You have no idea how good it feels to finally have finished a book again. I woke up abruptly, dreams tumbling from me in cottony wisps. Was Olivia’s fall an accident? Or something far more sinister? first sentence Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the threads of her daughter’s life. When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia’s fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia’s wrists. Not only is Olivia brain dead, she’s pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.In the vein of Big Little Lies and Reconstructing Amelia comes an emotionally charged domestic suspense novel about a mother unraveling the truth behind how her daughter became brain dead. She already has a handle on the basics of good story-telling. I would read the next thing the author writes, if only to see if she tones down the descriptive phrases. I enjoyed the story well enough and even though it wasn’t perfectly written, it kept me interested. However, this is a debut novel, so I don’t want to judge harshly. A lot less would have been much more, in this case.

In this case, some of the descriptions were spot on, and at other times they were cringe-worthy. I’m all about good, strong metaphors and personification. It was if the author was constantly reaching for descriptive phrases to paint a picture for the reader.

The excessive use of painfully awkward similes and metaphors was a turn-off. So…a decent storyline and suspense, but how about overall thoughts? The book was adequate, but not great. Was it the boyfriend or the other boyfriend? The mysterious political figure, or the best friend? Or the surprise look-alike that Olivia meets? And really, where did Anthony come from? So many choices of potential baddies! And was she even really pushed at all? I guessed the ending, but it was truly only a guess, as the author threw in enough teasers that I did consistently wonder if my intuition was right. The novel was suspenseful, and had a strong storyline for a first novel. Told in alternating voices of Abi and the unfortunate Olivia, the author leads us back and forth between the present and the events leading up to the night that Olivia’s life changed dramatically. Did she fall or was she pushed? The police believe she fell, but Abi, Olivia’s mother, is convinced there’s more to it than that.

The night olivia fell