When the story begins we meet Zoe and her parents and little sister Rose. Rose is very sick and we read about the toll it takes on the family. When she dies, the parents completely withdraw and Zoe is left to fend for herself. We next meet Zoe when she's an adult and is an advocate for abused children. She meets Austin and they get married it isn't long before they have a daughter. From the start Jaime is quite a challenge and that doesn't change as she gets older. As the story progresses we see that there is more to Jaime's clumsiness and accidents than meets the eye. Austins mom voices her concert that Zoe possibly is suffering from Munchausen by proxy. Austin begins to do his research and sadly agrees, and then it becomes his goal to protect Jaime and to prove his wife has MBP. IT was very interesting seeing how the process of figuring Zoe out and trying to prove their theory plays out. I found this to be an entertaining and interesting story---and this is actually the second book this year that I've read that was about MBP--until I'd read the first book, it's a fascinating subject. As usual Ms Steels book keep you interested and move quickly and are an easy read. Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! This was a great suspenseful thriller with a plot so well developed as only Danielle Steel can.
The book starts with Zoe as a child. She had a happy childhood at first and adored her little sister, Rose, who looked up to Zoe,. Sadly, Rose developed Leukemia and died, devastating Zoe's family and eventually breaking it up.
As an adult Zoe has worked hard to put the past behind her and make a life for herself. She meets and marries Dan, and together they have a beautiful daughter, Jaime. Zoe appears to be a neurotic mother, always reading new ways to parents, new approaches to discipline, and questioning doctors endlessly. As Jaime gets a little older, it becomes apparent that things may not be as they seem. Jaime has had more accidents and injuries than most three year olds, and they always seem to happen when Zoe is with her.
Is Zoe so haunted by her past childhood that she is unable to be the mother Zoe needs? This suspenseful psychological thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat in a race against time that has everyone holding their breath!
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Danielle Steel has done it again. This book was a quick, intense read. I loved the fast pace of it all. I was questioning my judgement of the characters and the plot line. While I kept thinking I knew what was coming it was still a shock to read it. I would like a sequel to this to see where the characters ended up. #netgalley #TheDarkSide #DanielleSteel #Arc

A big thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I have not read a book by Ms. Steel in a long time, so I was quite shocked at how dark this book became. I am not sure if this is something different for her or not. I found this to be a very deep, complex story about abuse in multiple forms. I found it heartbreaking and painful to read. This is not a light romance so be warned. I think this is a thought provoking story that will impact a lot of readers. I give it a 4. I personally didn't really like it but it is well written and an important topic. I just was surprised.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this novel.

By far, the BEST DS novel in a long time.

Zoe is highly traumatized by her family falling apart after her younger sister's death at 7 to leukemia. As Zoe grows, she makes great grades, going to great schools and trying med school before realizing she wants to take a different path. She becomes the operator of a major home for abused children, and meets the love of her life Austin.

Austin and Zoe's life is forever changed when their daughter, Jaime is born. Zoe struggles with the demands of a newborn, especially with nursing. After a scare early on, her worries are multiplied. What seems at first as a story about a overzealous, worried mother turns to something much darker as Austin begins to realize that their daughter seems to be sicker and have more injuries than most kids her age.

As he struggles with the knowledge that Zoe is not who she seems, the darkness that surrounds her may cost the ultimate price.

I loved the story for this one. It was different, deeper and not as shallow as other books by Steel lately. Still a quick read, but one with more substance.

Danielle Steele masterfully covers a tough, heart-breaking but all too real issue. She weaves a compelling story, from pretext to the emotional ending. Different than some of her other books, but spellbinding as always and transports the reader into another place. Well done, Ms Steele. Keep up the great work in exploring difficult issues that are all too real.

I found this book very painful to read. Steel has taken us to the dark side in this novel about child abuse and how it spreads through the generations. It is the story of Zoe, emotionally abused as a child, ignored by her parents and despite all her good intentions, how this abuse cycles just through her life as she brings it to her child.

I found this agonizing to read since it deals with a very serious issue of abuse, Munchausen by Proxy. There are so many instances of child abuse, that this novel became a painful experience for me.

I know that many book clubs will find a lot to discuss, but this is not what I expected when I picked up a book by Danielle Steel.

Thank you Netgalley.

Danielle Steel tackled subject matter of mental illness and how it affects you from a very young age through adulthood with finesse. Zoe experienced a childhood tragedy and loss not only from the death of a sibling but also the death of the family dynamic that made me feel loved and secure. As an adult, she became a champion of disadvantaged children and made herself a place in the child advocacy world. She marries and has a child of her own, who she loves and protects beyond what most mothers would do. That's a good thing - right? Maybe too much of a good thing isn't really what it appears..

This book was an adventure. It was so sad and haunting it stays with you long after you put it down. Such a well told story that keeps you interested from start to finish.

It’s been such a long time since I’ve read a Danielle Steele novel - not sure why; they’re great.

Her writing style flows so well and she really knows how to spin a tale. This one is just so tragic, a hard one to read.

