Ghosted
Published May 2020 (first published January 2020), Kindle Edition 323 pages
Violet and Zoe are best friends, joined at the hip...until Zoe vanishes.
Meanwhile Violet tries to juggle a new relationship and a demanding job as a midwife, where she meets a mum-to-be who faces her own unexpected challenges.
Who can Violet turn to to help her to find out what lies behind Zoe’s disappearance?
This is a story with twists and turns. A story of friendship. A story of trust.
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
I absolutely loved Ghosted. Violet and Zoey have been best friends forever. They tell each other everything. They are there for one another in the worst of times (the book opens with some distressing and extremely well written abuse scenes that suck you right in.) So when Zoey abruptly disappears, ghosting her, Violet can’t understand what’s going on.
Without revealing too many details that would spoil this delicious women’s fiction read, this delves into relationships, both of the friendship and romantic variety, domestic abuse, anxiety, and is also part a medical drama (which I loved! So detailed and added a lovely side plot as Violet works with her patients in her role as a midwife.) As Violet navigates a new relationship, she struggles to figure out what’s going on with Zoey, and why at every turn, she is thwarted to discover any answers. I really enjoyed this one and am excited to see there are more Violet and Zoey books!
Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
Rating: really liked it
[Matt had went off the deep end and killed Zoe or Violet in a fit of rage when he had his heart broken (hide spoi
Rating: really liked it
Like others have previously stated, I found the story predictable and not what I was expecting according to the description. Good effort by the author though and fairly entertaining, just not a good fit for me.
Rating: really liked it
I got a free copy of this book and was asked to write an honest review.
First of all, I need to state that it's not that easy to be "brutally" honest since I feel grateful I got the book for free - but I will do my best.
So, the book is structured in three axes:
1. Zoe and Violet's friendship,
2.Violet's personal life and
3.Violet's professional life.
The chapters serve mostly as separating borders between the narrations of these three different aspects of Zoe's life. All three axes help us form a very clear picture of Violet's personality, who is the main character of the book. The reader gets to know her pretty well, understand her reasoning and follow her thought process. We get to know Zoe, Luke, Adrian, and all the other people through Violet's interaction with them. This leads to a somewhat limited understanding of their actions and motives and contributes to the mistery.
(view spoiler)
[
Now, breaking down the axes...
The friendship: a 22-year-old friendship seems to be the most important relationship in Violet's life. She doesn't have any other friends, she does not communicate with family members, except for some messages to her mom that are briefly mentioned.
Violet's personal life: She has had a number of dysfunctional even abusive relationships and she has not spent time alone. She jumps from one relationship to the other and she adapts to please her partner.
Violet's professional life: She's a midwife without much education. She seems to take her job really seriously. Her job is the only place she seems to be in control of herself.
Generally, Violet is a person with a lot of issues. She has anxiety attacks and she has unresolved issues from her childhood which the author tries to directly connect with her current behavior and her attachment to Zoe.
The author is trying to make connections between the characters' current behavior and their childhood with other characters in the book as well, namely Matt, and I actually found that as a simplified explanation.
Another problem I found with the book is that it's not until 40% of the book that Zoe disappears. The problem is that even then she doesn't really disappear since, soon after that, we learn from other sources that she's fine. So there is no element of worry about her wellbeing. We know she is well, there is no worry about her being killed or abducted, especially after Violet goes to her work. We gather fairly quickly that she just doesn't want to talk to Violet. At that point, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue with the book since I didn't particularly like Violet and I felt that, well, I didn't care that much about the reasons Zoe had to stop talking to her. I actually got a bit annoyed that I had to read half of the book before Zoe disappeared, only to find out that she had not really disappeared.
Matt was the classic type of villain. He was attractive, with a dream job - architect- and he was head over heels with her from day one. And it was easy to predict from the moment he appeared that he would be the one responsible for whatever bad happened.
There were way too many details about Violet's job and Claire's story. Since I have had a child I was familiar with most of the things that were mentioned but I don't know how all these would be perceived by a male reader. However, I must say that I read Claire's story with a lot of interest even though I did not feel it had any value to the actual storyline.
I think if I hadn't read it thinking that this is a mystery book or a psychological thriller - because that was the impression I got from the description- I would have liked it more. But I don't think that the description prepares you for the actual book. Yes, what is listed in the description is part of the book but it's mostly about a midwife's life who has been in abusive relationships and thinks she finally found a good one but then her friend stops talking to her. This is a much more accurate description and it will not disappoint the reader by letting him expect a thriller.
