BOOK REVIEW | Daughter by Jane Shemilt
Sunday, November 09, 2014
One November night
Naomi Malcolm doesn't return home to her parents after a school theatre
performance in which she played the main role. Her parents start to worry, they
contact friends and finally the police. The search after the 15 year old
missing girl begins and it will tear the family apart.
I picked this book up
because I did what you're not supposed to do, I judged it by its cover! It
looked like a compelling read, the short summary on the back was cryptic enough
for me to really want to find out what happened and I couldn't wait to get home
to start reading it. The entire story is told from the mum Jenny's perspective.
She's a GP, married to a surgeon and mother of three children, the twins Ed and
Theo and the youngest Naomi. They are a seemingly perfect family with a nice
house in Bristol. Each chapter of this book is divided in two parts, one
telling the story of the night of the disappearance as well as a couple of days
before and after it happened so you see the horror the family has to go through
unfold and the other is set one year/ 13 months after the disappearance. I
think that was such a good idea because it allowed you to play detective in a
way that the characters from the book couldn't, as every time you return back
to the night it happened and the start of the investigation you know just a
little bit more of what was going to happen and how it would ruin the family
life of the Malcolms. I read this book within two days because I just couldn't
put it down and I really got sucked into the story and felt like I couldn't get
on with my life without knowing what happened to Naomi! Isn't that all you
could ever want from a book?
However I have some
reservations about this book that are difficult to tell you about without giving
too much away. First of all I'd like to point out that I personally don't like
the ending of the book. Now this is something I always worry about when reading
crime stories: Will all my questions be answered in the end or is it one of
those dreadful cliff hanger ends that leave you wondering about what actually
happened til the end of time? If you worry about that as well, fear not,
'daughter' is not one of them books! It will be clear to you in the end what
happened it's just that the ending seems a bit, well - for the sake of giving
nothing away - weird! What's more, Naomi disappears in 2009, she's a 15 year
old girl but nowhere in the entire book is there a mention of Social Media. I
think realistically Naomi would have had a Facebook profile that would maybe
have given the police a better idea about who she was. Don't get me wrong, the
story works with or without Social Media, it just struck me as odd to leave out
the existence of it so completely.
All these
reservations aside, I loved reading this book! And if you're a fan of a good
crime story than you might want to give it a read too. Maybe what I didn't like
about the ending is exactly your cup of tea? I definitely enjoyed this book a
lot! I liked how the main character (Jenny, the mum) was no hero figure but
actually rather unlikable. While I definitely felt sorry for her at times for
what she has to go through I often also just found her very annoying and
couldn't help but feel like she got what she deserved with her children. It is
clear from the beginning of the book that she doesn't know her children at all
as well as she thinks she does. And her annoying habit of not listening (or not
wanting to hear?) really REALLY annoyed me at times. But that's what a
memorable character needs I think.
So, now it's time you
make up your own minds about this book. Even though it has a few flaws I
definitely recommend it to you crime story lovers out there. If you read it
already let me know what you thought about it! Let's discuss the ending! Let's
be one big book group! :)
Love,
Jess x
Jess x
Posts
6 Kommentare
Oh wow what a great review! :) I'm going to look this book up in the library right now! Thank you for this post, you have a new follower :)
ReplyDeleteDiscoverMe
Thank you Miriam!! Hope you like it :) xx
DeleteGreat review! Maybe the author of the book is old, or it is set in like the 1990's lol!
ReplyDeleteLove from Canada,
Marie from www.EllaStreet.com
Please check out my latest post!
Thank you lovely! Haha it is in fact set in 2009 that's why I found it a bit weird to leave it out so completely.. however I have no idea how old the author is so maybe you're right ;) xx
DeleteTotally agree! The ending annoyed me so much I can't even explain! And I didn't think about social media until now but that is such a good point - the first thing the police would do is seize her laptop and check through social media. Other than that though - I did enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteBeth x
www.bethany-georgina.com
Right? The ending was super annoying but I still loved reading the book :) x
Delete