Single mother, Abi, gets a call in the middle of the night saying her daughter has been in an accident. After rushing to the hospital she finds that her daughter, Oliva, is brain dead but they cannot turn off life support because she is pregnant. The police claim the injury was a result of an accident but Abi insists there was foul play and has decided to search for answers, even if she has to do it on her own.

I really enjoyed this book. The author does a great job of telling the story from two different perspectives. I loved how the perspective of 17 year old Olivia sounded like a teen girl speaking and the contrast of her mom, a woman in her 30's, had a totally different voice. This is a great mystery novel with some romance thrown in and a little bit of YA during Olivia's perspective. I suspected almost every character by the end of the book and really enjoyed reading this one. I liked how the book was exciting and intense without the graphic and shocking descriptions that have become so popular in thrillers lately. I highly recommend picking up this book on February 5, 2019 if you love mysteries.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the opportunity to read this advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for this copy to read and review! This book was very good! Hard for me to believe it was a debut. The writing was so good, very descriptive. Made you feel like you were right in the story. It had mystery to it as well. The whole time I was reading, I could not figure out who had hurt Olivia. I was suspicious of so many characters. And then the end!!! That was heartbreaking. I usually don't she'd tears when reading, but I definitely did with this one. I would definitely recommend this book!!

Imagine getting the horrible news that your daughter has taken an awful fall from a bridge, is in the hospital and is declared brain dead? Now imagine that you also find out that this same daughter, who you have raised as a single parent is pregnant? This is the premise of the story The Night Olivia Fell.

As a parent, this is your worst nightmare. How did this happen? How could a beloved daughter be brain dead and who is the father of the child she is carrying? Abi Knight is living that nightmare. She has received the phone call every parent dreads. Her daughter, the person she has loved and cared for, has now to rely on machines to keep her alive. The machines cannot be turned off as Olivia being pregnant, must be kept on life support in an effort to keep the child she carries alive.

Abi, is distraught. Her overwhelming desire is to ferret out exactly what happened to Olivia. How and why did she fall? Who is the father of her unborn grandchild, and as Abi digs further into this heart breaking dilemma, many characters play a role in Abi's search for truth. Abi's old boyfriend, a very successful politician running for office, has mysteriously reappeared as well as her sister, Sarah, who constantly lends support to a grieving mother. The police are involved, but there seems to be some kind of reluctance to investigate this tragedy.

Told in alternating voices, we learn of Abi and discover her life, her fears and her ultimate love for her child. Olivia's story is one of deception, sadness, loneliness, and love. This is a story of parental love, it is the story of secrets that drive a life into despair and yet also hope, love, and eventual peace. We, as mothers, could be Abi. We all feel her pain, her loss, and her desperate need for closure.

Olivia's voice is one that we can well understand, one where her youth and naivete is on display, one where she is searching for that illusive someone, her father, and her place in the world. She wants to belong, to fit, to feel a part of something her mother can't quite deliver to her. She questions her parentage and while she stumbles onto truth, she places herself in the line of danger.

Christina MacDonald weaves a wonderful story of the length ones goes to in their attempt to protect their child. This novice author is able to tap into mother love and the power that lies, deception and dishonesty can play. Although the story for me did drag a bit in the middle, the beginning and the ending made this one of those "unputdownable" reads.

Thank you to Christina MacDonald, Gallery Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this emotional and loving story. This book is due to be published on February 5, 2019.

The Night Olivia Fell was so suspenseful! I enjoyed the way that the story was told and the web of secrets that underly what happened. Abi finds out one night that her teenage daughter Olivia fell off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain dead now, but Abi learns that Olivia is also pregnant. Abi feels strongly that something malicious happened to Olivia on the bridge and she can’t let it go. She starts doing her own investigating into what happened that night. Along the way, Abi is forced to look at her past and deal with the things that she can’t forget and those things that she wanted to forget. The characters all have their own secrets that become revealed as the story unfolds. It felt like every character could have somehow been involved in what happened to Olivia. The story is told in parts alternating between what happened after the accident and parts from before the accident. The secrets made this a mesmerizing mystery. The end of the book was beautifully written!

Wow! This book is excellent. One of my new top favorite books of 2019! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the mystery, thriller, and suspense genre. Christina McDonald is going right to the top of my "authors to look out for".

