I was given an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest and independent review.
The premise of this psychological thriller was excellent - a mother forced to choose between her twins when a masked gunman arrives in their home. The book centres round the build up to the event and the aftermath, particularly the trauma to Madrid the mother due to her guilt in having to make the most awful choice. This was quite harrowing to read.
The character of Maddie was great and well portrayed. But somehow In the first half of the book I found it hard work as the pace and build up was a bit slow, which lessened the impact for me. The second half had a bit more of a punch especially as the story started to twist and turn.
A gripping read. 4 ****

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for my advance copy in return for an honest review.

On her twins 10th birthday Maddie and her children Annabel and Aidan opens the door and is faced with a masked gunman who forces her to make a choice no mother should ever have to make.

Maddie must live with her choice. She is rendered mute with post-traumatic stress. She hovers on the fringes of her fractured family unable to forgive herself, or seek forgiveness from others.

The narrative alternates between Maddie’s current view point, and reminisces about her courtship, marriage and children and the consequences of her decision.

This is a psychological thriller that twists and turns as Maddie’s life twists and turns. I cannot give too much away but Maddie finds herself fighting for her life.

Definitely recommend just prepare to cancel the day as you won’t be putting the book down for anything.

Madeleine Hartley seems to have a perfect life. Married to Dominic Castle, after a whirlwind romance, she gives birth to twins, Annabel and Aidan. Unable to have more children, they are the centre of her world and yet, on their tenth birthday, her life falls apart when an armed man breaks in shortly before their party and demands of her the ultimate choice. One of her children are to be killed and she has to choose which one…

This is a psychological thriller with lots of twists and turns; at points, I felt there were actually too many. Still, this is certainly a roller coaster ride as Maddie attempts to remember what happened before the tragic event. We are introduced to her early life with Dom, his brother Max and Maddie’s best friend, Lucy March. Did Maddie have concerns about her marriage, her closest friend, her children, even before what happened?

It is difficult to review this book without revealing spoilers and I have no wish to do that. Suffice it to say, if you enjoy fast paced books, with lots of plot twists, then you will enjoy this. I did sympathise with Maddie as she attempts to come to terms with events and tries to piece together both her shattered memories and her devastated life. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

This book had a lot of promise and I was excited to read it when offered a copy of it however it didn't live up to expectations for me unfortunately. I found it extremely repetitive and going nowhere to the point where I considered putting it on my DNF pile a couple of times.

Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting story. I did guess the twist early on but that didn't; detract from the beautiful writing. Would read this author again.

Having to choose between your children? WHAT A HORRIBLE THING TO DO A BOOK ABOUT. And by HORRIBLE, I mean HORRIBLY FASCINATING FICTION!!! Oh how I loved this book. I was completely addicted. I went into this one with high hopes because the blurb describing it sounded like something that personally I had never read before and it was such a unique idea for a story, the whole having to choose debacle. Talk about impossible to do. I am so glad I was able to read this page turner, and I can't wait to read the next book by Samantha King, she has a great way with words and knows how to tell a hell of a story!! Five stars, easy.

Such a promising start and a book I really wanted to love, as I myself have boy/girl twins. Unfortunately this read did not quite live up to expectations, as the excellent beginning cascaded into a somewhat disjointed, crudely put together climax and left me gasping for the end.

Blimey The Choice is one of those TOTALLY addictive reads that you do basically in one sitting and I read this in two great big gulps.

The premise is brilliantly compelling – could you choose between your children, give absolutely no choice and only moments to do it? This is the question that faces Madeleine and in that moment and the aftermath lies a gripping and enthralling read.

A beautifully twisted tale with a satisfying and heart stopping conclusion, The Choice manages to be many things during the telling and is thought provoking at the same time as being really rather entertaining (I know, sounds difficult considering the subject matter but that is the beauty of fiction)

I liked how Sam King layered her characters, showed them at all their levels and with them driving the narrative, even as told through Madeleine’s eyes this is less about the twist in the tale but more about the facets of human nature and the idiocies of personality that gets them all there.

