This is a beautifully written murder mystery that will tug at the heart of every mother. From the dreaded phone call, to the shocking pregnancy, to the many questions, to the surprising ending it’s a book that cannot be put down. It’s everything I love about a mystery!

The Night Olivia Fell is about a mother’s search for the truth after her daughter Olivia falls from a bridge and suffers terminal brain damage. Chapters alternate between mom’s point of view after the incident and Olivia’s point of view in the months leading up to it. This is a story about the secrets one keeps structured around a domestic thriller/mystery.

The story started out strong and even caught me with a few little twists up front. Unfortunately, the book stalled out for me in the middle and I found the action dragged out and quite predictable. I also didn’t expect such a YA-feeling writing style to come through in Olivia’s chapters.

To end on a positive note, this is a quick read and many folks from my book club have enjoyed it greatly. I’m sure diehard fans of the genre will enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Night Olivia Fell was provided to me as a digital advance reader copy by Gallery Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Expected publication date is February 5, 2019.

Abi is awakened in the middle of the night by a call from the police. Her teenage daughter Olivia was discovered on the riverbank, assumed to have fallen from the bridge above, and is currently in the hospital with no brain activity and a baby on the way. Abi immediately demands answers to how her daughter died, and slowly her own past is woven into what happened to her daughter, showing how our choices can catch up to us and bring consequences long after they are made.

They reveal pretty early on that Olivia encounters another girl that looks just like her while on a campus tour, and so we understand that her dad might not really be dead like her mom has always told her. When Abi doesn’t give her the honest answers she asks for, Olivia goes off on her own to try to get answers. This search sets off a series of events which we see in pieces that lead us to the answer to how she came to both become pregnant and fall off a bridge.

I enjoyed this book but it didn’t move me like I expected it to. Everything I expected to happen, happened. Even the little bit of suspense in the whodunnit gave off enough misdirection vibes that even the most casual reader would realize that it was a false trail. It ended like I expected it to and now we’re here.

I have to admit that when I started, and the doctor told Abi that he couldn’t take Olivia off life support because in Washington state it’s illegal to take a woman off life support without attempting to bring the baby to term, I thought this was going to be a legal-type book. I thought Abi might attempt to figure out what happened to Olivia while fighting a legal battle about how women aren’t just incubators. There was a point to be made, even if subtly, that was never even addressed. The doctors help Olivia’s body fight off infection after infection to keep her working just long enough to get the baby out alive, and every time the story took me to the hospital I felt myself get a little angry. Like it wasn’t bad enough that she was basically murdered, she couldn’t have just been released into oblivion in peace without being forced to be on life support while being life support. I was just so tired and angry for her.

This one is a book that you could read, but if you didn’t read it you wouldn’t have missed anything. Don’t rush to it, but if it crosses your path give it a chance.

This novel was so tremendous! I loved every page of it. Christina McDonald brought Olivia Knight, a 17-year old girl, to life. She had the whole world ahead of her. She was full of vitality and joy. She enjoyed her friends, her mom and aunt, her classes, her hobbies. She was bright with promise. Until the day she fell over a bridge barrier and into the Sound. The novel begins with Olivia kept alive by machines, as she must have hit her head before or after her fall, rendering her brain dead. She’s being kept alive until doctors can deliver her baby. The police called Olivia’s fall an accident and no investigation is done. Olivia’s mother Abi Knight feels it may not have been an accident, and pursues her own investigation with the help of Anthony Bryant, a victim advocate with the Seattle Police Dept. Abi is looking for the truth——the who, when & how Olivia came to be in that hospital bed, brain dead, her body kept alive mechanically. This is the heart of the nove. The main characters await the baby’s birth which also the day of Olivia’s death.
The narrator relates Olivia’s story to the reader by re-creating scenes in her life in a colorful & lively manner, as if the reader was coming along on Olivia’s adventures.
Ms. McDonald has a marvelous writing style. The reader is brought into Abi’s present & past, and she/he comes to understand why Abi is the shy & diffident woman we meet.
There are also a few sub-plots running through the novel that keep it interesting and complex.
For those readers who enjoy a little mystery in their novel; for lovers of women’s fiction and suspense, I recommend this awesome novel!
Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review this novel.

The Night Olivia fell is an emotional domestic mystery. I appreciated the duel perspectives. Hearing from both the mother and the daughter gave insight into the motivations for their actions as well as made me care more about their relationship. The mother's is in present time, and the daughter's is in the past, leading up to the fall. I enjoyed the ride and stayed up late reading the end. I cried, and that's always impressive to me- even if I am an easy crier.

I was SO excited to read The Night Olivia Fell, and it did not disappoint! I really love books that alternate between characters/perspectives, and in this case it presented the complexities of a mother/daughter relationship and the secrets and challenges that come with it. This one kept me completely engaged and entertained throughout, and while the ending wasn't a huge shocker (although I wouldn't necessarily describe it as predictable), it was still a very enjoyable read!

