Thank you to NetGalley and Jess Ryder, for allowing me an ARC of the book for a voluntary review.

There really was a lot going on in this book, and while I didn't enjoy the ending at all, I did enjoy the book itself.

The story is very well written, suspenseful, full of wonder and amazement, and sometimes anger and I enjoyed it! 4 out of 5. Can't wait for the next one by Jess Ryder.

This book is about a child who was given away to adoption finds her mother and the events that follow. The story proceeds in predictable lines and feels sluggish at times. The characters don’t evoke any sympathy. There doesn’t seem to be any bonding in any of the relationships. The conclusion is sudden and doesn’t fit. I didn’t feel it to be a psychological thriller. Sorry.

Erin has been keeping a secret for a long time. When the truth comes out her life blows up. There are a lot of twists in this book that I didn’t see coming. It held my interest til the end. I have to say I didn’t like the way it ended, I wanted more of a resolution to the story than the book gave me. That is my reason for the 3* rating. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Big fan of Jess Ryder and her psychological thrillers and had great expectations of this new one. Started great when a daughter, given up by a child mother, comes back unexpectedly and the havoc is terrible for all concerned. It’s difficult to become really entrenched in a book where you do not like nor care about any of the characters and you keep reading, expecting a change. Perhaps I was expecting too much. Rather disappointed in the outcome.

The Girl You Gave Away is fantastic!

I found the story shocking (in a good way) and I had to put it down at points because I found it so dark, intense and explosive. The storyline stays strong throughout and moves at perfect pace.

Highly recommended.

There was a lot going on in this book. Didn't keep me as interested as I thought it would. Wasn't a fan of the ending. Was a good read over all with twists that I didn't see coming. 3.5 stars rounded up.


Thanks to net galley and the publisher for an early release of this book.

3.8/5

I enjoyed this book i was not a fan of the ending and the gross relationship/scenes in the flashback chapters..
Overall this book had good secrets and really good twists and turns and towards the end of the book one thing which i will not say SHOCKED me and i was not expecting it.
If you like secrets,suspense and scandal this book is for you.
Besides a few weird things this book was very good.

This book had me hooked that I was up until the wee hours of the morning to find out how it all ended. The story is set in the year 2020 about a mother named Erin who finds a letter from her daughter that she gave up, Jade, on the day of her birthday. The chapters flip from the current year to the past as it retells the story of how she got pregnant and the reason as to how she gave her baby up. The book started a little slow for me, but as it ramped up with certain twists, it just kept on coming and I did not want to stop reading. So many twists and turns had me on my toes to the answers of "who did it?" and "omg what's going to happen next"! I definitely put myself in Erin's shoes and was living her story, which is why I gave this book a 4/4.5 starts versus a complete 5 stars. There were certain parts of the story where I was just thinking, there's no way someone could be that forgiving, or there's no way that a relationship can just mend and push through while certain circumstances were happening. I do rate this book pretty high as the story teller was very keen on detail that I was imaging every single account and could visualize it happening. The story on all fronts was wonderful- from the main characters to all the supporting characters in the book. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a great thriller novel! Thank you, NetGalley, for allowing me to read this book. It did NOT disappoint!

Although this is an uncorrected ARC copy there were a few errors, two of which are below.
The book says Erin and Amy go to see where Jade's mother lived, but it was Jade and Amy going together.
When Jade thought Amy had planned things she wonders if it was because she thought Erin was a rich businesswoman but not as rich as Erin's adoptive parents, but it was Jade's adoptive parents who were rich.
These are careless errors and there were more.
The whole book was not plausible and a psychological thriller this isn't. It just got more ridiculous as it went on.
Too many coincidences.
Child born late to Irish/Catholic parents who are cold and unloving, child suddenly goes off the rails drinking and having unprotected sex with an older man. Gets pregnant, now there's a surprise.
The baby is adopted straight away.
Mother becomes an alcoholic, dries out and turns her life around.
Twenty five years later adopted daughter finds her birth mother.
Adopted daughter just happens to have Foetal Alcohol Syndrome, ADHD and a host of other problems and plays on these problems.
A whole load of other things are thrown in for good measure, blackmail, kidnap, attempted murder etc
Individually these things happen, but everyone of them? No, not realistic at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review.

What happens when you give a child up for adoption, but don't tell your new family and she finds you? What if she has resentment and isn't what you expected, yet you are the only one who can see that? What if she didn't have the life that you thought she would when you gave her up, and she sees that your kids have everything she missed?

That's this book with alot of twists and turns and unexpected wows. The book alternates between Jade the mother and Erin the daughter she gave up. The writing is smooth and the book isn't choppy, so it is a well written read.

This book is at the top of it's game as a psychological suspense thriller and I think will make quite a splash in this years books.

I have read most of Jess Ryder's books and this one does not disappoint!

A story about many secrets. Adoption. Family. Friends. Betrayal...

I kept guessing as to whether Jade was really the daughter Erin "gave away".?????

A lot of powerful drama and superb suspense definitely lead to a 5 star rating!!!

Many Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for one of this year's best reads!

WOW. I finished this book last night and have not stopped thinking about it since. It was very different from what I expected, given that the short book description listed on NetGalley does not reveal much about the plot. But, in this case, it's a good thing.

I liked that the book switched back and forth between a few perspectives, both past and present, to give a better backstory. I also liked that the book took a new position/outlook on mental illness - a lot of the time, mental illness is portrayed in kind of a throwaway manner in books, usually just as an explanation for a character's actions. But I felt that this book not only used a unique mental/neurological illness that is not typically written about, but also used this illness in a better way than many fictional books would (yes, it was an explanation for behavior, but also tied in a lot to the main story of the book). All in all, it felt like a new perspective and a new story, when many mysteries and thrillers I've read lately all feel like different iterations of the same story.

I felt that a few storylines were left hanging at the end of the book, but that was not necessarily a problem. In most cases, it kept me thinking about the story, and thinking "what if" about those storylines, rather than being upset that a storyline was just dropped. Overall, I enjoyed the story, and will continue to think about it for a while.

Having read all Jess Ryder’s previous books was excited to read this one, it did not disappoint. Was gripped from the first chapter, kept me guessing, plenty of twists, did not see the ending coming. Definitely worth reading.

The Girl You Gave Away by author Jess Ryder is yet another great domestic thriller novel by Ryder! There has yet to be a book I did not like and The Girl You Gave Away did not disappoint! Absolutely recommend this book!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow!! This is a gripping book that had me reading until the wee hours. From the first chapter I was pulled into the story and didn’t want to put it down. The book goes from Jade to Erin, alternating chapters and years but it blends so smoothly that you don’t notice the change. There is everything possible in this book, mystery, love, heartbreak, twists, blind alleys.... Erin is a married mother of two when she receives a birthday card from the daughter she gave up for adoption when she was 15. As the story progresses we see exactly what Erin’s life was like growing up and you can only like her and want to sit with her and give her a hug and support. The other characters are well developed and some I hated instantly for being arrogant, others for being conniving and yet others for betraying Erin. Jade is an amazing character and my feelings for her changed with each chapter. You will be sucked into their lives and with each new twist you will begin to read faster, anting to find out the truth and also not wanting it to end. The book is one of the best psychological suspense stories I have read. You don’t want to miss out on reading this book. Thank you so much NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book. 5 stars all the way.