The Night Olivia Fell is a domestic suspense novel in vein of Reconstructing Amelia (this is how it is described anyhow, and although I haven't personally read that yet, I will now!). It's a story about a mother who will stop at nothing to find out who pushed her daughter off of a bridge leaving her brain dead and on life support. Filled with twists and turns my head was riddled with confusion! I thought I knew what was happening only to be sorely disappointed that I couldn't quite figure it out! The author does a wonderful job at keeping readers in the dark when it comes to what exactly happened to Olivia and who was to blame. I very much enjoyed it all.

This book is even more special because it is told in dual POV's between Olivia and her mother. We get to learn about Olivia as her life leads up to the events the ended her precious life while also watching her mother unravel the clues as to what happened to her. I felt very connected to both characters and while her mother certainly had her own flaws, I felt her to be relatable.

This book my friends is one of those novels you don't want to miss out on in 2019. I think it will easily become a bestseller and will be one of those books everyone is talking about. If you have a chance and are in the mood for a domestic thriller, suspense, and mystery novel, make sure to grab this one. You won't be disappointed!

Bravo, Christina McDonald! The Night Olivia Fell is a fantastic debut! My attention was instantly grabbed at the very first chapter. We all know that a phone call in the middle of the night never brings good news. Abi answers that call and is told that her daughter, Olivia has fallen from a bridge and is in the hospital. It’s a mother’s worst nightmare. The reader follows Abi on her journey as she puts the pieces together and discovers the truth about what happened to her daughter on that horrific night.
McDonald does a superb job crafting her characters. I really enjoyed the alternating perspectives of the mother/daughter duo with each new chapter. Throughout the novel, I thought a lot about my old high school self and my relationship with my own mother. How much did I tell her? Too much? Too little? What can I do now with my own daughter to keep her trust and always make her feel comfortable telling me things in the future? This novel gave me a lot to reflect on.
Are you looking for a compelling story involving a mother/daughter relationship with a dash of mystery and suspense? Then The Night Olivia Fell is the perfect book for you. Put this domestic suspense novel on your TBR now! It releases on February 5th! Thank you, NetGalley for the advance reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

I knew from the blurb alone that The Night Olivia Fell was going to be emotional and suspenseful, and McDonald definitely delivered. Abi learns that her daughter has been in an accident and is now braindead. Not only is her daughter hooked up to a bunch of machines, and Abi has to learn to say goodbye, but we learn that Olivia is pregnant. Abi will have to watch her daughter in this condition for months as she waits for her grandchild to grow enough to be delivered.

What unfolds is Abi and Olivia's story, told in alternating chapters. We watch Olivia in her final months alive as she traverses finding her father, learning to cope with school and her mother's demands, dating, and severe bullying. We watch Abi desperately try to piece together her daughter's last days, to figure out who the father of Olivia's baby is, and we watch Abi try to figure out who did this to poor Olivia, because the police aren't helping and Abi's maternal instinct knows there is more than she's being told.

I loved Olivia's persistence in knowing that someone was keeping the truth from her. My heart hurt for her that Sarah didn't seem as on board with figuring out what happened to Olivia. I can understand not wanting your sister to get caught up in it all, but Abi could have used the support. Her fears could have been easily brushed off as a mother's instinct, but that "click" she had when she realized that she wasn't taking seriously really set the pace to find out what happened and who did it.

There were some really great characters in the book. Anthony was a great friend to Olivia and he helped her immensely in her path to figure out what happened. While Sarah was just a minor character, her unwavering support of Olivia was endearing. Olivia is the definition of a perfect main character because even in the face of losing her daughter, she's strong. She knows something is off and she follows her gut. I found myself cheering her on with each step and each new discovery.

McDonald did a great job with having the reader question everyone, every time they came into the scene. I was questioning everyone, it was great and really well done. This was such a fun read because it was emotional, but stressful, which you come to expect from thrillers. Really well done.

This is a hard hitting mystery, that tugged at my heart.

What I was expecting: A who dun it.

What I got: A touching story about a mother's love for her daughter and her daughter's story about finding her true love, while finding out her mother's past. All of this happening while we try to figure out what happened the night Olivia fell.

The characters are written so well. I was emotionally attached to the mother daughter duo from the start. This normally never happens to me while reading this genre. I loved the writing. The story is told in a dual narrative format with Olivia's told in the past and leads up to the night she fell.


I wasn't a fan of the mother's love interest. I felt that it was unnecessary and took away from the mother/daughter bond of the story. I do understand that it was to give the mother someone to attach to during this hard time but it could have been a friend instead.

