Danger, wonder, secrets, family, and forgiveness. This book is a MUST HAVE.

Elle has done a good job of managing life. Her mother is certifiable, and the mood swings can take a toll on her. However, life has a way of taking a detour, and Elle is fixing to stumble on a huge secret - one that her mother has kept buried for years.

When Anna Marie was growing up, she had a rather dysfunctional childhood. Her father was a long haul trucker and her mother - well her mother lived in a world all her own. Gertie lost many of her children, and they were all buried in the backyard. David would weave stories for his little daughter, weaving a fantasy world that will stay with Anna Marie for the remainder of her life. As much as she loathed her parents, she used that same fantasy world with her daughter Elle.

Brennley, Elle's best friend and roommate is also a fellow nurse. Together they weather the storm of losing patients and battling the emotions that come with it. Brenn and Elle balance each other out. While Brenn knows the background of Elle's mother, their past is as much of a secret to her. One of her patients, a man dying of cancer, becomes more than just a patient. Brennley is becoming more and more attached to the lonely older man. But as they become closer - a bit of Elle's past is opened. Brennley calls her, reading a letter that David has written. She believes that Elle is the granddaughter of the man in the hospital bed. Elle does not think so, her grandparents are dead - it is what she has always been led to believe. But secrets have way of reaching the surface and this one is about to put her entire family on a roller coaster that is going to take many twists and turns. Buckle your seat belt, and get ready for a story that will literally knock your socks off!

A missing child, an imaginary friend, and the secrets of the past have come back to haunt Elle. As she listens to the stories that David tells her from his hospital bed, she believes that they are made up - at least at first. As her mother becomes more and more unhinged, Elle begins to wonder what really happened, and who Bella really was.
By continuing to delve into her mothers past, she begins to push against the history that she has been told, and comes to not only love her grandfather, but wonder what her own future is going to hold. But before her world entirely gets turned upside down, there is one major secret that her grandfather has been hiding - and it could entirely destroy her mother.

OH MY GOODNESS. When you sit down to read this book - do not start it late at night! Book hangover material! The twists and turns that Steena Holmes weaves will keep you guessing, and wondering. As the story progresses, you begin to really feel sorry for David. Choosing between a wife or a daughter is not a decision any person should have to make, but when you are hiding an even darker secret - life becomes a torment. Elle is determined to find the truth, but her mother is becoming more and more unhinged.

This book is one that will make you laugh, it will make you angry. It will leave you horrified and mystified. Ya'll this book has it all! There are no disappointments, no letdowns, just page turning electricity.

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC of this incredible novel. This story will stick with me for a long time. I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fantastic, fast-paced page turner.

WOW! This book totally blew me away. So many family secrets, and so many surprises for the reader. It's the story of people who do what they think is best for their families, and the damage done in the process.

The author writes the characters and their stories in ways that make you feel a part of the story, drawn into every action and conversation as if you are in the room. Her depiction of mental illness is realistic and heartbreaking.

Definitely well worth reading!

"Every story holds a kernel of truth" that's the start of David Walkers tale to the granddaughter he never met
Elle is a nurse at the same hospital where her grandfather is dying. She meets him through a strange coincidence and he begins to tell her his stories. Are these just stories or is there any kernel of truth. ? Elle and her roommate start to delve deeper Into the truth to find out what's true and what's a story!
This book was written with such deep emotion and such a roller coaster ride of emotions. I was instantly hooked and along for the ride. So beautifully written with characters I just wanted to hug and cry with!
Thank you Steena for such an emotionally charged book with characters that will stay with you long after the last page.

I was so excited to get an ARC copy of The Forgotten Ones, as I'm a huge fan of Steena Holmes, and it did not disappoint!

The Forgotten Ones
Elle has a busy work & family life but it takes an unexpected turn when a family member Elle didn't know still existed, comes back into her life and turns things upside down for her and those closest to her. Many questions are raised about Elle's history and heritage, that threaten to disrupt the well being and dynamic of her family.