Overall a really really excellent psychological thriller. Recommended.

I had seen a bit of a buzz building about the debut novel from Samantha King - so was eager to see if it lived up to expectations.
It's fair to say, it exceeded them.
From the first chapter - where my jaw dropped at the powerful predicament mother of two Maddie found herself in - to the last, emotional page - this book grabbed my attention entirely.
The premise of the book is every mother's worst nightmare. A gunman storms into your house, grabs both your children, forces you to choose which one to save and which one to watch die.
As the book begins, Maddie, traumatised deeply by her experience, struggles to come to terms with her choice - she struggles to connect with her husband, or her surviving child. She feels like a ghost on the edge of a life that was once so familiar - and feels as if she will never be able to recover from the awful trauma which visited her house on her twins' tenth birthday.
It's hard to review this book without giving away any twists and turns - because this book twists and turns like no other. Just when you think you have an idea of what's going on, or when you think one situation is resolved, things inevitably take another twist.
All the while, we are in the head of Maddie - a woman broken by her experience, who doesn't remember large chunks of her life before or after the shooting.
This book had me gripped entirely - forsaking TV viewing for two nights to gobble it up and find out what had happened and how Maddie would cope with what she has been through.
While the thrust of this book is indeed a thriller - and one which Samantha King delivers in spades, it is her writing of a mother's love, and the daily interaction of Maddie and her children before the shooting that gives this book the real grip factor. You are with her as she makes her decision. You are with her after. You see the love she made sure her babies never doubted and it grabs you by the heart and makes this an emotional rollercoaster of a read.
I highly recommend this book - it is an exceptional debut and I'm very much looking forward to seeing Samantha King's career as a writer progress.
A first class, gripping triumph of a book.

Utterly brilliant, what a roller coaster of a read, ingenious storyline, I could not put it down.

Really enjoyed The Choice, loved the twist it had me hooked! Will look forward to reading more by this author

This was an excellent novel. With brilliant main characters and a wonderful plot, this book is a real page turner. I would highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this review copy.

The book begins by meeting Madeleine. It’s her twins 10th birthday and there’s a knock on the door. It’s a masked gunman who takes her children and forces Madeleine to choose which one lives – her son or her daughter. We then fast forward some months. The family are trying to come to terms with their loss. Madeleine is obviously still in a state of shock that one of her children has died, and died because of her and the choice she made. She hasn’t spoken since that day and she watches the remainder of her family trying to rebuild their lives. Flashbacks keep appearing to Madeleine of that day and the days before it. What do they all mean, and who was the gunman who made her choose?

Reading the blurb on the book, it sounded like a really difficult subject to read - one of your children in killed and it’s your fault. But I decided to give it a go! I have to admit, the first part of the book was quite hard going. The plot seemed to drag, and I wanted to get onto the part where we start to get some idea as to why and who killed her child. I did consider giving up on it at one point, but persevered and was glad I did.

Once it got over the first part, the plot then started to flow really well and I found myself getting more and more into it to the point that I couldn’t put it down until I’d finished it. Madeleine’s flashbacks start to slowly reveal what actually happened that day, but I won’t reveal anything so as not to spoil it! A really good psychological thriller, with lots of twists and turns and an ending that I just didn’t see coming!!

Would definitely recommend, but if you find the beginning a little bit slow, keep at it, you won’t be disappointed!!

The premise of this book sounded horrifying; how could a mother ever choose between her children? This is the dilemma that Madeline faces when a masked gunman knocks on her door and drags her twins out of the house.
Without giving too much away I did find the start of the book a little dragging. We spend a lot of time inside Madeline's head and I found it very constricting as I guessed very early on what was going on however, once that section was over the book flew along. I'm not overly keen on unreliable narrators but in this case it really works, Madeline has blocks of memory missing and her previous life is revealed in tantalisingly small chunks. The whole thing builds to a stunning climax that leaves the reader wanting more. Excellent stuff.