Early Review: NOT HER DAUGHTER
/18 Comments/by SuzannePublished by St. Martin's Griffin on August 21, 2018
Genres: Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 352
Source: Netgalley
Amazon
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
MY REVIEW:
Rea Frey’s Not Her Daughter is an engaging story that follows two women, Amy Townsend and Sarah Walker, and how their lives become entwined because of one little girl, Amy’s five-year old daughter Emma. One day Sarah witnesses Amy behaving abusively toward Emma in the middle of a crowded airport. She can’t get the incident out of her mind and, when a chance encounter makes their paths cross again and Sarah realizes that Amy’s abusive behavior is a chronic pattern, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She convinces herself that she’s not really kidnapping Emma, but instead is rescuing her. As she sets her plan into motion, it raises the question of how far Sarah is really willing to go to make sure Emma is safe? How much is she willing to risk?
Sounds like an absolutely gripping read, right? I checked Goodreads and it has plenty of 4 and 5 star ratings, so lots of readers are loving this book. Sadly, I’m not one of them though so it looks like I’m going to have the Unpopular Opinion review, which is so disappointing because I really thought I would love this one.. I’m going to start with the good though because the book does have plenty of things going for it.
In spite of my overall low rating, there were a few things that I liked about Not Her Daughter, the first being that the author does tackle a very tough subject – kidnapping – and actually does so in a way that you can almost see where the kidnapping is justified. That, in itself, is quite a feat. She does this, of course, by making Emma’s home environment appear so completely unhealthy that you can’t help but wish that she could be removed from it. Her mother is clearly abusive, and her father seems to just sit back and let the abuse happen unchecked. She also has Sarah run through all of the horrible things about the foster care system as she is considering the best course of action to take to “save” Emma. Sarah comes to the conclusion that it would be so much better for Emma to just go with her because she appreciates how special Emma is and could love her as her own instead of just dumping her in the system. Not that I would ever condone kidnapping, but it surprised me how convincing the argument Sarah made really was. I could see this argument being a great starting point for a book club discussion – If you knew for a fact that a child was being abused, what lengths would you go to make sure that child was removed from harm’s way?
I also found it fascinating to have the story presented from the perspective of both Amy and Sarah. Being able to get inside their heads and see what each of them is thinking is probably the best part of the book. You get inside of Sarah’s head and understand that she comes from a background where she was abandoned by her mother when she was 8 and so it becomes clear why Emma’s experiences resonate with her to such an extreme. Even more fascinating, however, are when we get inside of Amy’s head and actually see some of the dark thoughts she has at any given moment, especially when she thinks about whether she even wants Emma to come home. It’s such a disturbing and non-maternal thing for a mother to think and it’s just a major WOW moment.
If you’re into stories with lots of suspense that will keep you turning the pages, Not Her Daughter really delivers in that area as well. There are plenty of twists and turns as Sarah tries to evade the authorities, and each twist just ratchets up the suspense that much more.
I think this is going to be a case of “It’s me, not necessarily the book” but I just had several issues with the book that made it not a good fit for me.
The first is that I just didn’t feel a real connection to any of the characters in this book. I definitely didn’t feel much of anything for Amy, her husband, or Sarah, and even though I felt very sympathetic toward Emma because of what she had gone through in her own house, I still just didn’t feel super connected to her. Honestly, I would have expected a book on this subject matter to move me to tears, but it didn’t at all. I just felt like a passive observer, and I’m not sure why – maybe it was the narrative style, I don’t know.
Another issue I had was that I just found some of the things that happened in the story to be farfetched. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I’m going to keep this vague but the ending in particular just seemed like something that would never actually happen and because it felt so unrealistic, I was left unsatisfied with the story as a whole.
Finally, what really took this book down a star for me, was how Amy was described throughout the book. I get it – she’s a horrible mother who probably never should have had children in the first place and everything about her is supposed to disgust me. But why do I need to know that she’s an overweight doughy woman who eats way too much cheese, is always gassy, and only poops about once a week? And why do I need flashbacks of her thinking about giving birth to her children and pushing them out of her “hairy vagina”? I’m all for vivid descriptions when they add something to the story, but those just felt unnecessary and distracting.
