Fifteen years after Isobel abruptly leaves the family home, she returns to her mother Ruth with a teenage son in tow. Wanting answers as to why she left, but not wanting to scare her daughter away, will Ruth ever learn the truth? Isobel never wanted to return to her painful past, especially the school owned by her family. Will she ever come to terms with her secret and share it with her family?

Why She Left was well narrated by Mira Dovreni, but the story itself was lacking. The plot was as transparent as a pain of glass and the decisions made by the characters left me shaking my head at times. It was obvious where the plot was heading and it just took too long to get there. With a repetitive story and unlikable characters, Why She Left was not a book I would recommend to others.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Audio Copy of Why She Left, by NetGalley and the publisher, Bookouture Audio. The decision to review this book was entirely my own.

This book was just a fun read! The book caused me to be happy one minute, but sad the next. The author's writing style is amazing!

Why She Left is about a girl named Isobel. Isobel left her home fifteen years before this book takes place. She has now returned to her mother's house with her teenage son. Isobel returned with her son, Isaac, because she was finally able to leave an abusive and toxic relationship. Ruth, Isobel's mother, is so happy that Isobel and Isaac are back, but she does not know why Isobel left in the first place. Isobel went through a lot of trauma and experiences that she has trouble talking about. This book is told from two point of views; Ruth's and Isobel's view.

Heartbreaking with twists & turns galore! Once I started, I was dying to know why Isobel left her life that she loved so much. It’s the constant focus on all the drama that kept me going.

Now this was a real attention grabber. A prestigious private school head mistress has been struggling for years about her granddaughter who left when she was in her teens and her other granddaughter who has been helping her run her school. When her daughter reappears with a teenage son and she is offered a partnership with a new investor everything seems to be working in her favor. That is until her grandson is attacked in the school and then the school investor turns out to be a former student who had been effected by the same issue that her grand daughter was.

A school filled with secrets and coverups.

This is a solid yet pretty predictable mystery. We follow Isobel who returns home after running away under mysterious circumstances years earlier. Her mother, who always felt they were close, never knew why Isobel left so suddenly and why she never returned. Isobel shows up at her mother's doorstep asking for a place to stay, and brings with her a son, Isaac.

Isobel's mother runs a school that has become her pride and joy, and the family business. Isobel was supposed to take after her mother and take over the school, but that responsibility fell to her sister Cecily.

With some educated guessing I already had figured out the basics of Isobel's departure, although I didn't know the exact details of course. There are some decent twists, but in the end they were not that credible to me. The story also lags in places, and probably an hour could be cut with no significant loss in storytelling. Still this was a solid listen during my long commute. I never considered turning it off at any point.

Thank you netgalley and Bookouture Audio for giving me an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to this as an audiobook and i LOVED it. The narrator was really captivating and I got into it so quickly. The storyline is easy to follow and engaging. Often I thought I knew what was going to happen next and every single time I was wrong. I loved the characters so much and I couldnt wait to listen to more. Definitely 5 stars and a book I would recommend to everyone!

"Why she left" is a very gripping and intense family drama.
As it turns out, skeletons seldom stay inside the closet!

I had the pleasure of listening to the audiobook version. The narration was excellent, and I basically went through the story in one sitting.

Overall, I enjoyed this book.

Teenage runaway Isobel turns up on her mother's doorstep 15 years after she left with her teenage son. It doesn't take a genius for the reader, and Isobel's mother, to work out she must have been pregnant when she left. But, this alone, doesn't explain why she left instead of coming to the mother she apparently had a close relationship with for help when she fell pregnant.

Throw in an older sister, who she wasn't particularly close to in the first place and who ended up having to give up her career because there was no-one else around to help when their mother had a stroke, and you have a whole lot of family drama brewing away.

Parts of the story, as some other reviewers have noted, were predictable but there were a few little twists and turns in there that were unexpected and added to the story. Any perceived predictability certainly didn't detract from the story, though - this was a well written book and despite thinking I maybe knew where it was heading I still couldn't put it down until I got there and discovered if I was right or not.

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

I listened to the Audio version of this book and found the narrator well suited to tell the story.

Am I glad I read it - yes, I enjoyed it
Was it a waste of my time - not at all
Would I sit down and read it all over again - possibly (even though you know where it's going, I think there may be some more nuances to be picked up on a second read that may have been missed the first time around)
Would I read more by this author based on this book - yes, I would be interested in exploring more by Leah Mercer.

This is the first audiobook I’ve been able to get into and not zone out, there are a lot of positives about an audiobook I hadn’t been able to appreciate before (and one is I definitely couldn’t cheat by reading the last page!) this was a good mystery leaving me predicting what was going on all the way through (which has to be the point, doesn’t it?) I think the main issue was, with so few characters, it was hard to be wrong. I did like the fact all the story lines were resolved and, although parts were perhaps too long, I appreciated that the ending was not rushed as many I have read lately have been.

