A solid psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns. After a point, you don't know whom to believe. Is the mother really making the daughter sick to feed her need for attention? Or is the father to blame? Keeps you thinking...
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This is one of the best books I’ve read in quite a while. Meghan is a fifteen year old girl whose life has been plagued by illness. The doctors seem unable to find the cause of her symptom and now her illness seems worse. Her mother Becky is desperate to find a cure for these illnesses, yet her father Carl seems to be getting more and more impatient with them and the situation. Trying different doctors and facilities doesn’t seem to work. In the meantime, it is taking quite a toll on Becky and Carl’s marriage. I could feel Becky’s desperation and frustration. Then came the ending and it completely blew me away! I had my own opinion about what could be happening but in no way could I figure out what the ending would be and how shocking it was. I highly recommend this book!

Title: Saving Meghan

Author: D.J.Palmer

Genre: Thriller

Pages:384

Pub date: April 9 ,2019

Netgalley

Can you love someone to death?

Some would say Becky Gerard is a devoted mother and would do anything for her only child. Others claim she's obsessed and can't stop the vicious circle of finding a cure at her daughter's expense.

Fifteen-year-old Meghan has been in and out of hospitals with a plague of unexplained illnesses. But when the ailments take a sharp turn, doctors intervene and immediately suspect Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare behavioral disorder where the primary caretaker, typically the mother, seeks medical help for made-up symptoms of a child. Is this what's going on? Or is there something even more sinister at hand?



My thoughts:

Rating: 4.5

Would I recommend it : yes

Will I read anything else by this author : yes

This book makes you question every thing you think you know about what is going on, questions like is Meghan really sick or is her mother making her sick and if so why , it also makes you question wither Meghan is safe with her , because the more you read , the more it becomes clear that someone what Meghan dead but is it one of her parents or is it someone else . For me it kept me guessing on what was going on, and made me want to keep reading just to find out who , what , where and why . Plus the story is told in different points of view , Becky , Meghan and one other person. While at times the story felt a little slow , it did keep me pulled in to the story , and not once did I want to put it down, i was very much in to the story from the begging to the very end , the twists and turns is what made it so . With that said I want to think Netgalley for letting me read and review it exchange for my honest opinion.

Becky Gerard, mother of Meghan who is a 15,  wants the best for her daughter, what mother wouldn't?
Becky is on a plane to go see her mother, Cora, who is dying of cancer when she gets a startling phone call from her husband, Carl, that their daughter is in the hospital again and they don't know what's wrong.
Becky makes a scene and is escorted off the plane to rush to her daughter's side.  Doctor after doctor the question remains why is Meghan always sick? Finally they think they have found a doctor who may have the answer, a diagnosis of  mitochondrial disease. Becky is all for getting the tests done to figure out if that is the case except it includes more needles and Meghan has developed a phobia to needless.  However another doctor steps in and believes that Beckyis the issue and has munchausen's by proxy disease. This is where things get ugly and twisted. Meghan is taken from her parents and kept in a psych ward. While her mother does everything in her power to try to ave Meghan her father continues to disengage.

This was definately an amazing family drama with a psychological thriller twists. Amazingly written,  captivating novel that i read in a day. I would give it 4.5 🌟



I would like to thank St.Martins Press and @netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review


Can also be found on my goodreads and Instagram

Saving Meghan by D.J. Palmer is a medical drama injected with many twists and turns. Fifteen-year-old Meghan is the daughter of Becky and Carl Gerard. For years she has been plagued by mysterious illnesses which have baffled numerous physicians and divided her parents when it comes to deciding what to do. When her health deteriorates further, doctors and social workers begin to suspect Becky of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, meaning that the parent makes her child sick on purpose to gain attention and admiration. What could be the cause of Meghan's ill health? Just when the reader thinks the mystery is solved, something or someone else moves the story into another direction. Saving Meghan will keep you entertained and guessing until the last page. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Becky's daughter, Meghan is very sick or so her mother, Becky seems to think. Becky would do anything to find out what is wrong with her daughter and save her. However, not everyone seems to agree that Meghan is really sick or if she is what is causing her illness. You won't know who to believe and who to trust in this fast paced thriller. Reading it is like riding on an out of control train barrelling down the track. Even when you think, you know where it is going, you probably don't.

OMG what an awesome and amazing book. If you like an excellent story with twists and turns absolutely pick up this winner of a book. What I thought I knew? I was so wrong. This book will keep you glued from the first page until the last and it will keep you guessing until the last page and you'll still be wrong.

