Sandysbookaday 's Reviews > The Stepchild

EXCERPT: I left the house, I followed him, studied him. He used to be the cat, tormenting little mouse me. I had to be watchful and wary whenever I left my safe space, in case he was waiting to pounce. But now this little mouse has not returned to her safe house, although perhaps I should have. Perhaps then I wouldn't be avoiding the news right now for fear of seeing his wife's distress, knowing what I know. She has no idea how much worse things could get.

ABOUT 'THE STEPCHILD': Three-year-old Millie Everleigh disappears on a crisp winter’s day, and nothing is as it seems…

It’s the phone call every mother dreads.

I’m climbing into the car after a trip to the grocery store. As the engine starts, my phone rings. It’s my stepdaughter, Shelby, who is babysitting my three-year-old little girl Millie.

‘I only went upstairs for a second,’ she says through her sobs. ‘She’s gone.’

I race home to find my blue-eyed baby girl missing, and my heart ripped out of my chest.

When the police turn up, Shelby’s story starts to unravel. What is she hiding?

Then I get a message saying, ‘Your husband is not who you think he is.’ Could he be lying?

Suddenly, my family feel like strangers. Everyone has a secret – even me.

No one knows why I was late coming back from the store, and the guilt I’ve been feeling ever since…

Once the truth comes out, all of our lies exposed, will it be too late to save my precious child?

MY THOUGHTS: The Stepchild takes a turn in a most unexpected direction - certainly not what I was expecting, but it's very relevant and timely. What started out as a fairly prosaic and predictable story soon took a welcome turn to the darker as Trope explored the subject of teenage grooming.

None of my predictions held any water as secret after secret was revealed. You may think Trope gives you the whole story in the beginning but, believe me, she doesn't.

The story is told from the points of view of three women: Leslie, Millie's mother; Shelby, Leslie's stepdaughter; and Ruth, whose connection to the story I am not going to reveal.

Trope examines the dynamics of the blended family, and the pressure on the child who now finds herself having to negotiate living with two separate families; of having to watch what she says to her mother who is resentful and jealous, and try to deflect her inquisitions. She is also having to cope with getting to know her mother's new husband, and a very demanding friend who doesn't want Shelby to have any other friends.

The more you read, the more chilling and complex the story becomes. Secrets are slowly picked apart, but it is not initially evident just who is the bad guy in all of this. Trope is a master of misdirection!

The Stepchild quickly became hard to put down. Despite there being no graphic descriptions of anything, there were several places in the book where I found myself holding my breath, or crossing my fingers. Definitely a read that will have you experiencing all the emotions.

⭐⭐⭐.9

#TheStepchild #NetGalley

I: @nicoletropeauthor @bookouture

T: @nicoletrope @Bookouture

#australianfiction #contemporaryfiction #familydrama #mentalhealth #mystery

THE AUTHOR: Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because-as her professor pointed out- ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’ She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree in Children’s Literature. After the birth of her first child she stayed home full time to write and raise children, renovate houses and build a business with her husband.
The idea for her first published novel, The Boy under the Table, was so scary that it took a year for her to find the courage to write the emotional story.
She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Stepchild by Nicole Trope for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

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