Even though Not Her Daughter wasn’t a good fit for me, I still think many readers will find it a powerful and riveting read. Because of the moral dilemma that Sarah faces, it’s definitely a book that will make you think.
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:
Gripping, emotional, and wire-taut, Not Her Daughter raises the question of what it means to be a mother—and how far someone will go to keep a child safe.
Emma Townsend. Five years old. Gray eyes, brown hair. Missing since June.
Emma is lonely. Living with her cruel mother and clueless father, Emma retreats into her own world of quiet and solitude.
Sarah Walker. Successful entrepreneur. Broken-hearted. Kidnapper.
Sarah has never seen a girl so precious as the gray-eyed child in a crowded airport terminal. When a second-chance encounter with Emma presents itself, Sarah takes her—far away from home. But if it’s to rescue a little girl from her damaging mother, is kidnapping wrong?
Amy Townsend. Unhappy wife. Unfit mother. Unsure whether she wants her daughter back.
Amy’s life is a string of disappointments, but her biggest issue is her inability to connect with her daughter. And now Emma is gone without a trace.
As Sarah and Emma avoid the nationwide hunt, they form an unshakeable bond. But what about Emma’s real mother, back at home?
About Rea Frey
Rea always wanted to be a novelist.
When she was little, her nose was either stuffed in a book, sniffing paper, absorbing words, or letting her imagination wander. If not reading, she was writing. In journals. In notebooks. In diaries. On walls. In the sand. On legal pads. On typewriters. With quills.
In college, she majored in fiction writing and somehow fell into nonfiction and personal training. Her dreams of sitting in a writer’s haven on the water, wrapped in a sweater, penning her stories, was swapped for health and wellness gigs and her first fractured steps into the important world of the Author Platform (aka social media).
After four nonfiction books were published, countless magazine and newspaper articles written, editing jobs taken, content management contracts executed, a gym co-owned, and certifications sought, she realized she was hustling for the wrong type of writing.
So, she quit.
She gave herself a window to write a novel. Eight weeks, she told herself. Eight weeks to change everything.
Never one to back down from a challenge, she wrote her novel in just a month.
The rest went something like this: Secure a phenomenal agent, join a writer’s group, bear witness to the magic of self-belief as the book got into a bidding war and landed her a two-book deal with St. Martin’s Press.
Now, when asked what she does, she says the following: I’m a motherfucking writer.
Rea is a novelist. She writes books. And swears. And drinks lots of coffee. And has a daughter. And a dreamy husband. And still manages to find the magic in books.
She hopes you will put down the phone and pick up a book (preferably hers when it hits the shelves). And find the joy in reading.
Because there’s nothing quite like the power of words…
Weekly Recap #66: Week of 8/12 – 8/18
/38 Comments/by Suzanne
It’s time for another weekly recap post of all things happening on and off the blog. This week I’ll be linking to the Sunday Post, which is hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and to Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.
This week was all about my son’s first week of middle school. I’m happy to report that he’s off to a great start, no drama at all aside from trying to get his sleep pattern back on track for those early morning wakeups. He’s not quite there yet, but hopefully another week and he’ll be back into the swing of things.
Although he didn’t have any drama, I sure did! My desktop computer decided that this week would a great time to randomly kick the bucket. It got stuck in some weird ‘Automatic Repair’ loop and I couldn’t get it to boot up at all. I took it to Geek Squad and several days later, they were able to fix it. And by fix it, I mean wipe the hard drive and reinstall the entire operating system. Thankfully they were able to backup all of my files, but I lost all of my software and spent most of the week trying to find where I had stored all of that so I could get everything reinstalled. One thing I learned throughout this experience is that my old eyes and fat fingers are very dependent on a large keyboard and a huge monitor. I was glad that I had a laptop I could switch over to while waiting for my desktop to be fixed so that I didn’t fall too behind on all of my blogging, etc., but OMG, it took me so much longer to do everything! I felt like I had never used a computer before, lol.
