In the Blink of an Eye is a novel that will break your heart - and help you find forgiveness and closure as you work through the grief, and find ways to aid others to achieve acceptance and the path to serenity as you yourself must do. Jesse Blackadder writes from a place of personal knowledge, and her very sincerity can help the reader find peace within. I started out reading a fictional account of a tragedy and ended finding answers long hidden in a tragedy of my own. Thank you, Jesse Blackadder, for sharing with us your understanding of grief. The first thing your mind does in an instant of life-changing pain is looking for blame. And you can always find a reason to blame yourself. This is a book I am grateful to recommend to friends and family. It is a story all parents should read.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Jesse Blackadder, and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

n "In the Blink of an Eye", Jesse Blackadder takes the reader inside the Brennan family; Finn, Bridget, and sons Jarrah 15, and Toby, 2. Newly moved from Tasmania to New South Wales, they each are trying to find a way to adjust to their new climate and life.

When the unthinkable happens, and little Toby is lost to them, their lives are turned upside down. In the face of overwhelming grief, they each begin to isolate themselves from the other family members, unable to bear up under anything but the weight of their own emotions.

Told in the alternating POVs of Finn, Bridget and Jarrah, Blackadder presents the reader with a finely drawn character-driven novel that is heart-wrenching, highly emotive and entirely believable. It is hard at times, to be part of this intense look into grief, love, letting go and starting to move on. A very good read indeed!

My thanks to Jordan Hanley of St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes explicable, tragic events happen without any warning. This book is just that and the what happens for the first couple of months after that accident. In the Blink of An Eye by Jesse Blackadder is just such a book. The book is listed as fiction, however in the author’s afterword, it is revealed that the author underwent a similar experience when she was young. The setting of the book is in New South Wales, a tropical land. The place a wonderful bright purple and red home with a swimming pool and a separate shop.

The blurb talks about forgiveness and redemption of a family. For me, all I felt was the angst of the family, the wretchedness and horror. No where in the blurb anywhere was the tragedy named, so I will not give it away here. Suffice to say, that some people were determined to make the family an example of neglect. The father willing to shoulder the blame, the mother determined to blame everyone and a son left to figure out how to be an adult in the midst of tragedy.

I was not able to put the book down. I felt I needed to read the book and feel the pain of the characters. I felt I was standing, showing support by continuing to read. I was so hoping for some magical ending or some surprising happening. So, here is the hard part, I did not like this book. I hated the tragedy and I hated how people felt they need to make ‘an example’ of a tragedy to change rules and laws. I didn’t like all the angst and I especially did not like how the teenager was forgotten in the midst of everything. In the Blink of An Eye reminds us of the fragility of life and love.

This book was emotionally charged with scenes that would cause most parents to hold their children a little tighter and watch them a little closer. Anyone caring for a child knows how much trouble toddlers can get in if they get out of sight for just few minutes, but imagining how horribly devastating it would be to have your child die because of such short lapse is unbearable.

The author captured the characters emotions so vividly, I couldn’t help but feel much of this is how a tragedy would play out in real life. This is definitely a gripping, 5 star book.

This was a gut-wrenching, emotional novel that follows a family’s grief after a tragic accident. It’s told from three different perspectives with one being first person (Jarrah), one in second person (Bridget), one in third person (Finn). I’m not a huge fan of reading in second person, but I also feel that Bridget was the least likeable character so maybe reading her story in second person was meant to make her a little more likeable. I liked that it shows everyone grieves in different ways and there is not only one proper way to grieve.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. The author does a great job of making you feel the emotions of each character.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for the invitation to read this title through Netgalley.

Finn & Bridget Brennanand their two sons, Jarrah and Toby have recently moved to Murwillumbah, New South Wales. Everyone is still getting adjusted to new schedules and places, not yet had the opportunity to make any close friends. Then tragedy strikes in the blink of an eye, and their youngest son Toby is found dead in their pool.
What follows is blame... blaming each other, blaming themselves, not really knowing who or what is to blame.

This book was so sad. I really felt for Finn, Bridget and Jarrah, It was hard to read, but so worth it.

In the Blink of an Eye was an interesting book. I'm not going to summarize it; there are reviews aplenty that will do that for you. I'm just going to tell you what worked for me and what didn't.
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First, the good stuff. Now, this took a minute (or ten) to get used to, but once I adjusted I really liked it: the perspective of the speaker switches depending on who was speaking. First person ("I did this, I went here," etc) was Jarrah, the teenaged son. Second person ("you" (meaning yourself) "went here; you did that") was Bridget, the matriarch of the story. And that leaves Finn, the husband/father of the story, in third person ("he did this, he said that"). Now, for me this worked on two levels. One, it made it so that no matter who was speaking, you could tell just by that detail alone who was speaking. That was fantastic for those of us (or maybe it's just me?) whose eyes are sometimes faster than their brain so they don't always catch who's speaking. It also worked on the level that in each voice you still had access to both actions and thoughts without even noticing sometimes that you did. That must have taken forever to get right and I applaud the author for taking it on.
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Now for the bad. I didn't think of it as that bad, because I still liked the book, but I feel I didn't fully connect with Bridget. Her obsession with the pool was too much for me (I'm trying really hard to convey meaningful information without spoilers, which is no easy feat here, by the way). If I were in her shoes, I would not have done any of what she did. And that's all I'll say about that. However, I did think Jarrah was written convincingly. And I also really liked his character, which is not always the case with teenage boys.
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All in all, I give this a 3.5, rounded up to 4 because I really did like the different perspectives.
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Thank you to NetGalley, Jesse Blackadder, and St. Martin's Press for the early review copy.

