This book is all about our main character Becky. Her daughter is very sick but for some reason none of the doctors are able to figure out what is wrong with her ever after dozens of tests and medications all the results come back negative. According to the doctors Meghan is fine, and the doctors start to suspect Munchhausen by proxy which leads them to take drastic measures. I really liked this story because it shows how hard it would be to continue to fight when everything and everyone is telling you that there is nothing wrong with you. I think that trusting your gut is the best thing and I'm glad the Becky did that. This is a great medical thriller that will be right up there with Jodi Picoult's "My Sister's Keeper". With so many twists and turns it really kept me interested and trying my best to get to the bottom of what was actually happening with Meghan. I thought it was very sad to see the parents arguing about poor Meghan's lack of a diagnosis all the while trying to prove that she is sick and it isn't all in their heads. The strain between both parents makes the whole thing that much harder to go through. I really like the characters in this book I found them very relatable and realistic all with their own flaws and strengths. While both the parents and the doctors were on different sides I found the author made both sides believable and it was hard to pick which side I was on because both gave compelling arguments and I could see the frustration on both ends. I liked how the medical and the legal parts of the story weren't all filled with language that was hard to understand. Great story line and I really enjoyed the way that the characters were written all of them were very strong and compelling. So much happens in this book and the story gets better and better with every page. There were so many twist I never saw coming each time I thought I knew something there would be another huge revelation. I feel that this book needs to be read twice
once to get the pleasure of reading it and the second time to see all of the red flags that were missed in the first round. Great read and I'm glad that I got the chance to check out this story.

An engrossing read from start to finish! Another novel that portrays a mother’s love for her child and the overwhelming need to protect them at all costs. It was certainly costly for this mom, but served as a reminder that, sometimes, in spite of medical testing and doctors opinions, Mother’s really do know best!
This book was very difficult to put down. Many “just one more chapter” moments and a very late night reading well past midnight just to find out what will happen and who did what. Loved the twists and turns that kept me guessing. Just the right balance of medical information and storyline. The interactions between Meghan and Becky, Becky and her sister, and Becky and Zach were especially realistic to me.
Many thanks to D.J. Palmer, St. Martins Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this great read.

Ok, I can’t give say too much in my review without giving away the many intricacies of the plot. saving Meghan had me guessing wrong a hundred times over throughout the book.
D.J. Palmer has written a great story involving fractured family dynamics and a great mystery. Becky and Carl Gerard are loving parents to Meghan, but why is she always sick? Does it have to do with her mother’s childhood? Or does she really have a rare disease the doctors have failed to diagnose?
A great read, leaving you shaking your head at the end!

WOW, I love medical thrillers and this one did not disappoint, SAVING MEAGAN had me hooked from the very beginning . Thank you #stakeholders.

I’d like to thank both NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced readers copy of Saving Meghan by author D.J. Palmer. The genre for this story is suspense with family drama involving both medical and some legal aspects. It centers around a possible case of Munchausen by proxy. It keeps you guessing the entire time as to who to side with and who to believe. It’s not until the very end with its shocking twist that you learn the truth and believe me, you will be surprised! I did not see it coming at all. If you have enjoyed books like My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult and After Anna by Lisa Scottoline, then I believe you’ll enjoy reading this as well.

Saving Meghan was a very good read. The twisted childhood history of Becky, Meghan's mother, is what really made Becky who she was and why she was the way she was. Personally I strongly disliked Becky because she was always looking for an "in", doing what she needed to do or saying what she needed to say. Carl, Meghan's father, was a door mat at times and at other times so angry with his wife that his character always seemed to swing from one extreme to the other.

The author did a great job making me think I knew what was going on, but placing doubts only to suddenly have me believing I was right again. The story was so interesting and ended up totally surprising me. The characters were well written, which I always appreciate.

