You lost your daughter. You will never forgive yourself. And now someone’s determined to make you pay…
Seventeen years ago, something happened to Jess’s daughter Beth. The memory of it still makes her blood run cold. Jess has tried everything to make peace with that day, and the part she played in what happened. It was only a brief moment of desire… but she’ll pay for it with a lifetime of guilt.
To distance herself from the mistakes of the past, Jess has moved away and started over with her family. But when terrifying things begin happening in her new home, seemingly connected to what happened to Beth, Jess knows that her past has finally caught up with her. Somebody feels Jess hasn’t paid enough, and is determined to make her suffer for the secrets she’s kept all these years.
Review
Let me start by saying that I was wrong about this book. I read the first sentence in the blurb and immediately made an assumption on what the book would be about. The first chapters caught me by surprise. I didn’t expect to feel such heartbreak. I was fighting back tears as I turned the pages. However, the story gradually changes as it progresses.
So 17 years ago, Jess lost her daughter and this is where the story begins. Readers are taken back to that day. The author shares details of the day right from when it started. Some of these details later prove to be key in the story. After the first chapters, the story moves to 17 years after the tragedy when weird things start happening.
Jess is the MC in the story and the story is narrated from her POV. She is easily likeable and relatable. Still, there are events that took place that made me want to yell at her. However, her character was so well crafted that it was easy to understand even her ‘crazy’ actions.
I loved the suspense in the story. I was able to guess part of the mystery a bit early. I knew who the perpetrator was and guessed their backstory. However, I wasn’t one hundred percent certain. The author brilliantly managed to throw me off and I ended up changing my mind a couple of times. In the end, my guess was right but I was still surprised by the reveal. I think the author handled this aspect really well.
As you can probably tell already, I enjoyed this book. I liked the premise and the twists and turns along the way. I enjoyed reading about the characters and I admit, I absolutely fell in love with one, little gentleman called James. This is an entertaining, gripping read perfect for fans of psychological thrillers.
A Haven for Book Lovers 
It sounds good! Glad you enjoyed it even though you were onto the villain of the story. Fantastic review, Diana!
Thanks Nikola. For once, I wasn’t bothered by the fact that the villain’s identity wasn’t a surprise. This was a fantastic read for sure.
Surprise and suspense, I like this! Great review!
Thanks Meggy 🙂
This definitely sounds like something my Mum would love – she’s a fan of mystery thrillers and mother/daughter dramas. I’ll try keep an eye out for it!
I think that she will definitely enjoy this one Judith.
Thanks for visiting my blog:-)
review makes it worth trying out
Give it a try when you get a chance.
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
welcome
The guessing part is always my favorite game and I want to be right but I don’t want it to be made too easy. It looks like it was just perfect here. Great review!
It was perfect. I had a feeling that I know who the person was but I kept changing my mind a couple of times. And the story was interestingly narrated too such that it wasn’t just focused on the reveal. Thank you Inge 🙂
You have me so curious about Jame! Fab review Diana!
He was such a great character. The MC was likeable too. Thank you 😉
I really enjoyed this book too Diana. I thought it was heart-breaking at the beginning! Jess was frustrating at points, but like you, I could totally understand it.
I am glad to hear that you also enjoyed it Chrissi and it seems like we felt the same way about the beginning and Jess. I didn’t expect such an emotional start to the story but I really enjoyed the narrative.
I always think the most enjoyable books are those where you think you’ve worked everything out but your not quite sure – that way you get the satisfaction of being right without it spoiling the storyline. It’s interesting that the story didn’t originally develop in the way you expected, like you I read the blurb and think I could predict some of the content, reading your review, I’m not so sure.
I totally agree with you. I like being right but not when the twist is so obvious. In this case, I changed my mind a couple of times. It was quite an interesting read 🙂
You definitely have my attention now! Sounds like a very interesting read. Great review!
Thanks Yvo and it was really good;-)
Uhhh it seems like a sad and heartbreaking book! Maybe when I’m in the mood… 🙂
It certainly was heartbreaking at the start but the tone of the story changed to suspense after the few chapters.
This sounds so good! I really want to read this one now! Great review 🙂
Glad to hear that. Thank you.
Great review Diana. I knew from reading the synopsis what was happening in the first few chapters but it was still a teary struggle to make it to the time jump. Very talented author to bring out the emotion in readers even without the surprise.
I misunderstood the use of the word lost in the synopsis to mean missing so I was totally caught by surprise. I agree with you though, she is super talented. I definitely will look out for her next book.
Great review Diana. I have made a request hope i get an approval
Thanks Shaz, fingers crossed that you will get approved.
Oh no, my tbr pile is growing by leaps and bounds every day with these great book recommendations.
Excellent review!! Adding this one to my tbr.
haha my TBR is also out of control. I can’t stop adding books. I am glad that you are considering reading this book and I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did:-)