Fantastically grippy page turner that keeps you hooked throughout. Lots of little twists that keep you guessing until the end. This is going to be a huge hit in 2020 and rightfully so
Brilliant

Told from 3 different points of view, ‘Dear Child’ is full of twists and turns, just when I thought I could predict the way the story was going, another twist came along and proved me to be wrong!

I can certainly see why this book is said to rival ‘Room’ (maybe even surpass it.) as it definitely has a similar feel to it.

All in all, a fantastic book!

Dear Child had me hooked after just a few pages.

23-year-old Lena disappears one night on the way home from a party. While the news and media portray her as a ‘loose part girl’ by way of explaining her disappearance, her father, Matthias, spent 13 years hounding the police and the press, trying to get somebody to find her. Dead, or alive.

Matthias receives a phone call informing him that Lena is potentially still alive, and he rushes to the hospital to identify her. Was Lena alive all this time? Also, who is the intelligent little girl who looks just like his daughter? A girl who was raised in a cabin with no natural light, windows bordered up, and where there were dedicated times to use the toilet? From here, the plot sure thickened and the twists and turns made for a gripping read.

This book keeps you guessing. Narrated from three different perspectives, we are never fully aware of the full truth behind the characters’ motives. My final book of 2019 didn't disappoint!

Thank you, Quercus Books and NetGalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! If you get the chance to read this book, do it!!

I loved this book. It was easy to read but thoroughly gripping. The writing is amazing and really got the thoughts and feelings of the characters. It also showed the bonds between them all, even if initially forced upon them.

An incredible novel!! It will be compared to ‘Room’ and come out neck and neck, possibly even a little ahead.
I love working out the truth in books like this and every time I felt I’d got a handle on what was going on a twist occurred that knocked my theory out of the water.
As in Room, the difficult job of giving a realistic voice to a child character has been done beautifully with Hannah being a fantastically likeable little heroine.
All the characters were beautifully rounded and considering this is a translation from the authors native German I don’t feel that any of the nuances have been lost. Lena’s father constantly blundering into the investigation and driving both the press, police and his poor wife up the wall is still relatable and loveable. His relationship with Hannah is a beautiful thing.
Jasmin’s processing of what had happened to her is at times terrifying and always extremely emotive. The evening the air recirculating system failed was so poignant and tender. Moments like that which stay with you long after the book is finished are how we know that Haussmann is a master of her craft.

Brilliantly written, edge of your seat plot, grief and despair written in the pages, terror and shock. Just when you think everyone is safe a twist that gets you asking questions all over again. As always a happy ending with spilt tears.
Five out of five stars for a brilliant plot that draws you in

Contains spoilers!!

Dear Child is in parts quite convoluted and jumping from character to character so many times does make it annoying at times BUT it’s worth it if you stick with it!!
I think it took too long to get to the “good” reveals such as SPOILER

the kidnapper is alive and people not being quite who they seem but it’s worth it if you stick with it!

** spoiler alert ** Spoilers spoilers spoilers

This has been on my radar,and my kindle thanks to netgalley) for a while and I FINALLY gave in and read it.
It's not published for months.
To start with,I'll admit I love a locked in the basement type story,so we were on to a winner already.
This one though was slightly mindbending,that soon it became apparent that Lena was not Lena,and I thought furiously on how this could work... how were the kids convinced?
As the story went on,the slow reveal puts everything perfectly in place.
I was convinced Hannah had killed her parents and Sara ... not sure if this was a deliberate mislead or I just have a twisted mind.
The final showdown dragged a bit I have to admit,but it was a good chance to put the kettle on ,as I had not stopped once since picking the book up.
A very very good debut.

This was quite a roller coaster of a read. Many twists in the story, just when you think you are following along just fine it takes a sharp turn and heads in another direction.
Told by three points of view, not all reliable, this was quite a page turner.
Lena has been missing for 13 years and her father has never stopped looking for answers. But like the novel Room, Lena has been living in a cabin in the woods with her captor and two children. Eventually Lena escapes and in her desperation to find civilisation she is hit by a car and ends up in hospital. When her father comes to see her, they discover this isn’t Lena. This is the first of many twists that make this story so compelling.
#dearchild #netgalley

Wow!!! This is one of those books which grabs you from the first word and doesn’t let go. It’s full of so many twists and turns I could not put it down. It follows the story of a woman and a child brought in to a hospital following a hit and run. When the child claims her mothers name is Lena it sets off a chain of events to reopen a case about a woman who has been missing for 14 years. Where has this woman been and what has happened to her over the years and is the child hers. A great twisted story that I could see as a movie.

