OMG, what a fantastic read! This book totally gripped me from the first page and left me an emotional wreck. Jess and Ben are devastated when their 5 year old daughter Beth dies in a schoolyard accident. Seventeen years later Jess has remarried and has a two year old son. But things start to happen in Jess’s life and the past comes back to haunt her. This book has everything, tragedy, moments of joy and dark secrets. It is a fast paced psychological thriller with a big surprise ending. Don’t miss reading it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I literally did not put this book down once I started it. After a tragic beginning, the story twists and turns, dropping hints before the big reveal which I definitely was not expecting. This book is brilliantly written and the epitome of a page turner.

Seventeen years ago, something happened to Jess's daughter Beth. Since the book description doesn't give away what that is, I won't either. Jess has since moved away but it seems the past has caught up with her once again and someone has decided Jess hasn't yet been punished enough.

I am not known to be an emotional person (although these days, that's rather debatable) but the beginning of this story is so utterly heartbreaking and devastating that it left me with a massive lump in my throat and nearly brought a tear to my eye, thinking I might need to go find some tissues. These first few chapters will suck you in like a vortex and rip out your heart. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Unfortunately for me, I figured out quite early on what was going on and who was responsible for taunting Jess. Maybe I just read too many books in this genre but I felt it was rather obvious. However, that didn't take anything away from my enjoyment. Ultimately, this "thing" that happened in the past (vague, I know) has had an impact on quite a few people, not just Jess and that's what stood out for me in this story. Actions have consequences and they often affect more people than you realise.

This is a gripping and compelling page-turner about family, grief, secrets, guilt and obsession. I can't say I particularly warmed to any of the characters, except maybe Ben, but I could sympathise with them which is down to Lucy Dawson's fantastic writing and her ability to bring these characters to live. Jess, in my most humble opinion, made some mistakes and bad decisions but I could always somehow understand where she was coming from.

I'd say The Daughter was a pretty new experience for me. I can't quite remember reading such a tearjerking psychological thriller before but it worked like a charm and I look forward to reading more by Lucy Dawson in future.

<b>4.25 intriguing stars🌟🌟🌟🌟.25</b>

The beginning of this book is heart wrenching.... Jessica lives every mother‘s worst nightmare.... that phone call from the school, that your child has been rushed to the hospital.... this was brilliant on the authors part, it made Jessica such a sympathetic and relatable character.... I have to say Beth’s funeral was one of the toughest things I’ve read.... definitely have tissue handy.....

After Jessica loses her little girl she is encouraged to leave her home town, Her dad, and her husband.... The book then jumps forward 17 years and we find Jessica living a new life, but never forgetting her old life..... and her old life has definitely not forgotten her....

Secrets lead to lies and lies lead to secrets... it is a vicious circle.... Jessica absolutely has not always made the best choices, but I could always understand her motivations....

Some pretty creepy things happen in this book... that keep you wanting to know what exactly is going on..... I was keeping my fingers crossed for Jessica the entire time.... I did see one of the twists coming, but another twist took me by surprise.... and that was the creepiest of them all.....

I unquestionably recommend this book to all fans of the psychological thriller..... I especially recommend if you are a mother, you will sympathize with Jessica and feel her struggle throughout....

*** i’d like to thank Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of this book ***

This is a tense, gripping psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.
The first few chapters about Jess’ daughter are pretty heart wrenching and as a mother, I really felt sorry for Jess.
Jess moves away from that life and starts again and is lucky to meet Ed and have a son, James.
Soon things start happening in Jess’ life that are causing her to worry about her safety and the safety of her son. But she can’t work out who is behind the strange things happening in her home...
The book has a fantastic ending that will take your breath away.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Man. This book. I tell you what, when I start to read a book which looks to be a kind of domestic-come-psyhcological thriller style of book, I don't quite expect my emotions to be so totally amnipulated from the off. That is exactly what happens with The Daughter, the brilliant new thriller from Lucy Dawson. The book opens in the voice of young Beth, a girl much like any other, playing at school during break time, her whole future ahead of her. And yet it is amazing how quickly things can change. In just a few short paragraphs you get a feeling for the young child, a feeling cemented as the point of view changes to her mother, Jess, herself only very young and seemingly a little overwhelmed. We follow them on that fateful morning, when Jess takes Beth to school, starting a chain of events which will change everything. 

