Claire was having trouble to come to terms with the death of her beloved daughter Julia. In an attempt to find answers she stumbles upon letters that exposed the many secrets her daughter was hiding for the last couple of years.
The story was good, with interesting flashbacks to past events that changed the lives of both mother and daughter, and it was told by Claire which made the anguish and devastation she was feeling stronger. I sympathized with her a lot but I don’t know why I couldn’t really like her.
And for some reason, I managed to guess the biggest secret from the beginning, it was the kind of twist one expects in this kind of stories, it didn’t spoil the fun nonetheless.
I didn’t like the end however, it felt off somehow. I can’t find the exact words to describe the feeling I got while reading it but I didn’t feel right.

My Daughter's Secret was just not for me. I struggled to finish this book, due to my dislike for the characters. I was disappointed with this book and though it was well written, I still disliked this book.

When Claire's daughter, Julia, commits suicide, she is determined to find out what led to the tragedy.

There were many things I didn't like about this book. The main reason is Claire herself. Instead of empathising with her as a grieving mother, I found her irritating and unlikable. Considering her treatment of her son's after her daughter's death, it's no wonder her daughter didn't confide in her. The saga with her abusive ex-husband is ridiculous and his reformed character is unbelievable. On top of all that, I guessed the mystery person in Julia's life a couple of chapters into the book. I only kept reading to see how it was revealed and that too, was a disappointment.

I have given two stars just because the book was an easy read which I finished in one sitting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this arc.
Such a lot of very emotional subjects are dealt with in this book!
Why has a seemingly very happy Julia taken her own life?
Julia's mother Claire and stepfather Adrian are woken to find Julia hanging from the front porch!!
Claire is determined to find answers, convinced there are reasons why Julia was driven to do this!!
Be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions!!

On Halloween Claire & Adrian are awoken by a girls screaming. When they open the door they discover that Claire's daughter has committed suicide. Julia was supposed to be enjoying her life at college- why on earth has she seen this as the only way out? hen clearing out Julia's room in college, Claire discovers a box of letters. Julia was involved in a torrid love affair with an older man.

I can understand that Claire was eaten up with grief; to lose a child & in that way must be the worst nightmare. However, she seemed to totally neglect her poor sons & made the family's loss totally about her. I began to dislike her more with each page. When it came to the final denouncement it came as no surprise- I'd guessed it a long time ago.

All in all a distasteful read. I gave it two stars because I was involved enough to see it to the bitter end. Thanks to Netgalley & publisher for letting me read & review this book- they can't all be brilliant!!

Bookouture book so just clearing this down as a review for my profile so my feedback looks better - Kim Nash

I was glad that this story started out strong and hooked me. However, these sappy love letters were unbearable. I did like the story as it progressed and became invested in what happened and I enjoy when that occurs. However the difference in this book is that I didn’t particularly like the characters. So, interesting story/concept/situation but revolving around characters that were less than likable. It was an ok read if you can wade through the less than ok parts.

EXCERPT: In the light, the face is clear. The eyes bulge, the lips are blue and swollen.

There is a beat of silence, a moment in time when all sound is drowned out.

Callie makes a strange noise, an animal howl that pierces the night.

Mia screams. Her whole body trembling, she screams and screams and screams.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: My baby girl, I’ll never forget you – your smile, your laugh, the way your hair sparkles in the sun. I cannot comprehend this pain. I cannot breathe through it.

In the middle of the night, Claire wakes up to discover that her beloved daughter, Julia, is dead – and life, as she knows it, is over.

Searching for answers, Claire stumbles upon a pile of letters, hidden under Julia’s bed in an old, battered shoebox, and feels closer to her daughter than ever before. They tell her that Julia was happy, that she was thriving at university, that she was in love.

But as the letters go on, Claire starts to feel uneasy at something hidden between the lines. Even as she grieves, she must prepare to face a shocking discovery. Because Julia was hiding a terrible secret – and when it’s uncovered, it will devastate a family already torn apart by tragedy.

MY THOUGHTS: Right out, I have to say that this is probably my least favorite book by this author. After an explosive start, it merely whimpers along, losing impetus and my interest. I was not sidetracked by the red herrings Trope throws the readers way as Claire tries to discover who Julia's lover was. I knew from the outset. To me, it was blindingly obvious. But then, perhaps I read too many of these books.

The letters to Julia that intersect the chapters are repetitive and, until close to the end, add little of value to the storyline. A few less of them, with a little more variety, would have improved the read.

BUT. . . I kept reading. Trope makes pertinent and truthful observations on dealing with grief, particularly following a suicide: the disbelief at the unreality of the situation that rapidly crystallizes into anger, self-blame, and guilt. Why wasn't I a better mother/ father/ friend/ husband/ wife/ lover? Why didn't she talk to me? Why didn’t I notice that something was wrong? Why? Why? Why? As the author so rightly says 'Being human is such a messy business.'

