After Joy Fielding's other books that I have read this felt rather tame and a bit dull in places.
I struggled with it and gave up half way through unfortunately, but thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read it.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

Thanks to netgalley for the introduction to a new author for me. The book was well written, and I just had to see how it all panned out. Highly recommended.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Bonnier Zaffre and Joy Fielding for the opportunity to read and review a copy of The Bad Daughter.
I have read this author before and have never been disappointed. I was very excited to read her latest novel.
The Bad Daughter was a grippingly good read that keeps you intrigued from start to finish. The storyline was well thought out and fast paced. Definitely well worth a read. And if this novel is your first by Ms Fielding, you are in for a real treat.

I haven’t read a Joy Fielding book before, so I was very excited to get this copy from netgalley in exchange for a review.

Robin a therapist is estranged from her family, but when her sister Melanie gets in contact to tell her that their dad has been shot she is forced to go home.

This is not you’re average family, dad married Robins friend Tara which was a bit twisted as she was engaged to his son Alec. Her sister Melanie is to put it politely a pain in the ass!! They say you can pick you’re friends but not you’re family and in this case they are right. Boy what a dysfunctional family they are, they make the Adams family seem normal!!

The attack in their home of the dad, his wife Tara and step daughter Cassidy looks like a random robbery gone wrong

Throughout this book I thought I knew who the guilty party was, then I would change my mind a few pages later. I’m so pleased that the most obvious culprit didn’t do it as this would have made it a very predictable read!!!

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

This is my first Joy Fielding and I LOVED it, so if people are saying I s not her best she must be a goddess. Seriously, I loved the protagonist, I really felt like I was there amongst this family, and the twist really got me. A great beach read.

I heard so many good things about The Bad Daughter by Joy Fielding and was looking forward to reading this.
However, I struggled to get into this book, I just want to put it down and give up. But Still carried on reading it.
I found this book long and it just didn't grip me. But, this did not put me off reading more of Joy's books as I have loved the ones I have read in the past. Just wasn't for me.

Thanks to Random House/Ballantine and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review

I'm a big fan of Joy Fielding and this book, though a slightly different feel to some of her others, did not disappoint! Edge of the seat stuff and a great, gripping read!

Gosh, what an unsettling book! I honestly can’t tell you if I enjoyed it or not. It left me feeling some what uncomfortable.

A break in occurs in a small sleepy American town and an entire family are shot. The family of the attacked all rally round in an effort to help solve this unspeakable crime. However, it seems each family member has their own secrets to hide.

It was an interesting thriller but I found all the characters a little ‘drab’. I didn’t like any one of them and found they all had horrible flaws and mean personalities. That said, I read it in one day and was gripped in knowing what happened, so the book held my attentions.
Unfortunately my guesswork proved correct and I’m always disappointed when I manage to correctly call out the killer.
It’s a tricky one to summarise - did I like it? No. Would I recommend it? Yes.

This book was really good with lots of twist and turns right to the last chapter. Robin gets a phone call from her estranged sister, Melanie. Her father, step-mother and teenage step-stepsister have been shot in a home invasion. Robin returns back to the town she left years ago and tries to give comfort to her family. But who shot them? Read on!

Murders set in a dysfunctional family.

Robin Davis is a therapist living in LA with her lawyer boyfriend Blake. In the opening chapter, she gets a call from her sister to say that her father, his second wife, Tara (her former best friend), and Tara’s daughter, are all in a critical condition having been shot. So, Robin sets off to the home she left five years ago to find out who has done this to her family.

This thriller develops slowly. The main character, Robin, suffers from panic attacks and many other anxieties, no doubt brought on by her totally dysfunctional family which is full of rather soap-box characters. The father is a bully, the elder sister is a bitter and jealous woman, the brother is weak, the step-daughter unbelievably precocious - and so it goes on. The story, setting out to find the killer, is the basis for a good thriller but it is held up by too much dialogue which often becomes repetitive, as do Robin’s own thoughts. Towards the end, the various twists and turns of the plot keep the pages turning and finally, the true identity of the murderer comes as a shock - if a little hard to believe.

There is a good story lurking in here somewhere, but it has become bogged down and slow-moving, especially in the middle chapters.

Worth a read if you persevere.

Jane

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

I have not read a Joy Fielding Book for probably about ten years. After reading The Bad Daughter I am thinking why on earth not? How could I forget about such a good author - what have I been missing out on?
I thoroughly enjoyed the Bad Daughter which had me hooked from the start. A therapist who clearly is in need of therapy herself to deal with her family and personal issues that causes her panic attacks and then within a few pages we learn her father, step mother and 12 year old step sister have all been shot. Was it a simple burglary gone wrong? If not, who on earth would do such a thing to a seemingly likeable family?
Enough thrills and twists and turns to keep me on the edge of my seat.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy in exchange for an honest review.