The Forgotten Ones is full of family secrets, twists and taboo topics, and will keep you gripped to the end. There are emotive subjects, some of which will be relateable to many, some parts are shockingly sad and others are hugely touching.

Steena Holmes has an amazing gift for writing books of this genre, and for making her characters come to life, I genuinely found myself so absorbed in this novel, I forgot for a minute that it was a book and not something I was involved in!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Steena Holmes & the publishers of The Forgotten Ones, for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Long held family secrets come roaring out in this well written novel of Elle, a woman who is faced with determining who is telling the truth- her mother or her long lost grandfather. It isn't easy, especially given the mental health issues here. As always, Holmes is sensitive to this and her novel is enlightening. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Not a necessarily happy read but one with great characters and a well drawn plot.

It’s difficult to find words that are powerful enough to describe The Forgotten Ones. It is gut wrenching, heartbreaking, hauntingly beautiful, and mind blowing. Unpredictable and lovely. This is by far Steena Holmes’ best novel to date.

This is my third book I have read by this author, and my first reaction is "Wow!"
Where to begin? I was drawn in from the start. Such a captivating read. I felt so in touch with each characters perspective of incidents that happen throughout the book. I was on the edge of my seat until the very last page. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for such an intriguing, edge of your seat storyline!

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union publishing for an advanced read in exchange for this review.
Elle had an interesting childhood. She met her dad when she was 18, and her mother is a painter. Her mother has a mental illness, and Elle lives in fear that this will soon be her. Her mother said her grandparents died, but Elle learns that her grandfather is on his death bed. Elle meets him, and he tells her stories from the past that leave more questions about her mother’s life than answers.
I loved this book. The author does a great job crafting a story together that is complex, but still filled with grief, heart, and mystery. My one criticism is that I wish the author addressed the mental health aspect a bit more, and I felt the ending was cut short. However, I was impressed with how the author wrote about the relationship that Elle is able to form with her grandfather in such little time. This book is filled with how complicated families are and how secrets can come back to haunt us.

Oh my, another winner from Steena Holmes, I wouldn’t expect anything else. David is a dying old man who has lots of secrets. His granddaughter, who didn’t know he existed, needs to meet him and find out the secrets he harbors regarding her mother. Her mother suffers from mental illness as did her deceased mother. There are horrible stories from her mother’s upbringing.. I didn’t want to read this as fast as I did but I couldn’t help myself.

The Forgotten Ones is an interesting novel, a fast read, taking place in the mid-1950's and in 2005. The mystery is a bit convoluted but is fairly easy to follow and would be feasible in the time frames above. I had a difficult time finding some of the protagonists sympathetic, but there are days like that. Elle and Grace hold the story together very well and hold their own.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Steena Holmes, and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

I absolutely loved this book and hated to see it end. Steena Holmes has created characters that you care about, and a plot that is deliciously twisty.
This story is about a broken - you may want to say, fractured family - that has a long buried secret. Elle is a nurse at a hospital who discovers that a patient being cared for by her best friend may hold answers to some questions about her past. The elderly man is nearing death but agrees to meet with her. Through his stories, she begins to question much of what she's been told.
Elle's mother, Marie, is coping with mental illness and has long claimed that Elle's grandparents are deceased.
Each chapter is told through the voice of a character so the plot unfolds as you read on. This is one of those books that will keep you up past your bedtime and I'm so glad that I read it!
I received an Advance Reader Copy via Lake Union and Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I don’t know that I’ve ever read a book about digging up family skeletons in which the skeletons are so stubbornly buried. It takes a very long time for Elle to learn the entire story of where she came from and who her family is in The Forgotten Ones, by Steena Holmes. By the end of the book, her entire world will be turned upside down. There are answers, but there is an awful lot of heartache.

