My Literary Escapism #3
My third book review:
Review of 'The night she disappeared.
By Lisa Jewell
The book is about a young woman and her boyfriend who disappeared after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend one beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb. One year later, this story moves on; a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate.
The narrative spoke a few records. The reports were Tallulah, Kim, and Sophie. It does not mention it at the start of the chapter; instead, the dates as it changes over the branches. The timeline went back and forth as the audience knew when what happened and who and what was involved.
My favourite character is Sophie; she was an amazing woman, friend and girlfriend. She was the one who helped Kim investigate what happened to Kim's daughter- Tallulah. Other characters were selfish, cunning and secretive. Therefore, this had me resent them in the story as rightful so.
All the characters felt authentic in how they were presented in the story by the author. As more pages went by, I learnt the actual colours and how each character felt and their inner words to themselves. The more in-depth you get, you realise how much more secret they had, and you had just to read on as I was on the edge of my seat as I felt overwhelmed through such emotions. There were things that certain characters did, which I was shocked to read as you did not expect that from them.
The story kept me guessing, and there were plenty of plot twists. I could not put the book down, but I had to because I felt sleepy and work got in the way. I read the part where she had started an affair; I was suspicious of someone. There was one character who I thought it was for a while, and it was apparent why but near the end and my jaw stuck open.
My favourite part of the book was something mentioned in the book's early stages. The author/ Jewell said a particular house with something about the place, which comes in handy later in the book and solves the big issue. The conversation about- How built the house would later link to someone and how they ended up there is another plot twist. As an author and investigator, I love how Sophie voluntarily helped Kim find out what happened through different characters- this shows that there is still humanity out there- feel good!
Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed this book; I understood it from the start, and there was no confusion. Therefore, I knew what was happening. However, there was the part where it jumped from the present time to everyone. Kim, the mum, the investigator and Sophie looked for details that fit the pieces to understand what happened and then jumped to the past. The details of all the characters knew each other and how it led to the current events unfolding. The essential characters- are Scarlett and her mother, Tallulah, Zach and Liam. Jewell wrote the mysterious scenes amazingly; Sophie interviewed Liam, Scarlett and her mother, the headteacher who left the school and how Jewell, the author, provided some information without letting us realise who the culprit is story till the very end. The romantic scenes were not cringed and kept the romance alive. Zach wants to be with Tallulah; as an audience, we feel Tallulah does not wish to him and wants to move on is written through rather than so evident in the book.
The book did not make me cry or laugh, but it made me feel relieved at the end when everything was closing in. In between texts, there have been times I was so annoyed with Zach and the way he treated Tallulah. I did get frustrated with Tallulah, as she did not want to be with him, but he was very intimidating, so you felt sorry for Tallulah. Kim's determination was beautiful to see, and Sophie was there for her the whole step of the way. Scarlett and her mother were infuriated with their attitude and what they did to Tallulah for her gain. Nevertheless, this was such a great read and had a whale of a time, if I must say so. The story did grip me, and I had to find out what happened and kept turning the pages.
The Night She Disappeared is an excellent thriller steeped in mystery and drama, with a solid emotionally-compelling mother/daughter love story at its core.
The copy that I have. The book also has other books which Jewell has written, but I will name the recent ones - 'Then she Was Gone: A Novel (2017), Watching You (2018), The Family Upstairs (2019), Invisible Girl: A Novel (2020) and The Night She Disappeared (2021). Do read that and subscribe to my blogs and Instagram, so you know when the reviews of the other book come live.
By Niluja R
XOXOXO
