Not My Child was my first book by Samantha King and I’ll definitely be looking out for more.
This book had me gripped from the get go, telling the story of four friends Ruth,, Daniel, Bea and Finlay. And of course Billy. Ruth and Daniels son - or is he?
When Eve comes back into Ruth’s life claiming everything in her life is not what it seem s the next 48 hours change everyone’s life.
Lots of twists and turns in this great book. Just when you think you’re hearing the truth along comes another lie!
Thank you netgalley and HQ for a ARC of this book.

The Prologue to this story begins on Friday evening at 6.30pm and then the story that leads up to this crisis begins only the day before in the morning. It is Billy's first day at school but when Ruth receives barbed comments from another Mum (Beatrice) and sees a familiar face from the past Ruth grabs Billy and runs. All the action takes place over a very short time span but Ruth's memories to 5 years ago are interspersed.
The action is tense and so many of the characters are extreme in their behaviour and the lies that they tell it makes the story quite confusing. None of the characters are level and honest which is a slight problem for me. The ending is a little rushed. Nevertheless the love one has for a child and the lengths to which one will go shines through.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Samantha King/HQ for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I’d like to thank HQ Digital and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Not My Child’ written by Samantha King in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Ruth is with her friends Nish, Jules and Beatrice as she sees her son Billy off at the school gate on his first day. As she walks away a woman who looks vaguely familiar stops her saying that it’s time for her to give Billy up as he’s her son. Ruth gets a sick feeling in her stomach when she realises she’s met the woman before, in the labour ward when they giving birth to their children.

After reading the description of ‘Not My Child’ I had high hopes of losing myself in a story that caught my imagination, especially as I’d enjoyed previous books by this author. I’m disappointed that it hasn’t happened this time as I’ve found the characters superficial and lacking credibility, and I didn’t like at all Ruth and Bea who I thought to be quite unpleasant. In fact, the whole plot is mundane, tedious and unbelievable, and I’ve had to force myself to read as far as I have. I’m sorry I can’t give a more positive review as I can only imagine the work that goes into writing a novel, but I’ve given my honest opinion and I know there must be many readers out there who disagree with me.

Oh dear, I’m sorry but this was not for me. I thought the story was silly and just too far-fetched, and it drove me nuts the way Ruth ‘spoke’ her thoughts. I thought all the characters were ridiculous and I was glad to get to the end of the book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy, and I’m sorry I can’t be more positive.

Wow!! For me, this one started off a little bit slow, but that didn't last very long. Once it got going, it never let up till the very last page!! I've never read any by this author before, but I'm looking forward to reading more of her books!! Wish I've given it more than 5 stars!! Highly recommend!!!

This book sounded very good in theory however in the execution it was a little lack luster. I found it a little confusing in the beginning because I was just thrown into a whole lot of confusion but there was no build up to it. It left me with little to compare to on how I should be feeling about the characters meeting. I feel if there was a little bit more of an explanation on what was going on in the beginning the book would have read a lot smoother. I also found the plot to be a little bit jumpy and when there is a lot of characters and a deep thriller plot, it really needs to be laid out a little bit more clearly for the reader. The main concept of the plot however is a woman Ruth gives birth and everything seems to be going smoothly. It isn't until a few years later when she
runs into a strange woman at the park. This woman is convinced that the baby Ruth has with her is actually
hers and Ruth's baby was the one who died not hers. It wasn't until I really got a bit deeper into the story that I really started to feel connected to the characters. I can't imagine having to go through any of this and I really liked the suspense that the author kept the reader in for the whole time. There was something about the characters and I didn't really feel any depth to any of them and I found parts of this book were very difficult to finish because it just failed to hold my interest. I did really enjoy the big reveal in the middle it was something that was very well written even though I knew what it was going to be I liked how it was presented. It wasn't until the ending that I became very much invested again. The ending was amazing it came completely out of left field and something that I never saw coming. Great read while slow in parts the parts that were fast made up for that. Very compelling plot and I'm very glad that I got the chance to check it out.

Samantha King is brilliant! A fantastically thrilling mystery of love, friendship, sacrifice, loss and deception, which revolves around a mother's love for her son, his true identity, and the people she thought she could trust.. You will struggle to put this book down, just like I did with all the twists and turns! Just when I thought I could put the book down and finally go to bed... I'm pulled back in!

Ruth is taking her son Billy for his first day at school when a woman called Eve appears and claims that he is really her son and she wants him back. Ruth's immediate response is to take Billy and run home, which is very suspicious itself, does she know the child isn't hers. As the story develops it transpires that Ruth is hiding secrets from her husband Daniel and there is a very checkered history with their old friends Bea and Finlay.