This horrific tale of child abuse gives insight to MBP and how that can come to occur. It doesn’t excuse it or allow you to accept it but it does allow you to see why it may happen.

It also shows how someone can get away with this and how they still love their life, child, and spouse. It doesn’t mean they deserve them or aren’t sick.

This was a quick read but I think it will stick with me for a while. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for a copy in exchange for a review.

I could not put this book down! It starts out with a bit about Zoe's childhood with her very ill sister who eventually dies. The rest of the book tells about how this affected Zoe's life, the life of her family, and chillingly, the life of her very own daughter!

I didn’t want to put this book down from the moment I started it. Intense topic and very different from most Danielle Steel books I have read. Great read!

This is not your typical Danielle Steel novel. It is dark and it is disturbing. Zoe has a rough childhood, losing her sister to cancer at a young age. The result of that was a strained relationship between her parents, and eventual divorce. As Zoe ages, she finds her own path, marries, and has her own child too. But, her daughter battles multiple injuries and events. Is she really a clumsy toddler, or is something else at play?
I will admit that about a third of the way in to the book, it just seemed really drawn out to me. I got it - she got injured a lot. It's a harder topic to read about, and at the frequency it happened, it got to be a bit much. The last third of the book did pick up and had some suspense built in, so I did enjoy that part of the story.

Such a welcome departure from Danielle Steel's typical book. Loved the drama in this one, although it is very sad and painful to read at times. Feel like the character development was on point and she really did this genre beautiful justice. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a difficult book to read. It deals with the pain and suffering of children. . Zoe Morgan is a new mother and is having a hard time adjusting. She had a very difficult childhood seeing her younger sister die from leukemia. Her family fell apart after the death and it made a huge impact on her life as an adult. As she settles into motherhood, her small child begins to have accidents and health concerns. Everyone thinks that Zoe is the greatest, most attentive mother because she has to deal with a clumsy, sick child. Things aren't always what they seem. People around her finally start to see a pattern to the illnesses and accidents of the child but how will they ever prove that there is more to the injuries than just a rambunctious 2 year old.
This was a fast read but I never really got invested in any of the characters. The main character is understandably unlikable, but the other characters seemed to be aggravatingly naive. It's a different type of story than I'm used to from Danielle Steel. Thank you netgalley for the ARC of this book for my opinion.

I feel like this was really a different book for Danielle Steel. While she does do drama (and does it well), there's typically at least some thread of good and right throughout her books. This one was just simply dark. Despite that (or because of it?) I really liked it. It had great character development, both main and secondary characters. It was sharp and twisted. It was unpredictable and attention catching. What I most appreciated about this book was Ms. Steel's ability to create a generally likable character, and then flip that on a dime to end with a character of pure evil. Brilliant, and bravo to her!

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I definitely would. This book was absolutely amazing and even had me thinking about it when I wasn't reading it. Zoe was a little girl when her only sister died of leukemia. Her parents pretty much left her alone for years while they were mourning and eventually they divorced. Zoe grew up and fell in love with Austin and they had Jamie, a beautiful baby girl. From the time that Jamie is born, things start getting really strange with how Zoe is as a mom. For example, she wants her to get a feeding tube because she is having digestive issues as an infant. She later lies to an ENT doctor and says that Jamie has chronic ear infections so that she can get tubes surgically implanted. Zoe is a very prominent person in the community and when her husband and her friend, Cathy, who happens to be Jamie's pediatrician, suspects things, it gets crazy. I could not put it down. It really was that good#

As a huge fan of Danielle's, I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to read this one. It started out honestly a little unlike a typical DS novel. I actually had to look and make sure I had selected the right book. It started quite slowly compared to her other books I have read. The book starts by exploring the relationship between Zoe and her late sister Rose and then continues to Zoe's teen and young adult years and then ultimately when she gets married and has a child of her own.
I will say, I had NOT read the description of this one before I requested it. It did not take me long however to figure out the premise of the story. As Zoe strives to be the "perfect" mother, she becomes obsessed with ensuring her daughter does not end up like her sister Rose who died at such a young age of leukemia. We see young Jaime be put through a multitude of doctor and hospital visits, sometimes for completely unnecessary procedures or tests, often not informing her husband Austin until after the fact. Austin begins to suspect that Zoe suffers from MBP (Munchausen by Proxy) and enlists the help of Jaime's pediatrician Cathy in order to look further into the matter. The Dark Side is a heartbreaking story of the extent of a mother's love and obsession over her child. A great read you will not want to put down

The Dark Side by Danielle Steel was an intriguing and fast paced read. Couldn't put the book down. Very well presented and well developed characters, cannot get over how chilling it was to "see" the Dark Side come out towards the end. Welcome diversion from Ms Steel's previous books.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

Danielle Steel at her best. Zoe has a really bad upbringing but overcomes this to become a productive adult. Meets a great man, gets married, has a baby and then out comes the dark side. You will not be able to put this book down until you get to the end.