Why She Left by Leah Mercer and narrated by Mira Dovreni
was a gripping and suspenseful women's fiction full of family secrets and you know what happens to secrets, they can not be hidden forever and they always have away of coming out! it's full of twists which made it an enjoyable audiobook/book.

The characters were believable. Leah has written from her heart again and the narrator Mira Dovreni was perfect reading this book.

I highly recommend this book.

Big Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture Audio and Bookouture for my ARC.

This was a very enjoyable book with just enough twists and turns to hold interest. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a quick read. Thriller

the suspense was high in this one. I really enjoyed it even though I didn't really know what was going on in the beginning.

This book was intense. I was hooked from the beginning and couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

Got to love a good family thriller plot to get your teeth into. There were so many twists and turns, family secrets, betrayals. The drama is never ending. I really enjoyed the book. It was very well written. Only issue it didn’t last as long as I’d have liked it.

I wouldn't classify Why She Left as a thriller; It's more like a domestic drama with some suspenseful elements. We find out quite early on why Isobel left, so that's not much of a secret. But there are some secrets and suspenseful moments in the story that kept me coming back to it until I had listened to the whole thing. I was never bored and never wished that the story would be over already.
The narrator was pleasant to listen to.
I recommend this book to people who enjoy family dramas set in the UK. I enjoy them, so this one was right up my lane.
With thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

After running away fifteen years ago, Isobel returns to her childhood home - on school premises - with her fifteen year old son. Her mother Ruth, principal of the school, had no idea that she had a grandchild, but is so thankful her daughter has returned and will do anything to keep her there. Being back on school grounds reminds Isobel of the reasons she ran away, and as suspicious things start occurring, she is forced to decide if she can confront her past or run away again.

I love thrillers and this book had a good premise, however it fell a little short for me. I was able to pick one of the twists early on so I felt like I was waiting to get there. It may have been a case though of ‘it’s not you, it’s me!’

Thanks to @netgalley and @bookouture for the review audiobook.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
This is a story about a woman whose daughter leaves. She is shattered and misses her daughter every day.
Years later, her daughter shows up, with her own child in tow.
She doesn’t understand why she left and why she has now returned.
Soon, secrets are revealed.

A+ mystery book! I normally can figure out the who done it books, but this one had me lost and surprised at the end.

Definitely will look into more of this authors books.

Overall this one was just okay. I wish there was more story told through external dialogue and less internal dialogue. Not sure if it really would have changed the story to be more gripping if told differently, but it was just an okay thriller. The plot could have been more suspensful and less repetitive.

This story winds a tale of selfish family drama, prestigious schooling, and the perils of being raised behind those walls. Isobel has a horribly painful secret she's keeping from her mother, Ruth, who runs a prestigious private school. When Isobel returns home, after a fifteen year absence, the tale begins to unravel.
At times I was bored with the amount of repetition of detail, that I stopped this book. However, in an effort to catch up a little, I'm glad I picked it back up. There were many unanswered questions that finally resolved.
The repetitious detail coupled with a rushed ending left me thinking this could have had a better balance between the two.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the advanced audiobook copy. This opinion is my own.
Triggers: abuse, unexpected teenage pregnancy

I would put this in the Suspense genre. Not that suspenseful though as it was quite predictable.
Well narrated however, I don’t think it needed two narrators seeing as they’re voices weren’t very distinctive.

We get the gist of the story from the blurb and there isn’t much to add from that. To be honest I thought this was going to give me tingles and keep me spurred on to keep reading however because I could guess without a shadow of a doubt what was what it took the enjoyment out of it for me for the second half.

Leah Mercer previous book is a book I enjoyed and I was hoping to enjoy this one too.

I’ll still read her next book though to see how that goes.

The mother daughter relationship is complicated. This is definitely the case with Isobel and Ruth. When Isobel shows up after fifteen years without a word, her mother, Ruth, is shocked. Where has she been? What secrets is she hiding? Why did she leave? The narration of this story adds a layer of suspense and intrigue. I was interested in finding out the reason behind Isobel's sudden depature.Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for my audiobook.

#WhySheLeft by #LeahMercer is about a teenager, Isobel who left home and reappears 16 years later on her mother's doorstep with a teenager in tow. The book alternates chapters told by Isobel and her mother. This thriller is full of family secrets, including abuse. Unfortunately neither woman was a particularly likeable character. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Bookouture for gifted #ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book involves family, secrets and mystery. I felt some parts of the story were predictable while others kept me guessing. The narration of this story made it an easy, enjoyable read. There are several twists and turns.
Thank you Bookoutoure Audio and NetGalley for the audio eARC.

This is one of those books that I only picked up thanks to Netgally, and I'm glad I did. What an emotional ride!

This is a great listen to,the book ideally suited to audio.
A very good narrator,loved the different tones to identify the different characters.story line brilliant.
Would definitely listen to more from this narrator.

DNF at 13%

Absolutely could not keep me engaged in this book. Perhaps it was the narration? Maybe the story itself lacked excitement or purpose from the start?
I’ll keep this on my shelf to possibly give it another chance in the future.

(I received an ARC for free via NetGalley in return for an honest review.)

Ruth is the headmistress of a prestigious private school that has been in her family for decades. Her daughter Isobel was next in line to take over leadership, until she disappeared without a reason why. Now, 16 years later, Isobel has returned, with her son Isaac. Will Ruth learn the truth about Isobel's disappearance? What was the dark secret that pushed her away?
This book has an interesting premise but it wasn't that enthralling. Not much happened and I did find the drama to be fairly predictable.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title in exchange for my honest feedback.

How would you feel if your daughter left and you spent 15 years wondering what happened to her? Then for her to up on your doorstep after all these years with a teenage son you knew nothing about! Well this is exactly what happens to Ruth in this story.

Of course all I wanted to know was why did she leave? and why is she back? We follow a story that alternates between Ruth and Isabel. It is a slow burner but once the the story gets deeper it unravels and I began to piece the puzzle together.

I felt like Why She Left is more a mystery than a thriller, the more I listened to the more I wanted to know. It kept me entertained while driving to work with plenty of family secrets and I really didn’t like Ruth! Read it for yourself and you will see what I mean.

This is the first book that I have read by the author and I will definitely be reading more by her in the future.

Thank you to Bookouture for copy, all thoughts are my own and not biased in anyway.