I didn't find this a particularly emotional read, in fact, at times it felt like I was reading a manual on surviving suicide. At other times, I found the writing over-emotive, e.g. 'I'm her mother. I gave up the right to my own happiness when I had her.'

Just as in life, there are no clear answers in this book.

😕😕😕

THE AUTHOR: Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because-as her professor pointed out- ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’ She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree in Children’s Literature. After the birth of her first child she stayed home full time to write and raise children, renovate houses and build a business with her husband.
The idea for her first published novel, The Boy under the Table, was so scary that it took a year for her to find the courage to write the emotional story. Her second novel, Three Hours Late, was voted one of Fifty Books you can’t put down in 2013 and her third novel, The Secrets in Silence, was The Australian Woman’s Weekly Book of the month for June 2014.
She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of My Daughter's Secret by Nicole Trope. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/... For a preview of this book please visit
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Un altro incisivo e toccante romanzo di Nicole Trope. In un periodo in cui stavo leggendo meno e più lentamente del solito, ho divorato questo libro, per altro non in italiano, in soli tre giorni. Il tutto grazie allo stile dell'autrice e alla sua capacità di creare delle trame a cui è difficile non appassionarsi.

Questa volta si tratta di una storia molto dolorosa, che non lascia speranze, come invece poteva accadere con Forgotten.
La vicenda si apre con il suicidio di Julia, bellissima ventenne universitaria, trovata impiccata sotto il portico di casa la notte di Halloween. Sua madre, Claire, circa otto anni prima era riuscita a liberare se stessa e i suoi tre bambini da un marito violento, di cui era costante vittima di abusi fisici e psicologici.

Il suicidio della figlia spinge Claire ad interrogarsi di continuo sui propri errori di madre, a scavare nei ricordi e a cercare risposte. Risposte che cominciano a palesarsi in una scatola di lettere trovata nel dormitorio di Julia, e grazie alle quali la donna comincia a mettere insieme i pezzi di un terribile puzzle: la ragazza intratteneva una relazione con un uomo molto più grande di lei che, dopo averla irretita e sedotta, per qualche motivo inizialmente non chiaro, le ha mostrato il suo lato peggiore, spingendola infine al suicidio...

My daughter's secret è un romanzo difficile, crudele, direi. I mostri, qui, sono ben due: il primo marito di Claire e l'uomo di Julia. Non so dire se siano stati più dolorosi i ricordi delle violenze dell'uno, o le lettere e i messaggi dell'altro.
Nel suo incessante torturarsi sui motivi del gesto della figlia, Claire ricorda vari episodi di violenza domestica, che sono un vero pugno nello stomaco e mi hanno più volte spezzato il cuore. D'altro canto, le lettere e i messaggi mi hanno prima provocato disgusto verso un uomo che si stava palesemente approfittando di una giovane ragazza vulnerabile e immatura, poi rabbia profonda, per le sue parole crudeli e l'assenza assoluta non tanto di quell'amore tanto professato, ma del semplice rispetto per la vita umana, e poi dolore per Julia e la situazione insostenibile e tormentosa in cui si era venuta a trovare. Pur essendo ella consenziente, infatti, anch'io, come Claire, che continua a definirla "my little girl", "my beautiful child", non sono riuscita a considerarla altro che una ragazzina, che in quei momenti avrebbe solo avuto bisogno della sua mamma.

Purtroppo l'identità dell'uomo con cui Julia aveva una relazione è stata abbastanza prevedibile, ma mi è piaciuto il modo in cui Claire ne viene finalmente a conoscenza. Da quel punto in poi, però, avrei preferito che la storia scorresse più velocemente. Inoltre, benché alla fine mi sia piaciuto che Claire scelga se stessa, non ho condiviso il fatto che lasci perdere ciò che concerneva Julia: avrei voluto almeno la promessa di una denuncia e di indagini per omicidio o induzione al suicidio (semmai tale reato esista anche in Australia).

Riguardo allo stile della scrittrice, lo definirei "cinematografico". Il suo modo di raccontare, infatti, riesce a creare nella mente del lettore immagini vive e vivide di ciò che accade. Da ricordare in particolare, a questo proposito, la scena in ospedale, quando a Claire viene detto della morte di Julia e tutto il mondo intorno a lei diventa ovattato e sfocato, per poi ripopolarsi di nuovo, a mano a mano, di immagini e suoni.

If you like books that put you through the emotional wringer, then this is the one for you. Woken in the middle of the night by screams outside her house, Claire finds her daughter, Julia, has committed suicide. As if that wasn't bad enough, Julia has taken to her death a secret that Claire is determined to uncover. What she finds out is almost too shocking to bear. A great read.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

Claire is left totally devastated when the body of her daughter Julia, is found hanging in the garden of their home. She needs to find answers as to why Julia did this. When Claire goes to clear out Julia’s room at university she finds, hidden under the bed, a box of letters from ‘x’ to Claire whih reveal lots of secrets that Julia has been hiding from everyone, In the meantime Claire’s family are falling apart. Claire’s ex husband, who physically and emotionally abused Claire and who never bothered with Julia after their divorce, returns looking for answers. Adrian, julia’s Stepfather is easing his grief with drink and her two sons are trying to avoid being at,home and want to be with their dad. My Daughter’s Secret is an emotional and gripping page turner, with lots of distressing themes including suicide and physical and emotional abuse, but with plenty of twists and turns that you will not want to put it down.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you so very much for giving me a new author to follow and welcome to my list of favorites, and thank you Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this novel.

