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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
The Night Olivia Fell looked like it was going to be an excellent thriller. I feel like it came highly recommended and just fell flat. There were a million red herrings and the final conclusion felt jaw-droppingly expected.
I wanted it just to be the narration in the audiobook, but it wasn't. The narration was only adequate as I could always tell I was being "narrated to" rather than told a story. Both narrators spoke with short, clipped syllables and I couldn't get over it.
It was a decent novel but, inevitably, a forgettable one.
I wanted it just to be the narration in the audiobook, but it wasn't. The narration was only adequate as I could always tell I was being "narrated to" rather than told a story. Both narrators spoke with short, clipped syllables and I couldn't get over it.
It was a decent novel but, inevitably, a forgettable one.
I really did enjoy this book. I had a hard time deciding between 3 or 4 stars because I felt like the storyline really drug on. Overall this was a good book, I wished certain things had happened differently.
5 “Trust Me, you absolutely cannot miss reading this book” stars to The Night Olivia Fell! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I read The Night Olivia Fell with a group of blogger friends, and we unanimously loved it! An emotional read perfect for groups, The Night Olivia Fell is definitely a book you will to discuss with friends!
My Thoughts:
The Night Olivia Fells opens with a scene of which no one wants to relate. Abi Knight receives a phone call that her teen daughter has been in a tragic accident and is in the hospital. Upon arriving, she learns that her daughter is not only brain dead, but also pregnant.
From there, the narrative shifts between Abi’s narrative, mostly in the present day with some flashbacks, and Olivia’s narrative in the months leading up to her fall, until the two narratives merge in a masterful way.
Abi believes from the start that Olivia’s fall is no accident. She sees bruises on her wrists, and she quickly learns no one is taking her seriously, including the police. Once the police finally do begin to investigate, the case never seems to be their priority, and Abi decides to take matters into her own hands.
What happened to Olivia that fateful night, and how will this tragic story end?
There are so many things I loved about The Night Olivia Fell, and the biggest is how grounded it is in reality with authentic emotions, relationship dynamics, and characters. And those characters…wow! Not one is simply good or bad; they are a nice mix of complexity that keeps you guessing, especially when it comes to pointing the finger at who might have harmed Olivia. The author kept a wide net cast when looking for the suspect. I would develop a theory, and then pan to the next potential perp as the story went along and red herrings were dangled.
The Night Olivia Fell is so much more than the typical suspense story. While it has all the paramount trademarks, including secrets, lies, and formidable tension, it is in a league of its own with its intensely relatable characterization and raw emotion. You will love Abi and Olivia, and you will most definitely want to wrap your arms around each of them together, as you read their story and accept their individual fates as mother and daughter.
I read this book as a group with Berit, Holly, Melisa, Mack, and Kendall, and this was the best kind of story to read together. We shared in the tension, the love for these characters, and the guessing game at just who was guilty at the center of it all.
Thank you to the author, Christina McDonald, for the complimentary physical copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
I read The Night Olivia Fell with a group of blogger friends, and we unanimously loved it! An emotional read perfect for groups, The Night Olivia Fell is definitely a book you will to discuss with friends!
My Thoughts:
The Night Olivia Fells opens with a scene of which no one wants to relate. Abi Knight receives a phone call that her teen daughter has been in a tragic accident and is in the hospital. Upon arriving, she learns that her daughter is not only brain dead, but also pregnant.
From there, the narrative shifts between Abi’s narrative, mostly in the present day with some flashbacks, and Olivia’s narrative in the months leading up to her fall, until the two narratives merge in a masterful way.
Abi believes from the start that Olivia’s fall is no accident. She sees bruises on her wrists, and she quickly learns no one is taking her seriously, including the police. Once the police finally do begin to investigate, the case never seems to be their priority, and Abi decides to take matters into her own hands.
What happened to Olivia that fateful night, and how will this tragic story end?
There are so many things I loved about The Night Olivia Fell, and the biggest is how grounded it is in reality with authentic emotions, relationship dynamics, and characters. And those characters…wow! Not one is simply good or bad; they are a nice mix of complexity that keeps you guessing, especially when it comes to pointing the finger at who might have harmed Olivia. The author kept a wide net cast when looking for the suspect. I would develop a theory, and then pan to the next potential perp as the story went along and red herrings were dangled.
The Night Olivia Fell is so much more than the typical suspense story. While it has all the paramount trademarks, including secrets, lies, and formidable tension, it is in a league of its own with its intensely relatable characterization and raw emotion. You will love Abi and Olivia, and you will most definitely want to wrap your arms around each of them together, as you read their story and accept their individual fates as mother and daughter.
I read this book as a group with Berit, Holly, Melisa, Mack, and Kendall, and this was the best kind of story to read together. We shared in the tension, the love for these characters, and the guessing game at just who was guilty at the center of it all.
Thank you to the author, Christina McDonald, for the complimentary physical copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
It was good but it could’ve been better. The whole book besides the last two chapters were about Olivia falling but it felt like the whole story was about her being pregnant. I don’t like the whole storyline being ‘babies make the world go around’ it’s cheap, tawdry, and wrong. Someone’s life can matter without kids being involved. Also the person who committed the crime was so predictable. Jeez. When I found out I was like oh… okay. And everyone’s story was wrapped up in a perfect little bow at the end. It was like “yeah this girl died a tragic death but we all lived happily ever after especially because she left us a baby” lol what?
