Note: this was meant to be part of The Heart Keeper's blog tour, but life happened and my review got delayed. It is here now!
2nd May 2019 ebook, July 2019 Hardback, Head of Zeus, 384 pages, Review copy
Summary from Amazon (Head of Zeus website is being updated)
It's been three months since Alison Miller-Juul's world fell apart
when her six-year-old daughter, Amalie, died in an accident. Three
months of sympathy cards, grief counselling and gritting her teeth, but
it's still only the vodka and pills that seem to help.
Across
town, Iselin Berg's life is finally looking up. Her seven-year-old
daughter, Kaia, has survived a life-changing operation. After years of
doctors, medication and hope, they can now start thinking about the
future.
When Alison uncovers a dangerous secret, she is left in
turmoil. She can now see a way to heal her broken heart, but will she
risk everything to do so?
Nayu's thoughts
I went into this story presuming what would happen would be a bit creepy. It is as I expected to be, and while I felt desperately sorry for Alison's loss and can possibly see why she made the decisions she did, she acts like a total nutter in places which had me worried for Kaia and Iselin's safety. It was interesting to see how Alison's family react to her stalking nature, she manages to hide a lot of what she does for a long while and Iselin makes it easy for her to access Kaia. There is some actual stalking which enforced my Alison is a nutter belief. How her bizarre behaviour wasn't noticed sooner by other characters is probably pure luck. Nonetheless grief affects people in different ways, so while she does go loopy I felt for Alison because of what beliefs she held knowing Kaia has her child's heart inside her.
Beside looking at Alison's life in depth the story examines Iselin and Kaia's life in great detail too. Life isn't easy for them, especially with Iselin being a single mother. She understands the great blessing she has received from the donor child, seeing Kaia begin to thrive makes life easier and gives something to look forward to. There comes a point when Alison becomes a bigger part of Iselin's life, and I was on tenderhooks in anticipation of what Alison would do next, a feeling I love to get in thrillers because the stakes get higher right before the end, which is why I blocked out a few hours to read this in one sitting.
I have to give Alison credit for how sneaky she gets in her stalking behaviour, she hides her activities well from her husband, but not necessarily as well from another family member who plays a fairly significant role at the end. I'm hoping that her story isn't reflective on what happens in reality, as that would be sad that people aren't getting the extra support they need once their loved one's organ does get donated.
Obviously I didn't like Alison going off the rails, but it was interesting to see perspectives from both sides of organ donation, which I think is still a major topic these days because organs are always needed, and of those that are donated I don't necessarily think people realise that organs have to be matched up to the recipient, it's not simply a case of an organ going to whoever is next on the list. At least I think that's how it goes, apologies if I am wrong, I haven't read anything about organ donation for a while.
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Suggested read
For a story involving a mother's strong emotions check out The Good Mother by Karen Osman (Crime, Thriller, 10E/10E)
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