The Girl You Gave Away by Jess Ryder
Genre: Domestic thriller, psychological thriller, domestic drama
Read: 9th July 2020
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 20th March 2020)
★★★★ 4 stars
Having read a couple of Jess Ryder's novels before, with my first one being a bit hit and miss and the second being marginally better, I wasn't sure what to expect with this one. But THE GIRL YOU GAVE AWAY happily did not disappoint. While the concept of the direction the story is going to take is fairly obvious, there are plenty of twists and secrets along the way to keep you guessing. It's about secrets, lies and revenge on a whole new scale that you won't be able to put it down!
Erin Whitesteed is celebrating her 40th birthday and as she mingles with her guests she feels like the luckiest woman alive. She owns her own business, has a loving husband and two wonderful children who thrive at school. After being an unwanted surprise for her parents late in life and then falling in with a rough crowd, she now feels as if this is where she is finally meant to be. Her life couldn't be more perfect. Does that mean it could only get worse?
When her best friend Asha hands her a red envelope she found on the doormat, little does Erin know that the fickle finger of fate is about to drop a bombshell she will not see coming. Puzzled, she opens the envelope to reveal a birthday card with a champagne glass overflowing with bubbles adorned with the number 40 inside...and her heart jumped into her throat.
"Happy birthday, Mum!
With love from the girl you gave away xxx"
With that single message, Erin's past comes back to haunt her with a secret so deep she has kept hidden and now threatens to smash her perfect life and that of her family to pieces. And the card? It's from the daughter she conceived at the age of 14 and gave up for adoption. Twenty five years ago.
Why is her daughter suddenly getting in contact now? Is she wanting a relationship with her birth mum or is there an ulterior motive? How did find her - where she lived, her phone number, email address? And most importantly, how is Erin going to explain this to her husband and children who have no idea of her other daughter's existence?
Then there is Jade, Erin's now 25 year old daughter. She volunteers at a charity shop, lives in a hostel and claims her adoption fell through when she was just 7 and has since grown up in care. Erin, of course, is mortified that the baby she gave up to give her a better life had in fact an even worse one than she could have imagined for her. Jade is annoyed that her existence has been kept a "dirty little secret" from Erin's family. Is she ashamed of her? Embarrassed? Humiliated, even?
But little does Erin know that Jade has secrets of her own. Secrets that are about to shatter her perfect little world into a million pieces.
The narrative alternates from both Erin and Jade's perspectives throughout weaving the past with the present as Erin's story is slowly revealed and the reader is given an understanding into her past. But it's what happens in the present, influenced by the past, that paves the way as Erin's perfect life begins to unravel.
Erin is not a sinister or vindictive woman. Just a woman who was shamed for her past and worried about what those secrets might do to her family. However, I do think her choices were a little stupid. While I sympathised with 14 year old Erin, I had little sympathy for adult Erin in part when all she had to do was be honest with Tom in the first place. Especially considering she knew how black and white his perspective on things were and how blinkered he could be. She knew this and yet she failed to be honest with him from the beginning. Of course she had done nothing wrong - she just made a mistake and was given no option but to do as she had been instructed to do. But as an adult, she had the option to tell him...and she didn't. So I wasn't surprised by Tom's reaction to her secret, although I was disgusted by his behaviour afterwards. A supposedly good caring husband prior to it all coming to light is suddenly cruel, unfeeling and unsympathetic after discovering he's been deceived. As if it is all about him and without a care towards his wife as to why she had kept this secret for all of their married life. He even gave her an ultimatum prior to their wedding "Promise me you will never deceive me, Erin. I won't be able to deal with it. Betray me once and our marriage will be over." Charming. However, knowing that about him Erin should have come clean from the beginning.
On the whole, pretty much everyone behaves diabolically. Erin deals with everything in the worst way possible. Tom is suddenly unfeeling, uncaring and unsympathetic towards his wife of almost 20 years. Oli and Chloe show next to no loyalty to their mother. Oli decides to chuck in his studies to spite him mum whilst Chloe becomes an even more rebellious 14 year old. And Jade? Well, let's just say she is an enigma with a lot of issues. I didn't trust her from the beginning. Basically everyone makes a series of lousy decisions throughout the entire story that makes you want to just smack their heads together.
And just when you think THE GIRL YOU GAVE AWAY is going to be a predictable read, all hell breaks loose.
THE GIRL YOU GAVE AWAY is a taut, tense psychological thriller that had me turning the pages with such speed and kept me on the edge of my seat. The story was absolutely gripping from beginning to end filled with suspense, secrets, lies and deception that made the tension palpable throughout.
My only complaint was the ending seemed a little rushed and I was left a little confused as how everything actually ended up. The final twist that should have been a segue into another revealing part of the story really just flopped into nothing, leaving it all in an unsatisfactory conclusion. It was this that dropped a star off my rating and apart from that, it was an enthralling and compelling read.
A thrilling suspense-filled tale, THE GIRL YOU GAVE AWAY is a mixture of psychological thriller, domestic thriller and family drama all rolled into one. Perfect for fans of Sheryl Browne.
Recommended for thriller fans who love a domestic tale gone wrong.
I would like to thank #JessRyder, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheGirlYouGaveAway in exchange for an honest review.
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