The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell Book Review: An Addictive Suspense Thriller

Goodreads score: 4.2 / 5 ⭐
My score: 4.5 / 5 ⭐

I suggest reading The Night She Disappeared if you’re into mystery, suspense, psychological thrillers, character-driven thrillers, thriller books with a touch of romance, and cold cases. 

The Night She Disappeared Synopsis 📚

In 2017, teenage mother Tallulah goes out with her partner, but they mysteriously disappear and never make it back home.

Tallulah’s mother, Kim, finds out that Tallulah and her boyfriend were heading out to a pool party at a house in the nearby woods.

A year later, the couple is still missing. Sophie is walking in the woods by the boarding school where her boyfriend works as a head teacher, when she discovers a sinister note that says “Dig Here”.

Someone knows more than they’re letting on, and Tallulah’s mother, along with the help of a new friend, must figure out what happened that summer night in 2017.

The Night She Disappeared Book Review 🕵🏻‍♀️

The Night She Disappeared checks all the ‘classic Lisa Jewell’ boxes – it has multiple timelines and character points of views, heavy amounts of tension and suspense, unconventional characters, beautiful writing, a chilling atmosphere, and a slow burn mystery that will keep you hooked until the very end.

The book has been compared to Lisa Jewell’s bestseller, Then She Was Gone. Having read that one first, I would say that there are a lot of similarities between the two books, especially with the premise (they both start with a teenage girl who has gone missing years ago, and a mother who will always keep trying to find the truth). This is where the similarities end, and The Night She Disappeared incorporates a lot of new and original elements. If you liked one of them, I definitely suggest reading the other!

Lisa Jewell has the ability to craft complex characters that feel like real people, which is exactly what happened with Tallulah and her mother Kim. I empathized with these characters and was really anxious to find out what happened to Tallulah. The deeper Kim digs into her daughter’s life, the more she realizes that she was hiding secrets of her own. 

I will be honest, I had no idea which direction this book would go in. I was pleasantly surprised by the turn it took, and it packed some unexpected twists and turns along the way. I did have my suspicions about certain things, but I enjoyed reading how everything unfolded.

There is so much more to say about the book, but I want to keep this completely spoiler-free. From my experience, the less you know about a Lisa Jewell book before you go in, the better! 

The Night She Disappeared Verdict 👩‍⚖️

If you want to read a book involving a cold case, a touch of (dark) romance, mysterious mansions in the woods, boarding schools, summer mysteries, an amazing mother-daughter relationship, and a memorable ending, I highly recommend The Night She Disappeared. 

The Night She Disappeared Trigger Warnings ⚠️

Sexual assault, psychological abuse, gaslighting, violence.

Books Like The Night She Disappeared ❤️

If you enjoyed The Night She Disappeared and are looking for similar books, I recommend starting with Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell. Another book you can read is All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham. It’s also a summer mystery about a mother searching for her missing son, and finding some dark truths about her life in the process. Have you read The Night She Disappeared yet? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.