Omg. Seriously..."dark psychological thriller" doesn't begin to describe the awesomeness of this book!
Christopher didn't know he was adopted until right before he left for Uni. His parents were forced to tell him because when packing for University, Christopher discovered a letter. A letter that would alter his life forever! Even though he always knew he was different, he never felt completely part of his family. After leaving for Uni, he was determined to find his birth mother.
After he arrived at dormitory, he met his roommate, Adam. Adam was completely opposite of Christopher. Confident, completely laid back, well dressed... he had hootzpah! He tried to get Christopher to relax a bit. As Christopher settled down at Uni, relaxed a bit, and began his quest to find his birth mother... a murderer was on the loose. It was scaring all of the girls at Uni and the rest of the community.
After years of feeling like he never belonged anywhere, Christopher finally found the truth about his past. Or did he? Did he find the answers to the questions he always had about himself? Is there more to Christopher than meets the eye? Who is Benjamin and why does his story parallel Christopher's?
Twisted, creepy, tangled, crazy, thrilling... this story will most certainly have you gasping in disbelief! S.E. Lynes just gained two more HUGE fans! We can't wait to read The Pact!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest opinion.

The blurb for this book looked interesting. It was a pretty good book with a great original storyline. I liked how the author kept me guessing right up until the end, an ending I kind of saw coming, but wasn't sure about. I was sympathetic with Christopher at times and at other times I wanted to shake the crap out of him for the way he treated his adoptive family. All in all, it was a pretty good book.

What to say about this great psychological thriller.......
Wow I loved it, to start with I kind of struggled to keep up with who was who but sooo glad I persevered as I soon realised where it was going.
Set in Leeds in the mid 1970s also briefly discusses the Yorkshire Ripper’s murders in the background.
A great book that I could not put down in the end.

Unfortunately this title was archived before I had the opportunity to read it, apologies

I found this book quite chilling and Christopher is a very creepy character.
The story was cleverly written, easy to follow and I was shocked by the twist.
Christopher comes across as a lost soul who is just looking for love and acceptance but when he finds out the truth he can not accept it.

Christopher Harrison has always felt like the odd one out in his family. He looks different, acts different. He just feels like he doesn't fit. It's only when he's leaving home he finds out the truth from a dusty old suitcase. He's adopted and suddenly it's as if his whole life has been explained to him. Surely that was why he felt this way? He tracks down his real mother and she's everything he could have hoped for and more. He just wants to be with her all the time, just the two of them....

The suprise for me of this book was the time it was set. When it started and it was obviously set in the seventies I thought we were going to have a typical flash back and forth scenario. But no it stays firmly in that time, only moving forward an unspecified time for the mystery person who is recounting the story. It's set against a back drop of the terror of the reign of the Yorkshire Ripper and feels very evocative of the time. The other side is how your sympathy for Christopher swings back and forth. I think it's reasonably obvious where the book is headed but it almost feels as if the reader has been set up as a jury and the mystery narrator is giving evidence. It's a stretch to call this a psychological thriller as well it's not particularly thrilling - but it is a damned good story that kept me hooked from page 1.

I received this from Netgalley for an honest review.

This review is written with thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for my copy of Mother.
Christopher Harris has never felt as though he fits in his family. One day, he finds a note in a suitcase in the attic of his parents' home. Christopher wants the perfect family life, and he believes this note is the key to finding it. But how far will he go to get what he wants?
The narrator in Mother is in hospital, and writes the events of the novel as a form of therapy. It was not clear to me who the narrator is until the end, and this meant I found it confusing in places and it took me some time to get into the novel, but I found the structure was very clever. As the narrator is not retelling events first hand, it is difficult to tell whether they are reliable, and this led me to question each character. The suspicion encouraged me to keep reading to find out what was happening.
Christopher is a student at the University Of Leeds, and as Lynes is an alumnus herself, her sense of place really enhances the novel. I live in Leeds and I have spent several nights in The Original Oak and The Skyrack, and my ability to picture Christopher's haunts helped me to immerse myself in his student life.
Mother is set in the 1970s and 1980s, when the Yorkshire Ripper was at his most dangerous. The sheer volume of research that Lynes has done around this topic has allowed her to capture the mood of the students in the novel, and this adds an extra layer to the atmosphere.
As Mother edges towards its climax, there are several twists. Although I was able to predict some of these, there are parts of the ending that I never saw coming, and the tension was palpable, leaving me in a state of surprise as I finished reading.

Just could not get into the storyline. It was too bizarre for my taste

I just couldnt get into this book at all- I found myself very bored and didnt enjoy the writing style

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review..... It took me quite a while to get into this book. I had read the majority of the book wondering if anything was actually going to happen. However the ending was brilliant, it summed up the book so well and made the whole story gripping and compelling. It's just a shame that it took me right to the end to realise what a good read this was. Still worth a read though.

This is a slow burn kind of thriller. Nothing really happens until the very end but this had the sense of forboarding throughout the novel. This is told in 3 pov,s--Christopher , Ben, and an unknown narrator. While Chris begins packing for university, he comes across something that will change his life. What he does with this knowledge may have devastating consequences. I actually really enjoyed this even though it isn't action packed. I thought the author did a great job with just giving you enough that made you want to keep reading. This was a surprise for me, enjoyed it a lot.

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It all started when Christopher found an old suitcase in the attic of his family home discovering that he is adopted,

Suddenly, the awkward way in which he fit into his family makes sense and he begins to look for his birth family.

