Since She Went Away

By: David Bell
Published Year: 2016
Publisher: NAL
Pages: 423

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This book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion. 

Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Three months earlier, Jenna Barton was supposed to meet her lifelong best friend Celia. But when Jenna arrived late, she found that Celia had disappeared—and hasn’t been seen again. Jenna has blamed herself for her friend’s disappearance every single day since then.

The only piece of evidence is a lone diamond earring found where Celia and Jenna were planning to meet, leading the national media to dub Celia “The Diamond Mom.” And even though Jenna has obsessively surfed message boards devoted to missing persons cases, she is no closer to finding any answers—or easing her guilt.

But when her son’s new girlfriend—who suddenly arrived in town without a past—disappears, a stricken Jenna begins to unwind the tangled truth behind Celia’s tragedy. And as long-buried secrets finally come to light, she discovers how completely lives can be shattered by a few simple lies.

                                                           First Impressions

The yellow didn’t draw me in right away, but the girl with the red umbrella did! I have a bit of a thing for pictures of people with red umbrellas so it drew my eye. The summary immediately intrigued me. I enjoy mysteries/thrillers and this one sounded interesting and different from a lot of the thrillers that I’ve been reading lately.

                                                            What I thought

Jenna was meant to meet her best friend Celia at the park at midnight. When she finally arrived (late as always) Celia wasn’t there. She called her friend, and then called her friend’s husband, and finally the police. The story picks up three months later, with everyone still searching for Celia and hoping for new leads. About three weeks prior to where the story picks up, a new girl arrives at school and Jared, Jenna’ 15 year old son, starts dating her. He feels like she isn’t being fully truthful with him and might be in danger. When she doesn’t come to school one day or the next, or the next, he truly starts to become concerned. Are the two disappearances connected?

This thriller was so refreshing. It’s an easy read and a complete page turner. It isn’t overly violent and doesn’t rely on a giant twist halfway through the story. The two stories intertwine and you can tell they’re connected from the beginning.

Jenna is a single mom and she feels a bit guilty and unsure of how to raise her 15 year old son. She is definitely obsessed with the case and finding Celia and gets herself into a bit of trouble because of that. She listens too closely to the press and constantly checks out the message boards for any new hints that Celia might have been spotted.

Jared is the nicest fifteen year old ever. He listens to his mom and even though he does some very teenager-y things (like sneaking his girlfriend into his bedroom when his mom isn’t home) he never does anything truly bad. He is a nice guy and cares for his mom and doesn’t act out in any way.

It’s always hard for me to review thrillers because I don’t ever want to give anything away! Bell does a great job of keeping the story moving and he stays away from a lot of typical twists or plot points that a lot of thriller writers use. The cops are competent and don’t just get close to the main character because they think she is actually the one that did it. I did not predict the ending halfway through the book which is always such a relief. 
 

I really enjoyed the story of this book. The characters were interesting and the story moved at a wonderful pace. I never felt like I had to drag through boring parts to get to the exciting bits and I always wanted to keep reading to find out what happened! While I wouldn’t read it again (since I don’t find thrillers as enjoyable the second time around), I would recommend it to people who enjoy thrillers and are looking for something that’s a bit different from all of the thrillers that have been getting attention. I would also gladly pick up another one of Bell’s books to check out.