Nine years ago her daughter was taken. And now she’s back.Two-and-a-half-year-old Holly is playing happily in a pink plastic playhouse, while her mother Rachel sips coffee and chats with a friend nearby. It should be an ordinary day for all of them. But, in the blink of an eye, it turns into every family’s worst nightmare.Holly is taken by a stranger and never found.Nine years later, Rachel is … never found.
Nine years later, Rachel is doing her best, living a quiet life in Dorset. She’s tried to forget the traumatic day when she lost her daughter, hide her broken heart and put everything into her new family and loving partner, who know none of the secrets in her painful past.
Until one afternoon when Rachel meets a new school parent and her beautiful teenage daughter. Rachel’s world is instantly turned upside down. She’d recognise that face anywhere – it’s her missing child.
Rachel is overwhelmed with joy – and fear. Has the woman who abducted Holly followed her? How will her partner react when he learns about the trauma she has hidden for so many years? And given how much time has passed, what if no one believes her?
But Rachel knows it’s Holly. And she will stop at nothing to get her back…
From the million-copy-bestselling author of The Secret Mother and The Perfect Family, this utterly gripping psychological thriller will have you up all night reading. If you loved Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and The Sister this book is for you.
What readers are saying about The Other Daughter:
‘I read this book in a day! I enjoyed it so much I wanted to cancel plans just to read it!… Loved it loved it loved it!!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Wow WOW wow… can’t say enough good things about this book!!… unputdownable… read it in one sitting. This author never seems to disappoint!!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Oh my goodness, wow wow wow. I have just finished this 5-star whopper of a book and my brain is still digesting it as I type. I absolutely loved this book… The twists and turns were fantastic and I absolutely did not see any of it coming. Brilliant.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘OMG this book was one of the best I have ever read… amazing… Ten stars once again!’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Just blew me away. From the first chapter I couldn’t put it down… her best novel yet. I wish I could give it 6 stars.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Ohh my god this was simply AMAZING!! That ending just completely blew my mind!… a masterpiece… absolutely captivating read!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘BOOM BOOM BOOM the twist happens… didn’t see it coming and actually gasped out loud around 4am this morning as I had to get up early to finish… Loved it, loved it, loved it.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Wow, wow, wow…If you haven’t read her books yet you are definitely missing out in life… I will shout to the moon and back on how great this book was.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Superb!… read this book in one day… A MUST READ!!!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Whoa. I stayed up till 6am trying to finish this because it was so good!!! From the first page you will be pulled in!… I was practically yelling at the book in shock and disbelief at the didn’t-see-that-coming ending’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘A throat punch right to the jugular!… I was completely blindsided… Bottom line – this read was CRAZY good!… 5+ stars.’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Brilliant… I won’t spoil anything but OMG!!! How clever – wow! Wow, wow wow! 5** and 10 if I could’ Nicki’s Book Blog, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐more
Emotions roil in a story of family fractured, fabricated and finally refound
Really mesmerizing read focusing on three families and the aftermath of a mother’s misguided attempt to set things right after a tragic mistake. The story is told alternating between a past where a child goes missing and the present where new arrivals in town revive a mother’s hopes of reuniting with her lost daughter. The conclusion was a shocker for me and so well set up!
This was my first time reading a work by author Shalini Boland and I will be looking for more. She really achieved a well-crafted pageturner in The Other Daughter.,
Thanks to publisher Bookouture and NetGalley for providing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.
This psychological thriller was a quick read that had me questioning the characters’ motives right up until the last page. I thought that the author did a good job of laying the groundwork for the reader to believe one thing while crafting a sub-story that was equally plausible. There were more than a few “Oh, no way” moments, and the big reveal did surprise me (that’s hard to do). For a more detailed review, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a complimentary, pre-release, digital ARC of this book.
Nine years after her two-year-old daughter Holly is abducted at a busy shopping mall, Rachel Farnborough meets a girl who she believes is her missing daughter and will stop at nothing to get her back. I absolutely loved this book. The plot was engaging, perfectly paced, and thoroughly entertaining. The author cleverly tricks the reader into thinking they know exactly what’s going on in the story. But then reveals a shocking twist that will mess with your mind and leave you speechless. I don’t want to say too much more about the story or the characters as I think it’s best to go into it knowing as little as possible. Overall, this was an addictive, enjoyable psychological thriller and I highly recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Wow!! What a surprise ending!! Never seen it coming!!
WOW! Just wow! Fantastic read.
Holy cats! This book promised a psychological twist and did it ever deliver! I’ll have book hangover from this one for days. Rachel’s daughter, Holly, was abducted nine years ago, and one afternoon she meets a new student parent. Kate has a older daughter who is the spitting image of her abducted daughter, Holly. Rachel’s quest is now to prove that this Kate is the person who abducted her Holly. Eighty-five percent through the book is when the shocker hits! Up until then, I kind of admired Rachel for her persistence to prove her positive feelings this is her daughter, but I was growing weary of her avenues and her own emotional decline. Ms. Boland pulled the conclusion together so very well. Great, intense read.
