The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell *Review*

3.5/5 stars! Thank you so much Atria Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads Synopsis

2017: 19 year old Tallulah is going out on a date, leaving her baby with her mother, Kim.

Kim watches her daughter leave and, as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return. And waits.

The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah’s friends who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place.

She never returns.

2019: Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head-teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree.

‘DIG HERE’ . . .

A cold case, an abandoned mansion, family trauma and dark secrets lie at the heart of Lisa Jewell’s remarkable new novel.

My Experience

I really enjoy Lisa Jewell’s writing, I can always count on her to provide a good, quick read thriller. The Night She Disappeared was no different. I got totally sucked in wanting to find out what happened to the two missing teenage parents, Zack and Tallulah, and how things would turn out.

However, I did find this one to be kind of predictable only a quarter way into the book. And one thing Jewell does that I love, is aside from the main plot and twist there’s always some side twists at the end that you’re like “ah now all that makes sense..” or “whattt!!” But, I thought this was sort of predictable this time too.
It also felt like some of the characters were a bit shallow and maybe weren’t developed as well as they could be. With the character Sophie, there were descriptions or moments that happen with her that seem like they’ll lead to a character development or story line later on but nothing ever came of it.

That said I still enjoyed this and I appreciate it kept a good pace, I was never bored or felt the story progressed slowly. And while it may be a “slow burn” at times, it doesn’t read slowly, you want to keep going. I had to find out how it would all end, even though it was predictable, I still needed to know exactly what would happen. She always keeps me reading to the end! Overall it was an enjoyable read and easy to get through in a long weekend!