You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
How chilling to read a book when a little girl goes missing at a fair!
Charlotte has three kids of her own, so being asked to take her friend's child, Alice, along to the local fair is not a problem. However, Charlotte is posting while on her phone, so just imagine her horror when Alice suddenly disappears. Oh the guilt! Oh the accusations!
This chilling story is told in alternating timelines of before and now. What I thought when approaching this book and what I learned while reading were two entirely different things. Both timelines were so incredibly intense! Who couldn't feel sorry for the mother, Harriet, whose child has disappeared? And as a parent, I can't help but admit that I was extremely angry with Charlotte for allowing her need for social media to cause such a distraction.
Without providing a spoiler, suffice it to say that things were not as they seemed in Her One Mistake. That fact, along with many other disturbing facts, make this book work. And, oh, it works so very well. This is a psychological thriller down to its very teeth. The story goes beyond the two mothers. There is Brian, Harriet's husband and Alice's father. All I can say about him is "Wow!"There is something else worth mentioning at this point: Harriet really wasn't close to any of her friends.
Because any further comments about the story would indeed be spoilers, there is a trigger warning. There is domestic abuse, and it is because of such that a person might ask how far would they go when faced with an untenable situation. No doubt other readers won't take long to query as to who made what mistake.
I have already stated that this book is chilling. It is equally suspenseful and compelling, and despite that, sometimes difficult to read. It is that level of difficulty that made this book nearly impossible to put down.
Many thanks to Gallery Books and Edelweiss for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.
Please see all of my reviews on my blog at www.robinlovesreading.com.
Charlotte has three kids of her own, so being asked to take her friend's child, Alice, along to the local fair is not a problem. However, Charlotte is posting while on her phone, so just imagine her horror when Alice suddenly disappears. Oh the guilt! Oh the accusations!
This chilling story is told in alternating timelines of before and now. What I thought when approaching this book and what I learned while reading were two entirely different things. Both timelines were so incredibly intense! Who couldn't feel sorry for the mother, Harriet, whose child has disappeared? And as a parent, I can't help but admit that I was extremely angry with Charlotte for allowing her need for social media to cause such a distraction.
Without providing a spoiler, suffice it to say that things were not as they seemed in Her One Mistake. That fact, along with many other disturbing facts, make this book work. And, oh, it works so very well. This is a psychological thriller down to its very teeth. The story goes beyond the two mothers. There is Brian, Harriet's husband and Alice's father. All I can say about him is "Wow!"There is something else worth mentioning at this point: Harriet really wasn't close to any of her friends.
Because any further comments about the story would indeed be spoilers, there is a trigger warning. There is domestic abuse, and it is because of such that a person might ask how far would they go when faced with an untenable situation. No doubt other readers won't take long to query as to who made what mistake.
I have already stated that this book is chilling. It is equally suspenseful and compelling, and despite that, sometimes difficult to read. It is that level of difficulty that made this book nearly impossible to put down.
Many thanks to Gallery Books and Edelweiss for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.
Please see all of my reviews on my blog at www.robinlovesreading.com.
I'm not usually one to be interested my mystery books but Her One Mistake really grabbed my attention and held on! Maybe I need to re-evaluate how I feel about this genre! Every mother's worst fear comes to life, but not all is at it seems, as you progress in the story. Definitely a page turner you need to check out!
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Judging a Book by it's Cover - 2019-01-31
Another domestic thriller. Another hesitant approach. This genre is never ending, and I never want it to end, but I do want to be swept back up in the feelings I felt when I first discovered books like this. I liked the feel and the description of this and went in fairly optimistic.
Review - 2019-02-02
This book started out as one thing, something that seemed fairly structured and formulaic – a missing girl, a bunch of secrets, desperate people trying to find the truth. But very quickly, this story turned into something else, something that was really, really great.
It’s hard to talk about these twists and turns without giving anything away, and this is definitely a book that you want to go into blind, so I will refrain from saying too much outside of expressing my pure enjoyment of this and that I read it in nearly one sitting and was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
The characters were strong; Charlotte was your ordinary hard-working mom with three rambunctious kids of her own and her hands full at all stops. Harriet seemed a little passive and mousy, overprotective of her daughter, but also just heartbreakingly isolated and I really liked the somewhat unexpected friendship that she and Charlotte developed, a friendship that is truly tested the more you read through this. I really loved this friendship and what it meant in this book.
