I did quite enjoy this book and found the whole idea behind the story very intersting. Unfortunately it dragged on a bit too much for my liking and I found myself getting slightly annoyed with the main character. There were a few twists and turns that added originality to the story but I unfortunately I guessed some of these before they happened.

Maddie lived for her children & was convinced she would also die for them.Of course she loved the twins equally! Mercurial adventurous Annabel, Gentle thoughtful Aiden- together they were her world and made up for the fact that the fairy-tale romance with their father was not living up to the 'happy ever after' bit!

Everything changed on the morning of the twins tenth birthday when an armed man appears on the doorstep and forces her to choose between them. How can she choose and how can she live with that choice?

This is quite a start to hook the reader. For a long while I found it quite hard to read through Maddie's guilt and hear the events that led up to it. However things changed when they moved onto the next part of the book. The reader is left wondering how accurate Maddie's memories are and before long are hurled into the last part.

This was a great idea for a story and on the whole works extremely well. The only reason I couldn't give it five stars was the rather slow section but it is still a very good read & thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending it my way.

What a fanastic roller coaster! Brilliant. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which kept me in suspense wondering where would end for Maddie and her family. Definitely not night time reading as I couldn't put it down.

This is an excellent story, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It begins with a prologue, in which it is the 10th birthday of Maddie and Dom's twins, Annabel and Aidan. Maddie answers the door to a masked gunman who tells her to choose which of her children is to die. Part 1, narrated by Maddie, describes her and Dom's relationship and also deals with the aftermath of the shooting. This section is often dream like and a bit disjointed, but the reason for this becomes clear in Part 2. I don't want to give away any more of the plot, but it is a real page turner, full of twists and turns. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.

This was the first story that I had read by this author and I really enjoyed the gripping storyline. Kept me on the edge of my seat & holding my breath in places!

There I was, happily reading along, Part One going well, enough so that I was totally gripped. Yes, there were strange things happening and things that didn't really add up, but I knew that everything would come together by the end. And then I started Part Two...and bam! Wow, a twist right there that I didn't see coming.

That's how this book went along, and I enjoyed it. By the end of Part Two, there's another twist, which unfortunately for me, I did see coming, but a twist nonetheless. I love books with twists and it's one of the reasons that I'm such a fan of psychological thrillers. For me, the more twists and turns, the better. This book had a number of them, which made me very happy.

On the slightly negative side, there were parts that tended to be a little slow, and Madeleine's pain and longing for her child did feature heavily in the story, perhaps a little too heavily at times. Yes, I understood her pain, but the frequent comments about the emotional pain, physical longing and desire to hold and cuddle her child, were perhaps a little overplayed. Then again, the author was trying to show the reader the absolute turmoil that the main character was going through, so perhaps those scenes could be justified.

Also, this isn't a book in which a lot actually happens. Part One is pretty strong, with a fair amount of action, and thrilling aspects. But then it seems to slow down and the rest of the book tends to creep along. I can't say that it ever totally lost my interest, but towards the end I was looking forward to reading some more explosive scenes. Did they come? Sort of. The pace picked up towards the end but I can't say it rocketed forward. By the end of the book, I felt that I'd been entertained, but I also felt so-so about the read. It was never fully explained exactly why a specific character acted the way that they did, and I felt that I'd been left hanging slightly. The change in their nature from the first page to the last, remains a mystery.

Despite my criticisms, I did enjoy this book. I liked the twists and turns, the suspense and the wondering: who was the man that arrived at the front door on the day of the twins birthday, who was the man referred to in the diary, and so on. There was enough in this story to keep me engaged. It's worth reading if you can get your hands on a copy.

A well written book and not a bit like I expected. Just as I thought I knew what was about to happen ..... another twist !!! An excellent debut novel in this genre. I loved it,

The plot centres round the effects of, and beliefs generated by delirium. To the mother of young twins in this novel the confusion caused by experiencing this becomes almost unbearable. Add to the mix an unstable husband and you have a harrowing storyline. Regrettably the genre of domestic drama is frequently used by authors and, whilst enjoyable, I view "the Choice" as only occupying the middle ground in this competitive sector.

