Rating- 7/10
Big thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin for providing me with a review copy of this engrossing read.
After reading a couple of romance novels and an uplifting non fiction read, I was sort of into an exciting and thrilling mood for my next book and Only Ever You definitely hit that spot.
Only Ever You follows a young working mother named Jill Lassiter and her lawyer Husband named David Lassiter, who both face any parent’s worst nightmare, their child going missing. One day, Jill Lassiter’s three year old Sophie goes missing while playing in the park, and after a frantic 40 minute search, Sophie re-appears safe and sound but with a suspicious tiny puncture on her arm. The doctors cannot find anything wrong with Sophie but Jill is convinced something weird happened to her daughter and eventually accepts that nothing is wrong and that she’s just happy to have her back. Three months later, Jill and David face their worst nightmare again, and this time Sophia is missing for much longer than just forty minutes. The clock is ticking and whoever has taken Jill has been watching the Lassiter family very closely and is plotting to destroy their lives. But why and who? This is what we find out in Only Ever Her.
When I read the blurb of the book I was like, hell yes. I love a good mysterious thriller! I have to say, this book was a pretty gripping and engrossing read. I liked the main character Jill and even her hot shot lawyer husband David. As a family, they have been through a lot and the book takes it’s time to describe their history and their general story. Before Sophie’s disappearance, David and Jill’s marriage was already under pressure given that they are both working parents and they were struggling with their demanding and difficult three year old. To then add on their missing child to all of this was a huge strain on their marriage. This book had a lot more depth than your average thriller read and actually felt highly realistic in terms of the difficulties of marriage, parenting as well as maintaining a professional career. Although personally, I felt that the book could have been much shorter. When I got to the middle of the book it sort of dragged on when it did not need to. But I do have to say, towards the end? Oh boy! What a read! It was full of suspense, two great plot twists which I did not see coming (and you know how much I LOVE a good plot twist), and some major action scenes too. It was quite a visual read, I could actually see it all playing out in my mind very clearly. I would definitely recommend this book to any suspense and thriller lover. I’ve read a lot of child abduction books in my past and sometimes it does get a tad repetitive, but I did very much enjoy reading this story.
This book also touched on a few extremely important subjects that I appreciated from the author. Dealing with the loss of a child, working mothers and how they handle their home life, the particularly touchy subject of a relationship with the mother-in-law, and obviously what parents go through when their own child has been abducted. The scrutiny and judgement they face from the public eye and the never ending suffering and pain. Aside from this being a great thrilling read, I did like that it touched on those subject matters. If you liked the book ‘The Woman in the Window’ by A.J Finn then you will most likely love this book! It had the same sort of adrenaline rushing action/suspense vibe at the end of the book which I literally could not put down until I was done! Great read.
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Fiction
Originally Published: March 22nd, 2016
Reviewed by Chrissy's Books
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