Member Reviews
Thank you to the publisher for a chance to read this book. This was a very good story, but I felt like the ending was rushed and it ended too quickly.
Fantastic thrilled fast paced I enjoyed it so much this book kept me guessing from start too finish this is worth a read
The premise was engaging and there were a couple of good twists. However, unfortunately, I predicted the culprit / ending and also found the ending rather abrupt considering the length and depth of some of the earlier descriptions and scenes. Overall, a little disappointing and probably not an author I'd return to.
please note I will not be leaving a public review for this book as I have not paid for it.
leaving a 1-star as NG doesn't allow to move ahead without a star rating
Great book. Highly recommend and will most defiantly read more by this author and suggest to others!
I found this to be a really great thriller. I had no time getting into the storyline. The author did an excellent job with character and plot development. I was able to guess how the book would end, but I still really enjoyed it. I really recommend this read.
This was a great thriller that pulled me out of a book slump. Although I guessed how it would end, I still enjoyed it. Loved the author’s writing style. Will definitely look forward to reading more by Penny Jenkins.
A great book that had me hooked! Well worth picking up as it is definitely worth a read. Great storyline and interesting characters!
Great plot with great characters which makes a good book filled with twists and turns. The book flowed at a good pace which had you wanting to uncover the truth. You could say that this is a book about redemption.. The characters were believable and all in all a great read.
Thank you very much to Netgalley, Penny Jenkins and RedDoor Press for the chance to review this novel.
Annie was 5 years old when her beloved sister Gemma disappeared. When Gemma disappeared Annie's relationship with her mother wiltered.
Many years have passed and Annie's life is in shambles. Her boyfriend kicked her out, she is practically penniless and has no where to live. Her very last option is to return to her childhood home and live with her terminally ill mother.
Apon returning home, she discovers Gemma's room is a shrine and her room has been turned into a sewing room, her mother removing all traces of her second daughter. Old resentments rise in Annie as she is forced to take care of her mother in her last days.
Determined to find out what happened to her sister, Annie and her friend Priti, decide to start investigating. The police aren't interested so they take matters into their own hands. The trouble is, someone is determined to keep what happened to Gemma a secret. And the closer they get to finding out what happened, the more dangerous the investigation becomes.
This was a very quick, easy and enjoyable read. Very well developed characters, an excellently paced plot and many twists and turns make this a brilliant book to read.
Annie is just five years old when her big sister Gemma doesn't return from school. Her already poor childhood gets worse as her family try to deal with the disappearance. As soon as she is able, Annie leaves home and doesn't look back.
But now, age 30, she is back in her childhood home to care for her sick mother. She decides to try and find out more about the sister she doesn't remember. But soon, she finds more than she bargains for.
This was an excellent debut novel and I definitely think the author is one to watch. It was a very quick read, I finished it in one morning. I couldn't put it down, I was so desperate to find out what happened to Gemma. I loved the little twists in the story although I did guess one of them correctly.
A very enjoyable read
This is a brilliant first novel. Annie returns to the family home to look after her sick mother after many years of being estranged. Struggling with the recent breakdown of her own relationship, Annie sets out to find the truth about her sister’s mysterious disappearance 25 years previously. The police investigation had found no clues. A faded photo leads Annie on a determined path to find answers and while she finds her life improving, old friendships renewed and gaining confidence in herself, there are many unanswered questions. A fascinating story of family dynamics and secrets.
This is the first book I read from this author and I ave to say it really surprised me. I couldn’t put it down and kept turning the pages to know what was going to happen. The characters are engaging and it’s a good thriller about how complex are family relationships. I’d definitely recommend this book.
A brilliant family drama with many depths to the story throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed following the story as it all began to unfold, and particularly liked the story showing the reconciliation between mother and daughter.
This was a very addictive family drama that has a lot of emotional layers- admittedly I was far more interested in the growing reconciliation between mother and daughter than I was in the missing sister mystery but as a whole story I thought it was great.
3 for neutral, didn’t download for me. Will update when able to buy and read. I don’t know why it didn’t go on my library!
Plenty of twists that make this an interesting read. Sped through this book as it was very compelling.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
I struggled immensely with this book. I thought it sounded much better than it was. For me the book just seemed to drag on and on and then book there's a rushed ending. I also didn't like the characters, in particular Annie. She was just incredibly selfish all the way around.
The plot of this book which concerns a woman who has lived in the shadow if her murdered sister, is pacey and engaging so that it made me what to read on to the end. Generally, it is well-crafted and the reader becomes genuinely concerned t know the outcome. The ending comes as a genuine surprise. My only criticism is that the end comes a little too suddenly but the clues are there threaded through the novel and it was certainly a very enjoyable read. This book would appeal to anyone who likes a good mystery with a psychological aspect to it and everyone loves a good twist at the end.
This was an interesting read, centered around Annie, who comes home to care for her long-estranged mother with cancer. Annie harbors a lot of resentment towards her mother; her teenaged sister Gemma disappeared when Annie was only 5, and Annie spent the rest of her childhood in Gemma's shadow. She returns reluctantly to help care for her mother, having just broken up with her boyfriend and lots her job, with nowhere else to go. Once home, Annie, along with her best friend and a new boyfriend start to dig into what really happened to Gemma so she and her mother can finally be at peace.
As the story unfolds, you find out more about what was really going on with Annie's parents, which is rather heartbreaking. Some of the decisions Annie made were not good (or at least too rash) decisions, and the childhood background helps the reader make sense of these. I did find myself frustrated with her at times throughout the book.
The pacing of the book is pretty decent, though things seem to move more quickly than they would in real life (such as how quickly the police reopened Gemma's case and interviewed the suspect she called to their attention, and Annie's mother suddenly being willing to clean out Gemma's room which had been a shrine to her for the last 20 years). Likewise, the end came about quickly, and I felt like there should have been more of a lead-in to finding out what happened. That being said, the twist in the last few pages of the book was VERY interesting and unexpected, and earned the book an additional 1/2 star from me.
Overall, I'd give this a 3.5 rating- it was an interesting story overall, with just a few issues around pacing. It's a quick read and I think it's worth it for fans of mysteries and domestic suspense. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.