I’ve been a huge Lisa Jewell fan ever since I read Watching You, The Girls in the Garden, Then She Was Gone, and The Family Upstairs. While I will say, those four are easily remain my favorites, Jewell’s newest book The Night She Disappeared still gave me the thrilling entertainment I know I’ll receive any time I pick up one of her books. Yet, the book didn’t leave me stunned like her others.
The story provides ample amounts of surprises and twists that the reader won’t see coming. I was constantly left asking myself, “What the heck is going on?” The book is discusses teen pregnancy, domestic abuse, rape culture, and is LGBTQ friendly. However, I was left with some issues with the story.
Plausibility. Once you finish the book, you’ll understand, so I won’t go too far into that in case of spoilers. Next, none of the characters were vivid, to me. The author portrayed Scarlett the most vividly, but she was not a likable character. Honestly, none of the characters were particularly likable, other than the mom, Kim. Finally, there was SO much room to play on the atmosphere in this book (the grounds of a school, an abandoned mansion, a dense and dangerous forest…so much to work with). Yet, I didn’t feel like the setting lived up to its potential.
The best way I can describe this book is that it’s entertaining while read and it provides thriller readers with what they are looking for, but it won’t leave you pondering once you’re done! I highly recommend the earlier mentioned Lisa Jewell books. I think she’s a great author and she has written some of my favorite books of all time!
Summary:
On a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb, a young woman and her boyfriend disappear after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend.
One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate. Known locally as the Dark Place, the dense forest is the writer’s favorite area for long walks and it’s on one such walk that she stumbles upon a mysterious note that simply reads, “DIG HERE.”
Could this be a clue toward what has happened to the missing young couple? And what exactly is buried in this haunted ground?
Books and Bites with Brooke 