Abi receives a call late one night that her daughter, Olivia, has been in an accident. Not only is she brain dead, but to Abi's surprise, Olivia is pregnant as well. Abi is determined to find out what really happened to her daughter, which means also having to confront some of her own secrets she's been harboring.

Comes out next Tuesday, 2/5 so be sure to check it out!!

Thanks to Gallery Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, okay, this is more like it. Phew. I swear to god, it's like 1 out of every 10 thrillers is a good one, and I have to slog through a lot of bullshit before I get joy. Almost makes it not worth it, until I get something like this.

This started out incredibly similar to another "thriller" I just finished reading, and I was so irritated by that one I almost quit. So, when it comes to this genre, this is a situation of pick This, not That.

Abi is a single mother to her 17-year old daughter Olivia. They are extremely close, and Abi is suuuuuuuuper helicopterish. There are strict rules and strict expectations, but their relationship really is a great one, despite Olivia's newfound pulling back.

Then Abi is woken up bright and early one morning to be told her daughter has had an accident. And she's now brain dead. Sorry about that, but by the way, she's going to have to live for a few more months because fetus.

Fetus, you say? What fetus?

I can't even get into the idea that this poor girl had to be kept alive in a vegetative state to keep the fetus alive, racking up medical bills her mother couldn't afford anyway, but WHATEVER, NOT THE TIME.

Abi sets off a mad dash to find out what the hell happened to her daughter that night. There are bruises on her wrists, suspicious circumstances, and a police force that says, "Enh, it was probably an accident, next."

Abi makes some monumentally dumb decisions. In the flashbacks told from Olivia's perspective, Olivia makes some monumentally dumb decisions. And the red herrings are a bit glaring at times. But this is a good, solid story about the secrets children hide from their parents, and vice versa, and a mother's need for justice for their child.

Solid work. Almost makes me not give up hope on the Thriller genre as a whole.

I first decided to read this book because I happened to see someone who was reading this and I discovered it here on NetGalley so I instantly became interested just from the description of the book. This is a story of a high school girl named Olivia who was just trying to figure out her true life and self with complications as they came along the way. This story jumps back and forth and told from the past of Olivia's life before her fall and the present of Abi, which is Olivia's mom, her life and what she was doing presently in the story. I was quickly drawn to this story because the first several chapters hooked me in with starting the story off with much action and from there I just kept getting hooked and wanted to read more to find out what was gonna happen next. I definitely did not think this was predictable at all for the most part because the many different suspects throughout this story. it just made me think with different pieces of evidence one person might've done it and than someone else would pop in my head until the person who actually did it came forward in which I did not see coming at all. I give this story a 4 star simply because this was a very nice ending overall to the story, but not the ending I would like to have. It definitely made me the slightest disappointed. No spoilers intended just thought this was a very good story overall and this book gave me so many emotions I didn't want the story to end!

*slight spoilers*

Not going to lie the first few chapters of the book sucked me in! As I kept reading the plot started to become predictable. Olivia wasn’t the quiet good girl everyone knew. Abi was also hiding secrets of her own. At times it felt like I was reading a “Lifetime” movie.

For example: Poor girl has a secret affair with the towns prominent son, gets pregnant and is paid to “take care of it” but keeps the baby in secret. I don’t understand why Abi stayed in the same town of the baby’s father. Did she not think Olivia wouldn’t put two and two together one day?? *sighs*

The final showdown at the end left me dissatisfied to say the least. The whole reasoning had my eyes rolling. Overall it wasn’t a bad read and the story did hold my attention. It just didn’t work out in my favor.

I read this book The Night Olivia Fell, fairly quickly. The story and development of the characters was very good. I also enjoyed that the story changed up between 2 main Characters, Olivia and her Mom Abi. I was kept guessing until almost the end, as to who helped Olivia fall. Having just lost someone in my family, I kept hoping for a miracle. Enjoyed this book,easy to follow.

Thank you to NetGallery, the publisher and author, Christina McDonald, for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book. I looked forward to reading.more books from this author. The following is my true and honest review of “The Night Olivia Fell.”
LOVED this book! Once I started reading it, I didn’t want to stop. I couldn’t put it down and thought about it when I wasn’t reading it.
This book is about how far a mother will go to find out the truth about her daughters death. I found this story to be heart wrenching, emotional, believable,....the author does an excellent job of pulling you into the characters emotions.
I can only say good things about this book. If you like books about family relationships, this book is for you. Throw in some suspense/mystery? Just a perfect read!
Highly recommend.

Thank you SO much for this ARC!

This book was fabulous. Wonderfully written (told through both mother and daughter) with an appropriately paced plot and fully developed characters.

The ending made me very emotional, beautifully explained, very believable and heartfelt.

Thank you Net Galley for an early copy for an honest review. The book is available Feb, 5 2019.
A mother will do everything to get the answers to what happen to her daughter. The mother daughter relationship is very believable . McDonald did a great job, hope to hear more from her.

