Crikey. What a way to finish the old year and start the new year with this read. An utterly compelling novel.

Jenna is the recipient of a heart transplant, a transplant she urgently needed after becoming seriously ill very quickly and a transplant that has saved her life. While on her long road to recovery and heavily medicated Jenna begins to have dreams, very vivid dreams both when asleep and awake and is convinced she is experiencing past events from her donors life and sets out to try and find out who the donor was and, if this person has family to try and contact them to thank them, to find out how the donor died and to see if her dreams are real memories.
As the dreams increase in both vividness and regularity, Jenna becomes convinced that something terrible is happening and her donor is trying to warn her.

It's hard to go in to any more of the story without revealing spoilers. It turns into a sort of murder mystery/whodunit/psychological thriller, although the lines are always blurred as we are never sure what Jenna is experiencing is real or not.

I absolutely loved this book. A really interesting subject matter used as a vehicle to tell the story, the central character Jenna is a very well written character and you have total empathy with her throughout as she tries to make sense of what is real and isn't and piece together they mystery as she tries to hold on to her own sanity.

There's a full cast of characters in the book of course and all serve a purpose to the story. None feel thrown in as a plot device or anything like that. They are all an integral part of the story. Loads of really vivid and memorable characters that will long stay with me.

I loved the writing style, very descriptive without meandering. A lot of the novel is told from Jenna's perspective although we do have flashback sequences throughout. Of course we are kept in the dark throughout with little pieces being revealed as we proceed until it climaxes in a very exciting and thoroughly satisfying final act.

I honestly can't think of one thing to criticise this book about. It was a pure pleasure to read. I'd have no hesitation in recommending it and it fully deserves the five stars I've given it. I feel compelled now to seek out the authors previous novel The Sister such was my enjoyment of The Gift.

I'd like to thank NetGalley Bookouture and Louise Jenson for an ARC in exchange for and honest and unbiased review.

After Jenna's heart transplant, she begins to experience dreams that seem so real they are like memories but they aren't her memories. I loved this book, there were lots of twists and turns and you never knew where things were heading until you got there. A definite read!!

Wow! I thought I'd enjoyed The Sister but The Gift is even better, and I didn't think that would even be possible! Louise Jensen has exceeded all of my expectations after The Sister and has written a cracker of a book, one that stays with you long after you have turned the last page.

Jenna is grateful to receive a heart transplant and wants to thank the family of the donor in person. This isn't recommended by the hospital, but Jenna feels so strongly about it that she hires a private investigator to find Callie's family. Callie's family aren't exactly what she imagined them to be but Jenna feels like she knows them, although she can't explain the depth of her feelings. When Jenna finds out that Callie had a sister, Sophie, she is determined to find her. Jenna follows her instinct and takes her lead from strange flashbacks that seem to show Callie's life. What is Callie trying to tell her? All Jenna knows is that she must find Sophie. As she gets closer to the truth, she puts herself in more danger and she ends up in a race against time as it feels like her body is starting to reject Callie's heart.

I'm not sure if Jenna's heart was beating as wildly as mine was throughout this book; I could barely keep hold of my kindle as my palms started to sweat near the end. I loved the exploration of cellular memory and it's something that I do believe in, especially with a heart transplant. Is the heart just an organ that keeps us alive or is it so much more than that? I'd love to think that the heart is more than a vessel, that it contains all our feelings, hopes and fears. It's so comforting to think that an organ transplanted in another person means that the donor hasn't completely died. It's quite magical to think that a little piece of the donor lives on and the recipient absorbs a little of their very essence.

The Gift is so much more than a psychological thriller, although it is certainly a fantastic one, but for me it's a thought provoking look at the magic of the human body. It is also a stark reminder of how fragile we are and how by simply registering on the organ donor register we can save so many lives in the event of our death.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest an unbiased opinion.

Having read the author's previous book, I knew that I wanted to read this one, she had a lot to live up too but boy did she do it! This is a gripping psychological thriller which covers a tough subject. The Gift explores the touch subject of organ donation and the impact of this upon the recipient. The book covers the concept of Cellular Muscle Memory (whereby human cells retain their memories after transplantation, in this case, a heart) and whilst I have read a little bit about this in the past, the book really did made me wonder how much would the person receiving the organ know and could this change the past for the donor. The main character did slightly irritate me at times but not enough to be put off, I desperately wanted to know how the book was going to end, and I was really pleased with the ending. Plenty of twists and turns, I guessed some of them but still plenty of surprises for me. Looking forward to more of the same please Louise!