If you like well written psychological fiction, you will likely enjoy this book. Check it out. I think you'll be glad you did. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for approving my request for an ARC. My thoughts in this review are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!
Oh, how I wanted to LOVE this book. I’d heard so much buzz - so much “you won’t guess the end!” So much “you keep switching sides!” But I was ultimately disappointed.
The first half of the book was well-done (hence 3 stars instead of 1 or 2). It established a dynamic cast of characters with their own motives and perspectives. But then the author gave away too many hints. There’s a particular motif that comes up too many times. There are certain exchanges in dialogue that tell us what’s up. At some point, I mentally compared the book to a dramatized version of the tv show House, and then a few minutes later, one of the characters in the story referenced House! I guess I wasn’t alone. It ultimately read as a medical drama that’s been done a million times.
The writing was good. I would be interested to see what else the author writes. I feel like a lot of people will love this book, but I just wasn’t one of them.

This book started out a bit slow for me. It didn’t initially make me want to put life on hold and keep reading. The big questions throughout the book - Is Meghan really sick or is her mother Becky doing something to make her sick? Does Becky have Munchausen by Proxy causing harm to her daughter? Is Meghan making herself sick to be the center of attention? Does Meghan’s father Carl have anything to do with her illness? At various times throughout the book you could believe that any of those things are possible! The ending is truly a shocker and makes reading through the slower parts worthwhile.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Wow, that was quite the ending in Saving Meghan by D.J. Palmer! Throughout the story I found myself switching sides; is it Becky or is it Meghan - what is going on! Jees Louise you really pulled a fast one and I liked! A desparate roller coaster ride indeed, and you have to aske yourself, to what lengths would you go to save your child - or save yourself. Great story! #NetGalley # Saving Meghan #StMartinsPress # DJPalmer Thanks!

Many books claim to be psychological thrillers. Few truly are. Saving Meghan is a TRUE psychological thriller! I found my heart rate increasing as I read about and imagined Meghan’s hospitalization. My pulse quickened, my breath became shallow as I read about and imagined something like that happening to my daughters. I could feel the tension of the characters. For that reason: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a true thriller that will reach through the pages and grab you! It will keep you turning the pages and will not give up its secrets (which are organically derived) easily.

Saving Meghan delivered what it promises!

See full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2705341694

Saving Meghan – D.J. Palmer

I was fortunate to receive this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an objective review.

Meghan Gerard is your typical teenager – with some disturbing medical symptoms. Mostly neuromuscular complaints – fatigue, migraine headaches, syncopal episodes – but no one can diagnose her. Meghan is the only child of Becky and Carl, and Becky will do anything – ANYTHING to keep her daughter safe and get her the care she needs.

Becky, in her younger years, lived with a very manipulative mother, named Cora. Adding to the stress is the fact that Cora is dying of cancer, and she’s 3000 miles away, leaving Becky torn between returning home to make amends, or remaining in New England with her ailing daughter.
Throughout all this is Carl, left on the back burner, and not quite convinced that Meghan is as sick as Becky thinks – at times he wonders if she’s faking things. Meanwhile Becky feels as if her husband isn’t as concerned as he should be, which causes some strain between them. And Meghan is keeping a secret of her own, straining her relationship with her parents as well.

Then, Meghan comes under the care of Drs Zach Fisher and Amanda Nash. Dr. Fisher has some suspicions about Meghan’s symptoms, but as Meghans symptoms escalate, testing comes back negative, and concern is raised over the possibility of Munchausen by proxy. Protective services become involved and Meghan is removed from Becky’s care. But Becky will do whatever it takes to get her back.

Told from the different perspectives of the varying characters, Saving Meghan is a fast paced, head -scratching, difficult-to-put-down page turner that’ll keep you up well into the night trying to guess the ending of this book…and you’ll be wrong…. A fabulous read from D.J. Palmer that will remain in your thoughts long after the last page is turned!!

I’d like to thank St. Martin’s Press for making it possible for me to read an E-ARC through NetGalley.

I could not put this book down! I was on edge until the very end. I loved the fact that it was a medical thriller as well as a family drama. I highly recommend that everyone read this book!

