It was interesting, but for me it also was kind of slow and i found the main character to be a bit bland and boring.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

Laura's mom has cancer. She is engaged to Luke. Laura is going to stay with her mom and care for herm Tom is a friend Laura parted ways with when her boyfriend Ryan died .Laura discovers Ryan's death may not be accidental . I loved that Laura was trying to find out the secrets of Ryan's death. Laura is trying to figure out her engagement and whether to marry.

This book went through my emotions like a wrecking ball!! This is the only way I can describe my reading of this book.

Through this story and her words, the author manages to show that memories can be a such a powerful thing and still hold the ability to bring out emotions and feelings from inside us that we think, hope and wish are either long dead or forgotten.

My thanks to NetGalley and the author for the e-Arc of this book.

The synopsis sounds so interesting & I love Australian fiction so I thought I’d found the perfect book, however, I found it so slow that I just couldn’t get into it. :(

A new author for me and one I am very glad I decided to read.
First off I need to mention the stunning cover!
This is an epic read with so many emotions running through it. Jodi is a great story teller who supports you in getting through the tough parts of the story to the joyous happy moments.
I must read for all book lovers.

The Memories We Hide by Jodi Gibson is a very interesting story about one women's memories. Laura who is 27 years old, returns to her home town after being gone for 10 years. She left town when her high school boyfriend, Ryan, died suddenly. Laura memories are fuzzy, and she finds newspaper clippings saying Ryan's death might have been more than an accident. I really enjoyed this book, as the true facts come to light. I highly recommend this book, you won't be disappointed.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Laura is going home after 10 years. She left after her boyfriend passed away tragically, she is unprepared for the ghosts and memories upon her return. After discovering a newspaper article about the death of Tom, Laura becomes suspicious and fixated on discovering the whole truth about what happened.

This novel explores some very deep subject matter and was very compelling.

Having fled her small town in her teen years following a tragic accident, Laura Murphy returns after ten years to be with her terminal mother. Sometimes, the mind is forced to take heroic measures to shield the person from an event too horrendous to accept and Laura had spent those years steadfastly refusing to revisit the event.

The debut of this author's contemporary women's fiction explores the problem of understanding and coming to peace with the past. Until those issues have been determined and resolution implemented, there can be no peaceful future.

The narrative tackles some major family matters, depression, friendships, young love and relationships that tie for life as well as the crush of betrayal. There is a lot to sort through and the mystery of what happened is gradually revealed.

Inherent in the anguish, however, is the repetitive nature in the storytelling. There were times either the protagonist or support characters spilled into wringing emotional scenes. Laura is not as well-developed as she might be, and her scenes flipped back to the school years in an effort to recall the details.

Ryan, the lost love, is developed by Laura's memories as well as a personal journal. Tom, a close childhood friend is most engaging and sympathetic but also possesses closely held secrets.

The author waxes prose at times, with interesting turn of phrase or description, but I missed some investing into the people of the small town. The sense of hopelessness and frustration in the depressed young interwove a powerful statement. The climax came with a ring road of disclosures almost shocking and one more far-reaching than you'd have guessed.

I received this digital download from the publisher through NetGalley and appreciated the opportunity to read and review. The conclusion is satisfying but the book would benefit from one more pass through an editor. Recommended for those more inclined to emotional family struggles and women's fiction. 3.5/5

I enjoyed this book but it was a tough read with very serious subjects.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Laura Murphy has to return to her home town, Banyula, because her mum has terminal cancer and is dying. She is close to her mum, but 10 years back, she lost her boyfriend, Ryan Taylor. Not being able to cope with the grief, she leaves Banyula, only to return now.
Their group of four: Tom, Laura, Rachel and Ryan broke-up after the tragic demise of Ryan and tore everyone apart.
For 10 years, each of them has been harbouring their own guilt and their version of what actually happened that night. Is it now time to let go?
When Laura returns, she isn't prepared for the nostalgia and memories that resurface.

After discovering a newspaper clipping that possibly hinted to the fact that there may have been more to Ryan's death than she first thought, Laura is compelled find out what happened that fateful night.
On her death-bed, her mother asks her to let go and make peace with Rachel and Tom.

Reconnecting with her childhood bestie Tom Gordon, she begins to unravel and piece together what she has kept supressed for the past 10 years.
Tom too holds a secret of his own, which may destroy any chance of a future, he had forever envisioned, with Laura. Besides, he is facing financial issues with regards to his family farm and stands a chance of losing it.
A chance meeting with Rachel brings back all the memories to the forefront, and leaves Laura wondering whether she will ever forget and forgive what happened 10 years back?

Told alternatively between the then and the now, from various points-of-view, this was a powerful and emotional read, albeit a bit slow.
Will Laura have the strength to confront her memories? Will she be able to finally let go of her past? Will she find out the truth of that fateful night?

The author deftly deals with the complexities of friendships, love and depression.
Secrets, guilt and regret aside, one important aspect dealt with in this book revolves around the mental health of young people, which is often ignored.
A great debut and looking forward to more by this author.

