I got this ages a go from netgally to review and never got round to it... Untill now.

So I thought the premise of this story was good and not something I've seen done in a book before. I found the main character slighty annoying and the story a bit far fetched, I got a bit bored towards the end.

“Nearly six months ago, someone died so I can live. My world has become so small it sometimes feels as though I can’t breathe. Who was it that died for me?”

I love the concept of this book. The idea of gaining someone’s feelings/memories along with their donated organ in order to solve their murder is fascinating. This concept promises a slow reveal and a few twists from unreliable memories, which I was excited for.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to invest myself in these reveals and twists.

Based on the official plot summary, I expected this to be a thriller. There were a few tense situations, but none to the level I was expecting. The chase scene, which was supposed to be the most thrilling portion of the book, played out in my mind like Melissa McCarthy in Spy without the bad@ssery aka.. a winded chase that’s more comical than tense.

The way the book played out for me has a lot to do with my inability to connect with the characters. I wasn’t invested in their well-being or sympathetic to their actions. I understood Jenna’s motivations, but the steps taken to solve Callie’s murder seemed awkward and unnecessary. The only ones I cared about were Sam and his mom

I don’t knock far-fetched scenarios, but it difficult for these scenarios to work when I am not invested in the characters. While I appreciate an ending that explains the situation and ties things together, I found the motives to be thin.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for a copy of The Gift as an ARC in exchange for an honest, and very late, review

Wow! I really don't know what else to say! The Gift is a breathtaking book! Louise is absolutely a master at her craft and each book is better than the one before!

Wow a gripping book it just hooks you your head full with the plot a your there with them fab read it hooks you

Thank you to Net Galley for letting me read this. For some reason and I don't know how or why this book by Louise Jensen ended up in my "will not give feedback" section. I came across it by chance as that's not something I would do and so glad I did. I hadn't heard of Cellular Memory before and found the read to be an eye opener. The subject was a thrilling read with lots of twists. I would never have guessed the ending. This is my first on my Louise Jensen journey.

Sorry for late review - just catching up after a busy 12 months. Loved this book a lot - the author never fails to deliver a great story with great characters and really well written. No wonder it's recommended so much by so many different people. Will definitely read more by this author.

When Jenna receives a new heart via a donor transplant, her new lease of life only serves to bring her further complications.

She pushes away her boyfriend Sam, who she loves dearly, but fears him resenting her for not being able to have children. At the same time, her parents, presumably partly down to the stress of caring for their sick daughter, have separated and her father's own health is frail, having suffered two heart attacks.

As she recovers from her operation, Jenna suffers from a constant fear of being watched and when she sleeps, her dreams cause her to wake in a panic and result in panic attacks.

Against the advice of her doctor and therapist, Jenna makes contact with the family of her donor, Callie and this is where the mystery truly begins.

This novel explores the idea of cellular memory as it appears Jenna is reliving memories of her donor Callie. This is an intriguing concept and certainly gets the reader thinking.

A fast-paced, psychological thriller with a truly engaging narrative. A real page-turner!

The gift by Louise Jensen.
The perfect daughter. The perfect girlfriend. The perfect murder?

Jenna is given another shot at life when she receives a donor heart from a girl called Callie. Eternally grateful to Callie and her family, Jenna gets closer to them, but she soon discovers that Callie’s perfect family is hiding some very dark secrets …

Callie’s parents are grieving, yet Jenna knows they’re only telling her half the story. Where is Callie’s sister Sophie? She’s been ‘abroad’ since her sister’s death but something about her absence doesn’t add up. And when Jenna meets Callie’s boyfriend Nathan, she makes a shocking discovery.

Jenna knows that Callie didn’t die in an accident. But how did she die?Jenna is determined to discover the truth but it could cost her everything; her loved ones, her sanity, even her life.
A fantastic read with some great characters. Loved this book . 5*.

Having read and loved this authors other books I was really excited to read this one . Unfortunately I struggled to get into this one and found it just a mediocre read .

The Gift is my first time reading a Louise Jensen book and I will definitely be checking out her other books. This was such an intriguing story, and incredibly thought-provoking too. It was a story I wasn’t expecting and whereas when I read a supposed psychological thriller last year by a very well-known author only for it to end with a supernatural twist (thus rendering the book entirely unbelievable), the story here isn’t so much supernatural but will leave some readers torn on whether they enjoy or take to this story or not. It made me Google the theory that is dealt with here and it does make for very interesting reading.

