The first part of the book was engaging, but I found it slow-moving and slow to continue. It’s a difficult trigger subject of child and domestic abuse, murder of children, and a girl who is a handful and who wants to be loved but has absent parents. The story is set between the child’s 9 or 10 year age and adulthood when she’s got a child herself. It’s s psychological story involving motherhood. It’s a sad book, but the girl eventually grows up to come to terms with things and to be the mother she never had to her child.

Phone technicalities meant I had to leave this story at 72% and couldn't wait to get back to it! It's a brilliant, chilling portrayal of impoverished beginnings and the resultant consequences. It followed the same person under two guises as a child and an adult and leaves the listener feeling unsettled, but also sympathetic. An amazing achievement for a debut!

I’m sure this book is absolutely fabulous for lovers of psychological thrillers or domestic drama, but those genres are not quite for me and I hadn’t realised how heavily it slanted toward that rather than suspense. Just not for me, basically, but might be your perfect read.

The narrator also has a pretty strong accents — some will love this, some like me, will find this distracting.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my free audio book in exchange for a review!

Really enjoyed this audiobook. Fast pace of storyline. Clear and understandable narrator. I would recommend.

It's the first day of spring, flowers are blooming, cute baby animals will be born, the smell of summer is in the air and........ a child is dead. And not just dead, but murdered! I got oh around.... 1 millisecond into this audiobook before being shocked! It literally starts with the killer describing in pretty graphic detail how they killed the child. So to say this book just throws you in at the deep end is an understatement. I felt like this initial feeling of disbelief and discomfort continued throughout the book. Readers get to go back in time and see what led to the killer's actions, and let me just say, I did have some sympathy for their childhood, the abuse they suffered is unacceptable. But does that justify or explain why they became a killer? You decide.
The chapters in the current day from Julia's perspective were really interesting, especially discovering how the murder of a child she had played with when she was little affected her life as a an adult and as a Mother herself.
I was totally gripped from the start and couldn't wait to find out what had actually happened. The conflicting emotions and thoughts I was experiencing with regards to the killer were actually enjoyable and really thought provoking.
The narrator did a fantastic job. She was really engaging and believable. This is one of those audiobooks that made my working day fly by. I highly recommend it to thriller lovers who can handle some of the heavier topics.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Audio and Nancy Tucker for an ARC in return for an honest review.

This is a powerful psychological thriller which is deeply disturbing. The story is told through two different timelines following the story of a young girl named Chrissie who commits murder as a child. It’s brutal and horrifying. This is a jaw-dropping good thriller which is not for the faint hearted.

I really enjoyed The First Day of Spring – I listened to the audiobook and I read it every single chance I had as I just wanted to know how this novel was going to go. The story follows Chrissie who seems quite neglected and has a difficult home life – her mother is very cold and her father is often absent. One day she kills a younger child and does all she can to avoid being caught. This novel is so delicately written that you can’t help but have sympathy and compassion for Chrissie, even when you know what she’s done. It’s actually heartbreaking when you hear her thoughts of what death means and it’s awful when you realise how little she understands. The novel also follows Chrissie as an adult when she has a young child of her own and is struggling to know how to nurture a child when she was never nurtured. I found this such a moving novel, which is rare in crime fiction. It really got to me and I keep finding myself thinking about it. It’s definitely a novel that makes you pause and think, whilst also being such a gripping and engaging thriller. I recommend this one!

I’m not sure I have the words for this novel. The best way I can describe it is as that car crash scenario - where you can’t bear to look, but also can’t bear to turn away. It’s as devastating as it is compelling, and I know it’ll stay with me for a long time.

Chrissie, at eight years old, didn’t think Steven would stay dead after she killed him. She just wanted to get rid of that horrible fizzy feeling in her stomach for a little while. A feeling of hunger and of not enough love.
Years later, and now named Julia for her own safety, she has her own little girl. But she spends every minute waiting for someone to take her away, because after all, how can she be allowed to be happy and keep her child after she took the life of someone else’s?

