A review by alexblackreads
Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell
4.0
I was kind of on the fence between three and four stars, but eh I liked it might as well go with four. This was a lot better for me than The Family Upstairs because it felt a lot more down to earth. I don't necessarily think it was a better book or better written, I just vibed with it more.
I do really understand why people like Lisa Jewell so much. Her writing style flows really well and is just really engaging overall. It draws you in even when sometimes I don't care quite as much as I should. Her writing makes up for some of the smaller flaws that might bug me more in other books.
Also it kept me guessing. This book wasn't entirely unsurprising, but I don't think there was any point before the end where I could logically lay out the twists and turns that were coming up and I appreciate that. It kept me on my toes a bit and I kept wanting to know more.
I struggled with two basic things. The first was the POV changes. It follows three different characters; a teenage girl who has gone missing, the wife of the girl's therapist, and a wannabe incel dude who is arrested for her abduction. I only really liked two of those perspectives and every time it switched to the third, I kind of sighed and had to get along with it. I don't think the third character was worse written, I was just less interested in their plot line and it always made the POV switches kind of disappointing.
I also didn't love the end. Not the conclusion to the mystery element, but the overall ending of the book. It felt a little too much like it was trying to teach a lesson and I just didn't care. That's not what I'm reading a thriller for. I'd rather have interesting characters living out their own stories for better or worse than get some kind of moral lecturing at the end. I didn't disagree with anything, it was more just that I found it tedious overall.
But this was solid. I was always wanting to pick it up and get back to it, even though it was my ebook which I'm supposed to only use when I have no access to physical books. But I cheated a few times and read this book instead. It's good. I'd recommend it.
I do really understand why people like Lisa Jewell so much. Her writing style flows really well and is just really engaging overall. It draws you in even when sometimes I don't care quite as much as I should. Her writing makes up for some of the smaller flaws that might bug me more in other books.
Also it kept me guessing. This book wasn't entirely unsurprising, but I don't think there was any point before the end where I could logically lay out the twists and turns that were coming up and I appreciate that. It kept me on my toes a bit and I kept wanting to know more.
I struggled with two basic things. The first was the POV changes. It follows three different characters; a teenage girl who has gone missing, the wife of the girl's therapist, and a wannabe incel dude who is arrested for her abduction. I only really liked two of those perspectives and every time it switched to the third, I kind of sighed and had to get along with it. I don't think the third character was worse written, I was just less interested in their plot line and it always made the POV switches kind of disappointing.
I also didn't love the end. Not the conclusion to the mystery element, but the overall ending of the book. It felt a little too much like it was trying to teach a lesson and I just didn't care. That's not what I'm reading a thriller for. I'd rather have interesting characters living out their own stories for better or worse than get some kind of moral lecturing at the end. I didn't disagree with anything, it was more just that I found it tedious overall.
But this was solid. I was always wanting to pick it up and get back to it, even though it was my ebook which I'm supposed to only use when I have no access to physical books. But I cheated a few times and read this book instead. It's good. I'd recommend it.