Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I greatly appreciate it!

The ending brought tears to my eyes.

I thought I should say that before exploring the rest of the journey, because truly, the ending was sublime and it felt earned, which doesn’t happen often with these types of thrillers.

I’ve been reading Joy Fielding books since I was 14. I picked up See Jane Run because my Mum suggested it. My Granny, who was dying of a brain tumour at the time (though we didn’t know it) had read the book and been thrilled by it. So we all read it. All the women in my family, one by one. I remember later, a lunch outside on my grandparent’s deck. My Granny’s face was slack on one side – her smile slightly jagged, she was unable to eat the way she normally did. I told her I had liked the book, and she smiled. A small moment, but it’s one of the few memories I have of the end of her life.

We shared a book. A great, entertaining, electrifying mystery. It’s one of those memories you just don’t let go of – whenever I see that novel, I think of my brave and beautiful and kind Granny, who read those words right before I did. Who absorbed them, thought about them, fought with them. For it was a shocker of an ending – before ‘shocker endings’ were fashionable. It felt special to have read that with her. Of course, not knowing it would be one of the last things we shared in this life.

I like to think my Granny would have enjoyed She’s Not There with me, but who can tell? I do think she would have been as disturbed as I am with the casual use of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance and the subsequent media frenzy. While I completely understand the fascination with Madeleine – missing children are one of my ‘issues’ – you know the ones you just can’t stop thinking about? Along with animal rescue, it’s missing children. For instance, I was the only one in my circle of family and friends who knew who Jaycee Dugard or Shawn Hornbeck were when they were discovered. I’m not saying this as some sort of “brag” but it’s just the truth – I follow that news, so I’m aware.

So, when I hear about Madeleine, I feel infinitely sad – imagining how her parents feel, entrenched in darkness – what happened to her, what might continue to happen to her. It’s all so horrifying and just that. It’s horrifying.

Regardless – I’m here to review this book as it stands, and She’s Not There is as unputdownable as it gets. It begins with Caroline Shipley, in the present day, a mother tormented by the kidnapping of her daughter fifteen years before. Left with an ex-husband, an unruly daughter and only the memories of her “sweet thing” Samantha, Caroline is struggling to put one foot in front of the other, when she gets a call. A girl named Lili is on the other end. She thinks she might be Samantha.

BOOM.

A bomb explodes in Caroline’s life. Of course. The dream she has been dreaming for fifteen years might be coming true. But what does that dream look like? Who is Lili? And who was truly behind Samantha’s abduction?

While I guessed parts of the surprise, I didn’t guess it all. Joy Fielding is still the master of suspense, and it doesn’t ever feel like a Gone Girl redux. She manages – with a sleight of hand so perfectly positioned – to bend and twist her characters into the most unlikely positions, without it feeling unlikely at all.

However, I must give a shoutout to Caroline’s family, for being the biggest bunch of assholes I’ve ever come across. From Hunter (gag me), to Mary (die now), to Steve (shut the fuck up), to Michelle, (SERIOUSLY SHUT UP YOU BRAT) .. how did Caroline not just shut herself in a room and lock the door forever?

ANYWAY. I loved the ending. Perfection. And honestly, when it’s Joy Fielding, I’m sold to begin with. She holds a special place in my reading heart.

This was the first book by this author that I have read, and I loved it! I will be looking for more books by this author!

I was really looking forward to Joy Fielding's She's Not There. I love suspense novels, but this novel had no suspense nor a real mystery. Caroline Shipley and her husband, Hunter went on a vacation to Rosarito, Mexico fifteen years previously for their anniversary. Caroline would not leave the kids with her mother or brother, so they brought five-year-old, Michelle, and two-year-old, Samantha with them. On the last night the babysitter failed to show up. The hotel said that someone had canceled the sitter. Since they were going to be eating just outside (they could see the window from the table), they went to dinner (Hunter insisted because he had a surprise for Caroline). They took turns checking on the sleeping girls. When they go back after dinner, Samantha is gone. Who took her and why?

Fifteen years later Caroline gets a call from a young girl stating she might be Samantha. Could this be her long lost daughter? We get to see how this kidnapping affected the family and if this young woman is really Samantha. Will Caroline finally get the truth?

I found She's Not There to be a slow novel with no suspense. It was so easy to figure out who took Samantha and why. We are subjected to a lot of Caroline thinking (and over thinking) and disagreements between Michelle and Caroline. Michelle was a difficult child before the kidnapping and she has not improved over the last fifteen years (I got very tired of their arguments). I did not like any of the characters in the book. Caroline plays the blame game and has issues controlling her temper. The writing is okay (satisfactory). I kept hoping that there would be a twist at the end. I give She's Not There 3 out of 5 stars (which mean it was okay).

I received a complimentary copy of She's Not There from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of the novel.

Caroline and her husband Hunter along with their two daughters are out celebrating their anniversary with family and friends in Mexico. When they come back to their suite after their anniversary dinner the unthinkable happens as their two year old Samantha is abducted from her crib.Years fly by with no trace of Samantha and take its toll on Caroline . Her relationship with her other daughter suffers and her marriage cannot withstand the pressure and falls apart.But years later on the anniversary of Samantha’s disappearance Caroline gets a phone call from a stranger claiming to be Samantha. Is Caroline’s dream really coming true or is something sinister at play ?

This is a light psychological thriller narrated by the mother's point of view in the past and the present .I have enjoyed Joy Fielding's books in the past and this was no different. A fast read that I devoured in one day and would definitely recommend

I would like to thank Bonnier Zaffre & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

This and more reviews at https://chloesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

Not bad, expected it to be terribly written. It's not written particularly well, but for this kind of book, that's saying a lot. This is, however, one of those books where every female character is either extremely neurotic or extremely psychopathic, to the point where you wonder what kind of life the author had, to write characters like these. Spoiler below:

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SPOILER: Really effed up that other than the main character's best friend, there was only one other likable character in the entire book, and, hey, she ends up being one of the villains. Good going.

Fills the crave for a suspense novel, and really takes a look at how much the media is responsible for some aftermath of tragedy. Liked it!