An okay read, but there was nothing about it to make it stand out from the rest.

Fifteen years ago, Susie Jukes made the difficult choice to give her newborn daughter up for adoption.

Now thirty-five, Susie is happily married to Gabe, living in a beautiful farmhouse, with a successful singing career. The only blight on her horizon is that Susie has been unable to have another child. So, when the teenager she gave up – Anna Mulcahy – contacts her out of the blue, Susie is elated, determined to get to know her biological daughter. From Anna’s descriptions, her home life sounds less than ideal, and after meeting them and noticing several red flags, Susie begins to wonder whether Anna would be better off with her and Gabe. But, is Anna being entirely truthful?

My Darling Daughter was a quick, easy read, utilising short chapters, and three alternating POV’s – Gabe, Susie, Anna – therefore required little concentration. So, if you’re pushed for time it’s light, entertaining domestic noir, that’s not to be taken too seriously. I thought all the character’s were particularly unlikeable, meaning I wasn’t really emotionally invested – Susie and Gabe were super naïve and trusting and sure did make some poor decisions – so I was all about just how out of control things were going to get.

They were some good twists, although a lot were pretty OTT. I enjoyed the first half more, as the second half was somewhat unbelievable. There was a family dog, and I’m happy to report he was not harmed during this novel, to spare you worrying. My Darling Daughter did touch on some serious issues regarding teenage angst, abuse of power, toxic masculinity, fertility issues, and mental illness, but the content wasn’t explicit, and was handled sensitively.

I did think the novel suffered from too much telling, and not enough showing. There was a lot of info dump and over explaining, and it slowed the plot down. An average read, but definitely not my favourite by J.P. Delaney.

I’d like to thank Netgalley UK, Quercus Books, and J.P Delaney for the e-ARC.

Publication Date: 15th September, 2022.

Susie and Anna, the child she gave up for adoption. Gabe Susie's husband and the man she is desperate to have a child with. Anna's adoptive parents warn them about Anna but Susie is convinced she needs their help. Manipulation is rife but by which protagonist?

I'm usually pretty fond of JP Delaney's books but this one didn't do a lot of for me. I absolutely appreciated how it tackled some really difficult subjects and I found a lot of the psychology interesting but overall it felt quite obvious to me from the outset the direction the plot was going to head in so I found myself feeling a little bored. It's definitely more of a family drama than a thriller and I think that might be why it felt a little flat for me personally - I wanted twists and turns. Character wise, I found it tricky to warm to any of the three protagonists and I found Susie especially frustrating at times for being so naive, although arguably that's understandable in the circumstances. The actions of the police also felt unrealistic, a lot of the accusations for example would be pretty easy to prove (or disprove) in reality. As for the ending, it was pretty abrupt and disappointing, lacking any real excitement unfortunately.

I don't often give out 5 stars admittedly but when I read a book that I'd happily read again and recommend AND read it in 2 days then I'm happy to give the full 5 stars. I love J.P Delaney books and this one was all consuming with a great plot and characters to love. Highly recommend.

Yet again, Delaney proves himself to be one of my favorite writers! I loved the first person perspective chapters from Gabe, Susie, and Anna/Sky. I love being in the minds of the characters. It moved quickly and held my attention from the first page until the last! I’m totally blown away by things I learned in this book and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough! Now for the long wait for him to put out another book! I’ve read everything Delaney has written and this one, by far, is my favorite!!!

Susie gave her baby daughter up for adoption when she realised her situation meant she couldn’t care for her safely. 15 years later, she and her musician husband Gabe have been trying to have a baby together but following a number of miscarriages realise that maybe this isn’t going to work for them and they may have to consider adoption themselves. Out of the blue, the baby she gave up for adoption came into their lives and immediately starts to cause mayhem.

I was totally engrossed with this book. One always assumes that adoption is the best thing for a child but this isn’t always the case, although hopefully not quite as dramatic as the story of Gabe and Susie

This was completely original and gripping. JP Delaney has an incredible knack of writing about ordinary events and behaviours that take on a whole different meaning and importance once you found yourself in a difficult situation and needing to prove your innocence. For example, giving your fifteen year old daughter money for a taxi takes on a different meaning when she's taken that taxi to visit her boyfriend for (underage) sex and you are being investigated for sexual misconduct. It's difficult book to talk about without spoiling the plot but it's a real tension building and thought-provoking roller-coaster especially as you keep realising how something is going to play out just before it does. I totally recommend this.

