A Picture of Innocence is a clever psychological thriller which intertwines the past and the present. With several twists along the way and an excellent ending, this book will keep you guessing until the very end.

I was given this arc in exchange for my honest review. This thriller will keep you captivated throughout the entirety of the book. It's engrossing, thrilling, never guess the ending. She throws in curve balls throughout the book, never knowing which lead is the correct answer. This book will not disappoint! It'll stay with you for awhile after you finish reading it! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Maddie is struggling with three young children. Although she has a loving family behind her she's just so tired all the time. When tragedy strikes she's left questioning not just those around her but herself as well.
OMG, what a fantastic book this is. I found it very hard to put down. Talk about being full of twists and turns. It certainly takes you on a roller-coaster of emotions. Although I did guess who was behind things there was many a time I thought I must be wrong as I got sucked into the story.
Would I recommend it....Oh yes, 100%
My grateful thanks to NetGalley for my copy. A full five stars from me

Picture of Innocence by TJ Stimson

What a rollercoaster of a read!
I know I’m reading a good book when I find myself unable to put it down as I am reaching the final chapters and Picture of Innocence is a book I would recommend to anyone looking for an authentic story with characters who will have you change from liking them to disliking them in the same chapter! Maddie and Lucas’s life is shattered by a tragedy that puts everyone under the spotlight- who was really responsible? With so many people holding their own personal secrets, will the truth ever come out? Candace, Lucas’s alcoholic sister seems to be sharing a huge secret with Lucas that Maddie is excluded from - what other secrets are they keeping? Sarah, Maddie’s mother has never really trusted Lucas, whose background Maddie knows nothing about before they met and married. This book delivers a fast paced psychological punch, the vulnerabilities of each character adding to the tragedy. Will the truth ever be known? This book actually made me gasp out loud as I reached the conclusion and sent shivers down my spine. An excellent read, I highly recommend this book.

With 3 children under ten it is a struggle to be a mother .
On the outside she’s a loved happy and content
But inside she’s a mess
But later on someone is to hurt her child .
I had an ARC from Avon

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

I enjoyed the ending as I understood the meaning of "Picture of Innocence;" however, more than half of the book was focused on Maddie.

I felt like I was reading "Series of Unfortunate Events" except it was happening in Maddie's life. The author does answer the question of "what happened to Noah?" <-- which I really appreciated ^u^

I loved the twist in the ending, but there was alot of drama going on within the plot, such as alcohol accidents (sister in law), active police investigation, her blackouts, etc.

I found this book difficult to read in parts due to its harrowing nature. The death of an infant and the described abuse of a young girl was quite disturbing, but it meant I really felt invested in the story and it’s outcome. It isn’t often that I read a book and don’t have an idea of who is behind the portrayed crime, but in this case I didn’t have a clue! I enjoyed the style of writing and will be looking forward to other books by this author in the future.

I received an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review

This book is so good and so disturbing. If you like sociopaths, you'll love this book. It'll keep you up nights sleeping with the light on.

WOW! I could not put this down. The writing is superb. There was nothing I didn't enjoy.

There are two stories being told side by side, Maddie in the present and Lydia in the past. I was so sure I knew where it was going but I hadn't a clue. Nothing is what it seems and that's precisely what I love in a psychological suspense/thriller. I'm aware that something in the picture is wrong but I just can't see it. It reminds me of hidden object games or spot the differences. You know it's there, but where?

The final reveal wasn't as shocking to me because it was something that had crossed my mind several times but kept setting aside. I just couldn't see where the piece fit in the stories I was reading. Nonetheless when it was revealed it was chilling to read.

"Picture of Innocence" is definitely going in my top 10 favorite reads of 2019! I love a book I can't put down; a book that keeps me up past bedtime. If I had started this later in the day it would have kept me up past dawn.

