Carolyn Grand has multiple personalities that Carolyn has started to through time realize and understand. She was abused not only by her bio family but by her adopted family as well. Now that she is an adult she is trying to make her way as a functioning adult and her father shows up but no one can do anything about it.....until her father is murdered. Did she do it or no? Good book, a little long and slow in parts but all in all good.

As always I say, 3 stars from me isn't bad, I'd give this one 3.5 star, and the reader 4.5 stars if I could. The story was interesting, twists and turns, never a question about who was speaking, which is a compliment in a story about multiple personalities, but honestly that's true for any audiobook doing so many characters, that's a true compliment. Not sure I loved the ending, although as I thought about it in the days after, I think probably more realistic than not.

As someone who spent many years studying and working with victims of domestic violence and human trafficking and dabbling in the psychological aspects of people, this book was really good. Who is the reliable narrator? Hard to tell because Carolyn fragmented into six different personalities as the result of sexual and other abuse by her horrible father and others. Now her father, newly released from prison has been murdered and she is a suspect. For a subject as hard as Dissociative Identity Disorder is, this book was really well done and was not over the top. Really well done!

I love me a good multiple personality book!! AF Carter wrote such a strangely compelling character with Carolyn Grand. I found her involvement with the police a bit out of reality, but it wasn't bad enough to push me out of the plotline. Honestly, I'd love to see more books about Carolyn and friends. Definitely a fast-paced, gripping psychological suspense.

This book sounded intriguing but as it turned out, every time I picked it up for almost a year, I put it right back down. It just didn’t grab me until that one time I started it and was hooked. I guess I just had to be in the right frame of mind for such a heavy topic.

It’s a fascinating look at a 37 year old woman’s existence with multiple personality disorder. Carolyn had been sexually assaulted and traumatized for years during her childhood. As a result her psyche is fragmented and she has had several personalities come and go over the years, both male and female, aggressive and passive, promiscuous, stable, responsible and flighty. Each taking control of the physical body when the timing is required. All personalities know if each other but can’t remember what happened when another is in control so they leave notes on the kitchen table to share information.

Each personality is well developed and individualized so the reader gets to know and understand them for who they are and what they are represent to Carolyn. A lot of research must have been done by the author to pull off such a heavy topic successfully.

My rating is 4 stars instead of 5 due to the fact that for as long as the story was, the ending was brief and unfinished. I would have really like to see a bit of follow through with her newly developed relationship and the growth or coming together of the personalities. The ending was bazaar in my mind.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, Grove Publishing and NetGalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This mystery will keep you guessing as to who really committed the crime with a protagonist with dissociative identities. Who is really in charge? Who is really talking? Read on and find out!

5 out of 5 stars. Great read.

A protagonist — errr, protagonists? — with Dissociative Identity Disorder, childhood trauma, murder, and much more. I was intrigued to say the least. I think 6 (yes - six) main characters might have been too many. Each serves a purpose. Each is unique and easy to identify... but they just didn’t feel completely fleshed out and felt a little flat. I think this may have been a bit of overreaching on the authors part. I still very much enjoyed this read and it’s unique premise.

I was initially drawn to this book because the main character has dissociative identity disorder. Each chapter represents the POV of one of the six identities of the main character, Carolyn. She has the misfortune of being court-ordered to undergo therapy with a sadistic psychiatrist and a large part of the story surrounds Carolyn's interactions him. Also, her father is murdered and she is a suspect. The story idea is a good one but the author did not resolve all the subplots by the end of the book. I felt there were many loose ends. Overall, it's a fine read.

I wish to thank the publisher Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for an electronic ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I just wasn't sure about this book if I'm honest. Loved the concept of exploring the different personalities of someone with more than one distinct personality but felt it could have been executed a little better in terms of each character's development - maybe one (or more) less of them would have given more chance to do this but appreciate the more the merrier in terms of 'hecticness' and 'whodunnit'. The history of the main character is pretty horrific which lent a definite air of grimness to the story, I did feel sorry for the characters living with that past.The cop/protagonist relationship didn't sit right with me either

The blurb made it sound interesting but I didn't finish it. I read 4 chapters but I couldn't connect to the characters and the plot wasn't that interesting to me.