Saving Meghan was a keep you guessing medical thriller. It was a quick read that kept me turning pages late into the night. I didn’t trust anyone. Palmer did a great job of putting doubt in your mind about what each character said or did. Was Meghan really sick? Was Meghan’s mom a good mom? Was Zach’s diagnosis clouded by his past? Thank you to St. Martin’s press for my ARC. Great read!

"Becky Gerard is a devoted mother and would do anything for her only child. Others, including her husband, Carl, claim she's obsessed and can't stop the vicious circle of finding a cure at her daughter's expense."

Saving Meghan is an amazing thriller full of secrets and lies. This book explores chronic illness and a mother who will do anything for her child. Told from different points of views, very well written and moves along very quickly, it has unexpected twits and suspense that makes this book a must read.

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinpress for sending me this E-ARC.

Happy Publishing Day to Saving Meghan!
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It has everything we love in a thriller, alternating perspectives, twists, and short chapters. With an added bonus of Mother knows best and medical jargon, I definitely enjoyed this one. I didn’t have it figured out at all. I loved the ending and the epilogue for sure.
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Solid thriller! Hope you pick it up!
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Thanks to the publishers and netgalley for giving me a copy. All thoughts are my own.
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WOW. THIS. BOOK! This was a super fast past read that I could not put down. DJ must have some really great background in medical terminology because I was highly impressed with how well the medical descriptions were given. It was definitely a little predictable for me. I think it’s because I have experienced a lot of this in my real life. Growing up with many different medical mysteries myself, I have had doctors that have questioned my parents, questioned the truth to my complaints, and have made friends in the chronic illness field who have experienced the same. Despite knowing where this book was headed, there was a HUGE twist that I could not predict. WOW. It’s a unique read and I absolutely loved it!

A fun mystery thriller told from different points of view.
The plot involves a kid who was healthy but all of a sudden she is constantly sick and no doctor seem to have any prognosis, is she really sick or faking?

We have the mother who is desperate to save her daughter, is she reliable? Or a suspect suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy? We also have the father who doesn't know who or what to believe, and when his support to his wife lessens long buried secrets rise to the surface and we aren't sure what to expect and who to believe.

An interesting debut, but some of the clues made the ending obvious to me. Still I enjoyed the ride.

Thanks #Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC.

Why does fifteen-year-old Meghan seem so sick when doctors can find nothing wrong with her? Despite a disinterested husband and questioning doctors, Becky, Meghan’s mother, is intent on Saving Meghan.

Becky was raised by Cora, her mother, to be able to mimic disease symptoms to achieve Cora’s goal—getting government disability checks. When Meghan also starts to have undiagnosed symptoms, Carl becomes suspicious that Becky is falling back on old habits and causing Meghan’s illness. Eventually even Meghan’s doctors suspect the mental disease Munchausen by Proxy, where a mother gets attention by causing her child’s illness. Is Meghan really sick or is someone causing her symptoms?

While the book basically hits the reader over the head with Becky’s beauty and manipulation skill, the author is quietly manipulating the reader to believe everyone in turn is causing Meghan’s illness. In addition, none of the characters are sympathetic so if that bothers you, you will not enjoy this book. However, what bothered me the most was the overly dramatic turns in the plot especially the conclusion that was just thrown in at the end without much foreshadowing. The first half of the book was great but then it went downhill for me. Nevertheless, if you like family suspense with a big chunk of medical drama, you will probably enjoy Saving Meghan. 4 stars!

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fast-paced novel that keeps you guessing the entire time. Lots of twists and turns and the reader does not know who or what to believe. It is a medical thriller/psychological thriller.

I was so interested in reading this book after reading the synopsis....and it did not disappoint. At times it was hard to read, because the mother...I’ve been that mom (not to that extreme) and it is REALLY hard to ‘let go, and let God’. This book, though! The twists and anxiety! I couldn’t put it down.

Warning: if you plan to read Saving Meghan by D.J. Palmer, don’t plan on doing anything else for a day or two. It’s that good. I spent almost all of Friday night and yesterday in a total #bookcoma and I’m still sitting here like 😲😲 This book is about a sick teenage girl, Meghan... and how she has been in and out of the hospital and under the care of several specialists with no true diagnosis. The story really takes off after Meghan is removed from her family’s custody after her mother is accused of Munchausen by proxy. Is Meghan really ill, or is her mother making her ill? Saving Meghan is such a rollercoaster, I found myself going back and forth a lot on my trust for each of the characters as the story unfolded. I seriously didn’t know what to think of the mother, father, and even at times Meghan. Saving Meghan will suck you in right away from page one, and it doesn’t stop.

