Many thanks to Suzanne and Suzy Approved Book Tours for my spot on this Blog Tour.
An intriguing read with missing children which made me gasp at how quickly circumstances changed in life. Author Maureen Joyce Connolly wrote a riveting story filled with an understated suspense where I knew everything, but not how it would all come together. The author, through the magic of her words, kept me on tenderhooks about the fate of the missing children.
Claire had an bad reaction to a Hep-C vaccine and struck violently ill in the washroom of a gas station with her two beautiful children in the car. She became unconscious, and in the split second, an opportunist grabbed the kids and made off. Jay was the only witness to the kidnapping.
My first book by this author, I listened to the whole book with bated breath. The plot lines were weaved seamlessly where I was shown all that happened in a span of time and the journey henceforth. Emotions were right at the surface, the narrator could give them life with the pitch and intonation. Expressions could be heard as she read through the book.
With multiple POVs, the author bound them all together, the abject grief of the mother and the confusion of the missing children at the strange surrounding touched my heart. I was given the kidnapper’s thoughts too, an added understanding to wickedness and desperation. Evil had many faces.
An added layer with extra sensory perception gave the story a delightful sway where I could appreciate the story with an increasing intrigue. A couple of niggles, the audio was too low at maximum volume, and the voice of the narrator screeched suddenly (a blast on my eardrum) while doing the bird and children’s voices. I had to keep my finger on the volume button constantly.
A debut this was like no other that pulled at my heartstrings and soothed my thriller-y mind.
I received a free code from Suzy and the author, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.
All my reviews can be read here
A mother’s chance decision leads to a twist of fate that is every parent’s worst nightmare.
Claire Rawlings, mother of two and medical resident, will not let the troubling signs of an allergic reaction prevent her from making it in for rounds. But when Claire’s symptoms overpower her while she’s driving into work, her two children in tow, she must pull over. Moments later she wakes up on the floor of a gas station bathroom-her car, and her precious girls have vanished.
The police have no leads and the weight of guilt presses down on Claire as each hour passes with no trace of her girls. All she has to hold on to are her strained marriage, a potentially unreliable witness who emerges days later, and the desperate but unquenchable belief that her daughters are out there somewhere.
Little Lovely Things is the story of a family shattered by an unthinkable tragedy. Played out in multiple narrative voices, the novel explores how the lives of those affected fatefully intersect, and highlights the potential catastrophe of the small decisions we make every day.
Publication Date: April 2019
11 Responses
That’s a terrible scenario. Great review, Shalini!
I agree. The narrator was a bit off but overall it was fun to read it
Ohhh it sounds good, especially with the different narratives in it.
Thank you so much. It was one narrator with different voices. Quite a new experience for me.
The missing children trope rattles me
One of my favorite tropes… I find my brain latching on to the book. Rest of the time it floats in the stratosphere
great review but sounds like the narrator took some of the fun out of the narrative.
She was actually awful. I had to stop listening because I was constantly changing volumes every few lines. For normal prose it was highest and suddenly she would squeak or growl with dig and bird sounds and my ear drums would get a blast. I had a headache
Nice review
Thank you, Sir
Most welcome mam