Thanks to the author Romy Hausmann and the publisher Quercus Books for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I found the book slow and confusing. The constant changing back and forth made for a muddled storyline, that did not capture my attention or interest. So, about halfway through, I gave up reading.
Sorry!

Interesting book about abduction and being missing.
The book leaves a lot to the readers imagination on how they are feeling.
I enjoyed it

Lena had been missing for 4000 days when her parents got the call to say that a woman matching her description had turned up at the hospital with a child. Lena had escaped from her abductor only to get knocked down in a hit and run accident. Matthias has never given up hope that is daughter is alive. But when he sees the woman he knows it's not his daughter. But why does her daughter, Hannah look like Lena did at that age? Hannah and her brother Joseph have been kept in a windowless cabin.

This story I'd told from multiple points of view. It's quite a complex story. I was drawn into the story from the beginning as the story recedes along throwing out twists along the way. It did dip for a little while in the middle, then we are back racing along to a great ending. The characters are well rounded. The book is well written, emotional and full of suspense. A great debut novel. I do recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Quercus Books and the author Romy Hausman for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mmm ... what a great read. It is possible to write a story, not give much away on a scene but make the reader use their imagination to complete the scene. Romy does this, I don't know how but she does it so well.

For me I need to read something a bit lighter afterwards, just saying.

Brace yourself for this story of Terror and fear. It's addictive to find out about Lena which brings me to the title. I think it should be more like Dear Lena rather than Dear Child

You've got to give this book a try

Disturbing and atmospheric, I enjoyed this read, although it was more slowly paced than I would have liked. Well written, but lacked the “oomph” factor for me.

Lena and her two children are held in a windowless cabin. Lena escapes and subsequently gets knocked down and ends up in hospital. Her daughter Hammah is with her. Piece by piece the truth emerges about where they were and what happened.

I found the first one third of this book gripping and riveting as we learned what happened to Lena and the children. However somewhere around the 50% mark it started to lose me and I couldnt regain my interest in the story. So this was a dnf for me unfortunately.

Thank you for the opportunity.

When a woman called Lena is in a hit and run accident and is taken to hospital with her daughter Hannah, a tale of abduction and captivity in a cabin in the woods emerges. The police think the woman may be Lena Beck who was kidnapped fourteen years before and summon Lena's parents to the hospital to identify her. This may sound like a familiar theme - a controlling monster of a man, a woman abducted and hidden in a remote location, children born and kept locked indoors - but nothing is as it seems making for a dark and chilling tale.

The events are told from three points of view. That of the woman called Lena, Hannah and Lena's father Matthias, who has never given up looking for her, as the police try to unravel the story and identify the abductor. All three have secrets and no one is telling the truth, least of all Hannah who is a very strange, eerie little girl. A very atmospheric and compelling thriller!

A different angle on the abduction and abuse thriller genre.
When daughter Lena goes missing, her father Matthias does everything in his power to trace her. However, when a woman calling herself Lena turns up with a daughter some years later, all is not what it seems.
I found this story absorbing as it did not follow any straight forward pattern. As soon as i thought i understood the "rules" it went off in another direction. I nearly gave up half way through as it did not seem to progress, but then the author seemed to step up the action .
A new twist on the genre.

Wow!!! this is a great read and not what i expected at all.
14 years ago Lena goes missing after a party. Fast forward and a woman is hit by a car and ends up in hospital, the little girl she's travelling with, Hannah, tells the medics her name is Lena. Lena's father gets a phone to say his daughter is in hospital, but when he arrives to identify her he realises it's not Lena.
I loved the story, it is very well written and translated.

Thank you to Netgalley, Romy Hausmann and Quercus Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

What an unusual story and I loved every bit of it. The characters were so well described and as a reader I felt for all of them. The story is full of twists and red herrings all the way and I did not work out the abductee at all. Great writing that kept me on the edge and kept me seated until I finished it. I felt so sad for Hannah and Jonathon through what life they had left and how they were trying to cope with the outside real world.
Highly recommend this book and this author to everyone.

Oh my! What read! I was absolutely gripped by this dark, twisting psychological thriller and could not put it down. Well written, cleverly plotted this riveting story kept me guessing till the end - I actually gasped out loud at the reveal! Highly, highly recommended - in fact I already have encouraged a few friends to pre-order - I’d give this 6 stars if I could!

