BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Niece' by Georgina Cross

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Bookouture publishers and Georgina Cross.

Publication date 2nd September 2022.

This book was previously titled 'The Girl In Your House'.

This is the third book that I have read by this author. I have also read 'The Stepdaughter' and 'Nanny Needed' which I would highly recommend!!

I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching cover and intriguing title and synopsis. The synopsis stated that this book is 'Perfect for fans of The Wife Between Us, The Woman in the Window and Gone Girl'. I am a huge fan of 'Gone Girl' so am looking forward to seeing if it lives up to this claim. I am also a huge fan of Georgina and if this book is half as good as 'The Stepdaughter' and 'Nanny Needed' it is bound to be a page turner!! I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of a prologue and 34 chapters which are short to medium in length so perfect to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in Alabama, USA 🇺🇸.

This book is written in first person perspective with the main protagonist being Tara Jenkins. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. The way it was written made me feel like I was right next to Tara throughout.

Wow!! WTAF?!? JUST WOW!!!! Where do I even begin? What an absolutely gripping, intense psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, flying through the pages and full of suspense!! Filled with twists, turns, red herrings, lies, family, secrets,shocks and explosive twists you won't see coming!!! I have read hundreds of books and this has been the one that has shocked me the most this year and it has definitely hit my top 3 biggest twists of all time!!! I WAS absolutely hooked from beginning to end and just could not put it down. I started it in the morning and couldn't put it down until 2am. I loved the fact that it had a suspense packed atmosphere throughout and OMG did the hairs on the end of my arms raise!! My heart was absolutely pounding throughout and I was on the edge of my seat. When the big reveal came my mind was absolutely blown away and this is definitely one of the few books that will stay with me for a very long time. Unbelievably explosive!! It was also heartbreaking and tragic so get the tissues ready as I shed several unexpected tears at the reveal. It really does show how one event can change so many lifes!! This book was previously titled 'The Girl In Your House' and retitled 'The Niece' which I think is a much more appropriate and suitable title.

I read approximately half of this book on kindle and listened to approximately half on audio book. I must also give a huge congratulations to the narrator Lauryn Allman who not only brought the storyline to life by really portraying the emotions through his voice but by doing absolutely fantastic impressions of males and females so a HUGE congratulations Lauryn!! I cannot imagine that this was anywhere near an easy feat!!! I am looking forward to discovering more books read by yourself as you definitely have a fantastic "book" voice!! I sometimes struggle to absorb the storyline through an audio book but if you are the same as me I can promise you will not have that problem with this amazing narrator!!

Do not even attempt to start this until you have cleared yiur schedules as you will not be able to put it down!!!

The characters were strong and realistic and I was completely invested in them from beginning to end. I need to be careful here that I don't say too much and give anything away so I'll keep it quite short. I really clicked with Tara and my heart went out to her and Cassie when their new family unit comes under threat. It was also heartbreaking how quickly Tara was shunned from her family after a potentially innocent event. They are a sweet just trying to make ends meet and when Tara is asked to take on her dead sisters niece then how can they say no?? My heart absolutely broke at a certain point in this book. Tara and Cassie are such likeable and friendly characters which definitely helped me become completely absorbed in the storyline. Cassie and Hannah formed such a beautiful bond with Hannah taking Cassie under her wing. Unfortunately I am not going to give any if my thoughts on the rest of the characters, I've been thinking and thinking but there doesn't seem to be a way for me to give my honest opinion of them without giving too much away. However, if you have read this, and you'll be mad not too, feel free to pop me a message and let me know what you thought of the characters and the storyline!!

Congratulations Georgina on an absolutely explosive page turner!!! Also a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS on writing a book that has shocked me the most this year!!! I read about 30 plus books a month so this is no easy feat but you managed it!!! This is exactly why you are one of my favourite authors!!! Here's to your next success!!! 🥂

Overall a mind blowing, suspense filled psychological page turning thriller with an explosive ending you WILL NEVER SEE COMING!!!

Genres covered include Suspense, Mystery, Psychological Fiction, Thriller and Psychological Thriller.

I would recommend this book to fans of any of the above as well as fans of 'The Nanny' , 'The Couple Next Door', 'The Wife Between Us', 'The Woman in the Window' and 'Gone Girl'. and 'The Family Upstairs' and for fans of page turning books that leave you shocked.

282 pages/9 hours 26 minutes

This book is £1.99 to purchase on kindle, £7.99 on paperback and £18.29 on Audible or £7.99 on Audible if you are an Audible member via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5/5 (I loved it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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The Niece was a little slow for the first half and kept alluding to something that happened in Tara’s past to estrange her from her sister & parents but once the back story was revealed the story came together and started to make sense, I do get annoyed with books that either spend loads of time hinting at something or recapping from past stories but once the past was revealed the story started to pick up the pace, I can’t say I liked the main character Tara and I can’t say I found it fast paced but the ending was satisfactory. The narrator’s slow drawl did work with the story but I did play it at 1.5 x the speed and it helped with listening to the audiobook.