What a beautiful story about friendships, memories and secrets. I enjoyed Australian background and the characters.

“Well-hidden memories once pushed purposefully into the back of her mind had come forward again”. Sums up, for me, the story and the essence of the characters and their relationships with each other. Jodi Gibson, captured the small outback town living beautifully and I loved the ending, particularly as I wasn’t prepared for it.

I really wanted to like this book - the blurb sounded so promising. But it was just too slow and the MC was pretty unlikeable. Not really for me, though I’m sure a lot of people will enjoy it.

I’ve been in a little reading slump, picking up and putting down my last 3 books. Meanwhile this book has been popping up on my radar with good reviews and well, what can I say except it was the perfect book to get me out of that slump!
Laura has returned to her home town of Banyula because her Mum is dying. She is close to her Mum but events from 10 years previously at the finish of high school, have stopped her from coming home. Laura, her boyfriend Ryan and friends Tom and Rachel were young and free that last year of school but Ryan’s death tore everyone apart. For 10 years each of those friends have been harbouring a guilt and it’s time to let go.

The was a little bit of mystery surrounding Ryan’s death and the background of that era was told in chapters, mainly in the second half of the book as Laura was remembering those times. This was very easy to follow and you got to understand the friendship dynamics. I really liked Laura and you could feel the love she had for her Mum and her confusion of her relationship with Tom.
It’s not quite your usual Australian small town rural romance. With memories and regrets, it also deals with mental illness, especially teenagers and in rural settings, where help is difficult to find and giving people hope.
A lovely book which I really enjoyed and with more depth than some books of the genre.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

I didn't love this book, but I don't know why.

Yes, it was very, very slow at first, but it picked up and got much more interesting. The writing was good --I could picture the town, the characters, the background. The second half of the story was really interesting with a few good twists. It's a story about trauma, memories, friendship, love...

But...I didn't like the main character. I felt a disconnect from her, and didn't care if she found her hea. I wish I could pinpoint why, but she just felt whiny, self centered and annoying.

I received an ARC and want to thank the publisher and #netgalley. It didn't affect my review.

This one starts off a bit slow, but it is so worth it to hang in there. This book had so many emotional highs and lows, but somehow it isn't a heavy read. I highly recommend it!

A quick but surprisingly twisted read! This story was full of so much emotion and dealt with some very powerful subjects. Following Laura as she returns to her hometown she ran away from a decade ago. she's come to care for her mom and deal with her estates after her passing. She's also forced to face the memories of why she left this town so quickly all those years ago. But are her memories correct why does she feel like theres more to this story then what her memory is allowing her to remember. An insight into depression, grieving and the way our minds handle tragic events this book is a great read for anyone who loves drama with a touch of romance and some great unexpected twists! The ending gave me goosebumps I didn't see it coming! Thanks Netgalley and Jodi Gibson for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

Very good book! Sometimes it can be hard to face the past once you have removed yourself from it, but that is what the main character has to do. She left her hometown 10 years ago and has to return because of her mother's failing health. Returning dredges up a painful tragedy.

A sweet story about how our memories can shape us, I enjoyed the way this story shifted between past memories and present happenings. Laura returns home to care for her gravely ill mother and comes face to face with the memories she has been avoiding since she left home after graduation. As Laura reconnects with friends from her past, she learns the memories she has been avoiding may actually be inaccurate. Relatable characters and a good pace, I enjoyed this read.

The Memories We Hide wasn't like most other books. Even though it took me a little while to get into the storyline, I really liked it. You have to give it time to develop. Our main character, Laura, is coming home because her mother is dying. Apparently she hasn't been back in ten years, since the death of her first love, Ryan. Once she's there though, things aren't all as she remembers them. Apparently she's carried guilt since Ryan's death but she's not the only one. Her friends, Rachel and Tom, have as well. Her arrival in town has dredged up everyone's feelings and the fact that she's looking for answers so she can put it all to rest is bringing a lot to the surface. There is a mystery surrounding how Ryan died and who saw him last. There were also other things going on with Ryan that he hid and no one knew about.

It was truly a sad story about high school age kids dealing with serious issues and not having a proper support system. They could look back on things in hindsight and think they should have done better but in all truthfulness, they were eighteen year old kids who did the best they could with the information they had in front of them. I was just hopeful that through all of the heartache, they could all find some peace and move on but they had so much pain to work through first. Unfortunately, they had each done things that ultimately hurt the other back then and all of that had to be worked through as well. When Laura left ten years before, all of those issues and emotions were frozen in time. They had to be dealt with before anyone could move forward with their lives in a healthy way.

The Memories We Hide wasn't an easy read. There were a lot of issues that occurred within the pages that frustrated me, but that is how things happen in the real world too. People make stupid choices. Sometimes they are decisions you can fix and make right and unfortunately sometimes they aren't. Overall, I found the ending to the book to be a satisfying one and felt it was what always was meant to be.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.