Well, well, well.....

The first 75% of this book was fairly dry and kind of dragged on. Hannah, the mother was kind of...a terrible person. Olivia, the daughter, was a typical teen. They have a fight and Olivia screams she's never going to speak to her mother again.

And then....THE TWIST.

Oh my god.
OH MY GOD.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The premise seems simple – teenage girl goes out to a party, parents disapprove, teenager tells parents she hates them and refuses to talk to them any more. If it only were that innocent!
Hannah is the stodgy, no-fun mother of Olivia and Rosie. Olivia is a normal 15-year-old testing the boundaries of parental control. Rosie is still young and is the favored child, much to Olivia’s chagrin. Everyone appears to be a reliable narrator so far. The book flows along with minimal ups and downs until about 60% gone – then the first twist is uncovered and Hannah becomes a sympathetic character while Olivia becomes a selfish, annoying little girl, still believing that if her parents didn’t treat her the way they did, she would not have had to sneak out to that party. Soon after that, the second twist happens – hold onto your book, because it’s a doozy! My sympathies changed ever so slightly towards Olivia at this point, despite the fact that she was still a selfish teenager. At this point, I was not putting the book down until it was finished; it was that good! Then the author drops another twist into the mix, making Hannah even more sympathetic.
Hold those emotions close, though, as from here on in they will be changing and spinning out of control. By the end of the book every character but one is deserving of pity, more or less. Each character (except Rosie, who is quite the innocent throughout) has their demons and their false beliefs. One is a narcissist, another is a control freak, and the other is selfish. Actually, they are all selfish and broken in their own way.
THE ARGUMENT is an unputdownable psychological thriller that starts slow, but ends with multiple jaw-dropping twists. The author is adept at creating simmering tension that boils over midway through the book – and the ending will have you shaking your head at Hannah’s final words. I look forward to reading more of the author’s work.

The Argument by Victoria Jenkins is a twisted psychological thriller that kept me guessing. We follow the perspectives of Hannah and her fifteen-year-old daughter Olivia. Hannah loves being a stay-at-home mom. She has two beautiful daughters, a lovely home, and a husband who loves her dearly. She knows that she's a bit strict and overprotective of her children but she has their best interests at heart.

Olivia is sick and tired of being told what to do by her parents and is determined to break all their rules.

At first, you can't help but feel sorry for Hannah who is having a hard time coping with Olivia's sudden hatred towards her. Or maybe you feel sorry for Olivia who just wants her mother to love her as much as she loves her younger sister Rosie. But all is not as it appears to be. That's because one of them is an unreliable narrator and the other one is withholding information from the reader.

I enjoyed this book. The plot is dark, addictive, and had just the amount of tension and suspense to keep me turning the pages. This was one messed up family and while I had a few theories about what was going on, the twist completely shocked me. If you like thrillers centered on family drama, then this is the perfect book for you. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to Bookouture and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book as much as I had hoped that I would. I read the premise and right away I was hooked and knew that I had to read it. It sounded like a book that would be suspenseful and very relatable. The synopsis let us know that this was going to be about a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship, which I feel like every girl who has ever been a teenager can relate to. The early reviews also made me think that this book was going to be everything that I wanted in a thriller.

Let's start with the positive things that I liked about the book. I really liked how every now and then we got an excerpt from a diary. I found this to be fun because we weren't sure whose diary it came from. It could have been the mother's (Hannah) diary or the daughter's (Olivia) diary. I found it fun to try to guess whose it was along the way. I also liked Olivia's perspective. She felt very real. Her thoughts and actions were an accurate portrayal of a teenage girl going through the tough years of high school.

