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marceelf's review against another edition
4.0
http://www.anurseandabook.com/2015/04/stolen-child-by-laura-elliott.html
This was one of those books that started slow but then ended up engrossing me in the characters.
In the beginning, as Susanne suffers her miscarriage, and sneaks off to steal Carla's baby, I thought the book would be focused on that and stay in that time period. However, Susanna's kidnapping is successful, and so the book spans the life of Isobel/Joy as she grows into her teens.
Susanne's guilt over what she has done, coupled with the grief over her last miscarriage lead her into an emotional shutdown, incapable of ever relaxing into the motherhood she desperately desired.
Carla can't let go and move forward, losing her career, her privacy, her marriage.
As their lives go forward, you see where they are interconnected, in their past and their present, which originally motivated Susanne, but now causes her to live in terror. Carla wonders if her past choices brought this tragedy on her.
When I first started reading this book, I remember looking down thinking I must be halfway finished and looking down to see I was only at 24% completion. Yikes. But by the time I got to the second half, I found myself sitting in a parking lot pulling it up on my phone's Kindle app so I could finish it.
Thumbs down on the budding romance between Carla and David. That was the only time that I thought the author took the easy way out. Not too realistic, but a tidy way to end an untidy story.
Current Goodreads Rating 3.76
ARC provided by Bookouture and Netgalley in return for an honest review.
This was one of those books that started slow but then ended up engrossing me in the characters.
In the beginning, as Susanne suffers her miscarriage, and sneaks off to steal Carla's baby, I thought the book would be focused on that and stay in that time period. However, Susanna's kidnapping is successful, and so the book spans the life of Isobel/Joy as she grows into her teens.
Susanne's guilt over what she has done, coupled with the grief over her last miscarriage lead her into an emotional shutdown, incapable of ever relaxing into the motherhood she desperately desired.
Carla can't let go and move forward, losing her career, her privacy, her marriage.
As their lives go forward, you see where they are interconnected, in their past and their present, which originally motivated Susanne, but now causes her to live in terror. Carla wonders if her past choices brought this tragedy on her.
When I first started reading this book, I remember looking down thinking I must be halfway finished and looking down to see I was only at 24% completion. Yikes. But by the time I got to the second half, I found myself sitting in a parking lot pulling it up on my phone's Kindle app so I could finish it.
Thumbs down on the budding romance between Carla and David. That was the only time that I thought the author took the easy way out. Not too realistic, but a tidy way to end an untidy story.
Current Goodreads Rating 3.76
ARC provided by Bookouture and Netgalley in return for an honest review.
elliemcc11's review
3.0
whilst I generally enjoyed this I did think the ending a litttle unlikely / predictable. probably would rate it 3.5 stars. good for a free kindle read (bought a while ago. no longer free).
pickettreads's review
5.0
Susanne is a a woman who has suffered the loss of a child many times. After five miscarriages her mind and marriage are starting to slip. Carla Kelley is a supermodel and the face of her sister-in-law's maternity clothing line. Susanne is very private while Carla's life is always on display. Susanne loses another child but this time is a little different. Carla Kelley will have a successful delivery but will wake from a nap two days later to an empty cradle.
Each woman will handle her loss in a different way and both will have relationships suffer for it. One will lose her mind and one will lose her identity. Which one can you identify with or neither?
Seeing that there was a celebrity element I thought this would be a chick lit type of book. I was pleasantly surprised to find so much more to this book. There is a whole lot of emotion and a whole lot of crazy. I love both of those elements in stories. I thought that Elliot created an original story with well developed characters. I love how all of their stories are intertwined in unexpected ways. Susanne will make you empathize and hate her all at the same time. I also thought that the baby, Joy, is a wonderful character and Elliot captures her emotions perfectly. I can't imagine finding out in my teenage years that my whole life has been a lie.
Overall, this is a wonderful read that I would recommend to all of my friends. A psychological thriller that will have you holding your children close.
I received a copy of this book through Netgalley and Bookouture for my honest review.
Each woman will handle her loss in a different way and both will have relationships suffer for it. One will lose her mind and one will lose her identity. Which one can you identify with or neither?
Seeing that there was a celebrity element I thought this would be a chick lit type of book. I was pleasantly surprised to find so much more to this book. There is a whole lot of emotion and a whole lot of crazy. I love both of those elements in stories. I thought that Elliot created an original story with well developed characters. I love how all of their stories are intertwined in unexpected ways. Susanne will make you empathize and hate her all at the same time. I also thought that the baby, Joy, is a wonderful character and Elliot captures her emotions perfectly. I can't imagine finding out in my teenage years that my whole life has been a lie.
Overall, this is a wonderful read that I would recommend to all of my friends. A psychological thriller that will have you holding your children close.
I received a copy of this book through Netgalley and Bookouture for my honest review.
wormskiz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
noseinabookagain's review against another edition
5.0
What a fantastic read! I quickly became enthralled in this story, with its interesting and compelling characters. Full of emotion and surprises. The author dealt with touchy subjects excellently and the writing was superb. For quite a large book it was also well paced.
klherring's review against another edition
3.0
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this book!
Stolen Child follows the various people involved in a kidnapped child's life. The reader is privileged to the thoughts of child's biological parents as well as the family that raises her. Having read books on similar premises, I was intrigued by this one. I was also excited by the setting because I've been on an Irish kick this year...
The storyline was okay, though fairly predictable. It really read like chick lit, which I tend to criticize a little harshly. I wasn't crazy about the structure of it either. I felt like the story would have been more powerful with only one or two first person (or even third person) narrators. Elliot went with a mixture of points of view that felt very unbalanced and awkward. However, about 65% of the way through the book, the pace picked up and I felt very attached to the story. I wish Elliot had ended the story a chapter before she actually did because that would have been a very dramatic and powerful ending. As it was, the ending felt superfluous and I felt my eyes rolling.
Despite my criticism, I truly did enjoy the concept of the book and some of the writing was done well. Not a strong three, but not a waste of time either!
Stolen Child follows the various people involved in a kidnapped child's life. The reader is privileged to the thoughts of child's biological parents as well as the family that raises her. Having read books on similar premises, I was intrigued by this one. I was also excited by the setting because I've been on an Irish kick this year...
The storyline was okay, though fairly predictable. It really read like chick lit, which I tend to criticize a little harshly. I wasn't crazy about the structure of it either. I felt like the story would have been more powerful with only one or two first person (or even third person) narrators. Elliot went with a mixture of points of view that felt very unbalanced and awkward. However, about 65% of the way through the book, the pace picked up and I felt very attached to the story. I wish Elliot had ended the story a chapter before she actually did because that would have been a very dramatic and powerful ending. As it was, the ending felt superfluous and I felt my eyes rolling.
Despite my criticism, I truly did enjoy the concept of the book and some of the writing was done well. Not a strong three, but not a waste of time either!
mrs_george's review
2.0
Best word to sum up this book? Tedious. It was far from being a psychological thriller. Everything is fairly obvious. For being so long it was also very disjointed. The author gives great back stories and you really got to know the characters but it needed some condensing.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a copy.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a copy.
iamkaren's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
aineg's review
4.0
Quite a good story, however, there were a few too many coincidences for my liking and at times it bordered on chick-lit.