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9th July 2020, Head of Zeus, 464 pages, Ebook, Review copy
Summary from Head of Zeus
It was meant to be your daughter's first sleepover.Now it's an abduction.
Lucia Blix went home from school for a playdate with her new friend Josie. Later that evening, Lucia's mother Elisa dropped her overnight things round and kissed her little girl goodnight.That was the last time she saw her daughter.
The next morning, when Lucia's dad arrived to pick her up, the house was empty. No furniture, no family, no Lucia.
In Playdate, Alex Dahl puts a microscope on a seemingly average, seemingly happy family plunged into a life-altering situation. Who has taken their daughter, and why?
Nayu's thoughts
It was an extremely happy few hours when I sat down and read Playdate. I do not have children, but even I know losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to a parent. Losing a child to someone who was trusted is as awful as it sounds. Although personally Elisa wasn't as careful as she could have been in checking out Josie's mother, but that's coming from my paranoid mind and not one of a preoccupied working mother. I do not know how she could bear to be away from Lucia as a flight attendant, even if she was only short haul so that she was away for a few days. Of course Elisa loved Lucia, that was never in doubt. Anyway I digress.
Knowing that Lucia was going to be kidnapped meant I was looking hard for clues that showed how unhinged Josie's mum was. She was a clever cookie, making sure to cover her tracks well. It was clear she was a nutter but you have to be to kidnap a child. She had her reasons, all be they on the crazy level. I felt sorry for her in so far as she was clearly mentally unstable to imagine and carry out a kidnapping. I admired how thorough she was in the kidnap, she knew exactly what to do to make it impossible for poor Lucia to be found. She was a bit cruel to her, but not too much. She truly loved Lucia and in her delusional mind she was mostly happy having Lucia as her second daughter with Josie. I say mostly because Lucia didn't always go along with her delusions, which made Josie's mum more unstable. What she does is absolutely horrifying. Don't worry, by the end of the book Lucia does make it home to her family, but there are other tragedies I didn't imagine when I started the book.
I loved how strong Lucia is. She knows, despite her young age, that she was in a tricky situation. She tried hard to escape several times, which never worked. She knew she had to keep Josie's mum happy to avoid being punished. In her heart she never stopped wanting to be free, despite all the manipulations Josie's mum does to her. She is one tough cookie, although occasionally I felt she felt a bit too wise for her age in her thoughts.
While I may not agree with Elise's life choices, there's no doubt how much she loves Lucia. Learning her daughter is kidnapped changes her view on life and people forever. It changes her relationship with her husband, exposing the cracks in it and makes them reevaluate their lives. Elise is only human, and I felt desperately sorry for her and her husband. No one deserves their child taken from them, the separation anxiety was palpable. Having the public and police spotlight on them both took it's toll. Self-blame was a key emotion,
Both Lucia and Josie are sweethearts. They clearly love being together, despite the awful circumstances that made them temporary sisters. They are away on a small level that what was going on wasn't right, but they worked together in keeping Josie's mum happy, kept a terrible secret, and gave each other comfort in what was a turbulant time for them.
I liked that the kidnap was to make Lucia part of Josie's and her mum's family, rather than a child being kidnapped for ransom. It forever changed everyone's lives, some for the better, others for the worse. Within a few chapters I knew Playdate was heading for my reread shelf, it is that good and while I know what happens I am looking forward to picking out more clues about Josie's mum's instability, and watching Lucia's inner strength grow under difficult circumstances.
Find out more by following Alex on social media:
Twitter: @alexdahlauthor
Instagram: @authoralex
Facebook: @alexdahlauthor
Summary from Head of Zeus
It was meant to be your daughter's first sleepover.Now it's an abduction.
Lucia Blix went home from school for a playdate with her new friend Josie. Later that evening, Lucia's mother Elisa dropped her overnight things round and kissed her little girl goodnight.That was the last time she saw her daughter.
The next morning, when Lucia's dad arrived to pick her up, the house was empty. No furniture, no family, no Lucia.
In Playdate, Alex Dahl puts a microscope on a seemingly average, seemingly happy family plunged into a life-altering situation. Who has taken their daughter, and why?
Nayu's thoughts
It was an extremely happy few hours when I sat down and read Playdate. I do not have children, but even I know losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to a parent. Losing a child to someone who was trusted is as awful as it sounds. Although personally Elisa wasn't as careful as she could have been in checking out Josie's mother, but that's coming from my paranoid mind and not one of a preoccupied working mother. I do not know how she could bear to be away from Lucia as a flight attendant, even if she was only short haul so that she was away for a few days. Of course Elisa loved Lucia, that was never in doubt. Anyway I digress.
Knowing that Lucia was going to be kidnapped meant I was looking hard for clues that showed how unhinged Josie's mum was. She was a clever cookie, making sure to cover her tracks well. It was clear she was a nutter but you have to be to kidnap a child. She had her reasons, all be they on the crazy level. I felt sorry for her in so far as she was clearly mentally unstable to imagine and carry out a kidnapping. I admired how thorough she was in the kidnap, she knew exactly what to do to make it impossible for poor Lucia to be found. She was a bit cruel to her, but not too much. She truly loved Lucia and in her delusional mind she was mostly happy having Lucia as her second daughter with Josie. I say mostly because Lucia didn't always go along with her delusions, which made Josie's mum more unstable. What she does is absolutely horrifying. Don't worry, by the end of the book Lucia does make it home to her family, but there are other tragedies I didn't imagine when I started the book.
I loved how strong Lucia is. She knows, despite her young age, that she was in a tricky situation. She tried hard to escape several times, which never worked. She knew she had to keep Josie's mum happy to avoid being punished. In her heart she never stopped wanting to be free, despite all the manipulations Josie's mum does to her. She is one tough cookie, although occasionally I felt she felt a bit too wise for her age in her thoughts.
While I may not agree with Elise's life choices, there's no doubt how much she loves Lucia. Learning her daughter is kidnapped changes her view on life and people forever. It changes her relationship with her husband, exposing the cracks in it and makes them reevaluate their lives. Elise is only human, and I felt desperately sorry for her and her husband. No one deserves their child taken from them, the separation anxiety was palpable. Having the public and police spotlight on them both took it's toll. Self-blame was a key emotion,
Both Lucia and Josie are sweethearts. They clearly love being together, despite the awful circumstances that made them temporary sisters. They are away on a small level that what was going on wasn't right, but they worked together in keeping Josie's mum happy, kept a terrible secret, and gave each other comfort in what was a turbulant time for them.
I liked that the kidnap was to make Lucia part of Josie's and her mum's family, rather than a child being kidnapped for ransom. It forever changed everyone's lives, some for the better, others for the worse. Within a few chapters I knew Playdate was heading for my reread shelf, it is that good and while I know what happens I am looking forward to picking out more clues about Josie's mum's instability, and watching Lucia's inner strength grow under difficult circumstances.
Find out more by following Alex on social media:
Twitter: @alexdahlauthor
Instagram: @authoralex
Facebook: @alexdahlauthor
You can buy the book on these sites:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2NyjGdC
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2BIHgBy
Google Play: https://bit.ly/3iewpjQ
Ibooks: https://apple.co/2BEgPwY
Suggested read
Check out Alex Dahl's other books including The Heart Keeper also about a mother and daughter whose lives are turned upside down.
Check out Alex Dahl's other books including The Heart Keeper also about a mother and daughter whose lives are turned upside down.
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