Fast paces psychological thriller, with a twist.

Really enjoyed it.

Unfortunately I didn't not enjoy this one that much. I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea. I think I fully couldn't enjoy it because half the time I wasn't sure who was speaking. The author had this unknown person come into some of the chapters that left me confused. I also didn't find it to be this exciting psychological thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley and everyone involved.

A very different and a very interesting book. Christopher is a young man who embarked on the journey to find his birth mum. A student in Leeds University, he has always felt that he didn't 'fit' in.

Set during the times when Jack, Ripper terrorised Leeds, it provides an interesting backdrop to Christopher's journey, culminating in a stunning climax.

A very interesting book, detracted only by the beginning. I found that it took a while before I was hooked. It felt a little disjointed to start with but picked pace and became very interesting as the story progressed.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the review copy of this book.

This book is haunting.

It is really a complete mind-bender that makes you question what you just read. I liked that, it makes a good story. But it also leaves you questioning things, which I don’t really like.

So it’s half and half there.

The book follows Christopher, a young man who never really felt at home, finds out he’s adopted, then reaches out to his birth mother. Eventually, things get dark. Throughout the whole novel, there’s a lot of foreshadowing, and it’s clear things end badly, it’s just a matter of what.

I did guess the basics of what was going on. But there’s some subplots which I didn’t figure out (a serial killer near the campus attended by Christopher) and some details to the “solution” which are kind of twisted. Like I said, it’s a mind bender.

I enjoyed this one, but I did feel like I couldn’t quite grasp on it. It’s very creepy with the foreshadowing, knowing that something is “off.” It kept me hanging in there until the very end.

Mother by S.E.Lynes

Title - Mother
Author - S.E.Lynes
First Published - Nov 17
Publisher - Bookouture
Pages - 308
Price on Amazon - Paperback - £7.99 Kindle - £1.99
ISBN - 1786812215

Christopher Harns is a lonely boy who's never fitted in, he's always been the black sheep of the family. Until one day Christopher finds a suitcase in the family attic when secrets start to get exposed. Everything changes. Finally, Christopher has a chance at happiness, what will he do to keep hold of it?

I found this book hard to get on with, I found it to be a really slow starter and it didn't seem to pick up. I couldn't get into the story. I can't quite put my finger on what it is that made this book so unappealing for me, It just didn't keep me wanting to read on, it didn't hold my interest and unfortunately, I was unable to finish the book. For this reason, I am unable to give this book a full review.
Thank You to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating - One Star
Would I read again? - Nope
Would I Recommend? - Nope
Would I read other books by the same author? - Yes, I don't judge an author on one book alone.

My Review can be found at:
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Sorry just couldn't get into this book. It occasionally went in to the 3rd person narrative but I had to keep checking I hadn't missed anything.

Firstly thank you for the arc in return for an honest review.

There are so many good reviews out there for this book. Sadly, I am about to go against the grain. But everyone comes across books that just aren’t for them. This is one of those books.

I tried several times to pick this book up, persevered with it, read more than 50% to give it a fair chance. But still struggling with it.

Why? The first chapters are incredibly slow and I got confused who the narrator was and main character. And I often found my mind wandering. When I picked the book back up, I just couldn’t get to grips with how I’d left it and which part of the story.

Really sorry to mark this as “not for me” it’s a slow burn and confusing to me.

But please don’t let this review stop anyone from reading. Take a balanced view across all reviews to date. What’s not for one another may love.

I feel a deep responsibility for giving my honest opinion and review on a book; which was why I forced myself to make sure I finish this book before I write a review on it. I did not want to give a review on something I did not read through to the end.

With that said, I found it very hard to get through this book for two main reasons. The main reason, I believe, was the fact that it was told through an unknown narrator's point of view. It was a bit confusing differentiating whether the narrator was referring to themself, or the main character, Christopher.

Second reason was that the beginning dragged on and on about Christopher. I felt like it took a while for the book to take off from its slow pace.

Nonetheless, thank you to the author and publisher for providing me an ARC, in exchange for my honest, unbiased opinion.

“What do any of us believe? How much of what we believe is in fact lies we tell ourselves, and how much is the truth?”

Omg. Seriously…”dark psychological thriller” doesn’t begin to describe the awesomeness of this book!
Christopher didn’t know he was adopted until right before he left for Uni. His parents were forced to tell him because when packing for University, Christopher discovered a letter. A letter that would alter his life forever! Even though he always knew he was different, he never felt completely part of his family. After leaving for Uni, he was determined to find his birth mother.
After he arrived at dormitory, he met his roommate, Adam. Adam was completely opposite of Christopher. Confident, completely laid back, well dressed… he had hootzpah! He tried to get Christopher to relax a bit. As Christopher settled down at Uni, relaxed a bit, and began his quest to find his birth mother… a murderer was on the loose. It was scaring all of the girls at Uni and the rest of the community.
After years of feeling like he never belonged anywhere, Christopher finally found the truth about his past. Or did he? Did he find the answers to the questions he always had about himself? Is there more to Christopher than meets the eye? Who is Benjamin and why does his story parallel Christopher’s?
Twisted, creepy, tangled, crazy, thrilling… this story will most certainly have you gasping in disbelief! S.E. Lynes just gained two more HUGE fans! We can’t wait to read The Pact!