I am an avid reader of Joy Fielding's novels, so I was very happy to review this latest one. I felt that this was quite different to her other books.
The story is of a dysfunctional family The main character suffers from panic attacks and her sister has a big attitude problem towards everyone and everything! The characters are very real. Another great thriller mystery from Joy Fielding, I would recommend it.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I've read by Joy Fielding, but I really liked the sound of it - I LOVE a twisted family full of dark secrets kind-of-story, so that sold it to me. And it started off so very well! Beginning with Robin, a Councillor but clearly struggling with her own anxieties and emotions, getting a phone call from her sister to tell them her father, his wife and step sister had all been shot, I was gripped within a few pages with the hints and questions the author throws up to snare the reader. Why did Robin react so badly to hearing from her sister? Why is she clearly so anxious at the thought of returning home? And why had a whole family, including a 12 year old girl, been shot? When it's revealed that her father's wife is Robins own childhood best friend and she hasn't spoken to her family in years I was hooked, and settled down to a good old dark domestic drama. 

I thought the concept was excellent - with a whole host of suspicious characters looming in the small town Robin is so reluctant to return to. I really liked the character of her sister, Melanie - sharp, witty, poisonous, this is definitely a woman with a grudge. I also thought the whole small town dynamic was captured very well, giving that sense of claustrophobia and everyone knowing each others business that adds a distinct atmosphere and works so well in thrillers. 

I did feel the book lost some momentum around a third of the way through though, and my attention began to wan a little. There's a hell of a lot of dialogue and an awful lot of back and forward bickering that felt a bit repetitive. A big focus was on the interactions between the two sisters, yet it didn't seem to move the story on as quickly as I'd have liked and meant I wasn't compelled to keep reading the way I want to from this kind of book. 

I limped a little through the middle of this book, taking a couple of days to get through. But then just when I was about to loose interest completely, the booked picked up pace, and all of a sudden got exciting again! I'd been blindsided by the argumentative sisters and hadn't seen a shocker of a twist coming, and as the final chapters flew by I was glad I'd stuck it out in the end. 

I can't decide if the misleading focus of the sisters relationship was clever or not. On the one hand, it completely threw me when all is revealed and took me by surprise. On the otherhand, it almost felt a bit too out of the blue to be real. I still think the concept was an excellent one, and I'd definitely pick up a book by this author again, having finished on a high. Overall, a book with a lot of potential that was worth reading to the end, but for me just missed the mark a little.

At the end of last year I read ‘She’s Not There’ by Joy Fielding. I really enjoyed that book, so when I was asked to review ‘The Bad Daughter’ I immediately said yes. And when I read the book description, I was really excited to start reading as soon as possible.

In ‘The Bad Daughter’ we meet Robin Davis. Robin is a therapist who seems to have her life on track, but when her sister calls who she hasn’t talked to in years, memories of her past come fast. And soon Robin is having panic attacks. When her sister tells her, her father and his family is shot, Robin decides to go back to the town she ran away from. And soon she finds out her family has many secrets.

Just like with the previous book I read by Joy Fielding, this book grabbed me from the beginning and I just didn’t want to stop reading. From the very first page I just had so many questions going on in my head and I just had to keep on reading to find out the answers.

There was one thing I didn’t really like about this read and that was a pretty big thing: the characters. Somehow I just couldn’t connect with the main character Robin, and the other characters all just seemed off to me too. And don’t even start with the relationships between those characters, they were just very complicated.

But the fact that the author was able to make me want to keep on reading, and the fact I didn’t really figure out who was the one who shot Robin’s father till the very end made this a very thrilling and interesting read. Definitely another good read by Joy Fielding.

Joy Fielding was a new author to me until last December when I was invited to review She's Not There, check out my review here, and now a couple of months later it's time to read her latest book which has just been published in eBook format, paperback to follow in the Summer. The premise of The Bad Daughter sounded right up my street but I hate it when publishers put on taglines such as in this case 'A gripping psychological thriller with a devastating twist' - yes once the story got going this was a gripping read but I'm afraid I wasn't hit with the devastating twist as I figured it out quite early on....

Our main protagonist Robin certainly has her fair share of issues, not least the reason why she left her hometown of Red Bluff and has not returned since, but she soon drops everything and gets the next bus home following a phone call from her sister Melanie to say that their father and his family were attacked in their own home and are seriously ill.

The relationship between Robin and Melanie was certainly an interesting one, as despite welcoming Robin to stay with her in the old family home, it was clear that there was deep-rooted resentment that has lingered for years. But when all is said and done family is family and even if they don't always agree with each other's opinions they are able to pull together and be there to support one another when the investigation of the attack indicate that the culprit may be closer to home than they think.