After Beth has a tragic death, her sister Tara becomes solely responsible for the surviving daughter Hannah. After a worrisome night, Tara meets her niece at the airport and seems like they hit off well. Tara’s daughter Casey also seems to like Hannah.
While Tara is working with the police to figure how her sister’s death by fire happened, and everything from the past starts to unfold it becomes a race against time for Tara to figure out what exactly is going on in her life.
A good 3.5 star read, the twist seemed a bit far fetched in my opinion but overall this was a good listen.
I thoroughly enjoyed the narration by Lauryn Allman
Thanks to Bookouture, Georgina Cross and Netgalley for the ARC listen.

I was really looking forward to getting stuck into this one as the blurb really sparked my interest. It started off well but just never really got going. I kept waiting for the fast pace and the twists but it just didn’t get there. There was a lot of alluding to the past but without any explanation so it didn’t hit the same. If anything I just felt I was missing a huge part of the story. I found it repetitive almost to the point of rambling and I just lost interest. The outcome fell short for me and just didn’t come together well. I enjoyed the narration and Lauryn Allman was definitely engaging as a narrator but it’s just a pity the listen wasn’t for me this time.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to listen to #TheNiece

Tara and her 12y daughter Cassie must make life arrangement because their long lost niece will live with them after lost her mom. Their family have hidding dark past, family issues and they worries it will catching up with this Hannah. The niece acted like stranger and treat them with hot cold attitudes. Actually I can't choose my side because I cant trust no-one in this book.
The writing style is okay but the pace is slower than my normally fave. Early chapters feel repetitive and make me struggles to get my ground. But after dive deeper I can enjoyed the plot better with all twist and turn. I enjoyed the slow burn tension too. The ending is surprising and totally worth the journey.

I am fortunate can switching this story between e-book and audiobook version. And this experience totally enhanced the story. The narrator doing very well. Although she not make different voices for each characters but her pronounce and pitch are perfect. I can capture the anxiety from Tara and how she trying to cover it and attempted to look delightful, broken hearted Hannah, cheerful Cassie.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for provided this copy. I am grateful and my thoughts are my own.

Overall, I really enjoyed this dark, chilling, well-plotted story. It was intense and fast paced and I raced through this in a few hours, frantically turning the pages, desperate to find out how it was all going to be resolved. With that dramatic first chapter I wasn’t disappointed! I’m already looking forward to the author’s next book. Utterly compelling reading, The book is inspiring and I wouldn’t hesitate to highly recommend the audio version too!

Thank you Bookouture and Netgalley for this opportunity.

I loved the start and I was realy interested in what will happen but somehow that twist was too crazy for me. I enjoyed the dual time line. The famil secrets were well hided. I would prefer a different ending, more positive things plese.

Georgina Cross has a wonderful way with words, which are brought out in the audio version of this book that I listened to. I felt little goose-pimples as I listened to this dark story. A murder mystery, tied up in the grief and rage of a dark family history I felt little goose-pimples of dread which grew to full chills as I listened to the story. Lots of subtle twists and turns as the present and past are revealed. The characters are well developed and believable - which is maybe a problem! Read the book to find out what I mean. Thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the audio ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

The "hottest" chapter of "The Niece" is Chapter One.

The book begins with a house in flames that kills one woman.

Even though the deceased woman was estranged from her sister, care of the woman's 16-year-old daughter is assigned to the woman's sister, her only living relative.

Was this tragic and deadly housefire an act of arson?

Will the deceased woman's estranged sister be able to keep her estranged 16-year-old niece happy and safe?

Readers quickly learn that this book is about a family with many secrets. Will these secrets be revealed?

With the exception of that blazing housefire, the book had a very, very, very slow start and it isn't until midway through the book that things start to happen.

The book featured much family drama and many, many repeated references to "Someone from my past won’t let me forget what I did. They killed my sister, now they are coming after me".

Many times, the author rambled.

The ending had a compelling twist and that helped elevate the book's star rating.

I listened to the audiobook and narrator Lauryn Allman did a fabulous job with the narration.

I am not a fan of books with very slow starts and repetitive text. The audiobook was a 9.5-hour book that easily could have been a 6-hour audiobook.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars rounded up. 5-stars for the book cover.

This is a very enjoyable family drama! Full of family secrets and fire.

Tara and Beth are estranged sisters. Upon Beth’s death, her daughter Hannah comes to live with Tara. Tara is surprised by this because of what happened so long ago. We don’t know what happened yet, but we know Tara was ousted from the family.

It’s strange because Tara seems really nice. She’s happy to have Hannah and Tara’s daughter Cassie is super excited to have a cousin! Neither had siblings or fathers so they appreciate the new family. Cassie and Hannah bond immediately.

Tara has her concerns though. It’s clear the fire that killed her sister was no accident. Tara didn’t know Beth anymore so could it have been something unrelated to Tara, or could it be payback for things that happened long ago? Things begin to happen that make her assume the latter.

This was a nice little mystery, not a stressful thriller, a family drama that kept you guessing and dropped info along the way to keep you hooked. I didn’t trust anyone! And the final reveal is something I never would have guessed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the chance to listen and review! The narration was great. This narrator can always do many voices and accents.