I’m delighted to be kicking off the blog tour for The Daughter by Lucy Dawson today! Many thanks to Kim Nash at Bookouture for the opportunity and the review copy.

Author : Lucy Dawson
Title : The Daughter
Pages : 290
Publisher : Bookouture
Publication date : January 24, 2018

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.

Seventeen years ago, something happened to Jess’s daughter Beth. Since the book description doesn’t give away what that is, I won’t either. Jess has since moved away but it seems the past has caught up with her once again and someone has decided Jess hasn’t yet been punished enough.

I am not known to be an emotional person (although these days, that’s rather debatable) but the beginning of this story is so utterly heartbreaking and devastating that it left me with a massive lump in my throat and nearly brought a tear to my eye, thinking I might need to go find some tissues. These first few chapters will suck you in like a vortex and rip out your heart. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Unfortunately for me, I figured out quite early on what was going on and who was responsible for taunting Jess. Maybe I just read too many books in this genre but I felt it was rather obvious. However, that didn’t take anything away from my enjoyment. Ultimately, this “thing” that happened in the past (vague, I know) has had an impact on quite a few people, not just Jess and that’s what stood out for me in this story. Actions have consequences and they often affect more people than you realise.

This is a gripping and compelling page-turner about family, grief, secrets, guilt and obsession. I can’t say I particularly warmed to any of the characters, except maybe Ben, but I could sympathise with them which is down to Lucy Dawson’s fantastic writing and her ability to bring these characters to live. Jess, in my most humble opinion, made some mistakes and bad decisions but I could always somehow understand where she was coming from.

I’d say The Daughter was a pretty new experience for me. I can’t quite remember reading such a tearjerking psychological thriller before but it worked like a charm and I look forward to reading more by Lucy Dawson in future.

The Daughter is published today!

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