The writing was spectacular though. I can give it that. I just wish the author would’ve given the story more substance. It was cute though.
The writing was spectacular though. I can give it that. I just wish the author would’ve given the story more substance. It was cute though.
A mother willing to go to the ends of the world for her daughter, even though her daughter is brain dead, pregnant, and going to die. I think many mothers (and fathers) would feel the same way. The need to know why she ended up the way she is becomes so strong that it takes on its own life.
Abi finds help in Anthony and starts asking questions, following leads, and making waves with people who’d rather be left out of the entire thing. There were times that I wondered if Abi had bitten off more than she could handle but she was so strong, so determined, and so unwilling to be pushed off the trail. I loved that she didn’t give up, she didn’t let it go, and she didn’t take everyone for their word. She questioned, she pushed, and she pulled at each small hint of what happen and was soon unraveling the entire story. I wondered if I could be so strong when facing the loss of my daughter and hoped that I would never have to find out.
Christina McDonald did an amazing job of keeping the teenagers as teenagers. They hid things from their parents, gossiped about each other to their friends, snuck out and misbehaved just as real teenagers did. Yes, some of the teenagers were mean people but that is the high school life and I loved that she didn’t make them all pretty and perfect. The adults in the story were also real. They were wanting to protect their kids, themselves, and distance themselves from the horror of having a brain dead, pregnant daughter.
This is a great book. I picked it up, kept going back to it, and even now after finishing it I can’t let it go. I continue to think about the story, wonder how many parents have found themselves in similar positions and thankful that my teenagers are healthy, happy, and alive.
Abi finds help in Anthony and starts asking questions, following leads, and making waves with people who’d rather be left out of the entire thing. There were times that I wondered if Abi had bitten off more than she could handle but she was so strong, so determined, and so unwilling to be pushed off the trail. I loved that she didn’t give up, she didn’t let it go, and she didn’t take everyone for their word. She questioned, she pushed, and she pulled at each small hint of what happen and was soon unraveling the entire story. I wondered if I could be so strong when facing the loss of my daughter and hoped that I would never have to find out.
Christina McDonald did an amazing job of keeping the teenagers as teenagers. They hid things from their parents, gossiped about each other to their friends, snuck out and misbehaved just as real teenagers did. Yes, some of the teenagers were mean people but that is the high school life and I loved that she didn’t make them all pretty and perfect. The adults in the story were also real. They were wanting to protect their kids, themselves, and distance themselves from the horror of having a brain dead, pregnant daughter.
This is a great book. I picked it up, kept going back to it, and even now after finishing it I can’t let it go. I continue to think about the story, wonder how many parents have found themselves in similar positions and thankful that my teenagers are healthy, happy, and alive.
I know it's popular, and the woman who excitedly recommended it to me said it was her "new favorite book" but I'm obviously not the right audience for this story. The writing style didn't appeal and the characters and situations didn't ring true to me.
I tried, but found I was just skimming the pages, and eventually stopped reading it for those reasons. There's too much to read out there to finish something that doesn't hold the attention.
I tried, but found I was just skimming the pages, and eventually stopped reading it for those reasons. There's too much to read out there to finish something that doesn't hold the attention.
This read more like a YA book. Too much drama: teen pregnancy (x2!), possible stalker, political scandal, abuse, doppelganger half-sister, police corruption, absent father, coma . . . it was like every Lifetime movie I've ever seen squished into one story. The writing was bad. The descriptions were over the top. I had to read this for work, otherwise I'd never have finished it.
When I first heard about this book I thought it sounded a bit like Reconstructing Amelia, which is one of my favorite books. And although there are some similarities, it's different enough that it's able to stand on its own.
As always I love a book that jump between points of view. For this one, it goes to the present and written in the point of view of Abi. And then it jumps to several months before and Olivia's point of view. Slowly the past crashes into the present, explaining what happened to Olivia on the night that she fell.
Olivia proved to be unreliable, lying to everyone on her life while trying to wade through friendship issues, boyfriend issues, and wanting to know who her dad is. I appreciated how she was written because she felt a bit like how I'd once felt when I was a teenager.
And I couldn't help but feel for Abi, a mother who didn't realize how much her daughter was going through. It was so hard to read Abi's struggle throughout this book, but Christina McDonald did such a good job of really putting myself in her shoes.
This is a book I simply could not put down. I had my own ideas of what happened, but they weren't right. And the end. Sigh. The end made me cry. So don't forget the Kleenex when you read this one!
As always I love a book that jump between points of view. For this one, it goes to the present and written in the point of view of Abi. And then it jumps to several months before and Olivia's point of view. Slowly the past crashes into the present, explaining what happened to Olivia on the night that she fell.
Olivia proved to be unreliable, lying to everyone on her life while trying to wade through friendship issues, boyfriend issues, and wanting to know who her dad is. I appreciated how she was written because she felt a bit like how I'd once felt when I was a teenager.
And I couldn't help but feel for Abi, a mother who didn't realize how much her daughter was going through. It was so hard to read Abi's struggle throughout this book, but Christina McDonald did such a good job of really putting myself in her shoes.
This is a book I simply could not put down. I had my own ideas of what happened, but they weren't right. And the end. Sigh. The end made me cry. So don't forget the Kleenex when you read this one!
I desperately wanted this case to be solved but it took so many random storylines to get there.
I have no idea how this book ended up downloaded on my phone because I had never heard of it, but it was decently short so I started it and it was a happy accident. The story was engaging and I wanted to know what happened. Quick read.