I have to be honest, by just a few short chapters in I was so in shock, so overcome by what had happened, that I wasn't sure quite how this was going to turn around from a tragic family tale of loss into a harder thriller with a real edge and yet it did. So quickly and effectively that I was hooked from the very beginning until the turn of the last page.

The bulk of the action takes place many years after the tragic loss of Beth, and as first I wasn't sure if I would take to Jess. Her actions at the start of the book seem almost selfish and yet there is also a clear sense of sacrifice in what she does. Whatever her motives, she has moved on with her life, now a mother once more and in a new relationship with Ed and everything seems to be going really well. Until one day it isn't. A name from the past comes back to haunt her and suddenly everything that she ran from seems to have been brought ever closer. I love the way that the author slowly feeds in these revelations, making you wonder how much of it is Jess's imagination and how much reality. There has always been something a little ... different about Jess, not that she would ever admit it, but even by her standards these new coincidences are a bit much.

There is a kind of otherworldliness to the plot at times, with things happening around the home that you are never quite clear if they are deliberate sabotage or something less tangible, or perhaps more spectral, with many things bringing Jess back to the fateful day that she lost Beth. It is slightly creepy and unnerving and Lucy Dawson has done a great job of letting the tension build and letting the question of Jess's sanity hang in the air, with even those she loves and trusts perhaps doubting her a little.

Despite there being a perhaps reasons not to, I really liked the character of Jess. I could kind of identify with her struggles and the sense of her grief and guilt is palpable as you read through the passages. But she seems far more settled in the latter years, her relationship with Ed far more grounded and much stronger than that of her first marriage. And Ed is a great character to get to know too, fiercely protective of his family and highly suspicious of the people from Jess's past. They share everything, all of her doubts and fears and this is a pairing which can stand almost anything, which is good because they are going to need to.

While some of the revelations weren't entirely unexpected, and I did manage to deduce one of the key reveals very early on, there were still plenty of shocks to be had and moments in which I could feel my eyebrows raise in complete surprise. Certainly there are elements to the story which, once revealed, are capable of making the skin crawl. This is a story of obsession, revenge, loss and regrets. Of new beginnings and second chances. Of betrayal and of unrelenting and undying love. Of the ultimate sacrifices which are made for family. But first and foremost it is a cracking good read which had me hooked from the off, and one which is highly recommended.

The book was a classic . Jess loved had a little girl called Beth . But she didn’t have for long.
Ben was married to Jess but Jess could not loved him enough . Thank you for Netgalley

I found The Daughter intriguing. The beginning was desperately sad, but drew me into the book immediately. After this traumatic start, the book skips 17 years and starts becoming seriously creepy. Very odd things happen to Jess, who has moved on with her new family. Who is playing with her head? Or are the strange events all merely coincidental? The Daughter is well-written, adeptly crafted and ultimately a satisfying read. Recommended for psychological thriller fans.

Heartbreakingly brilliant. The characterisation is so good you can feel every emotion in this, the first couple of chapters had me crying. With an explosive ending that twists you are amazed at the actions of so called pillars of the community. Flawed people, with flawed lives and some tragic circumstances
#thedaughter#netgalley

The Daughter
By Lucy Dawson

A chilling thriller that leaves the reader on the edge of their seat .A highly recommend read. 5 Stars !

I received this ARC through Netgalley for Bookouture.

Seventeen years ago, something happened to Jess's daughter Beth. Jess has tried everything to make peace with that day and the part she preyed in what happened . To distance herself from the mistakes of the past, Jess has moved away and started over with her family. But when terrifying things begin happening, Jess knows that her past has finally caught up with her.

This book will mess with your emotions at the start (have the tissues handy). The story starts again seventeen years later and Jess has remarried and now has a two year old son. There is a lot of suspense that is entwined like a fine weave throughout the second part of the book. The strange events and occurances that had strangely started to happen. There were twist and turns by the bucket load. I thought I knew where the story was going, who the culprit was and maybe how the story was going to end. But I was wrong, very wrong. This is a gripping, well written, page turning book that I just did not want to put down.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Lucy Dawson for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a great book! After running into her ex-flame who is now a teacher at her daughter’s school and being ambushed by a stranger who tells her God loves her daughter, Jess is worried whether she should have let Beth go to school that day at all. And then the worst happens and Jess and Ben are plunged into a parent’s worst nightmare. Fast forward seventeen years, Jess has a new life with a new family. But someone thinks that Jess has not paid enough for her sins…

The first part dealing with Beth’s death is undoubtedly difficult to read, but the second part really pulls you in and there’s no letting go after that. Fast-paced, thrilling, and absolutely riveting…you won’t be able to put it down! I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves a good psychological thriller.