This is going down as one of my all time favorites.

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald is the story of over-protective Abi Knight’s worst nightmare come to life: a too-early call from the hospital telling her her daughter has been in an accident. She rushes to the hospital and learns Olivia fell from a nearby bridge. There’s nothing they can do for her; she’s brain-dead. But that’s not all; she’s pregnant, and they’ll keep her on life support until the baby can be delivered. Abi’s world is suddenly turned upside down, but when she sees the bruises on her daughter’s wrists, she knows it wasn’t an accident.

Although there isn’t anything really original about this story, I kept on turning the pages, wanting to know the whole picture almost as much as Abi—which is told both from her and her daughter’s points of view. The characters have real layers and the web of tension between them feel real and alive. I was sometimes annoyed at some unnecessary details—weather, clothes, pieces of furniture that felt like they were there to the sole purpose of filling pages—but in the end the author managed to get tears in my eyes anyway! :)

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald follows Abi Knight and her quest for answers after her daughter is discovered brain dead after a fall from a bridge. The police quickly rule it an accident but Abi isn't convinced. Told alternately between Abi in present day and Olivia before the fall, we piece together more of the secrets this family held and you will be left trying to figure out what actually happened.

This book was wonderfully written, and I completely empathized with Abi as she tried to make sense of everything. The characters felt real and raw, and I couldn't get to the end quick enough. I highly recommend this book!

What a rollercoaster. Christina McDonald really delivered in this compelling read. Mom Abi is walking a tightrope between sheltering her daughter Olivia, and giving her room to grow. But when Olivia has an accident, Abi is left doubting herself, and everyone around her. She sets out to find out if it was truly an accident, or something more sinister. The twists and turns will give you a page turner until the very end.
This is Christina McDonald’s first adult book, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next. Will definitely be recommending this for book clubs! #NetGalley #TheNightOliviaFell

How well do you truly know those closest to you? Perhaps not a well as you think. Abi Knight gets the phone call that every parent dreds. Her teenage daughter, Olivia, has been found unconscious below a bridge. She is now brain dead and on life support to allow her to carry her baby as long as possible. A baby that Abi did not know about..

Was Olivia pushed or did she jump? Although bruises are found on her wrists, police have ruled this an accident. Abi needs to know the truth.

The Night Olivia Fell is a gut wrenching and suspenseful journey of a mother, a daughter, a best friend and a boyfriend all looking for their own truth. Discovering that sometimes by trying to protect others, we are doing more harm to them then we realize. Who can you trust with your truth?

The Night Olivia Fell is an intriguing mystery that is told through two different perspectives: one is from the perspective of Abi, a thirty-something single mother of an 18 year old, and the other from her daughter, Olivia. Abi was a young mom to Olivia and is doing her best to be a better mother to her daughter than her mother was to her. Olivia is in her senior year of high school and is getting tired of her mother's overprotectiveness. She also has a long term boyfriend, a needy best friend, and she has found herself developing feelings for another boy. But the biggest mystery in her life is that she has no idea who her father is. One day, while on a college tour, she finds that she may have stumbled into a clue as to her father's identity.

The Night Olivia Fell is described as being similar to Reconstructing Amelia, and I would agree, the books are pretty similar. The main difference in this book and Reconstructing Amelia (and this isn't a spoiler because its listed in the Goodreads summary) is that Olivia is pregnant at the time of her fall off the bridge. Since she is pregnant, the doctors keep her on life support to give her baby a chance at survival. Further complicating matters, for some reason the police have ruled Olivia's fall off a bridge as an accident, and are not investigating what happened to Olivia. So Abi, with the help of a victim advocate employed at the police department, does some investigating on her own to determine what actually happened the night her daughter fell.

As I was reading this book, I definitely enjoyed Abi's chapters more, but that is probably because I can currently relate better to the thirty-something mother than to a moody 18 year old. That being said, I definitely enjoyed the story, and there is certainly no shortage of mysteries to unravel in this book. The Night Olivia Fell is an emotional read, especially the last chapter (there may or may not have been tears from me). My heart broke for all of the characters in this story and the writer did a great job creating realistic characters that I could relate to. I would recommend this book to anyone who liked Reconstructing Amelia and will also say this book lived up to its high praise.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!*

An excellent story I could hardly put down. Complete with mystery, suspense, and heartache, this story is one full of love and loss.

"It reminded me that the first hour of every new day starts with darkness--and then the sunshine comes."