There were a lot of things that I didn't really like about this book. I didn't like Hannah's perspective at all. She was unlikeable from the very beginning and that never really changed even when the author tried to get us to have sympathy for her. The writing style made it really hard to connect with the story. It was written in the third person and as a reader, I felt very removed from the situation. There were points where I felt like the author was trying to be lyrical/metaphorical and it just wasn't working for me. This continued to get a little better as the story progressed, but not by much. The Argument does have a huge twist, but we really don't get to it until about the 80% mark. So leading up to it was very dry and there were so many points that I wanted to just put the book down and not return to it. The twist came out completely left field for me. There were no clues or hidden clues leading up to that point that would have even hinted at the twist. It made the book feel very disjointed and it never really recovered from it.

For such a great synopsis, this book and I just didn't click.

Olivia goes to a party without her parents consent. This then starts of a chain of events. All Hannah and Michael wanted was to keep their two daughters safe. Olivia has reached her mid teens and has become quite rebellious. She's acting completely out of character at school and she's giving her parents the silent treatment. She's getting noticed but for all the wrong reasons.

Nearly the first 75% is about family drama rather than a thrilling read. Hannah is not the best role model. She's quite a dispicable character. In fact, I could not warm to any of the characters. The pace is very slow with not a lot happening until we get to the twist. But for me, the twist came too late. The ending was unexpected. There was no build up and I felt there were some loose ends needing tied up.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Victoria Jenkins for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Argument all starts with a party that fifteen-year-old Olivia is desperate to go to, and that her parents have forbidden her to attend. She goes anyway and does some things that maybe she shouldn’t. But she’s desperate to be like other teenagers and to not be the odd outsider. When Olivia’s mother, Hannah, discovers that her daughter defied her, the already-strained familial relationships are pushed to breaking point. Olivia stops talking to her parents, but she draws even closer to her little sister. Things are happening in and out of home, and it looks like Olivia is to blame in a desperate cry for help. For the most part, The Argument centres around this family drama, and we are wrestled between the points of view of mother and daughter. Then, about three-quarters into the novel, the twists begin in earnest and the psychological thriller gains a momentum that takes The Argument to its conclusion. This novel has the sense of being set anywhere, though of our time, and a part of me wanted the author’s Welsh background to shine through, but I found it a compulsive read through the drama stage and then gripping after the first twist.

Adolescence is tough on everyone but for Olivia it's particularly difficult. Her mother's protectiveness seems way out of proportion by comparison with her peers - not that she'd know, since she has no friends and no one to sympathize with except her younger sister Rosie. But one night she defies her mother and sneaks out to a party, an event that sets this clever, chilling mystery in motion and keeps the reader guessing until the final denouement .

(Also posted on my GR account!)

3 stars for being better than her previous book.

The Argument, that IMO should be titled something else, told a story about a teenage girl named Olivia who couldn't seem to have an agreement with her parents, particularly her mother. It was mother vs daughter that turned out into something more when Olivia dug her mother's past.

The book was fine, the writing was OK, the plot was thin. So thin I might asked Victoria Jenkins to add more suspense and reduce the fillers. Victoria tried to push <i>a thing</i> into the last pages and that was why I felt the book was hurried and the twist didn't really work for me.

Overall, it was a solid 3 stars and psychological mystery could read in under a day.

I had trouble getting “into” The Argument. Much of the book is vague. However, when the bombshells started dropping, I was engrossed. Unfortunately for me, the bombshells are well past the halfway point of the book. I enjoy suspenseful books which this could have been. But I do believe the first half of the book was too muddy. There really isn’t much going on. I’m sure that there were clues I should have picked up on but until the second half of the book, I really wasn’t engrossed in the plot. But as I said, the bombshells are riveting and do make the book worth a read.

Oh My Word. I was thoroughly enjoying this book about a stroppy teenager (which I can relate to as I have a 14 year old granddaughter!) wondering where it was going to lead _ then we came to the 'twist' I was actually shocked and from then on couldn't wait to see what happened. Very good.

Teenaged girls and their mothers tend to have very tumultuous relationships. And many times, when there are two daughters, one tends to be harder to control than the other. I should know. Lol. Between my sister and I, I was always the rebellious one. Lord knows how my mother was able to handle me.