"You cannot understand what it's like to lose a child unless it happens to you. It's every pain you have ever felt turned up so loud you can't think, move, speak -- and nothing drowns out the agony, not even for a second. It's what annihilation actually means."

Jessica's life changed when the unthinkable happened -- her darling 5-year-old daughter, Beth, died in an accident on the playground at school. Jessica left her then-husband, Ben, and walked out of that life. Someone made her go. And now, 17 years later, Jessica has remarried and has a new husband. She and Ed have a son, James, and Ed knows everything about Jessica's sordid past. So does someone else -- and all of a sudden, things start to unravel in their family life. Who is tormenting Jessica and what more does she have to do to pay for her past mistakes?

Although the identity of the tormentor is easily guessed by the reader, the narrative is told in such a manner as to create tension as Jessica tries to figure out why her past is ruining her present life. Jessica does the usual dumb things and makes choices that seem unlikely given her relationship to the various people in the story, but the tale unfolds with the drama of the evenentual unmasking. This is an emotionally wrenching book that tugs at the heartstrings and is hard at times to read because no parent wants to go there. Jessica is very three-dimensional and though at times I wanted to shake her, at others I just wanted to hold her and give a big hug. She has a lot of baggage to work through in addition to dealing with the loss of her child.

This was the first book by this author I've read and I'll definitely look for another. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the e-book ARC to read and review.

Thankyou Bookouture and Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review. The daughter by Lucy Dawson Is the first book that I have read from the author.
The story starts in 1999 when Jess is married to Ben and they have a daughter called Beth. She takes her daughter to school when she is surprised to see that the new headmaster at her daughter’s school is her old boyfriend Simon and his daughter Cara is going to the same school. Both the girls become friends. That morning Jess is met by a woman at the school gates saying that God loves her daughter. She thinks it’s weird and mentions it to her husband Ben.
Later on that day, Jess is called to the school to be told that Beth has had accident on the climbing frame. She asks to see her daughter, but then is told that her daughter is dead. Jess is distraught and blames herself. As she thinks that because she hasn’t told her husband that Beth might not be his, that she has been punished by her daughter dying. It is a very emotional time. She is consoled by Simon, but in walks Simons wife and later on threatens to stay away from Simon all she will kill her. With all that has happened in the last few days. Jess leaves Ben.
Seventeen years later. Jess now happily married to Ed and they have a two-year-old son. When strange things start to go wrong to her and her au pair Sandrine….
I really enjoyed this psychological thriller. It gripped me from the start and had so many twists and turns so many different emotions felt throughout the book. The only reason I gave it 4 stars as was waiting for a big ending but unfortunately it didn’t come. I was disappointed.

Loved this ,dark ,gripping with plenty of suspense . Highly recommended although I did guess The twist as the end !