To say this story is brutal is a total understatement - from the very first chapter you know that it’s going to be unlike anything you’ve ever read, and there are so many times I wanted to look away, especially as a mum. But it just poses so many questions and moral dilemmas - of nature vs nurture, whether some people just shouldn’t be mothers, whether murder is ever forgivable if someone had such an utterly horrifying childhood like Chrissie and didn’t really understand what she was doing.

It’s incredibly hard hitting, but it just made me question all my assumptions - and it brought to life just how awful childhood poverty and abuse is in such a visceral way.

I have to tell you all to be prepared for this as it’s one of the toughest books to read I’ve encountered. But at the same time, it’s one of the most powerful and moving, and has such an incredibly different narrative voice than anything I’ve read before, that I am incredibly glad I read it.

I knew this was going to be intense, but this honestly was so unforgettable. More so than I ever thought it would be. It’s so beautifully written yet the context is absolutely harrowing and shocking.

As well as the above and brutal topics explored in this book, there were also a lot of moments where love, kindness were explored to.

I really enjoyed the narrator, I thought they did an excellent job at bringing the characters to life.

A gripping storyline that made me think, a lot, about children who commit crimes such as this one. It made me reconsider my opinion of children like Chrissie in real life. Despite what she did, I really felt for Chrissie and really liked her character - not one I will forget in a hurry. I would definitely look out for more my this author and recommend this to anyone who likes this genre.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the audioARC of this book.

“They promised me no one would ever find out that Julia had once been Chrissie. …. Promise was just a word and a name was just a name and I wasn’t Chrissie, not inside, not any more, but the vultures didn’t care about that.”

My thanks to Random House U.K./Cornerstone for a review copy of its unabridged audiobook edition via NetGalley of ‘The First Day of Spring’ by Nancy Tucker in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook was narrated by Kristin Atherton and has a running time of 11 hours, 28 minutes.

I also took the opportunity to take part in a group read organised by The Pigeonhole. As the subject matter of this novel is very disturbing, it was helpful to have others to share thoughts with.

This is undoubtedly a powerful novel that considers the inner life of a fictional child murderer as well as her life as an adult. It seems likely that elements of the story were inspired by the case of Mary Bell, who at the age of eleven killed two small boys in Newcastle,1968. Tucker has made her killer, Chrissie, even younger at only eight.

The novel is split between two first-person narrative streams. The first is Chrissie who advises us “I killed a little boy today.” The second takes place some years after her release from incarceration at eighteen. She now lives with her young daughter, Molly, under the State protected identity of Julia. She feels that the people in charge had “thrown me into a life I hadn’t expected to have to live, in a world I hadn’t expected to have to understand.”

This was a heartbreaking novel that focuses upon the various factors that led Chrissie to commit these terrible crimes. Her mother is uncaring and her father barely present. She is seriously neglected, starved of both food and affection. As a result she is feral. Even her teachers see her as a disruptive element rather than a child in serious need of intervention. One of the local mammies (Mums) calls her a ‘bad seed’; a description that Chrissie embraces.

As a result of her early life the emotional scars that the adult Julia bears are very obvious. As she never was nurtured, she now struggles with motherhood and seeks to understand her younger self. She also constantly worries that social services will take Molly away from her. The contrast between Julia and Chrissie’s Mam is very marked.

My review copy opened with a letter from the author to her readers in which she addresses her decision to write about a child murderer. She writes:
“Media reporting can be slanted towards blame and condemnation, but I hope this book will encourage readers to think harder about the circumstances that lead people to do unthinkable things. I hope it also asks important questions about resilience, nurture and the human capacity for forgiveness.”

Despite its dark subject matter there are lighter moments in the novel. Chrissie often comes out with outrageous comebacks, displaying a keen intelligence and quick wit.

With respect to its audiobook edition, Kristin Atherton is not only an experienced actor of stage, film and television but has narrated many audiobooks. She has an extensive vocal range and I especially commend her for her vocal portrayal of the children in the novel. The high, squeaky voice of Chrissie highlighted both her age and naïveté.