*I tried linking this to goodreads but it said it couldn't find the isbn so I posted on my own
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2682275718?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. Another book which I devoured in a very short space of time. Stimson wrote about very difficult themes well and with real emotion. Her characters were written well. I was intrigued to find out how Maddie and Lydia's stories were linked, and was not expecting the way they were, although I did predict the final twist. However, I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion.
This had to be one of the best books I have read so far this year. I practically read it in one setting.
Don't attempt to figure it out because you will get it wrong I can pretty much guarantee it.
You have Maddie and Lucas. They have three children who keep them busy. Emily is from Maddies first marriage, her husband was killed in a automobile accident. Jacob and Noah are her and Lucas's.
Noah is colicky and Jacob is teething. Noah is an extremely light sleeper and Maddie is nursing him. Both her and Lucas are sleep deprived. Both of them are still working as well.
They are also dealing with Lucas's sister Candace, who is a recovering alcoholic. She is constantly calling Lucas for one reason or another. She leans on him alot since they lost their parents.
Now they lose Noah to what may be Sudden Infant Death. But Candace was in that room earlier. So many things start to happen. Everyone should probably start listening to the little girl who is everywhere but silent. She sees everything and everyone. She holds the key, someone talk to Emily, maybe she can help figure out what is going on...???

.Wow! TJ Stimson smashed it out the park with outstanding triller mystery. The book leads you on a rollercoaster of a ride. I read this in less than a day I just could not put it down. Highly recommended.
Keep up the amazing work! I can't wait for the next one. Fingers crossed there's one in the pipeline.

Picture of Innocence is the darkest book I've read in a long time! I feel dark is an overused word in book reviews so when I use it you know a book is dark! Some parts were honestly hard to read, I literally had nightmares last night because of Picture of Innocence and I'm not easily scared. Emotional, disturbing and thought provoking; what else could you want from a psychological thriller!?

This was a well written harrowing tale that I really enjoyed. Thank you for the chance to review., I look forward to more.

A great book. It is most definitely a page turner.
An intelligent plot, well thought out characters and a difficult subject tackled very well

Excellent read! Absolutely harrowing at times, but so well written and so sensitive to the awful matter within.
Maddie is a stressed mum to 3 children, Noah being only a couple of months old, and being as difficult as a baby with colic can be. She is familiar with the symptoms of post natal depression after having.suffered with it with her son Jacob, so is covering up memory loss, and strange behaviour for fear her husband will stop trusting her! When tragedy strikes, she goes through a roller coaster of a police investigation all the while wondering if not her, then who would hurt her baby.
Running along this is the devastating story of Lydia - abused, neglected, terrorised! But who is Lydia? Is it Candace, her sister in law? Or Maddie? I guessed after a while - but that didn’t alter my enjoyment of the book.
As dark and distressing a story about child abuse and murder can be, this was an outstanding book which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Emotional family drama, of who did it. Innocent lives born into evil. It’s a page turner that keeps you wondering until the end.

I liked the subject and the main character, but felt that there was a lot of gray area with the character interactions and relationships that made this book fall flat in many parts for me. The writing was sharp, but it seemed like there was a lot that was drug out that needed to be condensed and tightened up for a more cohesive reading experience. Thanks for the ARC, Net Galley.

https://bibwithblog.blogspot.com/2018/12/read-this-not-that-review-of-tj.html?m=1

As always, thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book, Picture of Innocence by TJ Stimson.

I really liked this book, but there are some things that I think a reader should know even before they go forward in this review. In addition to the death of an infant, which is a main part of the plot, this book also deals with child abuse, both physical and sexual. It was very hard for me to read and I have never lost a child, so I can’t imagine how hard it would be for someone who has.

That being said, this was a great read. Don’t get me wrong, Maddie was sometimes hard to read and even after the ending, Lucas rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like Maddie was too quick to take the blame for everything and something about her inner weakness was very hard for me to vibe with. I wanted to shake her. Given everything she was dealing with, I’ll be the first person to say that’s probably an unfair reaction; if she was too resilient, it probably would’ve been unbelievable. Lucas seemed like a man’s version of what would be a woman’s ideal man versus what most women really want. Except for the couple times when Stimson was trying to mislead us about who Lucas was and what his character was (specific as I can be without giving spoilers), he just felt so flat, like a cardboard cut out of a man.

Every other review I have read said that the reader was so shocked by the ending: I wasn’t. By the time I realized “Lydia” was a character who existed in both time streams, but under two different names, I guessed who she was. Ditto to the final twist. There were a LOT of clues and—no shade—it makes me wonder how closely people really read their books these days. Then again, I’ve been told repeatedly that I overthink, so maybe that’s my bad.

The twist didn’t really matter to me, if I’m being honest. I guess this book ultimately has some elements that would categorize it as a thriller, but that’s not what the book is about. It’s about family, loss, grief, shame, the nature of evil and, ultimately, forgiveness. It’s a very human book that not only kept me turning pages, but kept me reading. This is another must read.

4/5