Member Reviews

A Mother's Sacrifice by Gemma Metcalfe is a phenomenal psychological thriller. Fantastic characters, remarkable plot with incredible twists. Prepare to be on the edge of your seat while you read this book.

The story beggings on Christmas Day, which also is Louisa's sixth birthday. After her mother's death, little Louisa is sent to a children's home, where years later she meets and falls in love with Aiden. Young love doesn't last long, it ends with a big sorrow that will hunt Louisa into her adulthood. But life is full of great surprises. First, Louisa meets a charming and loving James, and ten long and difficult years later they welcome a bundle of joy, by the name Cory, into their lives. However days after the birth, Louisa begins to suspect that someone is after her child. James and her friends suspect that Louisa is suffering from a postpartum depression. They can no longer handle Louisa's obsession and they talk her into getting help. But is it a paranoia if it's really happening?

An incredible novel, full of mystery, many puzzles and an unpredictable ending.

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great book that had me always wondering who was behind all of it, and just when I thought I had it all figured out, bam! something totally from left field. I liked the book but found the end was too far out of left field for me to believe.

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Wow! this book was tense and kept me on the edge of my seat hardly daring to breathe. A really great thriller that will keep you guessing and engrossed for hours. I loved this book, I was captivated from the first page and couldn't put it down I read it in super quick time. And that ending, well just wow! This book really does deserve 5 stars it was brilliant.

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This is the first book that i have read from this author. Wow what a ride it took me on..i thought i had it figured out a few times.. wrong wrong wrong.. Great twist and turns in this one!!!
Will be checking out the other book Trust Me as shown a excerpt at the end of the book


Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an early release of this book

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Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book as an arc. This was a great read, I really enjoyed it. Firstly the giving birth scene was so realistic, I could actually feel Louisa's pain! Very well written. After Louisa gives birth to her much longed for baby Cory, she slides into a kind of madness. Is this down to post natal psychosis or is someone really trying to steal her baby? The story flips back and forward between past and present and between different characters' perspectives. The book is so twisty, at times you are suspecting all different characters of messing with Louisa's mind and there are some definite shocks in store! Louisa has had a tragic upbringing, parts of her story are really sad, but there is a wee bit of black humour in the book too which I really enjoyed. Really good book, I would certainly recommend it.

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With Louisa's troubled childhood and history of depression, everyone expects her to have some level of post-partum depression following the birth of her son. So when she says that someone is threatening to take her son away from her, no one believes her. And that's just what the person behind everything has been counting on all along. It won't take much to push her over the edge and then the baby is going to be all theirs...

Extremely thrilling and addictive, I couldn't put this book down. It kept me guessing till the end, throwing out twists and turns I never expected. But the ending was too twisty, even for me. Maybe some readers may like it...I don't know. For me, this book would have been a four star if it had a different ending.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQDigital for an ARC of this book.

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I was gripped from the first page. The way Gemma Metcalfe writes draws both the characters out and the reader in. I felt myself either empathising or at times being characters. Each twist made me want to carry on reading - I read whole book in only 3 sittings. Well researched background information gave the plot credibility. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and do hop that a sequel will follow, and that it will be soon.

I feel very privileged to have been able to read an advanced copy. I have downloaded Trust me to read too.

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This is the second book I’ve read by Gemma and this was very different from the first but I wasn’t disappointed. A gripping thriller very different from anything else i have read before. Gripping. I guessed some bits but Inkept changing my mind as to what would happen next. Didn’t see the end coming. Quite a traumatic book but well worth the read.

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This is the second book by Gemma Metcalfe that I’ve read and I was a bit worried when I started that it wouldn’t be as good as her first novel Trust Me. However I didn’t need to be worried as this was brilliant!

The story is about Louisa and James, who have just become parents after many attempts of IVF treatment. Louisa is very protective of their baby Cory, after all he is their little miracle. But then Louisa’s traumatised past comes back to haunt her, someone knows things about her and they are trying to take everything away from her by watching her every move.

This was brilliantly written, it is written in present and past of characters but is really easy to follow. It is full of twists all the way through and all of the characters were under suspicion from me but then came the culprit and it shocked me good and proper!

Thank you to TBC and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this fabulous book.

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A Mother’s Sacrifice by Gemma Metcalfe is a strangely compelling thriller that keeps you turning the pages.

Composing this review has been an interesting experience. This book is quite strange in a way, but please don’t take that as a negative!!! It’s just not put together like most books.
It jumps around a lot. From Louisa’s present, to the past, back to the present, many times. It even starts to jump from James’ perspective but this time into the future. It’s disjointed, but it’s also not. The two timelines from Louisa’s perspective do flow and progress. The first ‘present’ POV is Louisa about to deliver her baby. The first ‘past’ POV takes us back to Louisa as a child just before her mother kills herself. Each time the POV changes from past to present it logically progresses. For the ‘present’ scenes it just takes off from where it left, each ‘past’ scene takes us to a pivotal moment in Louisa’s childhood progressing forward all the time.
The flipping from past and present can be a bit uncomfortable until you get used to it. Of course, there is a reason for it. Louisa’s past is so screwed up you really need to experience it to understand her thoughts and actions in the present. Then there is the stalker. From early on you know the stalker is male and believes he has a claim to Louisa and James’ son. For the first third of the book, he is just there. There are scenes from his POV, and the bible quotes are chilling in their interpretation within the context of the story. He is more unsettling because you just don’t know who he is. He is significantly meddling in Louisa’s life, and she is terrified, but still, you know nothing. This is frustrating, but boy does it ramp up the intensity!
The identity of the stalker kept me guessing until he was finally revealed. It was a complete shock and in no way did I see it coming! Looking back the signs were there, but I, at least, never put it together.
This was a great book, kept me turning the pages. But I feel I need to warn readers about the ending. I really, really don’t like sad endings. From about 2/3rds in I was worried this was going to have a bit of a ‘funny’ ending, you know like how some Stephen Kings sort of leave you feeling weird… The ending is intense and dramatic; I couldn’t have put it down for anything, but it’s certainly not a HEA. If those sorts of endings bother you, I wouldn’t recommend this book. If they don’t, please give this book a go! I haven’t been kept in such suspense for a long time!

