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My Review of How I Lost You by Jenny Blackhurst

The plot of How I Lost You intrigued me straight away. This is the debut novel by Jenny Blackhurst and I really think she is an author to look out for.

What They Say:

A woman is convicted and sent to a psychiatric hospital for killing her baby son, but on her release she is sent a photo of a young boy.

Could this be her son or is she deluding herself into thinking he might still be alive?

What I Say:

Any book that deals with children will all tug at my heartstrings. The idea that a Mother could kill her own child and not remember is really scary. Susan faces the ultimate horror as she has been convicted of the horrible crime, but has no recollection of committing it. She has lost 4 years of her life and still isn't entirely sure that her son is dead.

When things start to get creepy and nothing makes sense, Susan begins to want to find the truth. She enlists the help of Nick and Cassie and sets out to find out what really happened to her boy, Dylan. As the tale begins to unfold, with the clever use of flashbacks in to the past of Mark, Susan's ex-husband, we learn that things are not always as they seem and that if you have money, you can keep your past quiet.
There are some amazingly tense scenes in this book. My heart was pounding in my chest and I was reading faster and faster, the further I got into the story. This brought to mind Watching Over You by Mel Sherratt, which is my favourite thriller, and I loved it! The emotions are really strong as you progress through the story, you can feel the pain, the fear and the sadness just jumping from the pages.

Jenny Blackhurst is a brilliant story-teller. Her protagonist is flawed but likeable, the baddies are very clever and dark and the story flows smoothly. I would highly recommend this book to fans of Mel Sherratt and CL Taylor. 9/10

Thanks to Georgina Moore at Headline Publicity for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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