Imagine taking someone else’s life. A life that was not what you expected nor what your imagined. Imagine not being able to escape from that life because someone has you locked up as their wife and mother; a replacement figure in their lives.

Jasmin wanted to have her friend back but instead she ended up living in a particularly unorthodox arrangement and one where her life depending on her figuring out how to survive and how to escape. Her abductor called her Lena and she assumed now that she had taken Lena’s place. Little does she know that Lena’s family never stopped looking for her so when they get the call that she may be alive, but hurt, they rush to her bedside.

A well thought out thriller about how Jasmin is in the wrong place at the wrong time and the race to find out who was behind the family residing in the cabin in the woods.

Perfect lockdown reading! A clever, compelling page turner of the psychological suspense genre. I raced through this.

This book was fantastic; a really gripping read about an abduction, told from the perspectives of three different people: Hannah, Matthias and Lena. Each perspective has a different link to the abduction, and I wasn't even aware that this was a mystery until I got about halfway through; but as the story progressed, the characters became more intertwined as the plot weaved between them. The story builds the characters well in the beginning and keeps you guessing throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed this read, and the translator did a marvellous job. Thanks for the approval!

Lena lives in a windowless shack in the woods with her two young children. She was abducted and forced to live there. Her life is carefully regimented - bedtime, study time, meals and even visits to the toilet.
Then she escapes and ends up in hospital. But has she escaped and is she really Lena? Who can fit the pieces back together and what will the outcome be?

A windowless cabin in the woods absolutely isolated.
Lena's life and that of her two children follows the rules set by their captor, the father.
One day Lena manages to flee but her nightmare is far from over.
And then there is the big question whether she really is the woman called 'Lena', who disappeared without a trace over thirteen years ago.

Wow!! I must say this was absolutely amazing reading, disturbingly good and dark. I just couldn't put the book down.
The way the writer explores the psychology behind a trauma like abduction leave your in shock.
Each of the victims reacts differently. Some characters are likeable some not very much but you can relate to them and understand them. At the same time you can see how media play their part in the investigation especially one that takes to long.
One of the best books i read so far this year. Definitely recommended to every one who love psychological thriller's and mystery's.

Big thank you to the NetGalley, Quercus Books and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book

Dark, enthralling, and full of unsettling twists and turns that kept me turning the pages, desperate to uncover the truth.

This is a well-written story with a clever plot that kept on giving till the very last pages…

And the very well-developed characters, all have an unreliable tinge to them, made it all the more difficult to foresee the twists, let alone the explosive finale.

I would definitely recommend this to all psychological thrillers readers!

I would like to thank the Publishers, NetGalley, and the Author for sending me an ARC of this book.

Dear Child by Romy Haussmann is a story of abduction, violence, power and twisted love. It was a brilliantly engaging storyline with very believable and interesting characters. I did become a bit antisocial whilst reading as I wanted desperately to find out what happened next.
Even after finishing the book, I am concerned for the children, waiting and expecting their trauma to play out in very unhealthy ways yet hoping their acceptance of the world they were in as normal might allow them to transition to the bigger world with minimal damage, if they have the right living support. That they were loved and taught life skills is evident. I think this will be a great hit fans of books such as Room. A few little twists along the way. Enjoy

This story is set in Germany, in the area between Munich and the Czech border, and was originally published in German. The translation is excellent and reads extremely well as colloquial English, so it flows along smoothly and the whole tale hangs together well.
A girl, Lena, disappeared fourteen years ago but has now been found, after a hit and run accident. Or has she, for this girl is a mystery to begin with. It starts to look like the kidnapper, who is now dead, may have snatched another girl, after the first one died, as a replacement wife and a mother for his two children. Not surprisingly, the girl and the two children are suffering from psychological trauma, so memories are confused, storylines are unclear, and the police are struggling; hampered by the constant interference, directly or indirectly, of Lena’s father. But, just as it begins to look like things are slowly becoming clear, a series of plot twists confound everyone’s, including the reader’s, ideas. The psychological descriptions, particularly those of the girl, have an authentic ring, while the children’s behaviour also seems to be accurate.