2020 PenCraft Award Winner – Psychological Thriller
“The Girl on the Train pales in comparison to Give It Back, and all of my previous prejudices against the genre were swept away. It was engaging, relatable, suspenseful, and stunning in its use of language. And all written in the author’s second language. I was blown away.” -Ella Magazine
This novel follows three characters: Lorraine, Lexy, … Magazine
This novel follows three characters: Lorraine, Lexy, and Ella.
Lorraine: Not long ago, Lorraine lost her husband to another woman. She thought that was the worst thing that could happen to her, but soon she realizes it’s just the beginning of an everlasting nightmare. Lexy: Lexy, an au pair from London, moves to Seattle to help Lorraine with her infant son. But she didn’t come for the child…she came for something else. Ella: When Ella receives a call from her sister, Lorraine, who begs her to leave San Diego to spend time with her, she decides to take a few days off from work to visit her. Frightened to see how much Lorraine has weakened since her diagnosis eight months ago, she packs a bag and heads to Seattle with a foreboding feeling that this might be the last time she sees Lorraine.
But on her way to the airport, she learns that something shocking has happened since she last spoke with Lorraine and now. To make matters worse, once Ella arrives in Seattle, Lorraine’s story keeps changing, making Ella question how reliable her sister really is.
Soon Ella is entangled in a mysterious investigation, and more so, in the lives of everyone involved. She realizes not only that she won’t go home anytime soon but also that she’ll never look at others the same way she did before.
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EXCEPTIONAL! Very well written, amazing plot and engaging characters. Danielle Esplin spins and intriguing Psychological Thriller. This is a definite must read! 5 Stars isn’t enough for this Author!!
Kept me up all night. Read it!
I really enjoyed reading this book. It has so much emotion in it. I never knew what was going to happen next. The characters were complicated and exciting. I want to read more from this author. This is a book that has a great plot too!
good read and plot
Danielle Esplin’s Give it Back is quite possibly one of the most gripping novels I have ever read.
The story really pulled me in right off the bat. That hasn’t been easy to do for me recently. There was just something about the story that kept me turning the pages. Every new scene just kind of had an ominous tone to it even if it was back story to beef up the main narrative. There was just something about this book. Very well written.
This storyline just holds you there within its confines. You just can’t put it down. Sorry I. Just have to say..OH MY GOD!!! The last page killed my. Well done. Thank you .
a decent read – well written with a good plot but nothing I would read again- great for a long international flight or a beach vacay.
I really didn’t expect much – I mean, the first sentence contained a simile that seemed so forced, I thought this was going to be another poorly written freebie.
I love it when I’m wrong.
Turns out to be a haunting story from three main character’s pov. I don’t want to spoil the plot, but there is a lot going on with this group, and it’s well done. I was left with a couple inconsistencies, but they are minor, so I highly four-star Give it Back!
BTW. What wife has ever gotten divorced, gotten custody of their child, but had to move out of their jointly owned house? Has this ever happened without the ex-husband buying out the ex-wife? Yeah – didn’t think so. Weird.
Reads like a soap opera but better written
I loved this story. Kept me guessing thru the entire story book kept going from character to character so you had to pay attention from the beginning it was sad and twisting plots for each one of them and wow what a ending but was it really the ending. I’m going to reread it in case I missed any clues this would end like this
Kept me guessing and led in different directions until the end. Cut ending. Maybe there’ll be a sequel. I hope Not!
It was a good book with an interesting plot! Very tragic. Hard to read since the dates kept jumping all over the place.
No stars for this one. Constantly changing characters and years did not lead to enjoyable reading.
Some books are hard to put down, this is one of them. I’d highly recommend this for a good read.
Good read. Interesting characters. Attention grabber.
Good mystery, good human interest, good writing, and the ideas, a bit more unusual. Some may find it a little hard to follow, as it jumps back and forth in time; and the story is ‘told’ from the viewpoints of 3 of it’s female characters; but, for me, it just added to the uniqueness. I’m ready for her next book (this was her first).
This was a very good read from the beginning to the end.
I couldn’t put the book down because I wanted to know what happened. Way too many interweaving plots and subplots, characters, and situations. Nothing was as it appeared. I found myself getting confused and re-reading to clarify which character was actually speaking with the alternating character chapters. Exhausting book but interesting.
Give It Back made me roll my eyes more than anything else.
Supposedly, this is the story of two sisters; sisters who have not been close in years who find themselves together again when one of them is diagnosed with a terminal illness and asks for her sister’s help to find out what happened to her missing son and british au pair. This book is so ridiculously overwritten and is so over descriptive that I quickly lost interest and can care less what happens.
Something tells me the author (who also happens to be a singer and artist) wrote this book just to see if she could.