As this story alternates between the perspective of a mother and her daughter, some chapters felt very YA and the others come straight from a mystery. If you love YA like me, this won't be a problem. I enjoyed seeing the pieces come together through Olivia's past and also her mother's detective work in the present. It may have been slightly predictable but I enjoyed the story and felt compelled to keep reading and see it all come to a head.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Abi Knight is heartbroken when she is called by the hospital to her daughter Olivia's bedside to discover that she is brain dead, on life support, And pregnant. The doctors hope to keep her on life support to save the baby. The police think that seventeen-year-old Olivia accidently fell into the river, but why are there bruises on her wrists? And where is the bracelet that she constantly wears?

The story goes back and forth between Abi and Olivia, all written in first person. Olivia is desperate to know who her father is, while Abi is afraid to tell her the truth. We meet Olivia's friends and her special boyfriend and Anthony tries to help Abi discover what happened on that fateful night.

As we read through Olivia's life, who is guilty? Something evil has been shadowing her. The story moves along at a good pace while people move in and out of Olivia's life. Abi has A special relationship with her sister as she discovers secrets about what happened in the past. The Night Olivia Fell is a heart wrenching tale, sad, but hopeful of the future.

A fantastic debut novel by Christina McDonald. Her writing is beautiful and she's an amazing storyteller. This suspense (and it really is suspenseful) novel took me on a wild ride. I was filled with lots of emotions (I even cried that last chapter)! From the very beginning of the story, I was drawn in all the way until the very end. I liked how the story was told from the present ,gave you glimpses of the past and how we got ended up in the current situation. I can't imagine having to watch my daughter laying "dead" in a hospital bed, while we grew a child in her womb, only to have to let her go once the baby was born.

This is a book you don't want to miss! Fans of Reconstructing Amelia will fall so deeply into Abi's search for what happened to her daughter, Olivia, on the night she fell from a bridge and became brain dead, that they will cry with her and have their heart race every time they're sure they have the suspect in their minds. This isn't a book you can put down. So many twists and turns, so many possible suspects but the quest for why keeps you pushing until the end, when it suddenly becomes clear.
I couldn't force myself to stop reading this, even if I tried. Abi and Olivia were so well thought out, it's hard to believe they were only a work of a fiction. My heart broke for each of them and I could actually feel my heart racing numerous times throughout their journeys and then, I felt the love and connection to Zoe, as if I were there. This is one story that will stay with me for a long time. It flows so well from Abi to Olivia and captures you right from the start, never letting go.

The Night Olivia Fell

A gripping and suspenseful story of a mother’s fight for the truth of her daughter’s accident.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY
Abi Knight is startled awake by the ringing of the phone in the early hours of the morning. It’s a call no mother ever wants to get. Her daughter, Olivia, is at the hospital. There has been an accident. She had fallen off a bridge and was found on the embankment. The seventeen-year-old senior is not only brain dead, but she is also pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. The police are not investigating the fall despite the angry bruises circling Olivia wrists. Abi is livid by the lack of action and is determine to find out what happened on the bridge.

REVIEW
THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL is a cleverly-layered story of Abi and Olivia. It explores mother daughter conflicts and effortlessly blends issues from the past with the present. Chapters easily alternate between Abi and Olivia. Chapters told from Olivia’s view point share the months leading up to the accident, and her struggles with friendships, boyfriends and finding the truth behind her absent father. Chapters told from Abi’s view focus on her own past as well as her quest for answers to Olivia’s accident.

It an emotionally intense story with a perfect cast of characters. My favorite part was Abi’s nonstop fight to find the truth about Olivia’s last days, Author Christina McDonald grabs her reader from the start and does not let go in this fabulous debut novel.

Thanks to Netgalley, Gallery Books, and Christina McDonald for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher Gallery Books
Published February 5, 2019
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

The Night Olivia Fell # NetGally

How very difficult it would be to lose your child and not know why and how it happened! That is every parent ‘s nightmare. Christina McDonald did an excellent job of expressing all the emotions that the mother, Abi felt. It is a sad, heartfelt storyline, but also a joyful one. The characters in the book are very fleshed out and likable. My heart was very heavy for Abi, the mother. She was very brave in her pursuit of finding the truth. I read this book in one sitting because I needed to know how the ending all came together. The author did a fine job on her debut novel. Or me, a solid 5 stars.
Thank you to NetGally and the publisher for an advance copy read of this book in exchange for an honest review.