There's something menacing threatening all through this story making it at times quite unsettling to read. Something bad is clearly going to happen but what, when and by whom? Uncomfortable but addictive and difficult to put down.

I've enjoyed all of Delaney's books, and I did this one too. The subject is really very raw, and might be triggering to some.

I also felt that this was more a domestic (thriller), with emphasis on the relationships between the characters. I enjoyed reading from different view points through the alternate chapters of all the main characters.

Ending fell a little flat for me but overall it was good.

Trigger warnings: self-harm, loss of an infant, miscarriage, domestic violence and sexual abuse, drugs

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy. Overall, this book was great. JP does an awesome job of bringing suspense, terror, and thrillers to life. It held my attention. The parts that bothered me were how far out of hand everything got. I work in the criminal justice system in the USA and very closely with social services. Now I can't speak for the UK, but in the US, Skye would have been arrested long ago and placed in a juvenile home. Social services also never would have done an assessment on Susie. It's insane what it takes to get them to actually open a case. So in that regard, the book was very unlikely for me to believe.

I have just finished this book in record time. A real page-turner! As well as a gripping and interesting story and characters, I learned so much about the adoption system.

Susie Jones gave up a daughter for adoption fifteen years ago and has never come to terms with the loss. When a young girl contacts her out of the blue saying she is her daughter Susie is elated but concerned about what the girl, now called Anna and not Skye, says about her home circumstances and adoptive parents.
Susie is married to Gabe, a minor rock star, who supports her when the two make contact.. however everything is not quite as it seems and events rapidly spiral out of control leaving everyone reading from the fallout.
For me this was an ok psychological thriller which tackled some difficult subject matter including county lines and adoption breakdown. A bit bleak at times.

A great cast of characters- I particularly liked the polar opposites of the birth parent musician and party lifestyle and the adoptive parents who could not be more straight laced and it was interesting to read Anna as the go between, playing them off against each other.
There are some bits of the book that are a bit muddy in terms of what the truth really is but the further you read the more important the muddiness becomes as the personalities develop and the truth is revealed.
clever, interesting and thought provoking..

I loved this book! JP Delaney is fast becoming one of my favourite authors.

We meet Susie and Gabe, successful musicians who are living an amazing life. One day Susie is contacted by the daughter she gave up for adoption 15 years ago asking for help. Susie and Gabe jump to action but not all is as it seems.

This is the first book I have read by J P Delaney and I will certainly be reading more. This was such a great read, I was drawn into the story from the first page. Each chapter is told from a different perspective and gives y0u a real insight into the plot and adds to the drama as the story unfolds. Great story, fab characters, loved it!

Another good read from JP Delaney. He always has the knack of inventing and developing unusual stories and this one, unusually focussing on a teenage girl as the protagonist, is no exception.

Initially sympathetic to Anna/Sky, as the story developed, my sympathies changed dramatically, but changed again as more and more secrets are revealed. Nature v .nurture ….

I didn’t find any of the lead characters particularly likeable or attractive, but the nicely revealed story of Sky was somewhat shocking as were the back-stories of Suzi and Gabe.

I can thoroughly recommend this book and thank NetGalley and the publisher for offering me the opportunity to read this ARC.

True to JP Delaney's style this book is an absolute whirlwind of emotion and confusion.
It's harrowing how true this tale often is and it's inspired to write a novel around interactions with social services and Foster parents etc.
I would recommend this book to anyone who can read.

I've read all of J P Delaney's thrillers and would say he is one of my favourite authors. I was on holiday when Netgalley kindly invited me to read this so perfect timing! It took me less than 24 hours to devour this one. There's a lot of detail here about how Social Services and the law. Delaney covers a lot of heavy duty topics within his this story. It is in this way, a thought provoking novel - how even a 'nice, decent, caring' person can become en-trapped and snared. HIGHLY recommend.

I read this in a day!
It is a complex story needing knowledge of the care system and the damage that can be done by social media.
The story moves through happiness to disaster and back again exploring the impact of secrets, the wish for a child.and the love and loyalty of a partner.
Recommended

I’m a huge JP Delaney fan and I loved My Darling Daughter, although it was slightly different from his previous novels. The psychological element was there, but it seemed more based on exploring emotions than building tension. An interesting take on the themes of adoption, attachment theory, and manipulation and lies, this book will certainly appeal to anyone interested in how significant life events can affect and influence your later life. Having been raised in Bucks, I also appreciated the local references!