While this was a slow burner for me, the twist at the end bumped it up a notch! I felt like the writing was really well done, but it did take a long time to get to the meat of the plot. I also loved some of the suspense that was woven through the story. All in all, it was a good read!

A tough upbringing.
We were lucky enough to have the author come to our Book Group discussion and share the story of how she won the highly coveted Emirates Festival of Literature, Montegrappa Novel writing prize in 2016, with her first book, The Good Mother. This resulted in a three book deal, of which The Home is her second book. I had already read and enjoyed The Good Mother and this was an excellent second novel.
To compare the two, I would say The Home was better written, but it's hard to say which was my favourite. The reveal at the end had me searching back through my memory to events earlier in the book, but sadly I didn't have time for a re-read.

Angela was left in a children's home when she was very young and as she got older, had given up any hope of being adopted. It was therefore a huge surprise when James and Rosemary took her on and gave her a loving home. When, at a later date, Angela begins the search for her birth mother, Evelyn, she finds a lonely woman with a tough past and it's not the easiest of bonds to make.

The descriptions of the children's home, the beatings, neglect and abuse, were distressing, but I guess to be expected in a book of this nature. There were also some pretty nasty revelations in a diary that runs alongside the narrative. I hope children's homes have improved a lot since the '80s, but it's certainly worrying. It made me want to rush and hug my grandchildren and thank the lord that they are safe and loved.

I see there is a third book in the pipeline, The Perfect Lie, so I look forward to reading that soon... or maybe listening to it as audiobooks are my preferred medium these days and I see that The Good Mother is already available as an audiobook.

This is a modern thriller which has an exciting twist at the ending. It's well worth reading and I enjoyed it.

Wow Karen Osman certainly knows how to tell a story and pull the reader inside the tale.
Captivating, emotional, heartbreaking, disturbing, clever,thrilling - I could go on but I still wouldn't do it justice - a. true rollercoaster of a ride.
Only criticism for me was although the ending was unexpected and chilling i felt it was too rushed and incomplete.
Well worth reading.

I rarely leave bad reviews and i dont like leaving them, but on this occasion, i just did not find the book enjoyable! The ending did not make sense to me and it completely ruined what could have been an amazing novel.

sorry for the bad review!

This was a slow book. Took me quite along time to read. Because I would leave it to read other books then go back to it. It never grabbed my attention

So I just finished this novel, which I was absolutely loving until near the end. I have mixed thoughts on this so I will try to give my reasons without giving too much away.

Firstly I expected this to be a thriller, but it's more of a drama. And it works brilliantly as a drama. I found the writing to be excellent, and I was hooked from the very beginning (I found the prologue to be so chilling, even more so when I reached the end).

The Home focuses on Angela, who was adopted at fourteen from the children's' home in which she grew up. When Angela's father falls ill, he encourages her to finally look into searching for her birth mother. Now in her twenties, career-driven and successful, Angela is feeling ready to face the woman who gave her away. She was lucky enough to be adopted into a loving family, and James and Rosemary will always be her parents. But there are some secrets about the family that are about to be unearthed.

As I mentioned previously, I was really into this book until the end. It was one of those rare books I spent all day at work wanting to get home and read. It was that addictive. Then as the ending approached, I realised that it wasn't what I was expecting at all. In fact the ending, even though it was well-paced, was completely far-fetched. A bit cliche too if you will, which kind of spoilt this book for me (hence the 4 stars instead of 5).

Child abuse is also featured in this novel, which is quite harrowing, and I thought this would be explored more - or that, at least, the children would get justice. This did not happen; in fact this sub-plot seemed to be built up only to serve the revenge-fuelled ending, which was disappointing.

This book started out so well and I really enjoyed it up to a point. Personally I think that the author or publisher was very intent on turning what was not a typical thriller into something 'twisty', adhering to current trends, where to be honest, this book didn't need any big twists or a shocking reveal to be a gripping read. I think with a different ending, The Home would have been so much better.

This was incredibly dull - i kept waiting for something to jump out and grab me.. but i just kept waiting. Unfortunate miss for me.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book was too disturbing and emotional of a read for me personally and so I was not able to finish it. The writing was so-so and the characters did not have much depth. It didnt make me WANT to keep reading it and so I DNF.

Thank you #NetGalley for an advanced copy of #TheHome!

I have to say I’m usually pretty good at guessing what the plot twists are going to be and while one of them I was able to figure out, the biggest plot twist at the end I was not!!! From the very beginning this book had me intrigued. I really enjoy books with multiple points of view in past and present times and this book didn’t disappoint. I felt this storyline was a little different than what I’m used to reading (I.e husband lies to wife, wife kills husband, or vice versus) the background story on adoption and what children did or do go through in these child homes is so disturbing! Fortunately for Angela, she was a lucky one who made it through the system and is now a successful solicitor with loving parents and is trying to establish a healthy relationship with her biological mother who gave her up back in 1961... or is she?? You’ll have to read to find out!

THE HOME by Karen Osman is the story of three women all connected by adoption. While this novel is listed as a psychological thriller, I feel it is more of a psychological drama.

This is a story of lies and abuse and some may find it disturbing.

She should have been safe…

Angela was raised by foster parents, Rosemary and James. Angela’s biological mother is Evelyn. Angela was just a baby when her mum left her for the last time, and a children's home is no place to grow up. Angela was beaten with wooden spoons by the manager, Ray in his “den” in the garden, for any children that misbehave.

So, when wealthy couple James and Rosemary come to choose a child to adopt, Angela is desperate to leave. But the scars of her childhood remain, and years later when Angela's search for her birth mother Evelyn is successful, strange things start to happen.