Overall, I felt that ‘The First Day of Spring’ was an extraordinary novel, unlike anything I have ever read before. Nancy Tucker’s portrayal of Chrissie/Julia was compassionate and multi-layered.

Highly recommended.

Wasn’t expecting to be so moved by this book, started off with a neglected child and a murder, quite disturbing. Then as the chapters go back and forth the story and circumstances unfold. Author must have researched this plot extremely well and transcribed it very eloquently. Narration was excellent and fitted the characters well. Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

The book is split between Chrissy as a child and 20 years later as a mother, as she comes to terms with her actions and the long term effects. year old Chrissie is older than her years, and yet incredibly emotionally stunted. She kills a child, but thinks that he will only be dead for a little while, having been told by her mother that her own father is dead, only for him to reappear when the whim takes him. The parental neglect that she experiences - being dragged to an adoption agency and left - amplifies the extreme poverty endures. There is never any food in the house, she sleeps in a piss soaked bed and has never experienced love or care. She has learned that everything has a price; whether that's a bite of meat pie in return for a hand in her knickers, or killing a child in order to feel a sense of power and agency.
Whilst this in no way exonerates Chrissy for her crimes, it does illuminate reasons why the horrific murders occur. It's an uncomfortable listen as I was forced to confront my own conscious and unconscious biases and appreciate the privileged position I hold in society.

I listed to the audible version of the book and the narration is superb. It is well-paced and the accents used really enhanced the superb characterisation of the children in the book.

My thanks go to the publishers and NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

Wow.
This was such a thought provoking, heartfelt read that I am struggling to do it justice. The premise intrigued me initially, but the execution was sublime.
The reader is taken on a very dark and sad journey with Chrissie that tears through your heart and makes you question all your previous judgements and feelings about child killers. Should they get a new identity, a new life? What provokes them into murder in the first place?
Chrissie's life is heart breaking and so painful to read. But you cannot help but want the best for her and to make something of herself and her future.
The narrator of the audiobook was excellent, an engaging voice who portrayed the power and pain of the novel beautifully.

This book was not at all what I was expecting it to be. It was pitched to me because I love Lisa Jewell and CL Taylor but this is a very different thriller. Do make sure you read the synopsis thoroughly because this book comes with a lot of care warnings for neglect, abuse and infant death.

I think I probably accessed this book on quite a different level because I have always worked with children and I am a teacher and so I found this book really tough to listen to at times. I think that the narrator did a great job although this book takes place in the north east of England and the narration reflects that. Being a northerner myself I thought the narration was great but I know its not always the most popular accent. This book really exposes what can happen when a child is not shown love and care early on in life. Although the synopsis mentions lack of money really it is the lack of care that is at the centre of this book and I think it was a really brave thing for the author to tackle.

The book also tackles issues surrounding mental health particularly when you don't have the privilege of disposable income to help with the care that your mental health requires. I love that this is shown to be an issue in this book. We always highlight the importance of taking care of your mental health and seeking help when appropriate but we don't always have the time or the money to put towards that and that is fully explored in this novel.

The way this book is structured does make for a very compelling read. We meet Chrissie and we meet Julia and we pretty quickly learn of their connection but we jump back and forth between their two worlds and this is very much a dual narrative and dual time line novel. I love that structure in a book because it does make you keep listening to find out what will happen to each character next and what impact that might have on the other.

This was definitely a tough read and I did feel an almost physical pain for Chrissie at many moments throughout this book but I love what this author has done in terms of taking risks to tackle subjects that not a lot of people talk about. Definitely read through the synopsis before picking this one up but if you are OK with the care warnings then I definitely recommend giving this a read.

Firstly thank you to Net Galley for granting me this book in return for an honest review. I absolutely loved this book and to be honest the Narrator made it even more enjoyable . I could not stop listening and feel it was better than actually reading it - the storyline was compulsive, sad, heart wrenching and funny in parts. I felt the audio book delivered such heartfelt emotions and really made me understand how some people’s childhoods can affect their lives forever. Beautifully written and narrated.

