The author of the “rich, dark, and intricately twisted” (Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author) The Family Upstairs returns with Invisible Girl; another taut and white-knuckled thriller following a group of people whose lives shockingly intersect when a young woman disappears.
I received an ARC of this book free from Atria Books via NetGalley; however, all opinions are my own, and I was not required to give a review. This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive compensation at no cost to you.
Invisible Girl
by Lisa Jewell
Atria Books | October 13, 2020 | 368 pages| Hardcover | $14.99
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).
My review
I really enjoyed Invisible Girl. This chilling thriller is the fourth Lisa Jewell book I’ve read, but not since The Girls in the Garden, the first one of hers I read, have I given one a five star review.
Jewell weaves three very different families together into one engrossing story. Her characters are very well-developed, and I think we’ve all known “real” people like those in the story. This makes Invisible Girl so much more effective at getting to our emotions. You’re thinking, “How could he/she do that to her/him?” and “What is wrong with you, girl/guy!”
I could really relate to Cate’s fierce protectiveness regarding her teens, and if you’re a mom, you probably will too. All of the characters will get to you in one way or another. They’re so layered and they hide their layers well. Therefore, it’s astonishing when they do something so unexpected! It’s undeniably a big part of what makes Invisible Girl such a great thriller.
The setting is incredibly creepy, though if you were on the outside looking in, you probably wouldn’t think so. You’d see an affluent, desirable neighborhood. You wouldn’t see the coldness or disconnect there. It’s the perfect backdrop for Invisible Girl.
Invisible Girl will keep you turning the pages, and you’ll stay up way past your bedtime just to finish it. I read it in a little over a day because, try as I might, I couldn’t stay awake for those last few chapters. You are going to want to add this incredible novel to your TBR piles.
About Lisa Jewell
Lisa Jewell is the internationally bestselling author of seventeen novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Family Upstairs and Then She Was Gone, as well as Watching You and I Found You. Her novels have sold more than 4.5 million copies across the English-speaking world, and her work has also been translated into twenty-five languages. Connect with her on Twitter @lisajewelluk, on Instagram @lisajewelluk, and on Facebook @lisajewellofficial