I honestly expected a bit more from this. It was a decent read but I didn't find it particularly thrilling or really even surprising for the most part. However, it was entertaining enough that I was able to make it to the end to see how it would turn out. Unfortunately, the end fell a little flat for me too. I didn't feel like it was tied up nicely and was a bit unbelievable. I always find average, 3 star books the most difficult to review. It was good, but not great. It probably won't be one that I will jump to recommend to people, but I wouldn't steer them away from it either. I did find the story easy to read and engaging, even if it was a bit predictable, partially due to the lack of characters. I enjoyed it well enough to read more of Mercer's work in the future. I listened to the audio version narrated by Mira Dovreni and she did an excellent job. I felt that she was able to alter her voice realistically to make each of the characters come alive and her narration added to my immersion in the story. I would recommend the audio version. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It started a bit slow and was fairly predictable. There was some intrigue but unfortunately it failed to really get me into the story. The narrators for the audiobook were far more dark and mysterious than the actual plot, and that also didn’t help to get into the story. However, it wasn’t the worst book either.

What ever happened to the good old fashion 50’s family? Evening meals together, early bedtime, wholesome values? If that’s what your looking for then you better find yourself another book because dysfunctional doesn’t even touch these ladies!!!

With so much bubbling under the surface this book is full of the drama and cringe worthy moment that push readers right past uncomfortably and into unbearable ha ha ha. Fascinating characters with seriously questionable morals drive this family melodrama.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Stars for this suspenseful by not thrilling family drama.

This book is a quick read. Just when you think you know what is going to happen there is a plot twist. I thought the characters were likable, even the ones that are part of a not so good twist. This book also explores what can happen long term over decision made and I really liked that aspect. Just when you think a situation is over - surprise it is not! This was my first Leah Mercer book and I love finding authors that I would read again.

Why She Left is the story of Isobel who returns home after having left abruptly 15 years before. She returns on her mother's doorstep one evening with her teenage son. The story was a bit predictable and at times the decisions they made didn't seem to follow the character's personality. I was interested enough in the story and finishing the book but I did not like the characters or feel like they had much growth or learned from their past. Overall it was good and the narration was good as well.

Not my cup of tea. I do not care for rape as a plot point, helloooo write about something else. And I'm not sure why Ruth was the main character (her chapters were all in first person whereas Isobel's were in third). The cast of characters in this book is so small that you can figure out a lot of the "who did what"'s pretty early on. And the ending was pretty lame. This book just didn't do anything for me. Also, the cover art just doesn't make any sense.

This book isn't my usual genre, but I was set to have my attention captured by the mystery in it. It wasn't great, but it was okay. I did want to keep listening to see what was going to happen and who was actually the "bad guy". It was as much a family dynamic sort of story as it was mystery.

The basic mystery was why Isobel had left (years ago) the school that her mother was in charge of and never returned. We are fed little tidbits until the reason finally becomes apparent, but by then there is a new mystery happening around Isobel's son that has to be unraveled. The ending was a little off for me, but for the most part the book held my attention.

I was gifted a copy of this audiobook by Bookouture Audio and NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.

Wow-what a book I’ve never been more gripped by a book where has characters that I could not stand. I could not stand Ruth, she was very blinkered she forgot her daughter Cecily, who has stood by her all this time and she was just all about Isabel and Isaac.

Isabel irritated me, she was also blinkered, it was her way or not at all. She didn’t listen to anyone and always thought she knew best. I get that she gave up EVERYTHING but the way she behaved towards everyone was not forgivable.

Oh, the twists in this book were fabulous! I saw some that were coming, but there were a couple that took me by surprise and it was awesome! I was shocked.

This is the first book I have read by Leah but I am definitely going to be reading more from her. She has created a book, where I didn’t like anyone but yet I was so hooked on the story I couldn’t stop listening. I drove home which is a good couple of hours each way and normally I would listen to music and dip in and out of an audiobook but no instead, I put this on for both journeys and listened to nothing else. I was completely hooked. I would have been happy if I was stuck in traffic for a few more hours just to listen to the book. The narrator was fabulous, she got me so absorbed in her voice that I forgot everything around me.

This is one I do recommend you listen to, it is a fun way to spend some hours and to lose yourself in this book, only coming up for air once you have found out the secret of Isabel and the events that destroyed this family.

***ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.co.uk in return for an honest review ***

Isobel left home at 16 and never returned. Ruth has never understood why her daughter left, she has thrown herself wholeheartedly into her career as headmistress at a highly rated private school, which has been owned by her family for three generations

It's Sunday evening, Ruth is preparing herself for the week ahead when there is a knock at the door. When she opens it she is stunned to find her estranged daughter standing there, along with a teenage boy, her son, Isaac.

This was an enjoyable, although fairly predictable read. Despite this it was a real page turner and an incredibly easy read.

An enjoyable listen though I did find it a little bit unbelievable in places. After returning ‘home’ after 15 years with a son in tow , I found Ruth’s reaction a little underrated. I also found Alex’s involvement really unbelievable too with Isabel suddenly feeling she knew him well enough to go and live with him after a few weeks 🤨

The narrator though was good and easy to listen too and she was able to narrate the different characters well .

This was a domestic thriller that I found somewhat predictable. However, I don't think the purpose of Mercer's novel was to have startling twists and turns. My guess is that the author was more focused on an in-depth character study and writing a book that makes us thing about how far reaching our decisions can be. If that was her goal, I feel it was achieved! This novel made me think about how much of an impact our actions can have on others that we never really learn of or know about.