I added this to my TBR list mainly because I was first drawn to the cover. It's gorgeous! I also loved the description- it seemed like a thriller/mystery mixed with parental love and hidden secrets, and I cannot resist that kind of emotional and mysterious read!

This book is told in alternating perspectives between Olivia and her mother, Abi. It is also told in alternating timelines, obviously, because Olivia is currently in a coma. As the story of the past unfolds we learn about Olivia's world and what happened in her life leading up to the fall. How her old friends and new friends all become suspects in her "accident" and how the secrets her mother kept from her may be the reason she is now laying in a hospital room brain dead and pregnant.

As Abi investigates her daughter's life she realizes, despite being a helicopter and overbearing parent, she really didn't know her daughter at all. She begins to realize her obsession with keeping her daughter safe and her refusal to tell Olivia about her own past, may be the cause of Olivia's sneaking around, getting pregnant, and ultimately her future inevitable death.

This was a great read. Every character was well developed and it was easy to follow the well written plot by author Christina McDonald. By the last page, I found myself satisfied with how it ended- plausible, believable, and not over the top.

This was my first read from the author, but I look forward to reading more from her! The Night Olivia Fell will be available on February 5, 2019 in the U.S. so pre-order now! A solid 4 star read!

Thanks to Netgalley, Gallery, Threshold, Pocket books and author Christina McDonald for allowing me an egalley to read and give my honest review.

Happy Reading!

Thank you to NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an unbiased review. This is available for purchase February 5th.

I'd rate this 3.5 - 4 stars. For mystery/thriller material, it was really good. The characters had depth and unlike a lot of similar books, I cared about them. Olivia, the daughter of a single mom, falls and is in a coma. Her mother is on a hunt to discover who did it. I found the relationship between Olivia and her mom to be especially touching and very well written. I had a lot of different theories about the book as I was reading and while one of them did pan out to be true, it wasn't until the end that I for sure figured it out. I rated it what I did because there were a lot of different avenues the story could take and I found that a little frustrating. After about 3/4 of the way through, I just wanted to get on with it and figure it out. Will be a great beach read this summer.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Christina McDonald for the opportunity to read and review her debut novel - 5 stars for a book I couldn't put down! A debut novel? Can't wait to read more from this author!

Abi is a single mother to teenage Olivia. She's always been overprotective due in part to issues she had growing up. When she gets a middle-of-the-night phone call saying that her daughter has fell off a bridge and is brain dead, Abi is devastated. But when she finds out Olivia is also pregnant and she sees bruises around her wrist, she knows that it wasn't an accident as the police said. She decides to investigate on her own to find out what happened.

Told in present day time in Abi's voice and in Olivia's in the months leading up to the fall, this is a book filled with secrets, suspense and, above all, emotion. Both characters are easily relatable and I found myself glued to the pages to see how it would all turn out.

Highly recommended!

For those of you who like lies and secrets and dysfunctional families and stupid women this book is for you! Also for those of you who are not disturbed by lack of credibility.

There were multiple evidences of incredibility, so I’ll only cite one. The man who impregnated the woman gave her a [generous] check to have an abortion. She decided not to have the abortion, but instead used that money to support herself, go to college and buy a house! Really? I have no idea how much abortions cost, but I don’t think even a generous check would cover college plus living expenses plus a house. Oh, and then there are the expenses of childbirth and 3 or 4 years of feeding, clothing and caring for the child before she can qualify for a job.

“Wooden” would be a good description of the characters – and with no character development. The main characters were like the Stepford wives. They played their part in the story without any depth nor any personality.

In defense of this novel, it was well written in that it was difficult to put it down. I guess it’s the meaning of today’s buzzword “compelling” in reviews. Also the premise is first rate and the ending is satisfactory. There are lots of red herrings.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, Gallery Books, in exchange for an honest review.

A mystery about the fall of 17 year old Olivia told from her perspective before the fall that made her brain dead and her mother's perspective after, this book is more than just a mystery. As a mother, this book made me cry. It made me reflect on my own daughter and the unbreakable love I have for her. I cared so deeply about these characters and this story both broke my heart and filled it with hope. I will definitely be recommending this book to people. I think it will appeal to wide range of readers.

This book kept me on the edge of my seat! I was constantly second guessing what happened to Olivia. Told from the point of view of mother and teenage daughter- you really see how different each mind thinks and what goes into a mother/ daughter relationship. We loved this novel and can’t wait to share this one with our readers!

4.25-4.5 STARS

“The Night Olivia Fell” is a suspenseful, intricately woven tale that lays out the events leading up to a young girl’s mysterious death. Boasting a myriad of secrets and lies, this story takes the reader on a complex journey of discovery. And while I thoroughly enjoyed the journey’s ride, I had arrived at the destiny long before the final stop. Still, solving the puzzle early on, did little to dissuade my overall enjoyment of this book. With an intriguing premise and strong, multi-dimensional characters, “The Night Olivia Fell” is an emotional, gripping story you won’t soon forget.