I also really loved how relatable the characters were. Their actions and reactions weren’t always the best choices or perhaps the most politically correct, but they were very real. I could easily see myself having similar thoughts and questions and reactions in a similarly intense and stressful situation. It wouldn’t be something I were proud of, but I think it’s painfully human and I loved that these characters were so painfully flawed and desperate and human.
The story is told from the perspectives of Charlotte and Harriet, both during the time that Harriet’s daughter Alice goes missing and a little further down the line after everything has unravelled. It was a lot of jumping back and forth and a lot of different strands of story being woven together, but Perks does this exceptionally well. It’s very complex and layered but doesn’t come off as overly complicated or jumbled.
Despite the hopping timelines and littered information, things that kept me on my toes through the whole story, it all came together very easily to the point that it seems unbelievable that I didn’t see any of this coming. But I didn’t. It’s very well crafted and subtly sneaky, the writing is strong, it’s perfectly paced and you’re sucked right in feeding off every word that Perks is very intentionally giving you. I can’t tell you how much I love when a book is crafted so amazingly well.
** I received an advance copy of Her one Mistake for honest review from Simon and Schuster Canada and thank them for the opportunity to read this and share my thoughts.
Another domestic thriller. Another hesitant approach. This genre is never ending, and I never want it to end, but I do want to be swept back up in the feelings I felt when I first discovered books like this. I liked the feel and the description of this and went in fairly optimistic.
Review - 2019-02-02
This book started out as one thing, something that seemed fairly structured and formulaic – a missing girl, a bunch of secrets, desperate people trying to find the truth. But very quickly, this story turned into something else, something that was really, really great.
It’s hard to talk about these twists and turns without giving anything away, and this is definitely a book that you want to go into blind, so I will refrain from saying too much outside of expressing my pure enjoyment of this and that I read it in nearly one sitting and was on the edge of my seat the whole time.
The characters were strong; Charlotte was your ordinary hard-working mom with three rambunctious kids of her own and her hands full at all stops. Harriet seemed a little passive and mousy, overprotective of her daughter, but also just heartbreakingly isolated and I really liked the somewhat unexpected friendship that she and Charlotte developed, a friendship that is truly tested the more you read through this. I really loved this friendship and what it meant in this book.
I also really loved how relatable the characters were. Their actions and reactions weren’t always the best choices or perhaps the most politically correct, but they were very real. I could easily see myself having similar thoughts and questions and reactions in a similarly intense and stressful situation. It wouldn’t be something I were proud of, but I think it’s painfully human and I loved that these characters were so painfully flawed and desperate and human.
The story is told from the perspectives of Charlotte and Harriet, both during the time that Harriet’s daughter Alice goes missing and a little further down the line after everything has unravelled. It was a lot of jumping back and forth and a lot of different strands of story being woven together, but Perks does this exceptionally well. It’s very complex and layered but doesn’t come off as overly complicated or jumbled.
Despite the hopping timelines and littered information, things that kept me on my toes through the whole story, it all came together very easily to the point that it seems unbelievable that I didn’t see any of this coming. But I didn’t. It’s very well crafted and subtly sneaky, the writing is strong, it’s perfectly paced and you’re sucked right in feeding off every word that Perks is very intentionally giving you. I can’t tell you how much I love when a book is crafted so amazingly well.
** I received an advance copy of Her one Mistake for honest review from Simon and Schuster Canada and thank them for the opportunity to read this and share my thoughts.
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It felt uneven and I couldn't get into at first. But after I got halfway through, the rest was a breeze to the end. Not as good as Gone Girl, which I really liked, but a decent read if you like that genre.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This has been on my bookshelves for the longest time but I ended up picking it up for a reading challenge. It was a decent thriller which flowed really quickly.
I ended up putting it down after Alice goes missing as as a mum it was a bit too much too read but I'm glad I picked it back up.
Liked the double narrative and timeline and I was quite shocked at the twist as I didn't see it coming.
The only negatives for me was I would have liked one last twist and also I was there was more of a reconciliation between Charlotte and Harriet; apart from that would highly recommend. I'm quite sure I will pick up more from the author in future.
I ended up putting it down after Alice goes missing as as a mum it was a bit too much too read but I'm glad I picked it back up.
Liked the double narrative and timeline and I was quite shocked at the twist as I didn't see it coming.
The only negatives for me was I would have liked one last twist and also I was there was more of a reconciliation between Charlotte and Harriet; apart from that would highly recommend. I'm quite sure I will pick up more from the author in future.