The Argument starts off with such a relationship. Olivia is fifteen and extremely rebellious. Her mother, Hannah, is at her wits' end with her. Meanwhile, Rosie is completely the opposite of her older sister, Olivia. She is sweet and naive. Rosie is not a teenager yet and Hannah is hopeful she would not be as bad as Olivia. Olivia snuck out of her house to go to a party her parents forbade her from attending. She is caught by Hannah and they have a massive argument. After the spat, Olivia completely stops talking to her mother. At first Hannah and her husband, Michael, are not too worried about the silence. However, eventually the ongoing silence reveals that Olivia is going through something that will tear the whole family apart.

The twists in this story were totally unexpected. I was left stunned by the revelations in this book. I am still reeling from the shock.

Olivia was quite pitiful. As a teenager, we go through so many situations and sometimes, we don't know where to turn for help. Our parents are sometimes the last people we want to ask for advice.

The book began a bit slowly but the events which happened in the end were worth the wait. The author skillfully built the tension in the earlier chapters before dropping mindblowing revelations on me later on.

This book is definitely worth a read. It was a fantastic thriller.

Violence: Mention of sexual violence and child abuse. These may be triggers
Sexual Content: Not graphic descriptions but enough information to know what is taking place.
Profanity: None
Religious Themes: None
Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: None

I have really mixed feelings on The Argument.

The first 75% of the story is okay, nothing really stands out but it’s a enjoyable read and I liked the dual narrative. Then we have this huge twist! Which I loved but looking back over the book there was no hints, nothing that made it explainable. The twist should have came sooner and the ending padded out a bit.

Overall I think it’s a fantastic idea for a plot but should have been planned better,

This is the first book I have read by Victoria Jenkins. For me this family drama was a little slow to start but it picked up about halfway through and then had plenty of twists which I didn’t see coming.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Although this story was a bit slower paced than what I typically enjoy, it was a good mystery that had an eventful ending.

Hannah and Michael are parents of two and only want to keep their daughters safe. However, Olivia their eldest daughter has other ideas. Entering into her mid teens she has hit a rebellious stage and giving her parents the silent treatment and acting out of character at school triggers a chain of events that gets her noticed for all the wrong reasons for the right outcome.

I really enjoyed the plot of The Argument and the links between the characters and their behaviours. Olivia comes across as a troubled teenager and ‘badly behaved’ but she is likeable which kept me reading and hoping for a happy ending. Overall a quick and easy read with a good twist!

The Argument by Victoria Jenkins
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Publication date is 10th December 2019
Publisher - Bookouture
Received an advanced reader copy from @netgalley and @bookouture in exchange for an honest review.
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This was one of those books that is a quick but good read. In the beginning, you are introduced to a family whose oldest daughter Olivia is trying to test her boundaries by sneaking out to a party. Her family seem protective of her and her younger sister Rosie to a degree which seems a bit weird.
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The main body of the book is the battle of wills between mother and daughter and this is where the strength lies.
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Hannah (the mother) starts to experience strange events - a break-in, keys going missing, prank calls and a strange woman turning up on her doorstep.
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Eventually, towards the end, the revelations ramp up and the emphasis is placed on how experiences of being abused can make someone an abuser and them not even really realise.
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The characters were well-formed but there could have been more substance places on Hannah’s mental state - more paranoia of her husband working late, not being where he was meant to be etc. I don’t know if this was deliberate by the author to focus on the female perspectives of the situation, but I feel like Michael (the father) could have been more visible in the narrative, even made his personality seem more ominous towards the end.