Talk about an emotional read! I love a good family drama book and this one set the bar. We see a family have moved to a new town when suddenly tragedy strikes and now the questions start to mount. What really happened? Who is to blame? I loved this book from start to finish and was pulled in from the very start. A great read with compelling characters and a great storyline!

Impressively beautifully written but golly it's sad and it doesn't get lighter. Finn, Bridget, Jarrah, and Toby are living the good life in New South Wales in their lovely house with a pool and a studio for Finn to make his art. Just as things are about to take off for Finn, Toby wanders away while Bridget is in charge of him and ends up drowned in the pool, despite the unique security system they have for the fence. The impact of Toby's death is huge, as Finn, Bridget, and Jarrah all become unmoored. It's told from all three viewpoints but Jarrah's resonates the most, perhaps because he was already struggling as a teen. Finn takes the blame for the accident and then is charged with manslaughter by criminal negligence but was he responsible? This isn't about that and it's not about the trial (which is almost a throwaway), it's about a family in grief. There are some nice touches, such as Tom's comments, but I have to admit that I almost gave up on this because it was so unrelentingly sad. I'm glad I didn't. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Finn, Bridget and their son Jarrah narrate this heart wrenching story in turn and I was glad to receive this story from three different points of view. This review will be on the short side because thankfully there isn't a spoiler in the jacket copy and I don't want to spoil either.

This family endures a major tragedy and as these three narrate how each react to the tragedy and how they possibly recover was quite a story. The tragedy made me cry and also made me think about how we each take blame for big and small things and how we are a part of a bigger picture.

The thing that made me not love this book as much was all of the cheating and lies. I try to avoid books with betrayals by spouses because it is just something I don't like to read, call me naive but I don't enjoy reading about it and it isn't healthy for me, so I didn't love that there was so much in this book and I didn't feel like half of it added to the story.

When you get down to it though, this book was about the family and how they disbanded and the regrouped and the ups and downs of it all. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't one of my favorites.

In the Blink of an Eye by Jesse Blackadder is a heartbreaking book about a family's sudden and tragic loss and the ripple effects of this loss on their family unit. Family drama and a possible court case move this story along as the family tackles with how best to handle their grief. A very difficult topic inspired by the author's own family history that is well-written and deeply moving. Read and enjoy!

Good storyline, unique plot. A bit predictable with the main storyline but the part with Jarrah realizing he is gay was kind of just out of the blue....nothing leading up to it would have made me wonder if he was, and then all of a sudden it's a fact. Kind of weird. Other than that, it was a good story. I found it very emotional and at times I had tears in my eyes. So it really affected me. I like the setting too.

The Brennans—parents, Finn and Bridget, and their sons, Jarrah and Toby—have made a sea change, from chilly Hobart, Tasmania, to subtropical Murwillumbah, New South Wales. Feeling like foreigners in this land of sun and surf, they’re still adjusting to work, school, and life in a sprawling purple clapboard house, when one morning, tragedy strikes.

In the devastating aftermath, the questions fly. What really happened? And who’s to blame? Determined to protect his family, Finn finds himself under the police and media spotlight. Guilty and enraged, Bridget spends nights hunting answers in the last place imaginable. Jarrah—his innocence lost—faces a sudden and frightening adulthood where nothing is certain.



My Thoughts: Alternating narrators present the past and the present, and In the Blink of an Eye reveals a family in the midst of starting over from what they left behind. But just when they believe their new life is finally coming together, a huge loss takes over the fresh beginning…and changes everything.

Each character has secrets to hide, and it is easy to feel for them all. I had some favorites, but just when I thought I knew them all, something unexpected would come out and twist the narrative.

Because the story flashes back and forth regularly, we don’t learn everything about the events until they trickle down in tidbits and flashbacks. Struggling with loss and how the landscape of their lives changes dramatically forces them each to redefine who they are and what will happen next.

Will Finn and Bridget reconnect? Can their new life work, or must they return to their former residence to right the wrongs of the past? A story that made me think about all that can happen in one blink of an eye. 4.5 stars.***My e-ARC came from the publisher via NetGalley.

This is a cathartic novel about the aftermath of unthinkable tragedy. I can't say that I enjoyed reading it, but more than I was consumed by it. The death of a beloved toddler unfolds in the alternating perspectives of parents Finn and Bridget and their teenaged son, Jarrah. That Toby was acutely loved is never in doubt, but how each surviving family member handles the loss is unique and poignant. An intimate portrait of a family whose loss could have torn them apart and very nearly does.

