Invisible Girl

Invisible Girl is a dark, slow-burn kind of read about a missing girl that has a varied cast of characters, a few red herrings, and a creepy atmosphere. 

Things start off quite slowly, taking almost half of the book for the plot to really get going. The story features a group of unlikable characters and a trio of unreliable narrators (Saffyre, Owen and Cate). As the mystery of the missing girl progresses, I liked the insight readers are given into the inner thoughts and machinations of the narrators, particularly Owen Pick who feels lonely and neglected by society. But this focus gave the book more of a chilling character study feel than a psychological thriller.

Last year I was at an author event for Lisa Jewell and she commented that her next book was going quite a bit darker and wow, she wasn't kidding! The themes are very dark - rape, incel culture (aka involuntary celibacy - I didn't know that was a 'thing'), mental health, loneliness and self-harm. The story held my interest as Jewell created a creepy atmosphere, but things got a little too ominous for me and I found there were times when it got a bit convoluted and I wonder if there was just too much going on.

I read this in a few sittings and while it was creepier than my typical read (I am a self-proclaimed wuss of the first order), I also appreciate that she didn't hold back on gritty subjects. If you're going to go dark, don't half ass it. This story has a slow build up but if readers are patient, the loose ends are brought together for a satisfying ending. 

This was a good read, but it wasn't my favourite book by this author. But please know that my opinions are in the minority since it has received scads of great praise from other readers. Lisa Jewell remains one of my all-time fav authors and I eagerly look forward to what she comes out with next.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Atria for providing me with a digital advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Lisa Jewell

Genre: Suspense

Type and Source: eBook from NetGalley

Publisher: Atria

First Published: October 13, 2020 

Opening Lines: 11:59 pm - I duck down and pull my hoodie close 

around my face. Ahead of me the girl with red hair is 

picking up speed; she know she's being followed.

Book Description from GoodReads: The author of the “rich, dark, and intricately twisted” (Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author) The Family Upstairs returns with another taut and white-knuckled thriller following a group of people whose lives shockingly intersect when a young woman disappears.

Owen Pick’s life is falling apart.

In his thirties, a virgin, and living in his aunt’s spare bedroom, he has just been suspended from his job as a geography teacher after accusations of sexual misconduct, which he strongly denies. Searching for professional advice online, he is inadvertently sucked into the dark world of incel—involuntary celibate—forums, where he meets the charismatic, mysterious, and sinister Bryn.

Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family, headed by mom Cate, a physiotherapist, and dad Roan, a child psychologist. But the Fours family have a bad feeling about their neighbor Owen. He’s a bit creepy and their teenaged daughter swears he followed her home from the train station one night.

Meanwhile, young Saffyre Maddox spent three years as a patient of Roan Fours. Feeling abandoned when their therapy ends, she searches for other ways to maintain her connection with him, following him in the shadows and learning more than she wanted to know about Roan and his family. Then, on Valentine’s night, Saffyre Maddox disappears—and the last person to see her alive is Owen Pick.

With evocative, vivid, and unputdownable prose and plenty of disturbing twists and turns, Jewell’s latest thriller is another “haunting, atmospheric, stay-up-way-too-late read” (Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author).