At the beginning of The Forgotten Ones, Elle is a nurse in Ontario with a mentally ill artist mother, Anna Marie. Her mother told her that her grandparents are dead. Because her mother has dissociative identity disorder, her only stability came from Grace, her mother’s caretaker and basically Elle’s second mother. This might have gone on indefinitely if Elle’s roommate hadn’t discovered that the dying man in her ward is Elle’s grandfather, David.

Anna Marie pleads with Elle not to talk to David. She wants secrets to remain secret. But Elle is too curious to leave things along. She visits David and wrangles out of him a promise to tell her about her mother and why Anna Marie hates David so much. My brain came up with plenty of reasons to explain the estrangement, but I was completely wrong about this very disturbed family. When the secrets finally come out of David and Anna Marie, I was floored.

The Forgotten Ones uses a writing trick that I find rather annoying. Especially at the beginning, Holmes uses a lot of one-sentence paragraph. This settles down after a few chapters, thankfully. And the strangeness and shock of Elle’s family’s secrets kept me going through my annoyance. In fact, I liked this book more and more as I kept reading. The Forgotten Ones ended up being a very original take on the uncovering-family-secrets subgenre. I’m glad I finished it.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. It will be released 1 April 2018.

I loved this book! I have never read a Steena Holmes book that I haven't loved and this one is no different. I couldn't put it down. I spent chapter after chapter trying to figure out these characters and she kept me guessing until the very end. Great story by a great author!

Wow, what an amazing, gripping, mind blowing tale of mystery! This book takes you back and forth through painful memories of the past and present, of one family’s secrets and struggles with mental illness. A young woman finds out her grandfather is actually alive and through talking to him, unravels the secrets to her mothers mental state and the lies she has been told her whole life! This book will leave you reeling as the author weaves a heartbreakingly, chilling, emotional story about a mans struggle with his wife’s mental illness that led to tragedy and ultimately losing his daughter! I was so enthralled with this story I could not put it down! Absolutely phenomenal!

I actually have several ebooks by Ms. Holmes but I just haven't gotten to them yet. I must confess that I am totally missing out because The Forgotten ones is a thrilling mystery of a family built on secrets and lies. It utterly pulled me into it's pages and all I wanted was to know was the truth.

This book had me on the edge of my seat so to speak. It is so compelling and you won't want to put it down until all the pieces come together.

Elle is a young woman who grew up believing her Grandparents to be dead. One day she gets a call explaining that a man in the hospital seems to be the Grandfather she believed to be dead for many years. Now she must decide if she will break her mother's heart by listening to his tale. Is what he is saying the ramblings of a sick old man on his deathbed or are there many secrets and lies hidden in her family's past that need to be uncovered. Will David live long enough to tell Elle is tale or will the truth of her history be forever cloaked in mystery?

I you want a book to drag you under and keep you guessing then I highly suggest you read the Forgotten Ones!!

**Received ARC from Netally. Voluntarily reviewed**

In true Steena Holmes fashion, this book did not disappoint. An amazing book! A look into one aspect of mental illness and how it can affect whole families. A mentally ill mother, a father who will do anything for her and a little girl caught in the mess that is created, Many secrets and lies are told over the years until finally the truth comes out and wrongs can be righted. A must read!

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. Elle grew up believing that her grandparents had died. Then one day while working as a nurse at a hospital, she meets her terminally ill grandfather. I absolutely loved this book. It was full of so many surprises up until the end.

Loved this book! I think it's my favorite one by Steena, yet! I tried to piece together the pieces but there are several twists, I couldn't get it right. Definitely one that keeps you turning the pages!

What just happened? What a story. I was even having a hard time believing who's story was true and who was making it up. The main story takes place in the 50's. Mental health illness plays a significant role in the story and what how treatment was provided in the 50's. The author does an incredible job on creating a family bound and at what lengths some people will take. The ending still has me reeling. Wait!!! Why is this happening? Loved the story and it grabbed me from the very beginning.