Customer reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
1,742 customer ratings
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Then She Was Gone: A Novel
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Customer reviews
- Then She Was Gone: A Novel
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- Customer reviews
Top positive review
Caveat emptor
August 31, 2018
Let me say first off, that the book is well written, well crafted, and just plain good. I bumped up against the ads for it on The New Yorker website, then on Amazon, and as always, am looking for a good, well written suspense/thriller/mystery type read. ( I don't think there are enough of them being spun out!) The hook had me, What The **** Happened to Ellie? The writing lures you in.......the whole family saga thing, dysfunction, loss, grief, etc. What I really want to say is, like my headline, caution. This is a very, very disturbing book. The central characters emerge slowly and if you are like me, I'm reading along wanting to find out wtf happened to Ellie? And unlike many readers, I don't try to figger out what happened, who dunnit...... what you find out about Ellie and the other characters in the book is scary stuff. So, what I'm saying is, if you are a sensitive soul who is is averse to childhood abuse/torture and highly damaged manipulative people, I'd suggest not reading this.
I gave it 5 stars for the craft of writing, it is well written, and the writing supports the the plot and story, in spite of what i've said re: caveat emptor.
I gave it 5 stars for the craft of writing, it is well written, and the writing supports the the plot and story, in spite of what i've said re: caveat emptor.
495 people found this helpful
Top critical review
Read if you dare
August 20, 2018
This book was incredibly suspenseful and well written. In that respect I would have rated it higher. The subject matter, though, was so distressing to me personally that I cannot recommend reading it. The concluding chapters and ending were both not believable and unacceptable. In sum, while this book possessed the ingredients for greatness, the storyline unfolded in such a horrific manner that it washed away the good.
210 people found this helpful
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August 20, 2018
This book was incredibly suspenseful and well written. In that respect I would have rated it higher. The subject matter, though, was so distressing to me personally that I cannot recommend reading it. The concluding chapters and ending were both not believable and unacceptable. In sum, while this book possessed the ingredients for greatness, the storyline unfolded in such a horrific manner that it washed away the good.
August 4, 2018
if you like reading about captivity and the death of animals, this is the book for you. in addition, it has unlikable, unbelievable characters, an easy to figure out plot, and no suspense. i dislike the use of flashacks to tell a story, and i also dislike the use of an unreliable point of view. i regret buying and reading this novel.
October 12, 2018
There was nothing compelling or mysterious about this book. The mystery is revealed half way through. Total disappointment for what it was marketed as.
October 3, 2018
The subject matter is extremely disturbing AND distressing (especially if you have a daughter), so much that I wish I had not read it at all. It's written like other books in this genre but the subject matter is something ABOMINABLY HORRIFIC. This is the first time I have written a book review on Amazon as I feel compelled to warn others about this book. It is a page turner and I was 5+ hours into listening when I realized where it was going, but then I felt I was too invested to stop and wanted to know how it ended to give me peace of mind. Oh, how I wish I had not listened to it in the first place and filled my head with such ICKY thoughts.
December 30, 2018
Boring, predictable and as the author herself stated, bizarre. Just down right bizarre. Took me over a month to read whereas I normally finish a good thriller in less than a week. I liked absolutely nothing about this book. Not even a single character. There is no way I could ever recommend this book to anyone.
January 14, 2019
Horrifying book. Each plot development is more unbelievable than the last. Real people don't act like these characters. People do not think like this.
January 11, 2019
This book definitely had the shock value I had been looking for after a few disappointing false promises in the past.
This story definitely hung heavy over my head for a few days after reading. But that was mainly due to the crap ending. I definitely wasn't looking for a happy ending but could I at least have gotten a REAL end? It was basically like "well all this horrible trauma happened and now we are all just okay and living the dream with our brand new lives"
No, that's definitely a cop out in my opinion. With how wrecked this main character was at the beginning over the events that transpired...there is no way the end should be as easy and simple as it was.
But the cherry tree thing was good, as a parent it struck me right in the guts.
This story definitely hung heavy over my head for a few days after reading. But that was mainly due to the crap ending. I definitely wasn't looking for a happy ending but could I at least have gotten a REAL end? It was basically like "well all this horrible trauma happened and now we are all just okay and living the dream with our brand new lives"
No, that's definitely a cop out in my opinion. With how wrecked this main character was at the beginning over the events that transpired...there is no way the end should be as easy and simple as it was.
