I received this book for free from the TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
on February 2, 2021
Pages: 350
Format: eBook
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He only looked away for a second.
Still haunted by the disappearance of his little sister Amy over twenty years ago, Joseph Bridgeman's life has fallen apart. When a friend talks him into seeing hypnotherapist Alexia Finch to help with his insomnia, Joseph accidentally discovers he can time travel. His first trip only takes him back a few minutes, but his new-found ability gives him something he hasn't felt for the longest time: hope.
Joseph sets out to travel back to the night Amy went missing and save her. But after several failed attempts, he discovers the farther back he travels, the less time he gets to stay there. And the clock is ticking.
With the help of Alexia, Joseph embarks on a desperate race against the past to save his sister. Can he master his new skill and solve the mystery of Amy's disappearance before it's too late?
Time travel is hard to get right without being cheesy or too complicated to understand, and Nick Jones’ novel And Then She Vanished is definitely neither of those things. Centered around the disappearance of Joseph Bridgeman’s sister when they were young, this novel explores what it’s like to experience and live with a trauma such as losing your sister at such a tender age–especially when you blame yourself for it even after twenty years. Your family is torn apart and your parents have each gone through a hell of their own. But Amy’s disappearance eats at you, ultimately destroying what little life you’ve created for yourself as an adult.
Joseph luckily has two close friends who help him immensely in his sorry existence. When one sets up an appointment with a hypnotist, Joseph’s world changes when he later accidentally travels back in time. Does he now have the chance to travel back to 1997 and save his sister? Can Joseph even develop his time-travelling skills to be able to get back there long enough to change anything?
There is such a strong sense of friendship in this book, as well as Joseph’s despair over his sister’s disappearance when he was fifteen and she was seven. Joseph’s friend Vinny, who owns the local record shop, is my favorite side character hands down. The situation with his parents in the present day is heartbreaking, and it just adds to the fractured life that Joseph has led in the past twenty years. Joseph is stuck in a rut, refusing to see the reality of his dismal situation with no job, a house that’s about to be repossessed, and a mother to take care of financially. Living like a hermit isn’t helping him any, but he’s forced to face the past and his present head on.
I give And Then She Vanished a 4.5 out of 5. You really get to go along for the ride with Joseph as he learns the how of time travel, and more importantly learn the do’s and don’ts for this universe. The side characters were well-developed and interesting. The writing and pacing were fantastic, and you could feel Joseph’s desperation to change history grow and grow as he got closer to saving Amy. And that’s when a twist happens that I never expected, but it certainly tied up the novel in such a unique and intriguing way. I loved how the ending opened this novel’s world up and that can go in such a different direction. I can’t wait for the next installment in June.
Find AND THEN SHE VANISHED
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Goodreads
About Nick Jones
Nick Jones was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and now lives in the Cotswolds, England. In a previous life, he ran his own media company and was a 2nd Dan black belt in Karate. These days he can be found in his writing room, working on his latest mind-bending ideas, surrounded by notes and scribbling on a large white board. He loves movies, kindness, gin, and vinyl.
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