Lizzie Armitage woke to find her newborn baby gone. Just days later, Lizzie was dead.

Her sister Paula swore she would do everything she could to find the child. If she hadn’t promised to keep Lizzie's pregnancy secret, maybe the baby wouldn’t have disappeared. And maybe Lizzie would still be alive. But Paula never found any trace.

Sixteen years later, when Paula bumps into an old friend from the past, she realises she wasn’t the only one who knew about her sister’s child. Someone knows what happened that day. Can Paula find out the truth before another family is ripped apart?

It was a very interesting premise, something that was new to me and I couldn’t wait to get into the book and find out what happens.

The plot in itself was well written with quite a lot of twists, some of which were quite predictable. All the characters were good. While some of their back stories were well defined, I felt that till the end I couldn’t quite find out or understand much about Johnny’s involvement and his reasons and desire to help Paula.

A slight disappointment for me was that while the entire book was fast paced and filled with suspense, I felt that the ending was kind of rushed and hence, kind of felt flat.

Overall, a good read if not for the rushed end.

Thank You to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

Add this to the list of books that sets my mama heart on FIRE! This book grabbed me from the first chapter b/c a baby goes missing and I cannot abide that. I was SO surprised when the twist came and I love that. Most things don't surprise me anymore. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the characters and the way it was all woven together.

The storyline was promising. It started off with a stolen child and took off from there. Paula was sworn to secrecy about her alcoholic sister Lizzie’s pregnancy but when Lizzie is found dead with no trace of a baby no-one will believe Paula. Ten years later the whereabouts of the baby remains a mystery, until an old school friend of Lizzie’s teams up with Paula to investigate what really happened. I really liked the character of Paula and her search to find her sister’s child. I enjoyed the whole story until the ‘unbelievable twist’ at the end, which I found to be a little too unbelievable. Having said that, up until that point I really enjoyed it. It is a good story well told.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for an advance copy in return for my honest review.
#MySistersChild #Bookouture

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Her Sister’s Child’ written by Alison James in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Lizzie wakes up to find that the baby she’s just given birth to has disappeared and soon after she’s found dead in her flat from alcohol abuse. Her younger sister Paula swears she’s going to unearth the truth about Lizzie’s missing baby and now, sixteen years later and with the help of her old school acquaintance Johnny Shepherd, they set about to uncover what really happened.

‘Her Sister’s Child’ is a gripping thriller with a plot that’s been cleverly-written with drama, suspense and twists and turns. The story’s two separate threads move ever closer until they merge and we discover what did happen all those years ago. The plot’s so intriguing that I was completely involved and couldn’t put the book down until I’d reached the final page. I have no hesitation in recommending this thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining thriller.

Sixteen years ago Lizzie Armitage has woken up
And she discovers her newborn has gone
Within days have gone that Lizzie has been found dead
Her sister Paula has said that she will get the baby back
But after 10 years Paula finds the baby
But what does it mean
I had an ARC

I was given a copy of this book through NetGalley, thank you. I enjoyed the book, which is the story of a missing baby. 17 years ago, Paula's alcoholic sister gave birth on her own, then died from other complications a few days later. When she was found, there was no baby, yet Paula is positive she was pregnant. Flash forward to the present, and Paula is still determined to find out what happened. This book goes back and forth between the past and the present, sometimes it is hard to tell which you are reading about at the start of the chapter. It is interesting to see how closely the facts and families interacted over the years, yet didn't know about each other. There are a lot of twists and turns but it was easy to figure out who was who and what was happening.. Sadly, I think too many women find that they can't have a baby for some reason, and some may resort to other means of obtaining one.

The blurb for this book promised 'a heart-stopping psychological thriller with an incredible twist' but sadly it did not deliver for me. The idea behind the story is really good but I felt that there were too many characters and also the constant time shift got to be confusing.
The idea behind the story kept me reading as I felt that there was a lot to discover and it certainly got me thinking about certain subjects but I also felt that some of the events that occurred seemed artificial (a lack of reality) and made easy to fit the story. The ending also left things slightly open ended which was not what I was expecting.
I hope that the finished publication has a link to where people can get help if they have suffered from child abduction, addiction, etc as a lot of emotions are discussed in the book.
Although I would not recommend this book to a friend I will definitely be checking out more work from the author in the future.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and Alison James for providing me with an advanced review copy for the Kindle on the provision that I provide a review of the book.

Her Sister’s Child is a very clever book however it is also very complex due to the number of characters and being set in past and present. I did find the odd part to be predictable but on the whole it was a most enjoyable book. Tense and gripping, it was hard to put down. Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

Fantastic book. Another new author for me. Loved this book. It was very good. Her writing was great. Thank you net gallery for giving me this opportunity to read this book.

The story is told by Paula, Charlie and Marian, in multiple timelines.
Paula: her sister dies shortly after giving birth
Charlie: a pregnant teenager
Marian: a social worker.
Paula is determined to find out what happened to her sister's baby all those years ago. The split timeline is confusing at times, but becomes less so as the book goes on. I really liked this one and felt the pain of the characters at different times in their lives.

Thanks to netgalley, Alison James and Bookouture for the arc

Thank you NetGalley, Alison James and Bookouture for the ARC of Her Sister's Child. This is my personal review.
I read the description of this book and thought it would be one I had to read. The words “A heart-stopping psychological thriller with an incredible twist” was the line that hooked me into wanting this one.
I read it over several days trying to get to the “heart- stopping” part to happen and it never did for me. I was a confusing read and one I had trouble finishing. It was an ok read.