Yes Ending blew me away
This masterfully written dark tale will take you on one fast paced and wild ride, with a jaw dropping ending that will throw everything you thought you knew out the window. Boland’s engaging characters and suspenseful plot twists makes this a thrilling one sit read, that will keep you entertained from the first page to the last.
Let me start off by saying, wow, just wow! 5/5 stars rating for sure! I’d have rated it even higher if I could! As the tagline states, this was truly, “an addictive psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist”!
Every parent’s worst nightmare, child abduction- that’s where our story starts. Initially, I was intrigued by the story’s synopsis: an almost-three-year-old, Holly, taken from a mall play place as her mother sat nearby with her baby sister in tow, drinking coffee and catching up with a friend. Honestly, it was hard not to relate to the assumed excitement that the mother, Rachel, must have been feeling to finally get out of the house and talk to another adult, to actually be able to enjoy hot coffee knowing that her little one was right nearby and within eyeshot, happily entertaining herself. Who would’ve thought that what should have been a happy little outing would end up becoming the defining moment forever changing their lives?
Curiously, instead of reading an account of these terrible events as told from the mother, the first chapter introduces us to a version of events written from the abductor’s point of view, told in chapters labeled “then”. This choice of narrative ups the creep factor, the fear even more – at just how easily this kidnapper, Catriona, lures little Holly away from her mother and into a whole new life. At this point, I became even more absorbed by figuring out how everything would come together in the end.
As the story progressess the reader is taken on a journey, from “Then” to “Now”, as told years later amidst the possibility that Holly has returned when a new family moves into town with a daughter strikingly similar to her own lost eldest child. The “Now” anecdote goes to show just how far this mother would go to prove her daughter has returned, and of course, get her back.
Just when I came to terms with the way the story was unfolding and thought that I could guess the ending, boom! That’s the exact moment when the author so cleverly decided to redirect us through our next turn of events, a new development leaving us guessing all over again. Through all of the twists and turns though, I never once suspected “The Other Daughter” would’ve ended as it did!
I enjoyed the suspense and the psychological aspect, the story’s “Then” and “Now” perspectives, the character development and pretty much everything about this story. Usually, when I read a story there will be positive points and negative ones, perhaps more of one than the other depending on the content. However, when it came to “The Other Child” I honestly couldn’t find anything negative to report. Now that’s saying something!
In the end, I succumbed to the overwhelming need to hug my children tight and be happy that this was just a story – similarly to waking up from a nightmare and reassuring yourself that it was only a dream…
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture, and the author Shalini Boland for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.
Rachel’s 2 year old daughter, Holly, was taken by a stranger. Mom was sitting with some friends, busily chatting and she took her eyes off for just a moment. A moment is all it took. It’s been 9 years and Holly has never been found.
Rachel still grieves for her lost daughter, even though she’s gone on to have more children with a loving partner. She’s tried to keep her past secret, even her partner has no knowledge of a missing child.
While waiting at the school for her daughter, she meets another school mom, Kate. They are busy talking about their children, when Kate’s daughter, Bella, comes out. Rachel is shocked beyond belief …. Bella is her missing daughter…
Her world is turned topsy-turvy and she will do anything … anything at all to get her daughter back.
This author just never disappoints. The characters are finely drawn and come to life under this author’s pen. It’s very well written with a major twist that you just don’t see coming.
Many thanks to the author / Bookouture / Netgalley for the advanced digital copy of this Psychological Thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
I am always excited to read a new book by Shalini Boland. She has increasingly become a favorite for her stories, plots, writing ability and her undeniable way to spin a great story. The Other Daughter is soooo good! We are grabbed in the Prologue and the first chapter promises an excellent story. A quick read full of great writing and intrigue. Fantastic!
I read the book and thought it was great … UNTIL the twist. Didn’t enjoy it at all after that.
Good story. The writing needs to mature
Having read other books by the author, I was ready to be thrilled and chilled by the plot and I was not disappointed. Boland hooked me from the first page with the moms in the playground and then Rachel’s child goes missing. The author describes well the emotions of a parent whose child is abducted and does a very good job of explaining how Rachel is able to move on and has a new family in a country town instead of London where little Holly disappeared. It is in this small town while waiting to meet her children after school that Rachel meets Kate, another school mom waiting for her teen-aged daughter. This is where the story got a little woo-woo for me because Kate’s daughter Bella is a dead ringer for Rachel’s missing daughter Holly. Once Rachel sees Bella, she is determined to prove that she is actually Holly and to get her back. I didn’t the characters a lot in this book because the moms seemed too one-dimensional to me. On the other hand, I really liked Matt, Rachel’s boyfriend and the father of her two younger children. Fans of short, quick-paced psychological thrillers will enjoy this book. Be warned that there is a huge twist in this book, as I have found is true of all of Boland’s books and is one of the things that attracts me to her novels.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”