A great quick read with twists and turns that will keep you interested. Meghan is a sick girl, but no one can figure out exactly what is wrong with her. Her mom had made it her number one job to manage Meghan's health. In the course of testing she is referred to a doctor who feels that maybe her health problems are not that at all, her problem is her mother making her sick. I enjoyed the story and was interested to see how it would all play out.

A wonderfully written book about the lengths parents are willing to go to help their children, and how far down the rabbit hole someone can go trying to cover their tracks. This was a book that had me guessing from page one as to what was actually going on, and every time I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong. There were times that I thought that Becky did have Munchausen by Proxy and other times that I really believed that Meghan was sick.
The depths that certain people went to keep their secrets hidden was astonishing. Becky was truly on her own, even though she was married. Carl was fed up and thought that his daughter was fine. When Dr. Nash got brought in as a consult doctor and clashed with Zach I knew that something bad was going to happen, but my heart was ripped out when what happened, happened.
The twists and turns this book took made me more intrigued as I read it than I have been in awhile. I wonderful book. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

Saving Meghan poses the question, "Can you love someone to death?" Becky Gerard is a devoted mother and would do anything for her only child, fifteen-year-old Meghan. Her husband, Carl, is exasperated and frustrated, accusing Becky of being obsessed and unable to break the vicious cycle of doctor's visits and diagnostic tests in the quest to find a cure for Meghan's mysterious debilitating illness.

Divergent theories from two different physicians bring matters to a head. Dr. Amanda Nash suspects that Becky has Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare behavioral disorder that causes a primary caregiver to seek continuous medical treatment for exaggerated or imaginary symptoms suffered by a child. Becky is adamant that she would never do anything to hurt Meghan and the doctors have simply failed to come up with an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan. But Dr. Zach Fisher, an expert on mitochondrial disease who lost his own son to the illness, might have the answer. Unfortunately, the test results are inconclusive and more invasive testing is an impossibility due to Meghan's phobia about needles (for which Carl blames Becky).

Becky and Carl grow increasingly estranged and suspicious of each other, as well as the medical professionals, one of whom takes matters into her own hands which lands Meghan in the custody of the state and confined to a behavioral health unit.

D.J. Palmer has deftly made nearly every character, aside from Meghan herself, a suspect. Primarily, of course, Becky, who is overbearing, pushy, emotional, manipulative, and determined to prove that Meghan is truly ill and she is obsessed only with finding a cure. Becky and Carl lost a baby to sudden infant death syndrome and Becky's mother was a habitual scam artist who faked various ailments in order to collect disability benefits, with the forced assistance of her children. Thus, she fits the profile of an abuser and much is the circumstantial evidence is quite damning.

However, the narrative alternates between a third-person narrative focused on Becky and her perspective, and a first-person recitation by Meghan of what she is experiencing. Several times she references something horrible that Carl did and that fact that she is keeping it a secret from her mother. Meghan's condition continues to deteriorate, causing Becky to resort to desperate measures. Eventually she finds herself enmeshed in serious legal trouble.

Author D.J. Palmer includes plot twists and shocking developments as the tension mounts and the pace of the story quickens. The tale includes a couple of murders in addition to the medical mystery. Many readers will never see the jaw-dropping conclusion coming! Saving Meghan is an entertaining and enjoyable thriller.

"Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) is a mental health problem in which a caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury in a person under his or her care, such as a child. Because vulnerable people are the victims, MSBP is a form of child abuse."

Becky Gerard is about to take a flight to California to visit her dying mother when she learns her fifteen-year-old daughter Meghan is in the emergency room. Becky throws a fit until they allow her to leave the plane which had been taxiing for take off.

While at the hospital, Becky calls on her many cozy relationships with doctors to get her daughter more tests. All come back negative. Meghan's medical file is as thick as War and Peace.

Meghan's father Carl learns of a doctor who is a specialist in mitochondrial disease, Dr Zack Fisher, who feels that might be what is wrong with Meghan. Unfortunately, tests he runs are inconclusive and Meghan is too afraid of needles to have a muscle biopsy done that might give a more definitive result.

When she falls ill yet again with no apparent cause, Dr Amanda Nash begins to suspect Munchausen syndrome by proxy as defined above and works with the hospital to get Meghan removed from the Gerard home. How can Becky prove Meghan is really ill and bring her child back home?

The story is told by three characters, two in third person point of view--Becky and Zach; and Meghan's first person point of view.

Although Meghan is a delightful kid, I really could not connect to these characters and found the pace of the story to be plodding. There are hints of behaviors that are kept secret and it takes till nearly the story's end to reveal these important secrets. I enjoyed the twist to the ending though; the pace of the plot picks up considerably at that point and things suddenly make sense. Is this a family drama or a mystery? Read the book to decide.

I received an arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for my honest review.