Her Sister’s Child by Alison James

Lizzie Armatage has a problem. A couple of problems actually. She is an addict and she is pregnant. Her sister Paula swears she will keep her pregnancy a secret. Paula is really the only one who continually checks on Lizzie to make sure she is ok. Then we meet Charlotte who also gets pregnant by the bad boy at school as well as Marian who is Lizzie’s social worker who really wants to have a baby with her husband. The book progresses pretty slow at this point until Lizzie is found dead and the newborn baby is missing. Paula decides that she will find her niece no matter what. The characters are very well developed and charismatic to the point that the reader cannot help but to feel the emotional tugs. While I would not necessarily call this a psychological thriller, I would say it is full of suspense and the ending will shock you.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

While this book had a very interesting premise, I felt the execution made me enjoy it very little.
The different POV's were a good idea, but the way they were structured (plus the flashbacks) gave us the information in a very unsatisfying way. It was very easy to guess what was coming next, because we had already been told.
Also, even though this is fiction, it isn't sci-fi or a supernatural thriller. So we expect a level of reality on it. And some of the things that happened, especially with Charlie's character were pretty hard to believe.

Omg gripping read a page turner a fast past book but it easy to read I loved how the story build up one or two twists and turns a gripping book good strong character well written novel I recommend to you all

Highly readable psychological thriller with a stupendous twist! There are two parallel stories running with multiple characters and changing timelines. It's all easily kept track off and creates a full and rich story. Alison James is consistent in her writing and stories - very enjoyable!

This was a great novel that I read in 2 days. I wouldn’t call it a psychological thriller but it was fast paced and easy to pick up when I have a spare few minutes.

I am usually totally confused when stories flit between time lines - to the point I rarely finish them - but this was very very clear and added to the story.

I liked all of the main characters and there were a couple of twists that I wasn’t expecting. The only thing that remained unanswered for me was Jonny. It seemed like he had another motive for trying to find answers, especially In His refusal to involve the police, and I kept waiting for more information. I’m still not sure I’m satisfied with his involvement.....

All in all a great read - I’m glad I picked it up

Her sister's child. - Alison James

Wow, this book had me picking up my kindle at every available opportunity. I finished this in less that 24 hours, desperate to find out what happened!
A tense family drama that has you following the search for Paula's niece from three different perspectives over different time frames. The stories running parallel make this suspenseful and lends to a fantastic page turner.
The cracking twist in the final part has you absolutely gripped and questioning whether any of these characters will achieve a happy ending.
The characters feel real and gritty. The descriptions really make them come alive and their innermost thoughts and feelings leave you really inside the story and sometimes dreading whats coming next.
Its fast pace with enough twists and turns kept me gripped from the off. I read this book with so many emotions running through my mind for the characters.
An absolute triumph for Alison James. I will be searching for her previous books to read, as I loved her style of writing and how from the very first part I was totally invested in these characters.
Thankyou to netgalley and Bookouture for the pre release copy. I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next.

Her Sisters Child was a book I was excited to read. The blurb was enticing and I was looking forward to a jump of a read. I unfortunately didn’t find this. The book was a bit slow and confusing to start but did end up being a good read.
Without giving anything away; it was a roller coaster of people who all entwined in the end. The devastation of pregnancies, babies and family who lost and went without.
The ending of the book was very disappointing I felt. It left me hanging and wanting to know more. I didn’t feel it was completed. Still a good read,

I thought the first part of the book was a bit confusing with the different perspectives and characters but I stuck with it and it all became clearer a bit further into the book. I did enjoy the storyline and after the confusing start I was interested to find out what would happen. Plenty of twists and turns to keep me reading and I look forward to reading the next book by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC. My review is of the ARC, so some issues may be resolved by the final copy.
I strongly considered DNF'ing this book at multiple points, but I decided to trudge through. My first issue was just the formatting. Its supposed to be split into 3 parts but theres a random "untitled" section in the middle. As it is, the timeline jumps around quite a bit, so the formatting issues really made it confusing.
This book is about Paula, Charlie and Marian (though Marian doesnt appear until part 2). Paula is looking for her sister, Lizzie's, baby. In present day, Lizzie's baby is taken and then days later Lizzie is found dead from consequences of being an alcoholic. However, Paula doesn't know if there was a baby or not-- her sister's life was all very sketchy. Paula teams up with her old friend Johnny and together they try to find out what happened to her baby, assuming there was one.
Charlie is a teenage girl who finds herself pregnant by a terrible boyfriend.
Marian is Lizzie's social worker.
As Jonny is introduced, we start to question his intentions. He spends a lot of time and money trying to help Paula but we don't know why and its kind of suspicious but it never goes anywhere. There were a lot of plot holes and things like that (including time jumps) that were unexplained and pulled me out of the story. The majority of this book was very predictable and it had 2 things I HATE seeing in books. Lizzie was demonized so much because she was an alcoholic. Her parents had disowned her and everyone wrote her off and made it seem like what a waste of a person. Nobody in her inner circle tried to help her but instead treated her like a terrible person. The other thing I HATE is the crazy infertile woman trope. Infertile women in kidnapping stories are always portrayed as these women who are criminally desperate for a child and I cannot stand that.
Overall, I hope this book gets a little bit more editing before publication, but there are still a few red flags that would be deal breakers for me.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
Lizzie had twins and they were taken by the social worker. However, the boy baby dies and then she breaks and ends up leaving the girl baby in a hospital when she won't sleep. The baby ends up getting adopted by her (Marian's) ex husband and shocker, that baby is now Charlie. Charlie has her baby (a girl) and Marian tries to kidnap it to make up for giving Charlie up but in the end she hands it back to Paula and kills herself.