The two stories are interconnected, though in many ways separate, as are the people involved. At times the plot took us back in time more than stayed in the present and so it felt that present time drags and to be honest the whole story was told over the space of four or five days.

My only dislike of the book was how far fetched it was. Yes these things can happen in reality, but it was the way the characters reacted to them that wasn't very believable. They either went totally over the top or in most cases, barely reacted like a sane person at all.

However, the one word I would use to describe it, is compelling. I felt compelled to keep reading and find out the truth behind Eve and the truth regarding Bea and Finlay. So fast paced and easy to read also.

The ending was good, but very sad. I can see why Daniel did what he did, but I can also see how heartbreaking that was for Ruth.
Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the ARC in return for an honest review.

The title says it all. The book is about a mother of a young son who starts to have doubts about her much loved child when she meets a stranger in the playground. Of course, she is not a stranger but occupied the next bed when they were both giving birth. and makes an extraordinary allegation.

The plot unwinds and becomes tangled, improbable and convoluted.

I was disappointed and also found the ending abrupt

I received this arc through netgalley.

We meet Ruth and her husband who after years of trying finally have a son Billy, when a woman turns up at the school gates accusing Ruth of swapping babies we are off on a rollercoaster of a ride.

Who is telling the truth who is lying, which friends can Ruth trust and which ones are out for revenge.

I enjoyed this book with its twists and turns along the way.

Thank you NetGalley and HQ for the copy of Not My Child. This was a tough read for me. I never connected with the characters because they were so shallow I never got to know them. The story was extremely convoluted and unbelievable.

I received an ARC of Not My Child in exchange for my honest review. A very busy and fast paced domestic thriller. The book is full of secrets and lies. But who's the goodie? and who's the baddie? An enjoyable plot, although perhaps a bit unbelievable in places, but nevertheless one that kept me reading and guessing to the end. 3.5 stars

I could not finish this book. There were secrets everywhere and I felt the book just went around in circles.

Description sounded good but the book didnt live up to it in my opinion. Sorry but this one isnt for me
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and ARC

This goodhas a great plot idea, one which to some degree, I have imagined might happen. However, it is not especially well written with repeat phrases and some obvious inconsistencies and easy guessable twists.
Worth a quick read but would frustrate me if I had to spend much time over reading it again.

A fast paced and twisty read with a compelling plot, unreliable narrator and well developed characters that kept me engaged the whole way through. There are some triggering issues within this book but I felt like they were handled sensitively.

This thriller does a really good job setting up the hook in the first chapter and keeps you reading to the end. There are several answers to be revealed and it kept my interest throughout.

The narrator has to solve all of the relationships around her, including her husband, best friend and son. It was a bit unbelievable at times and some of the twists were predictable. I liked how the book had multiple villains and showed the flaws of the victims and main character.

The book has some triggers - pregnancy loss and sexual assault.

If you are looking for a faced paced thriller, then this one will leave you satisfied.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy for a honest review.

Ruth and Daniel are an affluent young couple, living in a beautiful penthouse apartment near Kew. They tried for a baby for a long time, with the result being Billy, the son they both idolise. The story starts with Billy’s first day at prep school, and things do not go as planned. Bea, a so called friend, has been behaving very strangely and some of the comments she makes that morning send Ruth running for the hills! Unfortunately, matters only get worse when Ruth bumps into Eve, who was in the same maternity suite as Ruth, but sadly her baby died. Her words to Ruth cause even more panic.

Well, what can I say about this book? I don’t want to be unfair, as I appreciate the hard work an author puts into their writing, along with the blood, sweat and tears of getting published. But, as I was asked to give a review I must be honest. The story is rambling, inconsistent and contradictory. The characters oddly depicted and poorly constructed. There is far too much filling and repetition. The phrase “that night” written 45 times, along with many, many variations of “christening weekend “, “New Forest weekend”, etc., made reading hard work.

My apologies to the author, but this book needs a serious rethink.

Thank you NetGalley.

A really great read made more so by the cast of unreliable narrators. Full of twists and turns and questions--who is telling the truth, whose truth is really true, what is Billy's real birth story, what is Eve's motive, is Daniel a nice guy, what happened that night between Finley and Ruth? I rushed through this story to know the ending, which I did not see coming. A recommended read for all who love a good thriller.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance copy to read and review.

Whose child is Billy? Several characters for you to choose from.

This book switches from one premise to another, then back. Secrets are made, kept, then confessed. My head was in a spin trying to keep up with all the events.