Captivatingly emotional!

When Betsy dies her mum Emery and father Mark are distraught. But when her adoptive brother Holden is accused of her murder, Emery is beside herself and can’t believe what she is being told. Holden loved Betsy so much, she doesn’t think he’d ever do anything to hurt her! Setting out to prove Holden’s innocence, Emery discovers dark truths about her family, hidden secrets and finds herself on a journey of self discovery too. Holden’s behaviour leaves her constantly questioning if he could be capable of committing such a horrific act that has shocked the community and almost destroyed her life, but she knows her son and there’s no way he could ever have killed Betsy, could he?

This was such a gripping read and I was totally captivated all the way through! There were little twists throughout to keep you guessing who killed Betsy and what really happened on that Halloween night when Holden was the last person to see her alive. Constantly guessing and little turns throughout build up the suspense but towards the end of the book there is a twist that you can feel coming but it’s one that you certainly don’t expect! I felt as though I went on a journey reading this! You could really understand Emery’s grief and heartache at losing her daughter, but also I understood how frustrated she felt at Holden’s behavioural issues, yet could resonate with his feelings of anger and upset due to his upbringing too. Then you have Betsy who wore her heart on her sleeve and was trying to keep the peace, another personality I felt also really shone through. Being able to feel all character emotions, although the story was told (mainly) from Emery’s perspective, enveloped me further into the novel. There were a couple of chapters that really got to me and had me very choked up too. This book delivered all round and it’s the first I’ve read by this author but I’ll certainly be reading more! Such an emotional rollercoaster!