Aside from my computer woes, not too much else happened. My son and I are going to see Ant Man and the Wasp today so hopefully that will be a fun time. 🙂
Oh well, I think that’s it for me. I hope everyone else has a great week!
WHAT I POSTED LAST WEEK
- [12 Aug] Weekly Recap #65: Week of 8/5 – 8/11
- [13 Aug] Vox by Christina Dalcher ★★★★
- [14 Aug] Top Ten Tuesday – 10 Amazing Book Bloggers That Should Be on Your Radar
- [15 Aug] Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE DARKEST STAR by Jennifer L. Armentrout
- [16 Aug] The Raging Ones by Krista & Becca Ritchie ★★★★
- [17 Aug] Summer TBR Wipeout 2018: Wrap-Up Post
WHAT I’M READING THIS WEEK
UPCOMING REVIEWS
STACKING THE SHELVES
TOTALLY RANDOM
Summer TBR Wipeout 2018: Wrap-Up Post
/26 Comments/by Suzanne
This week marks the end of the Summer TBR Wipeout 2018 Challenge. A huge thanks to The Candid Cover for hosting it again this year. As always, it has been a lot of fun and I got a ton of reading done for the challenge this year so yay! My original goal was to read 15 books and I’m excited to report that I actually managed to exceed that goal with a total of 18 books, including every single book off of my original TBR list for the challenge. Being the mood reader I am, I think I’m most excited to have actually stuck to that list. That may be a first for me, haha! Anyway, on to the books. As far as reviews go, I have written full reviews for the three books on here that were ARCs. For the rest, I’m just going to give a quick reaction on each and move on so that I don’t continue to fall behind on my reviews.
COMPLETED BOOKS SINCE LAST UPDATE
VICIOUS by V.E. SCHWAB – My love for Schwab’s books has only continued to grow now that I have finally read Vicious. As much as I adore books that feature anti-heroes, this book was practically written with me in mind. If you love books that feature villains, or you’ve read and loved Schwab’s other series but somehow haven’t picked this one up yet, GO BUY THIS BOOK! You won’t regret it! 5 STARS
THE RAGING ONES by KRISTA & BECCA RITCHIE – Part epic space odyssey, part coming of age story, The Raging Ones is one of the more unique books I’ve read this year. Check out my full review HERE. 4 STARS
CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE by TOMI ADEYEMI – I just finished reading this book tonight and all I have to say is WOW! Out of all of the hyped books I’ve read this year, I think this one most lives up to and exceeds the hype. It’s an intense and sometimes painful story that is filled with all too relevant themes such as oppression and racism. It’s also beautifully written, with exquisite worldbuilding and characters that I adored, especially Zélie and Amari. I loved everything about this book! 5 STARS
THE POINT by JOHN DIXON – An exciting story about an outcast with supernatural powers who finds herself enrolled at West Point Military Academy where they hope to train her to be the ultimate weapon. Check out my full review HERE. 4 STARS.
HOW TO STOP TIME by MATT HAIG – This was a fascinating read that is actually kind of hard to describe. It’s science fiction in the sense that it features a character who has been alive for over 500 years because he doesn’t age as normal humans do. It also, however, reads like historical fiction because the author uses flashbacks to take us back to earlier periods in the character’s life where he often encountered famous figures from history, such as William Shakespeare, Charlie Chaplin, Captain Cook, F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc. Finally, I’d even go so far as to call it a romance because it does follow the main character’s love of a woman and how that relationship has impacted him for most of his very extended life. Just an all around unique and creative read that I very much enjoyed. 4 STARS.
VOX by CHRISTINA DALCHER – A terrifying novel about what could happen if a radical religious group managed to rise to power in the United States with the ultimate agenda of silencing women. This was a gripping read that I just could not put down once I started reading it! Check out my full review HERE. 4 STARS
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Well, that’s it for my challenge. If you participated, I hope you had as much success as I did!