If there is an emotion that I absolutely love when reading, it's crying with emotion from the book and the plot of the book. If a book can make me cry, then I feel that that author has fulfilled every aspect of telling the novel and getting the story to resonate with the reader. This story was full of grief and I could feel every bit of it with the main character. My emotion was all over the place, throughout the reading of this book. The way the author tackled suicide and how this was brought for the forefront of the book, was excellent.

I cannot wait to read so much more from this author. If there was 10 stars, I would definitely give 10 stars.

What an amazing domestic thriller! Absolutely loved it; every roller coaster moment of it. This book was full of surprises, and there was no boring moment. I highly recommend it.

First time reading anything by Nicole Trope and I must say she evoked strong emotions and a keen sense of pace enticing me to keep reading.
Claire is awakened by the sounds of screaming outside her house and then is absolutely devastated by the sight of her only daughter Julia hanging from the porch.
Finding it difficult to accept that Julia would have taken her own life without giving away any signs of unhappiness or stress beforehand, Claire embarks on a mission to discover what drove her daughter to this fatal decision.
Even though I guessed early on in the book what the final twist would reveal it still kept me interested enough to read it to the end.
Nicely written and worth a read.

Trigger warning: this book review deals with suicide and domestic abuse.
One Halloween, two friends are on their way home from a party and see a dummy hanging outside a house. Laughing about, they head over and discover the dummy is actually their friend Julia.
Suicide.
An ugly word. A terrible word. A terrible legacy for those left behind.
The story then picks up with Julia’s mother Claire, desperately trying to make sense of her loss and explore what could have driven Julia to such devastating action. Whilst clearing Julia’s university room, she finds a box of letters showing how love became betrayal.
Claire needs to find out what could have been so awful that her daughter would feel that taking her own life was the only option left.
Meanwhile, her family are falling apart. Claire’s ex husband returns: he never reconciled with Julia due to her revulsion at the way he physically and emotionally abused Claire during their marriage. Her new husband is drinking to take away the pain. Her sons are turning to their dad, avoiding the family home as much as possible.
As suggested by the tagline and blurb, there is a major twist and I did see it coming but this didn’t lessen the impact. In fact, it ramped up the expectation as I waited and waited to see if I would be proved right and how the author would resolve the narrative threads.
This was a truly gripping book and I loved it from start to finish.

Was gripping from the moment it started! And totally didn't see that end coming. If you love a mystery with a surprise ending you will love this!

Nicole Trope brings suicide to the forefront of this emotional heartbreaking story. Julia is only twenty years old when she commits suicide. Found hanging from a chain around her neck on the front porch of her family home has left her mother Claire completely devastated. Why would her daughter take her own life? Claire has no closure as Julia didn't even leave a note. This sets Claire off to find out why her beautiful and popular daughter would take her own life. There are secrets Julia kept hidden including a bunch of secret letters from an older man. Will Claire ever find out why her daughter killed herself?

I found myself really engrossed in My Daughter’s Secret. Suicide is really a tough and sensitive subject in any book and I feel that Nicole Trope really portrayed it with such compassion and understanding. We start to get to know Julia from her mother’s eyes and we see how well loved Julia has always been amongst her family and her peers. So, it is sad to see that she would have taken her own life. Trope really has created an immersive story centered on the “why.” It did take me sometime to figure out who who was behind it all and it is very shocking and not a scenario I often find portrayed in books. This really is a well done story that I could not put down.

Claire is completely shattered by her daughter’s suicide and I found her scenes to be so real and so emotional. Claire hasn’t always had an easy life. She is divorced from her first husband and is married to Adrian, Julia’s stepfather. Claire is determined to find out what happened to her daughter, like I would assume any mother would do. Claire constantly beats herself up over the fact that her daughter could not come talk to her especially since they had a close relationship. Claire will not stop until she gets answers, though. I loved Claire’s determination to get to the truth and it was done so realistically and honestly.

My Daughter’s Secret is a gripping page turner that will keep you up late into the night. The story centers around a difficult subject matter, but it is definitely well worth the read. A definite 5 star read and one I highly recommend.

This book started out strong. After the first chapter, I thought I would be hooked! But the more I read, the more I put the book down. I just didn't connect with characters as much as I had hoped after the first chapter.

This is such a beautiful, heart-wrenching book. A wonderful, unforgettable story. I really loved this amazing book. One of my top reads of the year! Very highly recommended!