I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly was missing from this.

Usually I don’t mind jumping back and forth in the story between past and present but I wasn’t moved by the past anymore than I was the present. I felt like I didn’t connect to either version of the narrator.

The love story had no heart and was kinda gross and considering that’s one of the main parts of the story, it kind of fails to keep the story interesting.

I also felt like the whodunnit was kind of obvious.

This is nicely written and believable but I just couldn’t invest in the story. Thank you for the chance to preview it

What will you do for love? What would you sacrifice?

Mary Sugden chose to say nothing long ago - a choice that led an innocent man to be imprisoned.  A choice that has haunted her life, and has now reared its head once more.  The novel alternates between the present and the past, her memories and her actions as she chooses to face what happened long ago.

The Unforgotten is a powerful novel, bittersweet in its portrayal of a mother daughter bond turned topsy turvy by bipolar disorder.  Betty is as much mother as daughter as she cares for her mother, whose days fly between brittle heights of frenetic activity and devastating lows made worse by broken relationships and temporary flings.  It’s 1956, and Betty’s world is unraveling at the seams.  A chain of murders is plaguing the small Cornish village, and the small hotel managed by her mother is filled with reporters hungry for news.  Amongst them is Mr Gallagher, a reporter twice her age.  Each fascinates the other and Betty dares to hope for a different life.  But actions have far reaching consequences.

The Unforgotten is devastating in its frankness.  Noone is left unchanged in the wake of the murders and the events that follow, not even the reader.

The Unforgotten is an excellent novel that will definitely be remembered by readers long after the final page is turned.

5 / 5

I received a copy of The Unforgotten from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

This book was absolutely engaging. I found myself huddled in bed with a nice warm cup of tea trying to figure out what happened to Betty, and the Cornish Cleaver. This book was wonderfully reminiscent of older Agatha Christie mysteries and I was absolutely charmed by the wonderful descriptions of her small (albeit sadly fictional as I figured out on Google maps) town. The characters were wonderfully flawed and I was continually surprised by the twists and turns that this lovely story took. I highly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a wonderful vacation or airplane read.

Thanks to the publisher, via Netgalley, for the opportunity to read and review this title.

This was a quick read for me and it shifted between past and present, which caused me to frequently retrace my steps. The setting is a mid-fifties hotel in Cornwall where a group of reporters are living while they cover the story of a serial killer nicknamed the "Cornwall Clever". Our protagonist is Betty, a fifteen year old girl, who helps her mother run the hotel. Betty has a school girl crush on one of the reporters, Mr. Gallagher. Mr. Gallagher knows this and exploits it in more ways than one.

I never really bonded with any of the characters. Betty's mom has some sort of mental health issue which is compounded by the stress of running the boarding house and trying to take care of her's and Betty's future, on top of which she drinks too much. Periodically, her depression becomes overwhelming and she takes to bed while Betty ends up taking over her responsibilities. Betty's best friend Mary seems to only be using Betty as bait to attract a boyfriend of her own. Mr. Gallagher tries using Betty as a source for local gossip, but then becomes caught up in Betty's romantic ideas.

In short, I couldn't find anyone to like in this story although I did feel sorry for Betty.

On top of all of that, the ending felt rushed and confusing. I can't say I'd recommend it.

In 1956, the seaside town of St. Steele in England is besieged by a series of murders of young women. Betty Broadbent, a precocious fifteen-year-old, lives at the Hotel Eden with her mercurial mother who is the manager there. As Betty strikes up a friendship with John Gallagher, a much older reporter who is staying at the Hotel Eden and reporting on the murders, she discovers a forbidden attraction to the man even as she soon believes that she has uncovered the identity of the murderer.

Therein lies the dilemma, as if Betty reveals how she knows who the murder is, she risks implicating John in his illicit relationship with her.

