Mystery• Thriller

Review: While she was gone by Lydia Aviles

October 12, 2026

Synopsis:

Two years missing. One knock. The truth was worse than anyone knew.

The state of Washington says she’s dead. She’s standing on his porch.

When a woman no one believes knocks on retired detective Brandon Sterling’s door in the middle of the night, he does what he’s always done — he listens. What she tells him will unravel a years-long conspiracy built on one devastating lie: that she never existed at all.

A twisting, emotional thriller about identity, betrayal, and the people who refuse to look away.

Review:

A woman showing up in the middle of the night, fleeing from a mental facility and wanting her life back (not being actually dead). What happened to her in the last to years came with a lot of twists and turns and the concept of a husband trying to get rid of his wife to become the owner of her assets is not something completely new, but it came with a plot that I haven’t seen done before. The were parts of it that really kept me guessing and rooting for everyone involved to be held accountable.

But then there was the dialogue that felt off to me at times. The constant repeating of the same line between characters threw me off. Why would you copy & paste the same sentence. Occasionally it did work, but sometimes multiple times on the same page did not. Also some phrasing of sentences did not feel like a natural conversation would go.
Did I enjoy the concept of the book? Yes. Did the writing style not fully resonate with me? Also yes. It might be a me problem though.

🌙 Recension: While she was gone by Lydia Aviles
📚 Genre: Mystery Thriller
📅 Release Date: September 27, 2026
📱 Read as: Kindle
📗 included in Kindle Unlimited
💸 I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 246
⭐️ 3/5