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A fantastic, fast-paced book that I could not put down, yet at times I had to because I didn't want it to end !!!

I felt like I became the main character Louisa, she was so well described as were her feelings and thoughts. I felt sorry for her husband James, from the begining you get a sense of a strained marriage, yet he seems a nice, caring man.

I really hope there will be a sequel to this book.

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Loved this book but felt disappointed by the ending.

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A Mothers Sacrifice is a brilliant psychological thriller that you will not want to to put down, it had me hooked from beginning to end.

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I tried ... From the beginning, I just could not get into this novel. I found myself having to go back and reread sections. Not my kind of writing style.

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It seems like forever since I've read Trust me by Gemma Metcalfe and absolutely loved it. I knew then, she can give a reader gripping story and I anticipated another thriller by her ever since. The wait was totally worth it. I managed to read it in less than a day as it is definitely one of unputdownable books and has ending you will not predict. 

There isn't a moment of the book when I wasn't guessing who is the person in the shadows trying to get their baby or if there even was anyone? Mind-blowing would be the word to use to explain how the ending felt. No, I did not see it coming! Exactly what you expect from a great thriller. 

Author has done an amazing job, suspense was real. I felt on the edge through out the whole book, I couldn't just leave it and get on with my life, I had to keep reading.

The full review can be found on www.shufflebookbox.wordpress.com

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Firstly, a huge thank you to Gemma Metcalfe and Jenny at Jenny in Neverland for the opportunity to join this Blog Tour for A Mother's Sacrifice

Bringing Cory home was the start of something new for Louisa and James. But different things lead to Louisa going back down the route of depression and paranoia from when she was in a care home. I won't go into the past too much as will lead to spoilers. So much is running through Louisa's head all at once and she seems to get overloaded with so much different information. I really feel for Louisa and James and what they have had to go through. It certainly hit home a bit for me as I suffer fertility issues so was quite an eye opener into the world of IVF.

It has such a heart-wrenching plot but the thriller in it was amazing. It is an emotional yet thrilling rollercoaster and I genuinely couldn't put my kindle down. I loved everything about the way this book was written, it flows from then to now, plus everything that happens in between once Cory is born. I would of loved to find out what happened with Magda, James and Annette once the book finished. But I guess I'll never know.

I'm going to have to give this book my very first 5/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 for the year and it's very well deserved. Can't wait to read more Gemma! Keep them coming.

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What a read this turned out to be. A Mothers Sacrifice by Gemma Metcalfe is an interesting read. It's one of those books that you can't quite decide how you feel about it. All the way through I was trying to put the pieces together and weigh up what could be happening. I didn't guess the outcome of the book that's for sure.

The dat Louisa and James bring their newborn son home from hospital marks a new beginning for them. To hold their child in the armas makes all the stress and trauma of fertility treatment worth it. Little Cory is theirs and theirs alone, Or so they think.
After her mothers suicide when she was a child, Louisa's life took an even darker turn. But meeting James changed everything, she can trust him to protect her and never leave her, even though deep down she worries that she never told him the full truth about her past.

Opening with Louisa in the throes of childbirth, you can really believe the is the start of something beautiful. Little Cory is going to change their lives, only not in the way that all new parents expect it to change. I was holding my breath right from the start of this book. It was a tense and gripping read.
When it seems that Louisa could be suffering from post natal depression, she starts to think that someone wants to take her baby from her. Things soon spiral out of control.
Is this Louisa's past that is playing tricks with her mind or something more sinister.
Well worth reading, and an outcome I really wasn't expecting.

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This book was amazing, it was full of emotion and heartbreak that you do not see coming.

You have to read this book. it will grip you right from the start and will not let you down.

How far will you go to protect your baby? Louisa has not had an easy life her mother killed herself when she was just six years old on christmas day and Louise's birthday.

She goes in to care and falls for one of the carers. She ends up becoming pregnant but sadly loses the baby.

Many years later Louisa marries James and they try for a baby but no luck. They find out that James is the problem, they try IVF which does not work, so they end up using a sperm donor.

This is when things go wrong, Louisa has suffered from depression in the past and they are keeping an eye on her.

Louisa thinks someone is trying to take her baby away from her but no one believes her. Can Louisa make people believe she is not crazy?

The plot is really emotional and I felt for Louise all through the book.

I am not going to give much more of the story away but this book is a great read with some amazing twists that you never see coming.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars then I would its a brilliant book I finished in one sitting.

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Well written, enjoyable psychological thriller. A 'keep on reading even though I am tired' kind of book. Guessed some but not all of the ending. Look forward to future books by this author.

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Louise and James are happily married and they have just had a baby. She’s attacked by words by people that knew her .

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