Claire's father, Bernard, is losing his mind and she has moved into her childhood home to take care of him. Her husband, Luke, is not happy with this decision although their 4-year-old daughter, Ella, is doing well enough with the situation despite the fact that her mom is overburdened and trying to deal with Bernard's increasing dangerous and aggressive behavior. In addition, Ella, is a hemophiliac and her parents worry that she's not safe. After an argument one evening, Luke storms out of the house, gets drunk at a bar, and ends up embroiled in a huge mess with a woman he meets that night. To top it off, considering that Claire is already at wit's end, she gets a text message from someone who claims to be her half-sister. And that's when the whole thing kicks off. NO SPOILERS.
I read this ARC titled as THE FAMILY SECRET -- which actually is a more apt title than the new one. This is a domestic drama about the effect that a parent's secrets and lies can have on their child. The unfortunate aspect is that this sort of trope has been done to death. I intensely disliked all the characters in this novel so much that I almost had to mark it a DNF. I don't know any woman who would act like Claire and I can't imagine how most of the events that transpired would ever take place as they defy even my imagination. I have read far too many similar books to be shocked or surprised by anything that happened and the conclusion was quite disappointing. I'm sorry to report that this just didn't work for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.
This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre - more domestic drama than psychological thriller
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