Powell alternates between 1956 and fifty years later when a woman named Mary is coming to terms with the ghosts of her past as she feels that if she had gone to the police with her suspicions decades before, a man she thinks to be innocent wouldn’t have spent so many years in prison.

The suspense surrounding the murders in the small fishing village is heightened by the alternate storyline featuring Mary’s 21st century life. As the two storylines brilliantly converge, the secrets of the past are finally unearthed leading to a breathless and unanticipated conclusion.

Ooohhhh my goodness!! So between the fabulous book cover and intriguing synopsis for The Unforgotten, I was instantly captivated . I literally finished this book in a day because I had to get to the bottom if what exactly happened in the small English village of St. Steele over 50 years ago!!!

I love mystery/thriller’s and Laura Powell did a fantastic job of coming up with an original storyline that kept will keep you guessing until the very end!! I had a couple of thoughts of the who, what, where and when, but I was 100% wrong—love that!! When the mystery was revealed my jaw hit the floor!!! I thought Laura Powell did an amazing job of time hopping between 1956 and present day throughout the novel, the back and forth added so much suspense. Layered amid all of the mystery was a touching romance that was both heartbreaking and heartwarming and everything in between! The Unforgotten is a solid 5 star read that would make the perfect book club selection!!

The Unforgotten by Laura Powell (release date Feb. 8, 2018).
⭐️⭐️⭐️.
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A debut novel compared to Louise Penny and Tana French, The Unforgotten explores the repercussions when two people decide to remain silent about the truth of a murderer in their midst.
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Fifteen-year-old Betty helps her bipolar mother run a local inn in Cornwall. When a serial killer begins slashing young women, a horde of reporters stay in her inn. One, John Gallagher, strikes up an unlikely relationship with the teenager. Their decisions lead them to a tenuous position of knowing who the murderer may be but unable to reveal the truth without endangering their own futures. What follows is years of regret, guilt, and mistaken ideas.
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Similar to Tana French, this is not a murder novel; it's a novel with a murder in it that explores human nature and weakness. Powell examines how far one will go to suppress the truth in order to protect those we love. There is a big twist at the end that completely surprised me and changed my entire perspective of the novel.
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But I knocked it down to 3 stars because there is one aspect of the plot line that I have a really big problem with - not so much about what happened but how it was presented in the narrative. I can't really talk about it without giving it away, but it's partially related to my work with teenagers, which makes me a bit biased. I'm looking forward to discussing this with others; DM me if you've read this too!
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This book doesn't come out til Feb. 8, 2018. Thanks so much for the advance copy, Net Galley! I received a digital Galley in exchange for an honest review.

The Unforgotten is a lovely mystery. Set in Cornwall, the atmosphere is deftly created. Young girls are being murdered in the idyllic village of St. Steele. Betty Broadbent, 15 years old, is as afraid as the other girls in the town are but she is distracted by falling in love with one of the reporters covering the case. He is staying at the boarding house Betty helps her mother run.

Powell's portrayal of young love is as touching as her ability to conjure up the brutal murders against which the love story is played out. Betty is a vivid drawn character with whom I fell in love. Young, proud, fierce, yet vulnerable, she is the heart of the tale. Her relationship with her unstable mother, her longing to love and beloved pulled me in and kept me engaged throughout the entire novel.

Most of the story is told through Betty's eyes but it is a welcome choice when Powell switches the point of view to let us know things we otherwise would never have known, even as the mystery is solved and the killer finally known. There are many shocks and surprises in this work but, for me, its greatest strength is the story of love and loss, of weakness and power, and the balance among these things.

I strongly recommend this book not only for mystery lovers like myself but for those who enjoy an unusual love story, the bond between lovers but also the other bonds we form. Along with the usual love story, there is also the relationship between Betty and her troubled mother. We see how deeply Betty is able to love and how much she's willing to do for the person she loves. This is sometimes a gift and sometimes a curse. But, in this story, it is always of interest.

I want to thank NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Laura Powell for the opportunity to read this lovely book.