But the cherry tree thing was good, as a parent it struck me right in the guts.
August 25, 2019
I cannot recommend this on any level. I knew the subject was dark - clearly, the title and the notes explain this. What I didn't expect was for the entire book to be a mess - shifting between different tenses, different narrators, different times on a whim. And that the characters themselves be so devoid of any agency, any balls, any wits whatsoever, except to self-deprecate about their looks, smarts and position in life and accept their fate. I'm looking at you, Laurel - possibly the most dirty dishwater colored weak tea flavored protagonist of all times. I wanted to shake her.
And all this before we even get to the incongruences of the plot...
- Why didn't the police interview all the people in the houses nearby? If they had done they would have interviewed the weird Noelle. There is no mention of this.
- Why does Ellie never shout, or never try to escape? If she can see a tree then there must be a window - jesus, people manage to escape from prison. You'd think even a badly thought out attempt which gets thwarted at the last minute would have jump started the flatline monotony of the narrative a little. Instead all we get is she 'thinks about jumping on her and grabbing the keys" but decides not to. Sure, ok.
Why don't the parents go door to door?
Why doesn't Hanna TELL the damn parents that her sister thought Noelle was creepy AT THE TIME? instead of coming out with it 20 years later 'somewhat gleefully' or whatever it is the narrator says. Wouldn't it be the first thing you'd think of?
Why does Floyd say his house was all converted into bedsits and he had to spend years restoring it, but then later twice there are mentions of how it hasn't been touched since the Victorian times?
Why is Floyd 'transatlantic'? I mean what is the point of all the schools and the weird accent and the (way too long) back story? I thought it was going to lead to something but apparently not
Why does everybody else seem to think it's completely normal that this 15 year old girl goes missing but then we find out she had a baby and the new little girl takes her place? How is Laurel going to explain this to people? What did the police say? Why the hell couldn't we find out who the damn father was? Ok I have to stop or I will give myself an aneurysm.
I think you get my drift!;)
And all this before we even get to the incongruences of the plot...
- Why didn't the police interview all the people in the houses nearby? If they had done they would have interviewed the weird Noelle. There is no mention of this.
- Why does Ellie never shout, or never try to escape? If she can see a tree then there must be a window - jesus, people manage to escape from prison. You'd think even a badly thought out attempt which gets thwarted at the last minute would have jump started the flatline monotony of the narrative a little. Instead all we get is she 'thinks about jumping on her and grabbing the keys" but decides not to. Sure, ok.
Why don't the parents go door to door?
Why doesn't Hanna TELL the damn parents that her sister thought Noelle was creepy AT THE TIME? instead of coming out with it 20 years later 'somewhat gleefully' or whatever it is the narrator says. Wouldn't it be the first thing you'd think of?
Why does Floyd say his house was all converted into bedsits and he had to spend years restoring it, but then later twice there are mentions of how it hasn't been touched since the Victorian times?
Why is Floyd 'transatlantic'? I mean what is the point of all the schools and the weird accent and the (way too long) back story? I thought it was going to lead to something but apparently not
Why does everybody else seem to think it's completely normal that this 15 year old girl goes missing but then we find out she had a baby and the new little girl takes her place? How is Laurel going to explain this to people? What did the police say? Why the hell couldn't we find out who the damn father was? Ok I have to stop or I will give myself an aneurysm.
I think you get my drift!;)
December 20, 2018
I wish I had read a few reviews before selecting this highly rated book, which was "suggested" for me. The subject matter is horrific, and if you don't want to read about extreme untreated mental illness and child abuse, please skip it. Yes, it is well-written, but I feel that I just spent time in a horror movie with no escape possible. Why didn't I stop reading? I hoped for redemption in this well-crafted tale, but was left was a hangover from too much torture and dysfunction paired with thoughts of the stink of dead hamsters.
August 27, 2019
I don't know where to start. R rated subject written in PG. I got the impression that this author has never experienced a traumatic event in her life. I question whether she did any research before attempting this sensitive subject matter, based on the juvenile attempt at a dark story line. I can handle dark and twisted, but what I cannot handle are people who have no business talking about it. The dialogue was laughably terrible, the characters were unbelievable, the protagonist was unlikable and the ending made me cringe. The only emotion that I felt while reading this book was anger directed towards the author. I had two friends lined up to borrow this book from me. I've spared them both. So, so bad......and not in an interesting way.