An intriguing read that keeps the reader on tenterhooks all the way through. As the tale unfolds the suspense builds as you know there is more to the tale than first imagined - but just what?!? Interestingly narrated after the incident, with the story of what happened being told through memories and flash backs, this book will draw you in and hold you to the climatic end. Excellent.

An excellent debut novel. Full of tension and twists. Very well written and a real page turner
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

As a mum of twins, I found the first part of the novel unsettling. However, I'm glad I continued to the end as there were a whole host of plot twists which I didn't anticipate. An unusual psychological thriller which held my attention. Thoroughly recommended!

OMG! You think you know where the story's going, then BANG! Samantha King has written a truly breathtaking brilliant page turner! Kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end.

I was so glad when I requested a copy of this book from Netgalley to read and review that I was one of the lucky ones to be given a copy .This book is the sort of book that I really enjoy , how do writers come up with these ideas, what possesses them to think of these things.Having said that I am extremely pleased they do, what a horrifying thought having to chose between your twins, who lives and who dies,how could anyone do that and how could they live with themselves, how indeed.I really don't want to give anything away I don't want to take the edge of this book , you will have to read it, if you are like me, you will be doing your best to speed read it to find out how the storyline pans out.There are times when I wish I could read much faster than I do, and this book is one of them, I really wanted to find out what exactly was going on and I wasn't disappointed.Good book , well worth a read.

A gripping thriller that was hard to put down. In the first part of this book the author manages to cleverly recreate the claustrophobia and trapped feelings of the protagonist. This leaves you as a reader itching for more information, desperately beseeching Maddie to find her voice. A real page turner.

The Choice By Samantha King is a marvellous psychological thriller that will have the reader puzzling and guessing throughout. Just when you think you know where you are heading, the action twists and turns, confusing you once more.
My heart raced throughout, with audible gasps at times. I didn't just read the novel. I 'experienced' the action through the eyes of lead character Maddie. Written in the first person, I 'felt' everything Maddie 'felt'. I was Maddie for the duration of the novel.
As Samantha King presents the action, so the reader questions - what is real? Who can be trusted? Cleverly constructed, the reader wanders the novel in a confused state until the big reveal at the close. The reader mirrors Maddie at every twist and turn.
The novel is about love. The greatest love of all - the love of a mother for her children. A love that consumes and takes over. Love is a highly motivating force. It can be used for both good, and twisted for evil.
There is the theme of loss. "Life simply drifts on - the same yet totally changed." Loss consumes. Loss takes over. And with loss, comes guilt - for all we did and didn't do. The boundary between loss and guilt is blurred.
I thought The Choice was a very powerful psychological read. It consumed all my waking moments and I was unable to put the novel down. It messed with my mind. It set my nerves on edge. It played with my feelings. It was an all round fabulous read.
A top class thriller that you do not want to miss.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

I find it hard to believe that this was a first book! It was very well crafted and kept a brilliant pace with great characterisation too.
I'm sure it won't be a one and only effort as readers will be clamouring for more from Samantha King.

i enjoyed 'The Choice' but i must admit i did struggle when half way through and did feel i just wanted the story to move on. Still a bit confused as to why Maddie did get everything so confused but a good holiday read.

Sorry, could not finish this book! Thank you for approving me, but I felt that this book wasn't my cup of tea!

I would like to thank Little,Brown and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Choice’ by Samantha King in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Maddie lives with her husband Dom and twins Annabel and Aiden. On their tenth birthday there’s a knock on the door and a man dressed in balaclava and camouflage clothing points a gun at Maddie telling her to choose which of her children is to die.
Three months later Maddie awakes from a coma in a neurological rehabilitation hospital suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Whilst unconscious she remembers having vivid nightmares, but are they true or has she imagined them?
Samantha King has written an amazing debut novel. It’s tense, has a gripping storyline, and many twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting. I was so involved in the story I couldn’t put it down last night and was awake and reading again at 5.30 this morning. Well done, Samantha, I’m looking forward to your next one.

I received a request to review this book. I'd seen it before but was in two minds as to whether I felt comfortable with the subject matter. However as soon as I started it, it was clear that there was a lot more than meets the eye to this story and I started to become really intrigued as to what was and had been going on in this household. The story went off into some intriguing directions and I couldn't put it down. Just when you thought you knew what was going on things rapidly changed. I did get one thing right though.
One of the best thrillers I've read this year and it will be a hard act to follow.