The audio for this wouldn’t download. It kept telling me it was already available so I couldn’t download it.

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Penguin Random House UK and Hope Butler for approving me for an ARC of this book.

This is the third book I’ve listened to, narrated by Kristin Atherton and yet again she has done an amazing job. I hold my hands up to her brilliant ability to narrate children’s voices and quite often I forgot that she was the sole story teller.

The story is told from two POV. Firstly we have eight year old Chrissie’s story where we are thrown straight into the drama and turmoil of her committing a deeply disturbing crime. Listening to those early chapters were very difficult and hard to comprehend but as Chrissie’s story progresses and the events unfold we learn more about her. Nancy Tucker did a fantastic job or portraying the dark side of Chrissie but she also gave her a comical side. I often found myself laughing at her no nonsense honesty and I had nothing but sympathy as I started to learn her backstory. Being a mother myself I can not imagine treating any of my children how Chrissie was treated.

Skip twenty years on and we have the second POV, Julia. This is Chrissie with her new identity and in this point of her life we see her as a mum to lovely Molly. As Julia’s chapters started to develop it was hard to match this version of Chrissie to her child self. This Chrissie was far less confident, constantly anxious and always looking over her shoulder. What I noticed above all though was how much love she had for Molly but was scared to show it. Her actions throughout the story showed the lengths she would go to protect Molly and the final scenes left me feeling oddly proud of Julia and wanting her to succeed.

Nancy Tucker has written something very dark, harrowing and twisted that will make readers question their views on young offenders. Should someone forever be judged based on their past? She took Chrissie the ‘bad seed’ and shown us readers her really personality, her tortured background and the love she was unjustly denied. We’ve been given a glimpse of what life is like for child offenders who reach adult life and show remorse for their actions.

This will not be an easy listen or read for some but it’s an important one. It asks us to think twice before we jump on the band wagon of denying someone forgiveness and perhaps ask ourselves could we of done more?

‘The first day of spring’ was my first encounter with the work of author Nancy Tucker, and I found I did enjoy this audio book very much, despite it being a departure from my usual psychological fiction genre. This is a book I would class under ‘women’s fiction’, ‘general fiction’ or ‘literary fiction’. The story was was very well narrated by Kristen Atherton, who conveyed the solemnity of the book very effectively.

The plot focuses on some fairly disturbing themes. We are introduced to Julia, a young mum, for whom life seems hard and regimented. She is bringing up daughter Molly single-handedly, and seems very anxious to do a good job of this. Her life feels very bleak and joyless. One day Molly injures herself, and Julia is fearful of the consequences., which slowly unfold as the story progresses.

A second timeline tells the story of Julia's upbringing, at a time when she had a different name and different identity. Under her birth name of Chrissy, we learn of a very sobering and tragic tale, in many ways a cautionary tale of how important our early lives and upbringings.

Though this tale is serious and sobering, it is also compulsive listening, and very well written. The narrator manages is to convey the solemnity of the tale well while still making this all about the storytelling.

Overall I would highly recommend this audiobook to fans of the aforementioned genres.

My thanks to NetGalley , author and publisher for the opportunity to review this audio book in exchange for an honest review.

The highest compliment I can give this book is that it made me cry. I can count on one hand the number of books that made me cry and that's including this so for me, any book that can make me cry is automatically one I really enjoyed reading.

The actual review - we're following Chrissy and Julia in this 'thriller' across two timelines. I don't know how much I would consider this a thriller considering that the book opens with the murder of Stephen but regardless of this, Tucker explores an interesting premise and character. I would probably recommend going into this, not expecting it to be a fast-paced thriller but a slow-paced character focused read instead.

I didn't think Chrissy was the most likeable character and struggled a little to get into this at first but with how Tucker structures her book, the things we learn about Chrissy as we go ahead, I ended up really caring for her and this was honestly, so heartbreaking to read. I feel like Tucker's presentation of Julia (adult Chrissy) in particular was well done because we get to see the impact of the past and how it's affected her.

This isn't a read I will be forgetting soon and I would definitely recommend this.