah come to life on the page. When teen mother Tallulah goes missing, the police assume she's made a break for it, cast off responsibility for her baby and ran away with her boyfriend. But Kim knows her daughter. She knows that despite her youth, despite how hard it is to be a young mother, Tallulah would never abandon her baby.
Young parents Tallulah and Zach are thrilled to have the chance to enjoy a rare night out on the town. But when the couple still hasn't returned by the next morning, Tallulah's mother Kim is rightfully worried. But with no clues, the cases goes cold, and a year goes by. When Sophie, a mystery writer, moves in nearby, and clues start to surface, it seems like Kim will finally get the answers she's been searching for.
This story starts slowly, partly because of the three points of view which take place across different timelines. The author keeps the chapters short and they always end on a tantalizing point, so I feel compelled to read just a little bit more.
One of the hallmarks of Lisa Jewell is her characters. They always seem solid and fully-fleshed out, which automatically makes the story feel more real. There's plenty of time taken to get to know and understand them. As a result, I end up caring for them and becoming emotionally invested in the story.
Then, once everything starts to come together and we get hit with twist after twist, I just can't look away.
Kim's sense of loss is palpable and the mystery behind the disappearance is unbelievably compelling. As the pages go by, more questions arise, and other characters get pulled into the story, each, it seems, hiding a piece of the puzzle.
The story alternates between the present where Kim tries to find out what happened to her daughter, and the past from Tallulah's perspective as she moves toward that fateful night. As the novel reaches its climax, the chapters get shorter in a frantic race between the two-- Kim discovering the truth, and Tallulah living it.
Strong emotive storytelling at its best which is rare in mystery/thriller books to get emotionally invested. The reason that it wasn't a complete 5 star for me was that I found it so slow at the beginning (the first half of the book tbh) and it got some getting used to with the 3 different timelines.
Spoilers:
- I am low key happy that Zach died. What an asshole
- At least Scarlett kept tallulah alive despite questioning methods and at the end did end up confessing to killing zach instead of blaming it on tallulah
- I liked liam as a character. I understood his actions at the end when he didn't follow what scarlett asked him to do and instead kept the lever with him as a clue to help solve the case. He also didn't get rid of zach's body which is good
- Sophies perspective was boring at times and tbh wasn't really necessary. I would've liked to see more emotional depth from her. However, she did play a huge role in opening up and solving the case
- I did find it ridiculous that kim and sophie were the ones actively investigating and finding the clues etc compared to the detectives that were just there following their leads and going with the flow. Like do ur damn job.
This one begins with the plot of countless other mystery/thrillers: a daughter goes missing, leaving behind a distraught mother who will do anything to find her. The difference here is in the vivid characters, in how Kim and Tallulah come to life on the page. When teen mother Tallulah goes missing, the police assume she's made a break for it, cast off responsibility for her baby and ran away with her boyfriend. But Kim knows her daughter. She knows that despite her youth, despite how hard it is to be a young mother, Tallulah would never abandon her baby.
Young parents Tallulah and Zach are thrilled to have the chance to enjoy a rare night out on the town. But when the couple still hasn't returned by the next morning, Tallulah's mother Kim is rightfully worried. But with no clues, the cases goes cold, and a year goes by. When Sophie, a mystery writer, moves in nearby, and clues start to surface, it seems like Kim will finally get the answers she's been searching for.
This story starts slowly, partly because of the three points of view which take place across different timelines. The author keeps the chapters short and they always end on a tantalizing point, so I feel compelled to read just a little bit more.
One of the hallmarks of Lisa Jewell is her characters. They always seem solid and fully-fleshed out, which automatically makes the story feel more real. There's plenty of time taken to get to know and understand them. As a result, I end up caring for them and becoming emotionally invested in the story.
Then, once everything starts to come together and we get hit with twist after twist, I just can't look away.
Kim's sense of loss is palpable and the mystery behind the disappearance is unbelievably compelling. As the pages go by, more questions arise, and other characters get pulled into the story, each, it seems, hiding a piece of the puzzle.
The story alternates between the present where Kim tries to find out what happened to her daughter, and the past from Tallulah's perspective as she moves toward that fateful night. As the novel reaches its climax, the chapters get shorter in a frantic race between the two-- Kim discovering the truth, and Tallulah living it.
Strong emotive storytelling at its best which is rare in mystery/thriller books to get emotionally invested. The reason that it wasn't a complete 5 star for me was that I found it so slow at the beginning (the first half of the book tbh) and it got some getting used to with the 3 different timelines.
Spoilers:
- I am low key happy that Zach died. What an asshole
- At least Scarlett kept tallulah alive despite questioning methods and at the end did end up confessing to killing zach instead of blaming it on tallulah
- I liked liam as a character. I understood his actions at the end when he didn't follow what scarlett asked him to do and instead kept the lever with him as a clue to help solve the case. He also didn't get rid of zach's body which is good
- Sophies perspective was boring at times and tbh wasn't really necessary. I would've liked to see more emotional depth from her. However, she did play a huge role in opening up and solving the case
- I did find it ridiculous that kim and sophie were the ones actively investigating and finding the clues etc compared to the detectives that were just there following their leads and going with the flow. Like do ur damn job.
djf15's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
lbonitz's review against another edition
4.0
A slow burn mystery that was entertaining throughout. The plot was neither overly predictable nor implausible and I loved the spooky setting.
completebore's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rachelb97's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
soavanpelt's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
mtstjk's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
I enjoyed it! Read it in one sitting.
Although I do agree with one of the other reviews here that it was a lot with the multiple jumping timelines, like past to present to even further past to even further present.
I liked this I think more than her other book then she was gone
Although I do agree with one of the other reviews here that it was a lot with the multiple jumping timelines, like past to present to even further past to even further present.
I liked this I think more than her other book then she was gone
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Drug use, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Murder