This was a quick and fun thriller. It read like a Lifetime movie. There was lots of suspense and drama, along with secrets, betrayal and lies. There were good twists and surprises that caught me off guard. I thought I knew what would happen, but the ending took a completely different turn from what I was thinking.

I am a thriller reader that can suspend reality for a lot of things that happen in the books I read, but this ending needed so much explaining to pull everything together. To me, it was slightly outlandish. Overall, this was a good read that had great suspense building.

This was my first book by Rijks, but it definitely won't be my last.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This boo and author never disappoints. She knows how to keep the suspend going all throughout the story and it deliver a strong blow right at the end Love everything about this book.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Godchild by Miranda Rijks was intense, nerve-wracking, with emotions and an anger-creating psychological thriller with a shocking end!
It was evident where the main twist was heading but was surprising how it played out! There were a good amount of small twists all the way through that made me so entertained!

Carina and her husband Don lived their ordinary lives with their 3 children until her goddaughter Alicia arrived. Would you let a stranger into your house to stay? They already were one messed up family without knowing it but now... Nothing will be like before. Secrets will be let out, the truth will be twisted and the fight between good and bad will take an active play!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Inkubator Books for this copy!

Miranda Rijks is one of my favourite authors, so I was super excited to read this new book. It certainly didn’t disappoint.
It’s deliciously far fetched and has lots of twists throughout. I raced through it.
It’s a book that I definitely recommend.

I enjoyed this one alot. But unfortunately some of the characters drive me nuts but overall I loved it. I would give it 4 put of 5 stars.

Alicia turns up on her grandmothers house
And she asked if she could stay
Carina says she can
But the husband Don and the grandchildren says that something about her
So she has to go
I had an ARC

Miranda Rijks is one of my favorite guilty pleasure authors. Although I failed to download this ARC that I was so into reading, I did manage to find a copy another way (I am blessed).
I loved this. Is this one of those literary books that enhances your life? No.
Is is entertaining? OMG yes!
The godchild is a manipulative little thing, mom is too busy working, and dad is useless. The son isn't really anything.
It was good. I will make sure to download the next one.

Thank you NetGalley, Inkubator Books and Miranda Rijks for the copy of The Godchild.

This was my first book of Miranda’s and I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was. Full of twists and turns up until the epilogue. I will definitely read more of her work and would definitely recommend this one!!

A knock on your front door. You answer and the girl is your Goddaughter, whom you have not seen since she was a baby. Now a young woman of seventeen. She needs a place to stay. Your friend Gina has disappeared, maybe dead from an overdose. Alicia has not seen her since she left Spain. You invite her in, knowing you cannot let this young woman wander the streets at night, with no roof over her head. Carina decides to allow Alicia to stay for a few days, those few days grow. She begins going to school and begins to fit in as the fourth child. Taking such loving care of baby Ethan. One day tragedy strikes this small town. A young student has been killed. From that point on chaos ensues.

Miranda Rijks always has an intense build up that leads to an ending that I never see coming. My jaw is still on the floor, and I am going through the book trying to figure out how I missed it. This is a crazy intense read. That will have you yelling at the characters to open their eyes and to take note of what is going on around them. Thank you to Miranda Rijks for my gifted copy. Your books are always a joy to read.

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. This book was really good and I highly recommend it. I loved everything about it and the ending was crazy. It was a fast-paced page turner from the very beginning and hard to put down. Carina and Don are married with three kids. One night there is a knock at the door and a young woman is standing there claiming to be the goddaughter to Carina whose mother, Gina, Carina has not heard from in years. She says she has no where to go and has no idea where her drug addicted mom is so she is welcomed into their home. Everyone in the family thinks that she is just wonderful and perfect except for 15 year old Teagan.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of The Godchild by Miranda Rijks, published by Inkubator Books

Wow! I loved this story and how it was told, the author has an amazing writing style, I was on the edge of my seat until the end and couldn't devour the words fast enough.
Such a fast paced psychological thriller.
I loved the characters, both the good and the bad,I thought I knew where the story was headed and then...twist!  One of the best I've read so far this year. And a believable storyline.
Great author, highly recommend

Although the storyline had promise, I didn’t feel engaged as I found most of the characters pretty horrible. The mother put her job and school before her family, the father was vacuous, the goddaughter was downright weird, the son was unformed and served the purpose of another character to be manipulated but not to add depth to the story. The daughter obviously had issues but the writing wasn’t nuanced enough and therefore the reader wasn’t left thinking ‘is she an unreliable witness’. However I liked the switching of timelines from when Carina met Gina to the present day.