Let's just say that this one was not what I expected.
In The Argument, we meet Hannah and Olivia. Olivia is 15, rebellious, struggling with the rules and her desire to be independent. Hannah is her mother, and absolutely sure that Olivia is a horrible child intent on ruining the lives of her family.
The story begins with Olivia sneaking out to go to a party she was forbidden from going to. (Haven't we all?) When she gets home there's an argument and Olivia stops speaking to her parents. Normally, this would involve the awkward talking to where sulky teen is asked if anything is wrong, you can talk to me, etc, but in this case it was just "my teen is awful and has ruined my life."
Through the book Hannah really irritated me with her single strong opinion being that her older daughter is just horrible and her younger daughter is much better. Her lack of understanding about being a teenager seemed so out of touch. I'm Hannah's age, and I still intensely remember how I felt as a teen. It does makes sense as the book goes on, but it did definitely make me think about how my own child and I interact.
It's definitely thought provoking. And twisted. I didn't see the direction this book was headed. It was well written and twisted. Without giving anything away, it reminded me of a case that was heavily covered in the news a while back. It was my first book written by Jenkins, but I'll definitely be checking out more.
My one real complaint is that the title doesn't really fit.

*I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for my review.

Reading the description of this book I was expecting a novel filled with teenage angst and parents attempting to be the epitome of the self-help parenting books. That is not what I got at all.

Mum Hannah seems to be sensible if maybe a little over anxious as she is tackling being the parent of a teenage girl for the first time. Like many mums she would love her children to stay as polite, obedient miniature adults for as long as possible so when Olivia starts testing the boundaries, as all teens do, she's a bit out of her depth especially as husband Michael isn't around as much as she'd like to support her in her decisions regarding discipline. One night Olivia sneaks out to a party which she knows she's been forbidden to go to then returns home bold as brass prompting an argument with her mum which results in her telling Hannah that she's never going to speak to her again. All pretty much par for the course in the majority of households in England so far. But then the story starts to take an unexpected turn.
Without giving the plot away, suffice to say that Hannah and Michael may not be the model parents they first appear to be. Allegations are made, and questions start coming from the school as Olivia's behaviour starts to nosedive outside the home environment too. The one person she thought she could trust to discuss things with and seek help from has disappointed her and she doesn't know who else she can turn to.
Then amidst the silent protest she is waging with her mother, she realises her younger sister Rosie is far more savvy than she had ever imagined, and that maybe she can be the one to help her.
By the end of the book I really didn't like any of the adults in the story but wasn't quite sure how much of any of the characters' versions of events was the actual truth.
An interesting look at family life behind closed doors, the writing took a few turns which I really didn't see coming and it's a book which certainly makes you think about what might be happening around you.
How well do any of us really know our outwardly-respectable neighbours?

This book is intriguing with its twists and turns. The family has so many issues with trust and control issues. I thought the book was interesting but it could have expanded in several areas that would have made the book an even more interesting read.

Olivia is a typical 15-year-old girl who is fighting with her parents about going to parties, who is unsure of how to dress and how to behave in school and daydreaming about finally getting away from her family. Except she isn’t. Her life has two sides: on the outside, there is the loving mother in the caring home, on the inside, Olivia and her smaller sister Rosie grow up much more than overprotected. Their parents keep them away from the life outside their small home. They are allowed to school, but not much more. Never can they visit or invite friends, never can they really bond with anybody outside their family. When one evening Olivia sneaks out to go to a party, she sets in motion a series of events that will reveal much more about the family than just explain this very uncommon behaviour of the parents.

The story is told alternately from Olivia’s and her mother Hannah’s perspective. Quite cleverly, Victoria Jenkins first makes you believe in a fairly ordinary phase of rebellion of a teenager. Olivia behaves just like any other girl her age and seems to overdramatise her family life. Yet, slowly and almost unnoticed, something else creeps in and step by step, the image and idea you formed about the family shifts until you have to throw all your assumptions over board.

“The Argument” is a cleverly constructed psychological thriller which captivates the reader with the unexpected development of the characters. Both mother and daughter are actually equal protagonists, the age difference and uneven roles do not really make a difference. You focus on their subtle fight, the bits and pieces of their lives that lie beneath the surface and one after the other come out make them turn into realistic and multifaceted characters. While being occupied with the two women, you overlook the real danger and in the end, it is not easy to come to a final verdict on wrong-doings.

A spell-binding novel which does not offer the immediate thrill but which captivates you at a certain point and in the end, does not leave you without a melancholy feeling.