Book Synopsis:
The creepiest debut thriller you will read this year!
One little girl.
Mirabelle’s mother loves her. She’s her ‘little doll’. Mother dresses her, paints her face, and plaits her hair. But as Mirabelle grows, the dresses no longer fit quite as well, the face paint no longer looks quite so pretty. And Mother isn’t happy.
Two little girls.
On Mirabelle’s 13th birthday, Mother arrives home with a present – a new sister, 5-year-old Clarabelle, who Mother has rescued from the outside world.
But Mother only needs one.
As it dawns on Mirabelle that there is a new ‘little doll’ in her house, she also realizes that her life isn’t what she thought it was. And that dolls often end up on the scrap heap…
Mother Loves Me is available in ebook and paperback now for the amazing price if £2.99 and £2.50 respectively. Purchase your copy using the link below.
My Review:
This was a really gripping, chilling read which I found very hard to put down. I read this book in two days which is no mean feat when you have three kids.
The reader is aware from the start that there is something very wrong with Marabella’s home life. As we follow her around her everyday routine we are made aware of the locked and covered windows alongside Mother’s habit of painting Marabella’s face so she looks like a doll. This made me immediately alert and I found I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going on but also put the book down as I wasn’t completely sure I wanted to know.
Marabella is a very sympathetic character who I felt incredibly sorry for. It was utterly heartbreaking to see how much she had been manipulated and brainwashed by mother. My heart went out to her as she scrambled to try and please mother whilst not understanding what she was doing wrong. I just wanted to reach into the book and give her a hug. Mother was a very sinister character who has obviously had a lot of trauma in her past which slowly gets revealed as the book went on. I, unsurprisingly, hated her and hoped she’d get her just desserts.
The story is told from Marabella’s point of view with the reader getting to discover the truth about her situation and mother at the same time as she does. I thought this was very effective and made me feel more involved in the story. There were a few moments when I felt like screaming into the book as I thought the truth was obvious but Marabella hadn’t figured it out yet.
Overall I thought this a fast paced, gripping read which grabbed my attention from the first page. It really managed to get inside my head so that I started to feel everything the characters were feeling. The ending was amazing but a shocking one which took me completely by surprise. I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone!
Huge thanks to Jen Harlow for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Harper for my copy of this book via Netgalley. If you like chilling, dark and gripping thrillers then you need to read this book.
About The Author:
Abby Davies studied English Literature at the University of Sheffield, then went on to teach English. She lives in Wiltshire with her husband and daughter. Mother Loves Me is her first novel.
@Abby13Richards
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