Our main character is Jenna who is the recipient of a heart by a girl named Callie. We see Jenna dealing with living with this new heart and the effect that it has on her physically but also mentally and emotionally. I imagine it must feel pretty strange not to have your own organ inside you, and stranger still to know that somebody else had to die to let you live. So it did make some sense when Jenna becomes almost consumed by wanting to know more about Callie and her family. The way she starts looking into Callie’s life does border on obsession at times but I found this desire to want to know more to be very believable, especially as she is having visions that she cannot make sense of and personality changes that don’t make sense either. I’m not sure I could receive an organ and not be full of wonder about the person that it came from. I don’t want to say too much about what’s happening to Jenna (other reviews have) but it was an interesting concept to read about and certainly made me think about whether this theory carries some truth.

The plot moves along at a brilliant pace and there were scenes in the story where I think my heart was beating faster than Jenna’s. Louise Jensen does a great job of keeping the tension up and this truly is a thrilling read in places as both the reader and Jenna try to make sense of all of the evidence that she is unfolding. I particularly liked how Louise kept me guessing and made me suspicious of all of the characters that we met. I never fixated on just one of them and that meant I was constantly surprised as I read. I felt my interest waning a little bit around the 80% mark but then we had what was probably one of the most atmospheric settings I have read in a psychological thriller in quite a while. I loved the setting where the finale of this story took place, it was eery, creepy and a little bit scary and was the real highlight of this story for me. If you like psychological thrillers that are a little bit different than the rest then The Gift definitely falls into that category. I really enjoyed it and as a work of fiction I had no trouble getting on board with the subject tackled within. I look forward to reading more from Louise Jensen.

Loved it. Thrilling plot, and cast of characters. Really well written!!

Awesome story. Can’t wait to read more from this author!!!

I always enjoy reading mysteries with a medical twist so I was very excited to receive a free copy of this book through Netgalley. The book starts as Jenna is recovering from a heart transplant and is suffering from depression. She is obsessed with knowing about her donor and contacts her family. Callie, the donor, was killed in a car accident, but things don't add up for Jenna. She starts having strange dreams and wakes up convinced they are not dreams but memories, Callie’s memories. Research introduces her to the idea of cellular memory, which hypothesizes that memories reside in cells throughout the body. She is convinced that Callie’s memories have been passed on to her with the transplant and that Callie is trying to tell Jenna that her death was not an accident. She begins to investigate and puts herself in danger. The suspense ratchets up and the ending was completely unexpected to me. I found this to be an enjoyable mystery with likeable characters. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Jensen’s work.

This book MESSED with my head entirely. Even though I didn't know what was really going on, I still ended up enjoying it.

Boy bands always promise to give the girl of their hearts their hearts. What if that really happens. You receive the ultimate gift. But what do you also receive when you receive someone's heart......
Brilliant book, even better as book number one!

An interesting synopsis but a book where you have to suspend your belief to think out of the box which can be quite difficult depending on how open you allow your mind to be, your personal life experiences or your mood.
The pace is good and tension builds well. I enjoyed the taboo subject of cellular memory which made me research more. But could you believe a transplant organ could retain it's memories by the previous owner and that unsettled it would need to tell the new owner something important?, well that's what this book is about. It's certainly tense and a good page turner as you will the truth to be revealed.
Although it's a work of fiction it's a fascinating plot that got me really pondering.
A book like no other and I'm glad I read it.
My thanks go to the author, publisher and Netgalley in providing me with a arc in return for a honest review.

The Gift

I loved The Sister by Louise Jensen and so was eager to get my hands on The Gift!

Jenna is given another shot at life when she receives a donor heart from a girl called Callie. Jenna is determined to find out who Callie was, how she died and just what are Callie's parents hiding?!!

This is an amazing story, a captivating psychological thriller that's full of suspense, you'll have to remember to breathe in places and be prepared to not be able to put it down!
Five big shiny stars from purplebookstand.

Gripping read from the start. Real page turner! Highly recommended

I just loved The gift by Louise Jensen, it was fab and I was hooked from the first few pages. A great psychological story that made me think twice about cellular memory. Loved the twists and turns throughout.

The Gift is a roller coaster ride. There are so many what ifs and false trails which lead you in entirely the wrong direction. Kept me gripped from beginning to end.