I had been hearing a lot about the upcoming book, Saving Meghan, and I was not disappointed! Saving Meghan tells the story of the Gerard family, whose teenager daughter, Meghan, is constantly in and out of doctor's offices and emergency rooms with various ailments that no one can seem to find the answer for. Meghan's mother, Becky, devotes her life and her time to taking care of her and trying to find answers to her daughter's strange illnesses. While trying to find answers, a doctor's visit to a specialist, and subsequent referral, lands the Gerard family into an investigation by Child Protective Services when it is suspected that this is a case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, a psychiatric disorder in which a caretaker purposefully causes the medical symptoms of someone, usually a child, in order to garner to attention that comes along with having a chronically ill family member. While the hospital suspects Meghan's mother of making her daughter sick, her husband begins to openly display his own doubt's about his wife's innocence. It's hard to say more without giving away the ending of this story, but it was shocking for sure! Saving Meghan does a wonderful job of taking a look at the rare disorder of Muchausen by Proxy, and incorporating it in to this book! Highly recommend this book, and look forward to reading more by D.J. Palmer in the future. Another winner by St Martins Press! Thank you to St Martins' Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advance readers copy of Saving Meghan. I thoroughly enjoyed this gripping thriller. Reminiscent of Jodi Picoult, D.J. Palmer, meshed a complicated medical drama, with a who done it type mystery. This page turner will touch your heart and chill you to the bone. 4 stars

See my review on goodreads.com and on the discussion page of Bitter is the new book club!

This was a very slow read for me at first, some chapters felt superfluous and I was ready to quit. But I'm glad I didn't give up. Meghan is taken by the courts as a danger from her own mother and father. Doctors think Becky, the mom, has Munchausen syndrome by proxy and is using her daughter for attention. Is Meghan really sick or is it all in her head? I couldn't fathom how Meghan, or anyone with Munchausen syndrome, could feel such acute, REAL pain and be a victim of this disorder. I was definitely intrigued and had to keep reading to see how this story played out. Things started picking up in the last half of the book and the ending was a complete surprise! An interesting read, especially if you're into medical mysteries.

Wow! I loved this book. Great writing, great story. A young girl who has unexplained illness after illness, test after test that do not show anything wrong. A mother who is her advocate, fiercely protective and insistent that something really bad is wrong. A father who doesn’t believe her illnesses are real. Things spiral out of control and get even worse. I was blown away wh3n all was revealed.

The mystery was intriguing but towards the end I found myself skimming just for it to be over with. It seemed to begin to drag and was a bit predictable.

This book is absolutely amazing! The characters our personalities are fun to try to figure out and get to know. I have been up way too late reading this book!

Saving Meghan by D.J.Palmer

April 2019
St Martin’s Press
Fiction, psychological suspense

I received a digital copy of the ARC from NetGalley and St Martin’s Press in exchange for an unbiased review.

Becky Gerard is a 48 year old mother from CA who moved her family to MA in a desperate attempt to save her daughter Meghan’s life. Although it seems admirable there is an underlying, dysfunctional motive for her. Despite growing up in a toxic home environment, she manages to become a successful real estate broker and marry Carl, her dream husband. Similarly, her moving to MA served another purpose for Becky, that is, to move as far away from her hometown as possible. Sabrina, Becky’s sister, remains in CA caring for their manipulative angry mother who is dying of cancer. Meghan’s mysterious illness becomes her excuse for avoiding anything unpleasant including forgiving her mother.

As much as I wanted to feel empathetic towards this family and their experiences, it was difficult due to their unlikeable characters. They live in a tony neighborhood of Concord, MA and surround themselves with privileged materialistic acquaintances. It becomes obvious that life experiences has made forming genuine relationships with people impossible for Becky. Unfortunately, she hovers and controls Meghan so much that her daughter doesn’t thrive as a once healthy 15 year old varsity soccer player.

Because of Meghan’s consistent poor health with unfounded medical etiology, she misses school and is constantly being dragged around to doctor for tests and evaluations. Becky, feeling the guilt from her own childhood, transfers her anxiety and need for attention onto finding a cure for Meghan. After 2 years, she is eventually confronted with accusations of Munchausen by proxy. How could a mother actually be to blame for making her child sick? When there are no apparent medical explanations for all the vague unrelated symptoms, it raises red flags for medical professionals who have an obligation to protect the minor child.

Of course, this story has many twists and turns drawing in several characters who all have their own agenda. There are clues along the way but only mere breadcrumbs to keep you reading to find out how it ends. The story addresses mental illness and it’s lasting effects on families. Confronting the guilt and shame that people carry for unavoidable situations becomes important for healing and moving forward.

Thank you to net galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book it was a wild ride had alot of twist and turns