Synopsis: Then: Morning light shines into the nursery, casting shadows across the pale pink walls and wooden cot in the middle of the room. She opens the door expecting to hear the soft coo of her daughter Sofia stretching herself awake. But the room is silent. The cot is empty. Her little girl has vanished…
Now: Twelve years have passed, but Emily will never forget the night her life changed forever and she’s happy to have her daughter back beside her. A teenager now, Sofia – who was once a star student – is getting into trouble at school and she’s started asking questions about when she was a baby, but Emily can’t tell her what really happened the night she went missing. Nobody would understand why Emily did what she did, and if anyone ever found out, she could lose her daughter forever.
But when Emily catches Sofia messaging a stranger online, her heart pounds in her chest as she reads the last message received.
Your mother isn’t who you think she is.
Days later, Emily returns home to find the house silent. She checks every room but Sofia has vanished, again. She shudders as she remembers that night in the nursery. Has her past finally caught up with her? And is she already too late to save her precious daughter?
My Rating: 3/5
My Review: I have to start by saying that I would definitely say I am a fan of some of Sue Watsons books, however this one infuriated me beyond belief. Emily and her daughter Sofia are the stars of this latest story and at first it was pretty readable and it was very clear that Emily had run from something. The story flowed well and I got into it pretty quickly but there were a few niggles that continued to irritate and just seemingly got worse.
Emily as a Mother was ridiculously over the top, but I could forgive that to a point. However, considering she trusted nobody, she then decides to trust a dude she literally met five minutes before? That annoyed me, as did her friend Nancy. She needed a good slap and to be told to disappear off the face of the planet. The final and worst thing for me was the addition of stating the obvious at the end of what felt like every chapter!
These few niggles really put a dampner on this book for me and lessened the enjoyment hugely. It was still an okay read but nowhere near what I have come to expect from this author and this definitely wouldn’t be on my list of books from her I love.