3.5⭐️ rounded up to 4.

Finn and Bridget Brennan and their sons Jarrah and Toby have moved from chilly Hobart, Tasmina to subtropical Murwillumbah, New South Wales. Feeling like foreigners in this land of surf and sun, they're still adjusting to their new life and surroundings. Then, tragedy strikes. In the devastating aftermath questions fly. What really happened and who was to blame? Finn finds himself under police and media spotlight. Bridget spends the nights hunting for answers.

The story is told from Finn, Bridget and Jarrah's point of view. Finn was just about to get his big break when tragedy strikes. There's not much more that I can tell you without giving away spoilers and I don't want to waste the book for you. All I can say is that it's heartbreaking, captivating and a very moving story.

I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and the author Jesse Blackadder for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

You turn your back for a moment. A family is torn apart when their young son dies and one parent will give up everything to try & save what is left of their family. Finn knows that he should try harder but he really hates living on the North Coast he just wants to take his family back home. But his wife Bridget is happy here she has a great job but Finn still can't seem to settle. He knows that it is his fault that they left to come here but he hoped that Bridget would have put that mistake behind them. Bridget won't be going back Tasmania she can't face her best friend after what happened and Finn just needs to accept that this is their new home. Finn loves looking after his sons Toby & Jarrah but he worries about the eldest as he is becoming more withdrawn and he can't seem to get a word out of him.
Jarrah is finding school much harder than before he is been teased badly and now a girl wants to be his friend and he isn't even sure if he likes girls. He knows that things are weird at home, his dad hides away in his workshop all the time and his mom is always working. At least he has his little brother Toby, he lights up the room easily and he is all that he needs in his life.
Finn has been offered a place in a gallery and that means that he will need to do some serious metalwork to get anything done on time. He knows that his art doesn't make much but he is good at it and he needs this right now. Bridget knows that she needs to step up and help around the house so that Finn can get ready in time. But she turns her back on Toby for one moment and their lives change in an instant. Finn knows that the gate was closed and he doesn't know how Toby made it to the pool. Things take a turn for the worst when he is arrested as the police are blaming Toby's death on him and he knows that he has to make it right. Will they ever be able to recover from this tragedy? What happens if Finn goes to jail? The family needs to stick together but Jarrah is depressed and he scared his only friend Tom away and he doesn't think that there is anything left to live for. Bridget blames Finn for everything and she accepts none of it. Can Finn bring his family closer or is it just too late?
A very sad read. Can't even imagine what the author's family went through all those years ago. I was lucky enough to receive a copy via Netgalley & the publishing house in exchange for my honest review.

I should have known that anything with "In the Blink of an Eye" would have something happen that would be sad beyond words. This story was just too sad for me. I read close to half of it and though the author did a good job of putting us in the minds of the main characters: mom, dad, teenage son, I just found all of those minds to be too sad to continue. There isn't any way for it to end happily so I stopped reading.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

The death of a young child through a preventable accident causes ripples of trauma through the remaining family unit. The accusations, whether verbalized or silent, of negligence hover over every thought and conversation. And these accusations don’t just involve the actual accident; they expand and engulf untold episodes of other almost-accidents. As though the child had been saved from death countless times only to be lost finally, somehow, intentionally. Author Jesse Blackadder wrote IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE with a survivor’s perspective and the devotion to detail gives her away. This is a book that is riveting in its feeling of authenticity and heightened sense of humanity. It is impossible to stop once started; not so much as a family in disintegration but as a storm brewing. You’ll want to read through the raging and get to the calm beyond the storm. It is a heart-rending tale based in part on the author’s childhood. I received my copy from the publisher though NetGalley.

I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In the blink of an eye life can change. This family saga centres around a family who have suffered losses. Set in Australia I enjoyed the descriptions of the scenery. The characters are very real and the story being told from various points of view, allowed the reader to get a feel of different emotions and the story from different perceptions .

But for me something was missing and I felt a bit disconnected and that in parts the book was too clinically narrated. A bit disappointed as the storyline had great potential.

Overall 3 stars

Life can change in 30 seconds and leave us devastated in 60 seconds. What can I say about grief? It affects all of us in different ways, and sometimes there are no right or wrong ways, just ways which are both right to each other.

Finn and Bridget have moved houses with their sons, 16 year old Harrah and 2 1/2 year old Toby. The family lives a happy outdoorsy kind of routine life in the new place with sea and the swimming pool and fun. When tragedy strikes one morning....

The book by Jesse Blackadder deals with the aftermath of that tragedy and the way the members of the family deal with it in the next 36 days. Told from the POV of the parents Finn and Bridget and teenage son Jarrah, their emotions, their sacrifices, and their dilemma just seeps into the pages.

The story has been written based on the tragedy which occurred in the author's life 40 years ago, and that makes it all the more poignant. The book made me feel all the emotions, the days prior and post tragedy were well shown. The book had its niggles. Only the mother's POV was written in second person You, and that made it odd reading for me, it broke my rhythm. And the ending felt a bit rushed and different.

Overall, an emotional read on a Tuesday afternoon.