Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell (Book #8)

Title: Invisible Girl

Author: Lisa Jewell

Dates Read: Jan. 20 - Jan. 25

Format: Physical Book

Rating: ★★★

Description: A taut and white-knuckled thriller following a group of people whose lives shockingly intersect when a young woman disappears.

Review: I'm not sure how I feel about this book. In general I liked it just like I liked all of Jewell's other books. But the more books she comes out with, the more obvious her "formula" becomes. The first half of the book is always a little confusing as she is setting the stage and introducing the characters, then the second half is fast paced as her characters begin to figure things out and speed towards a climax. Then Jewell always likes to throw a little extra twist in right at the end. I always struggle through that first half, but when I get to the end, all that struggling is somehow worth it which is annoying and makes her books hard to rate.

Additionally, Jewell seems to rewrite the same four or five characters over and over again - the middle-aged woman who has been wronged by men and must solve the mystery, the middle-aged man who has a lot to hide, the victim (usually a girl), the obvious suspect, and the hidden-in-plain-sight killer. If you read enough of her books, it's super easy to identify who the killer is quickly. In the case of Invisible Girl, the story ended up going somewhere I didn't expect, but not in a good way. I wasn't super impressed with the twists or the big reveal. It was a let down considering how much build up there was.

Final Note: Lisa Jewell is one of the mystery/thriller writers that I will always read alongside Ruth Ware and Shari Lapena. Not all of their books are stars but they are better than most. Even though I didn't love Invisible Girl, I know I will read Jewell's next book.