Digital Reads Reviews

Many thanks to publisher Bookouture for my spot on this Blog Tour.

Oh quite an emotional read. Author Ali Mercer pulled at my heartstrings with the rendering of a tale seen through the eyes of a 14 year old Dani.

Having lost her mother at the age of 4, Dani didnt remember anything about her. She stayed with her author, and a hidden diary on the loft belonging to her mother brought out some truths. All Dani wanted was closure, and she found some chasms.

All of the books by this author had given me hours of reading pleasure, so I was quite thrilled to get to this book. I enjoyed how little Dani pulled me into the story. We all need our mothers, whatever be our age. The story was a family drama filled with emotions of guilt and secret and finally forgiveness. Each page revealed to Dani and me what her mother was like.

The book had feels, but what surprised and delighted me was a hidden mystery in the family along with twists which captured my thriller-y heart completely. I liked that it helped me not get too sobfull about the story. The writing kept its steady pace, but the overall storyline and need to know the truth made me turn the pages faster.

Great writing with lovely characters, deep emotions made this an entertaining read.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

Nobody talks about my mother. Absolutely nobody. I have no idea what she was like. I’d always thought they kept quiet about her because they were sad. But what if it was because they were guilty?

I watch them at the school gates, all the mothers with their daughters. I see the hugs and all those thoughtful little adjustments to scarves and ponytails. How their love seems to overflow, they have so much of it to give.

And then I walk home to my aunt’s cold house, where there are a hundred rules for me to follow and only a single photograph of my mother to look at.

She is never spoken about in this house. They tell me that it will be easier if I don’t think about her.

It is strange though, isn’t it? That I know nothing about my own mother?

But they don’t know about the diary I’ve found up in the loft. Maybe they even forgot it was there. It doesn’t matter anymore if they won’t tell me anything. Because within these pages is what I’ve waited fourteen years to find out. And maybe some things I wish I could forget.

All I wanted was to bring our family closer together, but could what I find tear us apart instead?

Publication Date: July 2020