I loved the twists, mystery and intrigue in The Silent Daughter. Kirsty Ferguson definitely nailed suspense with such an engrossing psychological thriller!

In all honesty though, I struggled to finish this book. I had a hard time keeping up with what was going on because of the unnamed characters. Although they contributed to the story as a whole, many times I was confused about who was telling those parts of the story and when the incidents took place. Although I highly commend the author for tackling such difficult topics, it was a hard book for me (personally) to enjoy. I could’ve done without some of the graphic sex scenes between teenagers...but that’s just me and my personal reading preferences though. Kristy Ferguson did a fantastic job in portraying the raw emotions the characters felt, and how it impacted their own lives as well as others. It is a sad, yet accurate account of how kids and adolescents are made to feel when targeted by bullies and others who are out to harm them. Although it certainly had unexpected twists, so much of the story was gloom, doom, misery, and heartbreak. It was hard to enjoy because it seemed to lack very many moments of happiness or positivity. It was nice to see Danni and Mia move forward and learn how to move on through their moments of clarity, but the majority of the book was a painful read.

Danni married her high school sweetheart and has been married to him for 20 years. They have 3 wonderful children who mean the world to her. When a fire destroys her home and claims the lives of her husband and two youngest children, she and her oldest daughter, Mia, struggle to put the pieces of their lives back together. Danni is certain it was arson.

Although Danni was very involved in her children’s lives and has many acquaintances, she also has quite a list of people who could’ve easily been to blame. Her husband’s actions prior to the fire were questionable and Danni can’t help but wonder if he had been faithful to her throughout their marriage. Her sister, Beth, had always been her biggest tormentor growing up, and throughout the story Beth maintained her venomous personality. Mia had her own struggles with a boy in her class, among other painful life experiences.

When lies cloud your judgement and warp the foundation of your reality, it’s hard to decipher what is the truth. While grappling with inner demons and memories of her past, Danni tackles issues that threaten to destroy what little she and her daughter have left.

Thank you Kirsty Ferguson, Boldwood Books, and Netgalley for allowing me the privilege of reading The Silent Daughter. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinions. Although The Silent Daughter did not hold much appeal for me, I will be looking up other books she has written.

A really fast paced read well for me anyway. I loved the twist and the fact mental illnesses are now part of the reading world.
Great story once you get used to the writers writing style

Danni loses her family in a house fire. Her husband, her son and one of her daughters are dead. Niagara the oldest daughter survived because she was able to escape when she broke a window.
Danni is almost sure it was arson. The insurance company will not pay if it was arson. To make matters worse her estranged sister is demanding part of the insurance money.
This is the sister that made her life miserable. Abusing her without an iota of protection from her parents.
All she knows is that she needs to take care of herself and her daughter.
This is a psychological thriller. Lots of unexpected events occur. It is intriguing.
A story of mental illness.

This is my first Kirsty Ferguson read and to be honest I just couldn't get to grips with it. It starts fairly lively but I struggled to follow the structure of the novel.


Danni is positive that the house fire that killed her husband and two of her three children was arson. She also thinks that herself and her eldest daughter Mia were meant to die in the fire too. But she can't understand who would want her family dead.
Danni wants answers but with so many lies it is difficult to untangle the truth.
Too many plot holes and hard to believe situations for me.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Boldwood Books for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Terribly sorry but I just couldn't understand or enjoy this book. I didnt like the authors writing style at all x

When her husband and two of her three children perish in a devastating house fire, Danni is sure it is arson. She’s even more sure that her and her eldest daughter Mia were meant to die in the fire too.

Great fact paved book! The story was good. I liked the characters of this book.
The writing great. The setting I also enjoyed

If you like fast paced, suspense, great enedings. This is for you

spoiler alert ** I don't think style of writing was for me.

Too much sex,abuse and swearing and No depth to the characters.

However,to give it some positivity,I finished it,and it was action packed.

So, this book has really confused me. I was left flicking back and forth trying to make sense as the book did not flow well for me. To be honest, the plot looked quite promising but it wasn’t well executed at all. Their were a lot of questions left unanswered at the end and the story was full of unrealistic situations.

It is really hard to review this book without spoilers. Most of the problems deal with a major twist and how it resulted in serious plot holes. The structure of the book is also very confusing, not only with multiple unnamed narrators, but also a nonlinear timeline. Again though, that's tied into the big twist at the end. What I can't understand is how no one has recognized all of the flaws up until this point. Not the author, editors, publisher, etc. Because the reveal at the end throws up numerous questions and errors that are not explained.

Essentially, the story is about Danni, a mother coming to grips with the house fire that killed her youngest two children and her husband. She can't understand why someone would target her family, and in such an evil way. So while her eldest daughter, Mia, grieves and refuses to connect with her, Danni retraces the events leading up to the fire as best she can, determined to find the one responsible for destroying her family.

So far, so good. We read about Danni's childhood with a brutally sadistic older sister who somehow abuses Danni continuously and no one cares or notices. Not the parents, teachers, classmates. Nor is it ever explained why her sister torments her, which is another unanswered question that will leave the readers frustrated. Oh, I guess she's just a sociopath, no big deal - no, that just doesn't cut it.

We also read about Mia's troubled secret relationship and another worrying situation with a classmate. When Danni discovers these, she believes that one of them must be responsible. And there's another unanswered question - the principal & guidance counselor's response to the classmate situation. I can't believe a single school would ever react this way, and it's never explained to the reader how or why they would do this and get away with it.

And here's the biggest issue, and it will spoil the surprise so please don't continue if you don't want to know.

SPOILERS BELOW

My issue is not with the truth about Mia, except for her flashback the night of the fire. Unless she died after getting out of the house, there could be no flashback. No, the issue is the flashbacks of Joanne and Christine. Christine's name is called out by another student. So if they knew her as Christine, they could not have known her as Danni, which is the only name she went by at school!. Otherwise, they would have called her name out as Danni. Then with Joanne's character, if she was always sleeping with all the boys, etc. she wouldn't have been the quiet girl Danni who Joe (the most popular guy school) didn't even know! He would have known her as the easy girl any guy could get with, and he sure wouldn't have dated her like he did.

And when she was older and going to the bars, she was already with Joe and pregnant. And Joe just never knew about any of that? In such a small town? And what on earth about that abortion?! When she had and kept 3 pregnancies! Any events that happened as 'Joanne' were real, so how is that supposed to be explained? And why would Joe have ever started dating Beth again (or ever, really) and have a child with her when she was so sadistic to Danni? You can't write that off as just a typical man wanting sex. Flashbacks in Joe's perspective show him truly loving Danni, despising Beth, and ending his cheating.

None of these scenarios make sense. The logistics of Joanne and Christine don't work and it's like the reader is supposed to be so amazed by the twist that they don't see the holes. I just don't get it, because if these flaws weren't there, this could have been a great story. But there is no way that readers won't end up thoroughly confused. And I did enjoy the style of writing, it was a definite page turner and that's why the disappointment was so great, because I was eagerly awaiting a conclusion that brought it all together and made sense. But all it brought was frustration.


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Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Danni's husband and two of her three kids died in a house fire. This book kept me interested from the first page to the very end. I cant wait to read Kirsty's next book.