3 "disturbing, thought-provoking, intelligent" stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Grove Atlantic for an ebook in exchange for my honest review. This book was released June 2020.

I found this book both fascinating and frustrating.

Carolyn Grand is a woman with a horrific trauma history. She has multiple instances of physical, emotional and sexual assaults throughout her childhood and adolescence. She psychologically defragments and is left with a host of personalities that have only have semi awareness of each other.
They consider each other siblings and have rivalries with different strengths and vulnerabilities. They are able to live day to day but not hold a job or a serious relationship.

Her prime abuser is released from prison and is shortly, thereafter, murdered. Is Carolyn or one of her alters responsible ?

The author appears to have some insider knowledge of this complex disorder (dissociative identity disorder formerly known as multiple personality disorder) and is able to impart to the reader what it would be like to live with this condition day to day by exploring each alter and how they interact with each other in the protagonist's head.

The client also does an excellent job of letting the reader know how forensic psychiatry and the justice system works in New York City. I absolutely admire the writer's capacity to leave political correctness and pandering at the door and fully explore corruption and the malignancy of some psychotherapists and police personnel.

Carolyn Grand is the ultimate unreliable narrator and her struggles with poverty, desire and survival are what make this novel a potential winner.

The novel, however, does not fully do its job and there are loose threads and much more content and subplots are needed. The book's prose style is sometimes compelling but more often middling and clunky. Often the book feels rushed, unfinished.

The subjective experience of living with Dissociative Identity Disorder was excellent but the whole of the novel felt rather unfinished and undeveloped.

A worthwhile and interesting read that I had the potential to be much better !!

So as a psychological thriller I found this one particularly unique as the main character suffers from a multiple personality disorder in which she has six unique personalities that all share one body. Having suffered years of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of her biological father, Carolyn Grand is mostly just a name on paper. The day to day grind falls to one or more of her personalities, each one filling a different niche. Carolyn’s life hovers in a delicate balance that is threatened when she finds out her abusive father will be released from prison after serving almost 30 years. After an unfortunate incident where one personality propositioned a cop for sex, Carolyn is also facing the possibility of being thrown back into a live in psychiatric hospital, if her new therapist deems she is a threat to herself or others. So when her dear dad, recently paroled, turns up dead in his hotel room, the list of suspects of course includes Carolyn, as the estranged, abused daughter. But could any of her personalities kill? Finding an unlikely ally in Bobby, a detective, who is actively investigating her father’s murder, Carolyn and her six personalities must try and work together to maintain their status quo. This story is very different, and interesting because of the characters. This brings a fresh, original quality to the story. At times there is a certain dark humor to this tale as 6 personalities vie for dominance while trying to survive. Definitely something to read for those into something that’s considered a little unusual. Review posted to Goodreads, Facebook, Litsy, LibraryThing, and Amazon

This book is fantastic.

The main character, Carolyn Grand, was horrifically abused by her father. In order to survive and persevere, Carolyn has created alternate personalities: Martha, Victoria, Kirk, Serena, Eleni, and Tina. When she is caught attempting to solicit an undercover cop as Elani, her world goes into a tailspin.

She is sent to a psychiatric facility evaluation and observation. When she is ready to be released, she placed under the supervision of a psychiatrist that has been appointed by the court., as well as, a caseworker from adult protective services. Both the psychiatrist and caseworker were appointed by the court to make sure Carolyn is still able to live on her own.

The caseworker does a wonderful job assisting Carolyn. Her next door neighbor becomes an amazing ally. The personalities begin working together to maneuver through the mess that her life has become. A police office assigned to her case begins to be a bit more than a police officer, to her benefit personally. And the psychiatrist. Well, let's see. The psychiatrist is very easily found out. The alters are not stupid. He has a motive, an agenda. What does Carolyn have that he wants? Then, her father is released from jail. He is a threat. An even bigger threat than he ever was. Hank always comes back for his little girl.

The writing moves flawlessly. A. F. Carter presents the alters nicely. Each personality has their own mannerisms. Their own eccentricities. Their own ways to manipulate. So who murdered Hank Grand? That answer is so much more complicated than you think. And that handsome police officer. You will have to read the book to find out!!!