Actually 4.5 stars.
I've read and enjoyed a couple of books by this author so I knew what I was getting into when I started this book and I wasn't disappointed.
This is a very emotional psychological thriller, mostly due to the topics covered but, as I started, I swiftly got rather emotionally invested into the characters. I needed to know what happened, what was going to happen. In short, I cared. It's best not to know too much before going in so I will try and tone my review appropriately.
We start in the past and Jess is taking her daughter Beth to school. An incident occurs on the way that unnerves Jess a little and, once she has dropped her daughter off, she goes to see Beth's teacher to voice her concerns. It then transpires that there is more to the relationship between Jess and the teacher than meets the eye. Then the unthinkable happens and there's an accident - one that rocks Jess's world; one she has to distance herself from.
Back in the present and Jess is now married to Ed and they have a young son. Things are ticking along quite nicely for them even though the past still haunts Jess. Then her nightmares start to come out from her head and into her life. At first it's just little things but things soon escalate and her present starts to mirror her past and it is at this point that she really fears for her life and the lives of those she loves.
Boy did this book grip me. I do have to admit to guessing certain key things along the way but they were never completely nailed on certainties and, as I did also get a few things woefully wrong, and more than enough paths that could be the right one, I was never really sure of anything. It's hard to explain without going more into the plot but I hope you get the gist of what I am struggling to say.
Characterisation was excellent. I really bought into the turmoil that was going on around Jess. Yes, she's not perfect, she's made some really rather bad mistakes in her life but, to be honest, who hasn't? But I really felt for her and what she, along with other characters, was going through. Other characters were just as well described and played out perfectly. Again, I can't give examples due to the nature of their individual characters and motives but needless to say for a book of this genre, there were secrets, lies and more than a bit of duplicitous behaviour to be had along the way.
There were, to me anyway, a couple of really obvious clues as to what was really happening, to someone who was, well let's just say someone with a dubious motive and duplicitous behaviour, but that motive and the complete truth evaded me right up until the end when, at the final reveal, I sat back and applauded the author for a job well done. I don't consider getting the clues as me being clever, more to the fact that I basically drink in this kind of book and some things just stand out to me more than others these days.
All in all, another winner from both the author and one of the most exciting publishers around these days. My thanks go to them and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2 STARS
ARC-Book Review
Release Date Jan 24th 2018

The Daughter (Kindle Edition) by Lucy Dawson is the first thing I have read by this author and this is a great psychological thriller that gripped me from the very start.
So I am trying to be as vague as possible with this review to avoid spoiling this thrilling piece of fiction as I feel explaining the plot too much will do just that, so I'm just going to give you my personal impressions of The Daughter.
So first, I wasn't aware of what was going to occur at the beginning so this hit me completely out of left field and left me in shocked disbelief.
To continue The daughter portrays its characters in all their flawed glory and I'm sure each of us can find at least one individual here to identify with, or at least find one to resemble an acquaintance we know.
And as the tension mounted and the terror campaign intensified, I was holding my breath in anticipation and also a somewhat fearful fascination.
The Daughter itself I found wasn't completely unique and at times it seemed quite predictable but during each new experience, you felt an almost stomach-churning dread right alongside Jess as shes made to somehow pay for what someone sees as her past guilt.
Like she hasn't suffered enough.
Jess even seeming at times to almost accept the mantle of blame like an atonement she really shouldn't have to feel.
I did kinda guess the perp and I was silently screaming at Jess to catch on and dig her head out the sand, this I found didn't affect my enjoyment of The Daughter, I almost felt like I was watching a movie, the only thing missing was the popcorn and the TV of course.
In fact, this would be fantastic on the big screen.
In conclusion, this was an excellent piece of fiction I enjoyed immensely and I would definitely recommend if you are a psychological thriller junkie like me.
Although somewhat predictable this didn't disappoint.
NetGalley provided me with an ARC of The Daughter by Lucy Dawson
of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

There is a brutally tear-jerking tragedy in the first part of the book. Jess & Ben lose their only daughter Beth aged five. I honestly don't know how anyone moves on from something like that. This is a book about the past, present and future and the life-changing decisions that were made because of the loss of Beth. Naturally, the paroxysm of grief always makes you revisit any grief you have personally suffered so it resonates strongly with all of us. It's hard to revisit. Jess however is not allowed to forget the past and move on properly after she meets up with an old lover. The effect of this meeting triggers no amount of trouble and it's a gasp at the end when you discover who is punishing her so wickedly. It's about the choices we make and the people we befriend. I found it decidedly creepy at times. Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read this novel. I shall spread the word after publication.

Jess enjoys her life. She is happily married with a young daughter. That is until a new head teacher comes to the school. An old flame. It is at that point that life starts to unravel and things are never the same again. Even years in the future it all comes back to haunt her - possibly literally!
This is a well constructed psychological thriller. There is an excellent build up throughout the book. The scene where Beth has a terrible accident at school at the start of the book is particularly well written and moved me to tears. Perhaps this isn't to be read in public!
There is a big twist at the end which I did actually see coming. I am not sure what clues led me to see this but I did. It didn't stop me enjoying the end of the book, however. The ending was quite in keeping with the story and worked well for me.
This is a good psychological thriller & I would be happy to read further work by this author.

I really loved this book I couldn’t put it down ! Real edge of the seat stuff. An excellent psychological read ! 8/10