On the positive side, I have to say that there are a lot of realistic aspects in the book and even though I was expecting some crazy explanation regarding Zoe's disappearance like in the other books, the explanation that we get is so realistic and it could happen to anyone, given that we meet the right type of crazy.
(hide spoiler)]
Rating: really liked it
I really didn’t rate this book at all. I felt that there was a huge build up to the girl going missing and such a let down how it turned out. There was way too much time spent on describing medical procedures and not enough on character development. I feel that it promised so much but was an anti climax for me.
Rating: really liked it
This book’s cover makes you think of Chick Lit. The blurb of Thriller. Well, it wasn’t really one or the other but a weirdly meh mix of both.
I could see this being some kind of naïve telling of a bad thing like we were seeing everything from the main character point of view. But I think this would have been to be much darker in reality for this to actually work and be understood as such. Was this what even was trying to be achieved but failed? I’m not even sure.
The main character was not for me (I rolled my eyes at her too many times to count) and the all thing was just really underwhelming.
I did enjoy the midwife life part of the story but it wasn’t supposed to be the main story so...
Maybe this was just a really bad fit between book and reader?
I received a copy of this book from the author
Rating: really liked it
The opening chapters of this novel were a very uncomfortable read for the right reasons—a very insightful portrait of a woman in an emotionally abusive relationship. Everything about the beginning is strong: the understanding of abuse, the narrator’s voice, the way the story hooked me and stressed me out as I yearned for her to liberate herself. Sadly, for me the rest of the book was a let down.
It’s a very well-written story. Told in the first person, the author does a good job is developing the main character’s personality and both her perceptions and imperceptions about the world around her. There’s a quirky turn of phrase every now and then too. Very well edited and proofed, I don’t think I saw a single typo. I did find the rest of the novel to be a bit rambling.
Unlike some of the other reviewers, I liked the way it ended. That is. I liked the way it ended for the main character. I found the central problem of the story—the reason for the ghosting—to be anti-climatic, but I liked way the main character seemed to finally find a sense of herself independent of her need for other people.
I think this is a novel for people who are interested in women’s lives and personal growth. It is not a thriller and, apart from the tension in the beginning, there isn’t a lot of high drama. Just a quiet story of human relationships and growth
Rating: really liked it
Two best friends since childhood, Zoe and Violet find themselves in their early twenties navigating adult responsibilities including building careers and romantic relationships. The reader discovers early on that the main character, Violet is embarking on a journey of self-discovery that grows throughout the story and finally resolves at the end. For Violet there are romantic relationships lost and gained while for Zoe there are secrets that need to be told.
This book is an enjoyable, quick read that focuses on Violet’s perspective and her growth into a more healthy, mature adult. In the midst of a growing career in becoming a midwife, Violet finds herself working through how to balance relationships with her patients and faces the biggest challenge of them all when Zoe suddenly “ghosts” her (in the modern sense of the phrase) for unknown reasons. Violet is then left in a world where she is pushed to gain confidence in her own perspective and start calling the shots in her own life.
Rating: really liked it
Violet and Zoe are best mates and have been since forever. They have a routine - coffee at the same cafe every week they go to the gin festival every year AND they know everything about one another. After a break-up Violet meets Matt. Worrying that she's on the rebound (and how fast it's going) Violet decides not to tell Zoe about her new love interest. When Violet finally comes clean, Zoe disappears. Zoe has completely ghosted Violet.
The start of this book provides a perfect preamble to the plot. We get to know Violet and Zoe's characters and it is a shock when Zoe disappears (even though I knew this would happen because that's the title). I could sort of see the end - but I didn't want to believe it because I was already invested! That's how well written the characters are.
A subplot is introduced at Violet's job (she's a midwife) and this served to help me understand Violet's apprehension. There are some beautiful analogies in the prose which made it all the more enjoyable.
I chose to read the Kindle version, but Ghosted is available as an audiobook. I had a quick listen to the sample and it's of a very high quality clear and I would say a 'standard' English accent.