Thanks to NetGalley, Mysterious Press, and A. F. Carter for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I started this book because it sounded like an interesting premise. However, the execution just wasn't there. The story never really went anywhere, and the ending was incredibly predictable. I finished the book because I was intrigued by the author's portrayal of DID, and I thought Carter did a good job delineating each individual personality.

I liked the idea of this book a lot more than I liked the execution. The concept and overall story were awesome, but the delivery left something to be desired. I wasn't a big fan of the writing style - I love a good multiple viewpoint story, but for me, there wasn't enough separation amongst the characters. It could be confusing who was speaking at times. I was also bothered by the relationship between Carolyn and one of the detectives handling the case. I don't want to include spoilers in this review, so I will leave it at this: nothing about their relationship is acceptable. The men in the book are overwhelmingly icky, and it just leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth (which to an extent is to be expected, but it can also feel a little heavy handed). I did, however, enjoy seeing the ways each personality adapted to the world around them and howthey all ultimately took care of each other and Carolyn.

This one is a hard review to write and rate mostly because there were a few off comments in there I felt to be racist. I re read both the sentences i thought to be racist and saw no reason as to why they needed to be in the book which put me off which was sad because until that point I was enjoying the book.

Also had some interesting content revolving around the police which is pretty fitting and most probably highly accurate in reflection of what is going on in the world at the moment in regards to the police.

So you are following Carolyn grand who has dissociative identity disorder aka multiple personalities. There are 7 different personalities all vastly different. Carolyn grew up being abused by her father then went into the foster system. After an incident happens that involves the police she is ordered to see a psychiatrist. Drama ensues.

The premise, very different and very intriguing. I enjoyed the writing and the cast of characters. Like other reviewers have said I think this would be a great movie. The ending was a bit eh, could see it coming. I could see people with or who know people with DID might not like that ending and the portrayal but that is merely a guess on part.

Could have been a 3 star but had to bump it down to 2 purely because of the questionable racial comments

Very interesting exploration of mental health and how people with mental illness are treated. We need books like this to explore the biases in the system, The characters were good and I was totally engaged.

A wildly interesting premise and it definitely lived up to it for me. Took a little get use to all the characters but after a bit I didn't even notice. Good story, good writing and great ending! Thank you so much!

This is the story of “siblings”:
1. Victoria - The responsible sister. She’s a leader, conservative, and the best one for face-to-face conversations.
2. Martha - Also responsible and a leader. She takes care of the cooking, laundry, paying bills, and making sure money gets to the bank. She doesn’t like outsiders.
3. Tina - Remembers everything. She carries a lot of pain and has suicidal tendencies.
4. Serena - The carefree sister. She loves fruit and flowers, and thinks of herself as a hip kind of artist.
5. Eleni- The promiscuous sister. She has very urgent needs.
6. Kirk - The brother. He’s heterosexual.

These are all of the personalities currently living in 37-year old Carolyn Grand’s body. Carolyn has DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) due to a traumatic childhood involving her father, who sexually abused her and filmed videos of her with other pedophiles. Now, when he gets released from prison and turns up murdered, Carolyn is the prime suspect. If she is, in fact, the murderer, which one of her identities committed the crime?

This premise is very intriguing and original, and only recently came to be on my radar (Thanks Christina!). The writing is smart, and the subject has clearly been researched. It’s easy to keep track of who’s who, and it’s engaging and suspenseful. It does lose some steam as it gets closer to the conclusion. The explanation of what happened is told in an odd fashion, and I didn’t really care for the last chapter. Overall, I would recommend this to mystery fans looking for something a bit different.

TW: Besides the obvious that’s mentioned above, there is yet again the death of an animal, which I’m getting really sick of. Fortunately, it’s very brief.

Thank you to author A.F. Carter, The Mysterious Press, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book and became completely immersed in it! It was unique enough to hold my interest all the way through. The protagonist has DID, which is Dissociative Identity Disorder commonly known as split personalities, which stems from being abused as a child. The author handled the various viewpoints expertly. She gave what I thought was a realistic portrayal of what someone with DID would go through. The conflicts and suspense were strong, and the mystery was compelling. In a time when so many books have similar plots, it's nice to read something that is so original.