The stark difference between the first few chapters and the rest of the book was wild!!
At the beginning, the story telling was kind of..... watered down? We were told what was happening, instead of being in the heart of it, which kind of made me detached from the book.
Some main characters were also introduced in a way that gave the impression they were side characters or just unimportant names in the story.
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However, starting from chapter 4, the book gets significantly better, it gets fast paced and so engrossing. Whenever Olivia had a flashback, it was written so well and some flashbacks I really didn't see coming.
Olivia herself was a really great character, she was smart and treated her trauma with levelheadedness and respect, which was refreshing.
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The plot was strong and the storyline held my attention the whole time. The flashbacks and the transition between each pov and the other were done so well.
The ending was satisfactory, I got my closure and I liked how everything ended for all characters.
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Overall, a great book.
*I received an ARC of this book through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Olivia is found with a severe head injury outside of a hospital but doesn't remember how it happened or anything else about her life. Such an interesting read that really got me hooked quickly! I would recommend this book to everyone looking for a good thriller.

This book is great something a bit diifferent and i was hooked from the first few pages, great if you like your thrillers

As always I want to give a shout out to #NetGalley, and author #KellyPeresta for the ARC of #TheDeadening. Thank you so much!

As I started reading this I was immediately gripped by a need to know what happened to Olivia. She is laying in a hospital bed seemingly unable to respond to doctors and nurses trying to help her. She received a head wound and has no identification so no one knows who she is or what happened to her.

Fortunately with the love and patience of a sweet nurse named Sarah she begins responding to people that come in and out of her room. Slowly she regains the ability to talk, but has no idea who she is. When the story airs on the news she is finally identified and her family is informed.

When her mom, Sophie, shows up Olivia still has no memory of what happened to her. In fact, she has no memory at all. She doesn't even remember she has two daughters or that she is going through a divorce she didn't want.. She didn't even know her name until the hospital staff told her. As she continues her journey towards healing small tidbits of memory start invading her mind.

When the memory fragments come to her she can't be sure that she remembers right. What if the wires in her brain are crossed? No big deal, right? At least not until she starts remembering what happened and who put her in the hospital,

That's when things really pick up and go off the rails. There is so much information to sort through and Olivia's personality isn't the same as it was before the attack. She wonders if her soon to be ex could have really done this.....or was it someone else?

This is a great book for a Saturday evening in, or any evening for that matter. It was a quick, easy read that kept my attention from beginning to end. I couldn't turn pages fast enough. This is the first book in a series I am looking forward to reading.

This book is now available to purchase wherever you like to buy your books. Go ahead, you won't be disappointed. It's a great book, the first I've read by Kerry, but it won't be my last. I can't wait for the next in this series! #HappyReading!

In The Deadening, the first book in the Olivia Callahan Suspense Series, author Kerry Peresta weaves a suspenseful tale that follows the challenges that Olivia Callahan faces as she puts the pieces of her life back together after a traumatic assault.

Olivia is found with a serious head injury by a med tech on the grounds of Mercy Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. Comatose, blind, with a traumatic brain injury, and paralyzed, Olivia doesn't have any identification on her, and is classified as a Jane Doe, until her nurse sees a missing person report on the television six days later. Olivia is considered Mercy's Miracle when she regains consciousness and begins the journey of recovering, but she doesn't have any memory of her past. Olivia is determined to reclaim her life, but as her memories return via triggers that prompt flashbacks, Olivia is surprised by the way she had lived in the past, and with the help of Richmond Detective Hunter Faraday, they are determined to find the person behind the assault, and deal with the tangled web of deceit from her past that surfaces along the way.

Author Kerry Peresta weaves an intriguing and suspenseful tale set in the alternating locales of Richmond, Virginia, and Glyndon, Maryland, that follows Olivia Callahan on her quest to reclaim her life after a vicious assault left her with a traumatic brain injury, and no memory of her past. You can't help but get drawn into Olivia's story as she gives a realistic depiction of the challenges she faced as she puts her life back together.

Told in the present time and interwoven with flashbacks to her past, the reader gets to know Olivia as her memories return via triggers. Olivia is no longer the person she used to be, and with the help of Detective Faraday, she wants to find the person who caused the assault, and move on with her life.

The story has a great mixture of drama and suspense that keeps the reader engaged and guessing what will become of Olivia's quest to reclaim her life, and how she resolves the tangled web of deceit from her past. Olivia's journey is filled with grit, emotions, family drama, deceit, heartbreak, and realistic trials and tribulations, you can't help but cheer Olivia on as she discovers what person she wants to be going forward. I look forward to reading the next book in the Olivia Callahan Suspense Series.

The Deadening is a riveting and suspenseful story that you won't be able to put down.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher via Net Galley in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.

https://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-deadening-by-kerry-peresta-vbt-book.html

Kerry Peresta. I am extremely glad that i got to read this story of her. It's is the first book of her's I am reading. 

Let me get out the only negative thing I can at about the book - the author's style of writing seemed a little abrupt and the narrative felt stilted at times. 

But leaving aside that part, what we otherwise get is a racy thriller with many psychological insights into what coming out a coma means for a person experiencing it. That one element makes the story so much more interesting and fascinating. 

I started the book feeling not terribly interested; but by the time i had finished it, I was completely invested with the main character's plight. Also, I personally love the way,  the heroine's character has been shaped. 

Overall, this book is an enjoyable and fascinating reading experience and can't wait to read more of this author's work. 

Thanks Netgalley and the author for the ARC; I am glad I got a chance to discover this author.

Has everything you could want in a book that hooks you from the very start:
Mystery, suspense, romance , lies , a douchebag,
and will keep you guessing on who done it .

This is a suspense novel that follows a woman healing from a coma, regaining her memory and trying to piece together the suspicious events that landed her in a come in the first place.

It seems one of the themes of the book is finding yourself / coming into your own which was certainly satisfying especially when the main character started standing up for herself against her (soon to be) ex-husband in their divorce. However I didn't find the stream of consciousness of the main character very consistent or realistic - at times she was sure of herself and calm, and other times she was wracked with anxiety and untrusting of everyone around her. I realize this could come out of her traumatic experiences but it felt somehow a bit contrived or shallow. The rest of the characters were quite two-dimensional - the ex was pure evil, the daughters didn't seem particularly conflicted about their father, the mother's defining characteristic was her religion. I prefer characters that make me feel conflicted about whether I like / empathize with / understand / feel sorry for them, and with these it all felt a bit to easy, and made the ending of the book predictable.

That being said I did find myself wanting to get back to it when I wasn't reading it, and I got through it in a couple days. If you're looking for a quick, easy read that doesn't make you think to much - maybe while laying on a beach somewhere or decompressing with a glass of wine after a busy day at work - this could be just what you need.

I loved this book it’s basically are mystery/thriller with a charismatic main character that captivates the pages. The plot is fast paced but intricate. I highly recommend this one.

I wasn’t sure about this book, but the summary was intriguing and I am glad that I decided to read this one. Olivia Callahan has been attacked and wakes up in the hospital as a “Jane Doe”. From a missing person notification, she is finally identified, but she has no idea who she is or who would want to kill her. The first suspect is always the husband, and they are going through a divorce, but she can’t believe he would try to kill her. Slowly as her memory returns, she realizes that she is no longer (as her friend described her) predictable and a little boring, but seems to have surfaced with an assertive personality. She begins to like the person she has become as she sorts through her life, her mother and children and her divorce. With the assistance of Detective Hunter Faraday, they may be able to untangle the web of deceit that had taken over her past. I look forward to the next book in this series. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)