Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley for the ARC amazon kindle e-book copy of this novel. Here is my honest review.

[b: The Good Daughter|8134469|The Good Daughters|Joyce Maynard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1282860314s/8134469.jpg|12930527] by [a: Alexandra Burt|6424538|Alexandra Burt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1446166363p2/6424538.jpg] Is a unique multi-layer story that interfered with my dreams. It is rare to have a novel lure me in to such depths as "The Good Daughter" did. The plots and sub-plots are a living tapestry of mystery, love, fear, madness, magic and crime.

If you have ever lived in a small southern town in the US, the truths will vibrate like a cracked bell.

Toward the end, I did not want to finish, but could not stop until the ride was over. If a reading adventure is a vehicle, I sat in the car for a while trying to get my land legs. Remember to breathe.

I will recommend this for our library. ( )

The Good Daughter is a book that I've been putting off reading because of the very varied reactions from my friends on Goodreads, some loved the book, and some ... did not. It's also a thick book, and being unsure about my reaction and seeing the thick book made me read other books instead. However, I braved it (since I'm trying to get through my NetGalley pile) and was pleasantly surprised at how interesting the book was, at first. I was curious to learn more about Dahlia and her mother, and what her mother is hiding. However, the book never turned out to be as good as I hoped it to be...

I have some very serious problems with the book:

• Lack of connection with the characters. I ended up not caring what happened to any of them, neither Memphis (Dahlia's Mother) nor Dahlia. 


• The story was too long. I felt like crying when I finally finished the book, the last 100 pages was agony to get through.


• The story had no surprising twists. At the end I was like, "is this it?"


• The present story with the Jane Doe could have been skipped completely, felt totally irrelevant to the story. 


• Quinn's story (the book's flashback story) was not bad, but it was pretty obvious "who" it was all about.

So, read it at your own risk! Perhaps you will like the book...

I want to thank Avon Books UK for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

A complex, layered and haunting novel, Burt once again delivers a cast of characters that are unforgettable, often unlikable but still fascinating.

The build up in this novel IS slow. There is a lot going on, the stories told from different points in time, and from different viewpoints. There is much to unravel here, and it is done with care. I struggled to like Dahlia's mother Memphis, because she is a hot mess - but how big of a mess I hadn't realized until their histories unfolded and you begin to wonder how Dahlia turned out as relatively normal as she did.

This is a story about motherhood, memories, and perhaps even a bit of forgiveness as Dahlia tries to get answers from her mother about pieces of her past and secrets that she holds. At times confusing, some moments disturbing, all the different threads unraveled until it all came to a satisfying end. Were there a few threads that were in excess? Possibly. But overall, this was a story I'm glad I stuck with.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ( )

This was actually near the top of my ever growing pile of galleys and ARCs to read (I should really be working from the bottom of the pile), and I grabbed it to have something light to read while waiting at the mechanic's. I'm not a huge fan of suspense novels as it somehow seems to me that it cheapens the reality of true crime, and this particular story was no exception in that regard. If you've read Barbara Kingsolver's "The Bean Trees," the concept of a journey and the renamed child seem a little familiar. However, as other reviewers have noted, the storyline is weak and the characters randomly unlikable. ( )

This story follows the tale of three women, Memphis, Dahlia and Quinn. Dahlia has to understand her past and to do this she has to go back.

I quite enjoyed this book. A lot of readers have said it to be too slow and have given up. I agree the story is a slow burner but for me it didn't matter. I found myself drawn into the story and the characters and wanted to know what happened in the past and why.

This book is not a thriller so does not have the pace of one. This book is a story of three women, all connected, how and why. I enjoyed the stories and have to say it wasn't hard working what did happen.

I enjoyed this book more than what I thought I would but didn't really like the ending, hence only four stars. ( )