The novel is narrated from three women’s POV, as well as a diary from a child in foster care, that I found hard to read because of its dark nature.

I found this novel a bit slow and predictable in some places. I can’t say I warmed up to any of the characters. The novel ends rather abruptly, and let me down slightly…not what I expected. I liked this novel, but not as much as I thought I would.

Many thanks to Aria via NetGalley for my digital copy.

Excellent read, I could not put this book down. Loved the story line and the characters, usually I can figure out the ending of a book, this ending I never expected. Highly recommend this book

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I'm afraid that I found the book contained too many cliches and the characters were very stereotyped. The twist was not believable and I was left feeling dissatisfied.

The Home by Karen Osman
This book was heartbreaking to some extent but also has lies, betrayals and deceptions going on it that makes it hard to put down . The characters are well written and easy to see their personalities some likeable some not quite...well written story, it flows right along until BAM!! Yep, there is the twist!
Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers for providing me with this book and giving my opinion. Thank you also to the author Karen Osman for writing such an interesting book.

I have just finished this book and all I can say is WOW
This book is dark in places, heart breaking and very emotional. In places I found it hard to read as it was upsetting.
Saying that this author just has a way with words. A psychological thriller with so many twists and turns.
A very emotional book which will stay in my thoughts long after I finished this book. I will definitely be looking out for more of this authors books.
I would like to thank the Karen Is man, Aria and Net.galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for giving an honest review.

Book blurb...
It was the one place she should have been safe.
Angela was just a baby when she was abandoned, and a children's home is no place to grow up. When manager Ray takes girls off to his 'den' in the garden, they always come back crying...
So, when wealthy couple James and Rosemary come to choose a child to adopt, Angela is desperate to escape.
Years later, Angela starts to search for her birth mother, Evelyn, hoping to heal the scars of her childhood. But strange and sinister events start to unfold. And Evelyn fears she may not survive her daughter's return.

My thoughts…
This story ends with one of those twist you don’t see coming and I might rave a lot more about the novel if I hadn’t been left feeling a little deceived / tricked as a result of new information provided at around 90% in. I can’t elaborate further without spoilers, and I did enjoy the book, but I wonder if I might have been more invested in the characters had the author let me into to twist earlier. The shock/surprise factor is great in a book. We love them. But we read for the character’s journey and I felt a little removed from this one.
This novel might make a good book club discussion.

I would like to thank Aria Publishing and the Netgalley website for this partnership.

I was immediately attracted to the cover. We see Angela with a frightened look in her eyes. A catchphrase also attracts my attention: "The house is where your heart breaks".

Angela was abandoned by her mother, and she was forced to go to a home, but it was not a part of the fun, because she was beaten by the manager with wooden spoons. A couple comes to adopt her, she thinks it will be over but the scars of the past are struggling to leave. She's going to find her birth mother and strange things are going to happen.

A psychological thriller that I loved, I immediately hooked on the characters, especially Angela's; and on the story so captivating, moving and full of suspense and twists and turns. Looking forward to reading another book from this talented author.

The Home by Karen Osman tells the story of three women, connected by adoption. Angela was raised by her foster parents, Rosemary and James. Evelyn is Angela’s birth mother. The story begins when a life changing event occurs in Angela’s life, prompting her to search for her birth mother. However, her reunion with Evelyn is anything but pleasant. Soon, strange things start happening around the three women, Angela, Rosemary and Evelyn.

In addition to the three women’s POVs, there are diary entries that provide a narration about a child in foster care. This additional narrative is dark, harrowing and hard to read because of the themes. I struggled through these chapters but kept reading because I wanted to know how everything would work out for the MCs and also the connection between the past and the present.

The story was well narrated and it had a good flow to it. However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It might be because of the themes which were a bit too heavy for me. It might also be the story itself which wasn’t really for me. Something was amiss. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed the author’s writing enough to read this book to the last page.

This book starts with the main character going back to her roots to find her real family with the encouragement of of her adoptive parents. During the story line it’s also filled with journal entries of when she was in a children’s home. It made you really hurt with her and hope for a family . There are some parts with child abuse that made be unsettling for some. It’s sad the amount of abuse this poor girl went through and felt myself tear up at times.

The ending is truly mind-blowing!

The book starts with a prologue. The year is 1989. A body has been found, burned beyond recognition. The only thing untouched is a silver bracelet with a tiny hummingbird charm. We need to bear this in mind as we start our journey with the main protagonists.

Evelyn, barely surviving in a particularly rough council estate, is addicted to cigarettes and Vodka.

Angela, born in 1961 is adopted by James and Rosemary at the age of fourteen. She is now an up-and-coming associate at a leading firm of solicitors in London.

Rosemary is Angela’s foster mother. She gave up her career when she and James adopted Angela. They wanted to give Angela every chance to succeed in life after the adoption, but it came as a price and she and Angela are not as close as James and his adopted daughter.

We follow these three main characters as the story unfolds. James has terminal cancer and encourages Angela to trace her biological mother. She joins a group and soon, thanks to the support of the group leader, is put in touch with her mother. Why did her mother give her up for adoption?

Interspersed throughout the story are excerpts from a diary signed ‘A’. These tell of the shocking treatment and abuse suffered in the Children’s Home. Obviously, you assume that Angela has written these, but can you possibly be mistaken?

I wish I could go into more detail about this brilliant storyline that manages to drop a bombshell in a final couple of chapters that left me in shock.

Karen Osman, you are a brilliant author and I look forward to reading your next book.

Treebeard

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.