Nothing is actually WRONG with this book.
The idea is great, truly scary. I was tied in knots over Danielle's predicament. I kept thinking I'd burst, and wondering what I would or even could do in her situation. Would I lie? Would I pretend I was the killer? What could I do for my kid?

Yeah, it's a great idea. Terrifying and obviously thought-provoking.

However, none of it actually pulled me very deep in after the very beginning.
There's a mild case of insta-love, unresolved relationships (the big fat emphasis put on her career and partners that fell completely flat and none of very well explained. E.B.'s a phenomena; interesting to ponder upon, but ultimately a mystery).
Max's diagnosis, the biggest point of the book, is glossed over and unsatisfying. Danielle's sudden investigative skills were kind of unbelievable.
The crime-solving was really interesting, but somehow underwritten and sudden.
Tony's character was too Gary Sue-ish.

I don't know. I did enjoy the book, and the style wasn't bad, but I felt like it was awfully superficially written.

This book, for me, was one that it took some time to get through. The book wasn't overly exciting and the ending was a little far-fetched.

There were a few parts throughout the book that I enjoyed, but I really had to try to get through it for most of the read.

This book had an interesting premise. A woman (named Danielle) with a child who has Autism tries to get her son help at a mental facility because his behavior has become volatile. However, the treatment he receives there is not what he needed. In fact, when he is found next to a murdered patient and is accused of the murder, Danielle turns into the uber-parental advocate for her son.

The book is definitely in the genre of suspenseful mystery. It could be put in the same genre as Picoult.

The end of the book was to contrived for me. And the characters were not well-developed.

I read this quickly. I would probably recommend it as a beach read. But after reading so many incredible books this year, I would probably steer you to another book before this one.

I rarely write reviews, but I feel compelled to defend the rating I awarded this book.
I felt this story would have benefitted greatly from some research and a good editor. So many details in the story were simply too incredulous to believe. And many of the legal aspects, as well as the medical aspects, we're just not within the realm of practicality. The book simply wasn't believable.
It is also a hard book to read, as a parent. There were times in this book when my heart broke for this mother who appeared to be swimming in denial.
All of that being said, I couldn't put this book down. It really is a compelling story and well written. I often struggle with books that I think are poorly researched, and while I do think the book could have been better, I actually quite enjoyed it. Hence, a 4 star rating for a book that I think needed research and a better editor.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a great read!

I read this book for a book club, and I almost gave up on it after only a few pages. The author assaults the reader with cliches and drippy metaphors ("Marianne brightens like a rainbow after rain"). I felt like the author's writing style hindered the story. The fact that she was a lawyer comes through at certain parts in the book, which are the better parts. The fact that she is also the mother of children with autism gave her credibility where her writing didn't.

Injected into the story is the inevitable love interest, with all the predictable and saccharine qualities that go with this kind of writing ("Love is a blue jolt that crackles between them"). The real inventiveness in the story was Marianne's disturbing "creation" of mental illness where it hadn't been before. Also, the character Doaks seemed the most believable (and likeable) and kept the story a little more grounded than it might have been without him.

As for the ending, I saw it coming a mile away. The author wrapped up the story with such absurdity I laughed out loud. After the elaborate tests, observations, therapy sessions, and medications the supposedly autistic character of Max is subjected to, it turns out he doesn't have all of these complicated disorders as previously diagnosed--he's only bipolar! I couldn't decide if the author was oversimplifying with a fairy tale ending or making a statement about the field of psychiatry and its tendency to over-diagnose and label odd behavior as a disorder. Either way, I found this book to be more ridiculous than realistic, though there were interesting psychological and behavioral aspects.

I found this book at the thrift store, I spied it on the Target shelf of books to read a while ago and thought for a quarter it could be worth trying to read. So I picked it up but it will quickly going to the half price book store because it was a decent read I would not be likely recommend the book or reread it again myself.

This is a story of Mother's, it makes you mad, sad and stricken all at the same time. I will warn you it takes some getting into and for the first 100 or so pages it wasn't a story that really captured me. Danielle is a loving mother of a young teenage boy that has a lot of issue's more then just the teenage drama, he is autistic but she makes the hard choices in order to give him a healthy, happy life. She takes him to best mental health facility in which there is more wrong with the doctors who work there then the patients themselves. Max is framed for murder and Danielle risks her career, her life and faces jail time at every turn to prove that her son could not and did murder another young boy. Marianne is the mother of the boy who is murderede and through out the story the truth is revealed on who is a better mother, who understands how to love and who does not. I won't ruin the end for you because if you can read past the court room junk the discoveries is all this book has to offer.

This book frustrated me beyond belief, especially the main character Danielle. A wanna be Jodi Picoult book. Also the last sentence of the book was disturbing and chilling.