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beastreader's review
4.0
Wow, the hype you may be hearing about this book is worth it. This was a one seat read for me! In the beginning, I must admit that I was not drawn to Abi but luckily, this feeling did not last long. She showed that a mother's love is the strongest love. She was the whole reason that I loved this book so much. Her daughter, Olivia may have been the whole reason why Abi fought so hard but I did not share the same strong connection towards her as I did her mother.
This book is toward from alternating view points. The two main voices are Olivia and Abi. As the story progresses, the events leading to the tragic ending are slowly revealed. What I will say is that I did feel sadness for Olivia. She seemed lost trying to find her place among friends. I will leave you with one last word of advise...if you read any book in 2019; make sure it is The Night Olivia Fell! Not to be missed.
This book is toward from alternating view points. The two main voices are Olivia and Abi. As the story progresses, the events leading to the tragic ending are slowly revealed. What I will say is that I did feel sadness for Olivia. She seemed lost trying to find her place among friends. I will leave you with one last word of advise...if you read any book in 2019; make sure it is The Night Olivia Fell! Not to be missed.
nightshiftreads's review
4.0
I really liked this one and enjoyed the past/present alternating chapters! I did, at some points in the middle of the book (like I do with every thriller I read), contemplate a few others as the “killer” but I picked up when she began hinting at who it ended up being. I did find Olivia’s character a little whiny during some of her chapters but she’s a teenager so I really do get it. Sidenote - am I the only one that got overly emotional the last two chapters?
ddrosche's review
5.0
For most of the book it was a solid 4/4.5 stars for me. But the ending won me over with emotion and I bumped it to 5. I love me a good multiple POV story and the thing about this one that I found great was how McDonald was able to not only switch characters easily, but her writing and the characters’ voices perfectly captured their ages - one an adult mother and the other her teenage daughter. Olivia’s chapters felt like an actual teenager in the words used and ways she reacted to everything. Abi’s chapters were clearly more adult in how she dealt with things and spoke. I thought this added to the authenticity that the story was told by the two characters. While not a hardcore mystery or thriller, it’s definitely more drama led, it still has enough to keep you guessing and interested until the end. The ending was emotional and beautiful. Overall this book just worked for me on so many levels.
justlily's review
I read about 10 pages and knew the writing style just wasn't for me. Too heavy-handed for my taste.
judithdcollins's review
5.0
sleepysamreads's review
4.0
You can find this review and others on my blog SleepySamReads!
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I was drawn to this because of the gorgeous cover and the fact that NetGalley compares it to Reconstructing Amelia, which I enjoyed.
I was drawn into the story really quickly. It's very apparent early on that Abi loves her daughter more than anything. As a lot of you know, strong familial story lines are some of my favorite types of stories.
I liked Olivia. She was a very typical teenager, but you could tell she was a good person. By the end of the story I was completely heartbroken by her situation and wished things could have turned out differently. She wanted to be there for her daughter but wasn't given the chance.
I didn't super love the big reveal of who murdered Olivia, (nor was I very surprised) but I did feel like it was really realistic and I applaud that. Often times thriller novels like this try to make their books shocking, but also tends to make them unbelievable. I'm glad this was different.
I liked Derek a lot. I'm not super into romance, but I did really like his and Olivia's. They were sweet together and I wished they had had more time.
By the end of the book I was SOBBING because of how sad it was to read Abi having to say goodbye to her daughter. I finished this at 2am and had to muffle my sobs to keep from waking people up. I know I enjoyed a book if it can illicit that type of reaction from me.
I definitely recommend this book to people who enjoyed Reconstructing Amelia, and people who like thrillers!
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I was drawn to this because of the gorgeous cover and the fact that NetGalley compares it to Reconstructing Amelia, which I enjoyed.
I was drawn into the story really quickly. It's very apparent early on that Abi loves her daughter more than anything. As a lot of you know, strong familial story lines are some of my favorite types of stories.
I liked Olivia. She was a very typical teenager, but you could tell she was a good person. By the end of the story I was completely heartbroken by her situation and wished things could have turned out differently. She wanted to be there for her daughter but wasn't given the chance.
I didn't super love the big reveal of who murdered Olivia, (nor was I very surprised) but I did feel like it was really realistic and I applaud that. Often times thriller novels like this try to make their books shocking, but also tends to make them unbelievable. I'm glad this was different.
I liked Derek a lot. I'm not super into romance, but I did really like his and Olivia's. They were sweet together and I wished they had had more time.
By the end of the book I was SOBBING because of how sad it was to read Abi having to say goodbye to her daughter. I finished this at 2am and had to muffle my sobs to keep from waking people up. I know I enjoyed a book if it can illicit that type of reaction from me.
I definitely recommend this book to people who enjoyed Reconstructing Amelia, and people who like thrillers!
jmcelroy5's review
emotional
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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
rozlev's review
4.0
3.5 stars. A good story, and the mystery held up, but this book needed a better editor. The story and writing was a bit over-wrought and repetitive. The repeated use of tropes became annoying. The author could have done more with the characters. Even the mother and Olivia bordered on one-dimensional.
readingandsunshine's review
4.0
This book was a mild thriller, nothing creeped me out too much, but there was so much emotion on the story. I really enjoyed it.