Rating: really liked it
Ghosted starts heavy, with an abusive boyfriend, a tumultuous relationship, and suspense—from the description—about Zoe’s eventual disappearance. What you get, actually, is itself a twist from what you expect. Ghosted is instead a quiet story about friendship, relationships, and personal growth, not a thriller or paranormal novel.
It’s a quick read, with an easy-to-follow plot. Even though I’m not likely the target market (young women?), the characters are well-developed and relatable.
From a technical standpoint, I’m not a fan of Rowney’s use of ellipses, and the character’s dialogue could sometimes sound unnatural, but otherwise I’d recommend the book.
Rating: really liked it
"Ghosted" by J.E. Rowney centers around main character Violet - mainly her job and her relationships. She’s employed as a mid-wife and from the technical jargon I could tell that the author either knows a lot about midwifery or she did a heck of a lot of research on the subject. Either way, I found the subject quite interesting to read about. Violet has a best friend, Zoe who is happily married to Luke, unlike Violet who has been flitting in and out of abusive relationships for many years. Rowney does a truly superb job of describing the typical abuse victims thought process and often skewed rationale behind staying with an abuser.
When the story starts out, Violet has reached the breaking point with her current abuser, Adrian. Once Adrian is out of her life, she decides it is finally time to concentrate on herself – enter Matt. Once Matt appears, Zoe disappears and this is where the story begins to take on an almost thriller feel. The author keeps us guessing as to where Zoe is and who is involved in her disappearance, while also balancing an equally compelling back-story involving a patient of Violet’s who is facing a heartbreaking diagnosis.
I found the writing to be flawless and although I personally would’ve preferred the story to have a more dramatic ending, it didn’t take away in the least from this truly enjoyable read.
Rating: really liked it
Ghosted is a well-written and easy-to-read piece that flows along nicely. Its focus is on Violet, a twenty-something midwife who’s living in the dominating shadow of her abusive boyfriend Adrian. She finds the courage to break up with him - and almost immediately finds herself starting a new romantic relationship with Matthew. Zoe, her lifelong best friend, warns her not to go too fast. Soon, Zoe unexpectedly and inexplicably cuts off all contact with Violet, leaving her reeling and confused.
This is a book about relationships and what they mean. Violet and Zoe’s friendship takes center-stage, but the story also examines the connections Violet has with her boyfriends (past and present), Zoe’s relationship with her husband, and Violet’s emerging friendship with one of her patients. There’s a lot to like here – the characters are fleshed out nicely and their actions and feelings ring true. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by life and lost in its sticky milieu, you’ll probably feel a kinship with Violet.
If there’s one point where the book is lacking, it’s that it takes a while to get going. The first half of the book reads like a romance novel, with very little conflict beyond the first few chapters. The back half of the book is where things really start to move, and at that point the plotlines start to come together nicely. Readers should also be aware that there’s no high-stakes plot or gripping suspense – at its heart it’s a simple tale of two friends who have lost each other. Do Violet and Zoe ever reconnect? What causes Zoe to stop all communication with Violet? Read it to find out.
Rating: really liked it
I think overall this book is well written, with some interesting insight into abusive relationships, and the complexities about coercive control. However I leapt into this and was hooked, with a view that this was a thriller....it’s definitely not!
It’s very well written, and it is gripping but I couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment when I got more than halfway through and realised this wasn’t going the way I thought! I also spent a lot of time reading about a day in the life of a midwife! I expected the Claire story to be part of the twists, but was mistaken!
If you are expecting a thriller, or mystery then this isn’t the book for you, but if you are happy to read a really gripping and interestingly written novel with lots of insight into abuse and midwifery then please pick this up and give it a go!
Rating: really liked it
Although this book was a quick and interesting read I just couldn’t handle the “twist”.....if we can even call it that. I received this book as an ARC in a giveaway in exchange for my review. I thought the author spent about 80% of the book giving extremely detailed accounts of the happenings of characters that don’t. even. matter. I can’t recommend the book because it just doesn’t feel like it belongs in the genre it’s listed under. Overall quick read but I’d rather spend my time on a book that has even the slightest amount of plausibility in its “thrill factor”. Overall a 2.75 because I just can’t say I liked it but I don’t think it deserves a 2....
Rating: really liked it
This book had me hooked from the first chapter, the author really understands relationships, romantic and friendships.
The story plays out to the last paragraph, bringing all the characters and situations to life in a totally believable manner.
So much more than chick lit.