As you can imagine in a small town like Red Bluff, everyone knows everyone and everybody is interested in your business, so not only did they have to deal with the police questioning everyone close to the family to find a motive but they also had the locals watching their every move. As the story progressed and more characters were introduced there were certainly plenty of suspects to point the finger at but from about the midway point I had a niggling suspicion as to who may have been responsible but just not the motive.

Overall I did enjoy reading The Bad Daughter but it didn't have the devastating twist I was expecting as promised in the tagline. I think if that hadn't been there then I probably wouldn't have been looking for that extra twist to completely throw me off track.

This book is full to the brim with family secrets and I enjoyed trying to work out who the killer’s were.
Robin receives a phone call from her sister to say their father has been shot along with his new wife and daughter in what seems to be a break-in gone wrong.
Robin knows she should return home but she hasn’t seen any of her family for over five years.
Her relationship with her sister Melanie is extremely strained and I really don’t know how Robin managed to stay with her while waiting for news of their father as she was so awful to her.
As the story progresses more and more secrets are revealed and I really didn’t see that ending coming!
I can’t say too much more about the story as I don’t want to spoil it but if you like psychological thrillers then give this a try.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for the opportunity to read this book.

Many years ago, Robin has left her hometown of Red Bluff and cut all connections with her family. It was when her father married her then best friend and her brother’s fiancée soon after their mother had died of cancer. She simply couldn’t forgive him. In L.A. she started a new life as a therapist and was about to marry Blake. Now, she needs to go back because her father has been fatally wounded, his wife shot dead and the twelve-year-old daughter seriously injured by some gunmen who entered the house at night. Her sister Melanie isn’t very keen on welcoming her back, Robin had always been their mother’s favourite. But now the two have to get along somehow and help the police find the murderer. But they soon figure out that things aren’t that easy and when Melanie’s son and their brother Alec come under suspicion, things are complicated while the real criminal is running free...

Joy Fielding is one of the best-known contemporary thriller writers and “The Bad Daughter” can hold up to the expectations. A cleverly constructed plot, multifaceted characters who do not show their real face immediately and several leads that only lead you to dead ends make a round and sound story.

Setting the story in a dysfunctional family where there are many unsaid things buried under the surface and which can surprise you again and again with the characters’ unexpected yet credible behaviour was definitely a clever step. The fact that you do not really like all the characters just makes them more authentic and the story a lot livelier.

Even though I am not sure if I really find the solution 100 percent convincing, I liked the novel. It is not an absolutely fast-paced and nerve-wrecking thriller, but the looming danger of the perpetrator still being around surely was responsible some goose bumps.

The story goes thus Robin a psychologist gets a phone call from her sister Melanie about a home invasion in which their Dad, step-mom Tara (who actually was Robin's classmate and best friend and Robin's brother's ex-fiance) and her child Cassidy have been shot. She rushes home, has a lot of panic attacks, reacts in the story at the apt times, tolerates her sister Melanie's snarky comments, brings Cassidy back home. Her lawyer boyfriend Blake also joins her, Melanie's autistic son looks suspicious. And soon their brother Alec joins them. The entire family gets together after 5 years or so.... Around this shooting...

Another book by Joy Fielding, I have read some of her books, but this book was different, too placid most times till the last 20%, where the ending had the twists. The entire family and the extended family, all were dysfunctional, there were hardly any emotions. Robin was either having a panic attack or she was coping up with her sister's rude remarks. Her face had a scrunched up look apparently — So she didn't impress me

Her sister Melanie, was always angry throughout the book, she didn't seem to care for anyone, including her autistic son, she seemed to be full of resentments — So she didn't impress me.

Alec their brother, both the sisters don't seem to know him, and neither did I get to know him — So I ain't impressed.

Blake, the voice of reason, was the only one who impressed me. He hardly had any role in the book other than being a support to Robin. But he provided a certain aura of calmness to the story... But he was not part of the plot... So a good secondary character with no role...

The plot was a whodunit, who shot them all, revealed at the end with clues all over the book. The pace was good, slow at parts, as not much of a story did occur in the 2 weeks post shooting. The ending though dramatic was slightly unbelievable. But as I have been told, artistic license and all that...

I did read the book at one go, I skimmed over the parts where nothing happened to leap over the ending.

A hostile relationship with her sister and a complicated past with her fathers second wife have kept Robin estranged from her family for many years. When her fathers new family is attacked in their house, with her father, his wife and young daughter in critical condition in hospital, she returns to await their fate and hopefully mend some fences. Is this a robbery that's went awry or something a little more sinister?

This is a well written and fast paced book. The plot line was quite intresting, but I guessed where this one was going early on. The characters, some are likeable, others not so likeable, all seemed realistic to me. A dysfunctional family mystery that won't keep you guessing but don't let that put you off reading this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Bonnier Zaffre and the author Joy Fielding for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.