My review
A story of 2 women and 1 man which was interlinked between them. A triangle is never a good thing in a relationship, and neither was this…
One was mother Kirsten who said she loved her daughter but never found time for her. One was a teacher Miriam who had a special eye on the child, more than what was required. And last was husband Andy as slimy as an eel, who loved only himself. This was a story about them.
The debut by A. L. Bird had me wondering initially where the story was leading up to. And the real secret was revealed at 40% of the book. Then what was remaining, asked my brain? And the mental games started. The ladies used their ways and means to get the child. The man used his wiles to get rid of both.
This book was a psychologically twisted tale of human psyche where I could just read it with wild, unbelievable eyes wondering how low a human can sink just to get a child. And the games kept playing on till the last page!!
Fast pace and highly twisted unlikable characters made this book a fast 2 hour read. The plot itself was a bit meh, there were only reactions no planned actions. But that was the charm of Bird’s writing!!
I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher HQ Digital, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating : 4 stars
About the Author
A.L. Bird lives in London, where she divides her time between writing, working as a lawyer, and running around after her young family. She loves writing dark, twisty thrillers. Bestselling The Good Mother was her first major psychological thriller for HQDigital. Don’t Say a Word (out now) is her chilling standalone next book. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London, and is also an alumna of the Faber Academy ‘Writing a Novel’ course.
Book blurb
After years of IVF, Kirsten White is a devoted mum to Harriet – and she can’t believe the time has come to send her little girl off to school. But Harriet has now turned five, and she can’t stay Kirsten’s baby forever. It might be hard, but it’s time to entrust her daughter’s care to her new teacher.
Miriam Robertson has been waiting for the perfect little girl to walk into her class. She’s very picky… but when Harriet walks in, Miriam knows: this is the child she’s been waiting for.
Harriet knows not to speak to strangers. But her lovely new teacher isn’t a stranger at all. In fact, she’s her new best friend. And you can always trust your friends… can’t you?
Product Details
Publication date : 16th September 2018
Publisher : HQ Digital
50 Responses
sounds very good – shall read your review which will be, as always, great and which will, as always, make me want to read the book right away … peace my sister
Hey Afzal.. Thank you so much… How are you? It’s been so long since we had a chat… 💕
Hey Shalini, thanks I’m doing cool just busy with work – the bane of our earthly existence LOL – yes it’s been a while and I hope you have been keeping well too. stay well my friend and keep the great reviews coming …
cheers from a hot Johannesburg here in South Africa
Peace and Hope ✌👍
Cheers from a hot Mumbai too… Will catch up with you once my health issues are a bit settled
oh I’m very sorry to hear that and wish you all of the very best dear Shalini. truly wishing you well. hugs to you in aamchi Mumbai
❤️💜
Some real ominous tones here (delicious)! Glad you enjoyed, Shalini.
Oh yes… Dark and heavy at some parts yet predictable on most
Wonderful review Shalini! 💜💙🧡❤️💚
Thank you so much… ❤️💜
Sounds twisty
Twisty and dark in parts 💕❤️
Shalini, this sounds so intriguing!!! Now I want to know what the secret was!!! Great review 💕
Hahaha the secret was straight but they made it twisted 💕
That is so cryptic!!! 😂
😂Hahaha 😂it was wasn’t it?
Ohhh fun. Lovely review, 🧡😍😘
Yayyy 😘😘❤️ thank you
Heavy, Shalini, heavy. As always, some excellent insight.
Yayy Gin how you doing, girl?
Thank you… What are you reading?
OMG – you have mad skills – you read a 400 page book in 2 hours? That would take all day for me.
This was a fast read…. Once I am engrossed pages turn… But if I am not then it might take 2 days or never… Hehehehe…. This was really an easy read and I didn’t realize it was 400 pages ..
I can’t do anymore unlikable characters!! Lmao! What happened to the days where you were meant to LIKE the characters! Plus, I feel like unlikable these days usually means “annoying”. Ha ha!
Nowadays I am not liking real people tooo😂😂😂😂 BTW Nina is not well on bed
Funny you say that, I was going to email her today because I’ve been worried that I haven’t heard from her for a little while! 😓 I hope everything is ok!
… And I hope that I’M not one of those people!! 😢😢
Hehehe no you are not .. Why? Did you do something
Ha ha!! Not that I know of… But, I’ve been realising lately how ridiculously socially awkward I am, and how sometimes I don’t pick up on social cues pertaining to the feelings of others… I guess working at a video game store so so many years made me feel like the normal one… Now that I’m around more normal people… I realise that is NOT true.. 😂😂
Hahaha normal is not what I would call you… You are different but good different!! 😉😉😂😂😘😘
Ha ha… Ok. We’ll go with that! Lol! Some other people would argue that… But, I’ll take it! 😂😂
Who cares about others? 🤔🤔😉😉
Damn straight! 💖💖
Great review! I enjoyed this book too. It was a twisted one.
I agree dark in some parts and some were predictable. But all round fun!!
Reblogged this on Angie Dokos.
Thank you Angie happy dance💃💃💕💕
You’re welcome. 😊 💃 💃
Loved this: “Andy as slimy as an eel”–ha! Excellent review.
He was quite bad and the in the end he turned worse 😂😂🤣🤣 thank you .. I use slimy as an eel in my regular day to day conversations 🙈🙈
Excellent review, Shalini!
Thank you so much.. So sweet of you to say that 😊💕
I think slimy as an eel is a great expression!! Fabulous review, as always, dear Shalini!
Thank you so much… I use that expression all the time.. Yp lots of men I meet are pretty slimy.. 😂😂 Thank you 💕
This looks fascinating I love unlikable character! Fab review !
Thank you so much…. I need to read some likable characters to counter them all!! 😂😂💕
I love that cover. Great review, Shalini. I like twisted characters in thrillers lol. I am curious about the ones in this one especially since you mention that they were willing to do just about anything to get a child. Intrigued.
Oh yes.. Child was used as a barter… Nobody really seemed to love the kid
Nice review
Thank you
Welcome