Thank you #NetGalley and #InkubatorBooks for the arc. This was a thrilling hard to put down story that had lots of twists and a good plot. One of Miranda Rijks best books! I recommend this one to all psychological thriller lovers.

I loved this book, who is the mysterious God child and what does she really want, a fast paced book which I raced through.

Miranda Rijks you have done it again!

4 stars

Thanks to net galley and the publishers for this arc

I’m always happy to discover a new title by Miranda Rijks, and this time I was happy to find it in the Read Now section. Just in time because I was in need of a nice but not too complicated (light) thriller.
Carina, Don and their children Tegan, Arthur and Ethan look like a normal, happy family. And there it is: they are anything but. Each of them has secrets and each of them harbours grudges against other members of the family. Except little Ethan of course because he’s not even a year old. When ‘godchild’ Alicia arrives, you know immediately that things will go terribly wrong for these people. But which fate has Miranda Rijks in mind for them?
As I said, just what I needed because it was very hard not to read this book in one sitting. Miranda writes with a good insight in the human mind, although I’ve yet to meet people who behave as some of her characters do – lucky me.

Great book. Kept me entertained until the end. Fast read. I like the writing style. Read this book in a day .

Thank you Net Galley for the free copy in exchange for the review!

First off, I loved this book. It’s my first book by this author and I loved the story line and all the characters. It follows Don and Gina’s family, switching between characters and the past and present going through them inviting Gina’s god daughter into their home. I loved the twist at the end which I did not see at all coming.

My jaw hit the floor when I read the last chapter! I highly recommend this to anyone who loves a thriller/mystery.

Another "one-sitting" read! The plot in this book was absolutely great. Fast paced, mind boggling and a another crazy villian made this book very entertaining. Carina's Godchild appears on her doorstep after years of no contact and it all downhill from there. Mysterious things happen in this family and you have to wonder if its just pure bad luck or is there a story behind it.
As with drama-thrillers we can often guess were a book is going and what the outcome will be, but mostly it comes down to the author's creativity. Some of the plot was quiet obvious and I feel like it was intended that way, but the last bit did surprise me. Miranda is fast becoming one of my favorite writers.

The Godchild
2⭐️

This was a fine/average read until the end when it nosedived for me.

Alicia, Carina’s estranged goddaughter, shows up at Carina’s doorstep asking to stay in the home. Carina hasn’t seen Alicia since she was a baby, and apparently regardless of not seeing Alicia or Gina (Alicia’s mom) in over a decade (and even forgetting she had a goddaughter), she agrees to have Alicia move into the home. Alicia fits in flawlessly and gets along well with the family and in her new school. The only person who feels like something is off is Tegan, Carina’s daughter.

This is told from Carina’s (past and present) and Tegan’s POVs. I found Carina’s past chapters to be boring. No one will be guessing the twists at the end. There was a lot of explanation needed in the last few chapters to bring it all together.

Thank you to NetGalley, Miranda Rijks, and Inkubator Books for providing this ARC. This review is being shared on NetGalley and Goodreads.

Pub Date 31 Mar 2024

There are characters where you just know that they would be the first to die in a horror movie and this family is that. Our MFC is the dumbest person ever, some girl comes to your door claiming to be your god daughter and you don't think to verify it? You don't think it could be scam? The dad and daughter were right to be skeptical. Also the hardon the son has for the god daughter is really unnatural and uncomfortable.

This writing style was just not for me and this is one of the dumbest people I've read about.