I gave this book three out of five stars.

Lisa Jewell takes us through the journey of a mother whose daughter was kidnapped ten years ago, and never found. After ten years of putting her life on pause, believing she would find Ellie, Laurel’s marriage suffered and ended, and the rest of her family had taken the back burner. In a journey to find herself and her happiness again, she meets a new love interest, Floyd. As their relationship progresses, she meets Floyd’s daughter, Poppy, who bears a striking resemblance to Ellie in all the ways a girl, who is not the same girl, possibly could. As we follow the development of the relationships between Laurel and Poppy, and Laurel and Floyd, we are led to the discovery of the devastating truth about what has happened over the last ten years.

Doesn’t that sound like a book that would have you at the edge of your seat, turning pages violently, and wishing you could just read faster to find out WHAT ON EARTH is going on here? I thought so too.

I DID enjoy this book, but after finishing it, I have mixed feelings. Part of me wanted to give this book five stars, because of how effectively Lisa Jewell really made me FEEL for the characters throughout this book, but the book was just much different than what the presentation of it advertised to me, and maybe that’s just my own fault.

It just wasn’t fast-paced, thrilling, page-turner as I had expected. It was more of a slow burn, with a few parts that had me at the edge of my seat. I did read this book in a little bit over one day, but it was not difficult for me to put it down when I needed to — disappointing.

I thought the storyline was interesting, and for the most part I had no idea what was coming next. I think maybe the slow burn type of deal presented here was necessary to set the stage and provide the reader with all of the context needed for the last 15 percent of the book. The ending left me feeling a lot sadder than I had expected.

Lisa Jewell is an incredible writer and remains one of my favorite authors, and I would still recommend this book, as long as your expectations are in check.