In theory Dear Child would be a great book. It’s billed as a page turning thriller. Gone Girl meets Room. In practice though I found the whole book to be slightly insipid. It was nowhere near as pacy as I expected and just felt the whole book lacked something. I’m sure others will love this book but sadly it wasn’t for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, Quercus Books and author for the chance to review.

I was eager to read this book and it did not disappoint
The story is told chapter by chapter by each of the key characters centring around the abduction and imprisonment of Jasmin in a cabin in the woods - she manages to escape and them the story unfolds .
Gripping the reader we have children grandparents and previous victims intertwined to create and great read that keeps the reader gripped to the end

An intriguing mystery of abduction that keeps you on your toes and keeps you guessing to the last page. Well written piece of fiction and so believable. We think of abductors as crazy people but they can look as normal as you and I. And how circumstances place people in the clutches of an abductor without knowing they are in terrible danger. How people cope in terrifying circumstances and how their strength can keep them from surrendering themselves totally just demonstrates how amazing humans can be. I give it 4.5/5

13 years ago, 23-year-old Lena Beck went missing on the way home from a party. Her father, Matthias, spent the next decade hounding the police and the press, trying to get somebody, anybody, to find her – even if it means that all they find is remains.

2 weeks ago, a woman and a child were found following a car accident. The woman’s name is Lena. Could it be that Lena had been held captive all these years? Alive for all this time when Matthias had all but given up?

Dear Child is a curious thriller along the lines of Emma Donoghue's Room with elements of Lionel Shriver’s We Need To Talk About Kevin, and the mix works really well. Given that this is Hausmann’s debut novel, the amount of detail and fleshed-out characters are a pleasant surprise. It is a little slow in places, but the narrative pulls you in and keeps you guessing. Probably not one for the faint-hearted, though, given the aspects of rape and abuse woven throughout it.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A little difficult to read in some ways - just because of the translation from German to English. And to begin with I had assumed this was another take on the Home story, there have been various different variations on this. However, this did have a twist on this type of story and had a very surprising ending. And you saw it from the other perspectives, from the parents, from the children - not just from the person who had been abducted. An interesting read.

This book was a series of hills and valleys for me. Like most I couldn't help but associate it with Room, and also with true crime incidents such as the Fritzl case. And certainly there are a lot of elements to untangle. Unfortunately I feel that this intricate web begins to draw so tightly that even the author couldn't find a way out with any authority. The plot gets more and more thin, actions and motivations begin to make less sense and in the final scene we are left with a dissatisfying villainous monologue session. I still enjoyed it for the most part. Even Stephen King falls flat at endings sometimes.

Absolutely loved this book! Gripping from the first page and I read it in two days because I just couldn’t put it down! I loved the twists and turns and really enjoyed reading it.

A windowless shack in the woods. Lena's life and that of her two children follows the rules set by their captor, the father: Meals, bathroom visits, study time are strictly scheduled and meticulously observed. He protects his family from the dangers lurking in the outside world and makes sure that his children will always have a mother to look after them.
One day Lena manages to flee - but the nightmare continues. It seems as if her tormentor wants to get back what belongs to him. And then there is the question whether she really is the woman called 'Lena', who disappeared without a trace 14 years ago. The police and Lena's family are all desperately trying to piece together a puzzle which doesn't quite seem to fit.

****

I'm slightly conflicted about this book. The story itself was great, but I did get quite confused, and things didn't seem to quite fit or fully get explained. However, I don't know if this is due to the novel being translated from German to English.

This is just my opinion, and others have really enjoyed it though.

This was FANTASTIC!!! As a huge fan of Room, I was extremely excited and it didn’t disappointment. It kept me unsure and I felt the pace of the plot was very well done. Enjoyed it immensely.

A twisted dark tale of lies, deception and total misdirection. Around 80% you suddenly realise who is who and then you find out the reason why. Highly enjoyable!