Cover Image: The Thorn Girl

The Thorn Girl

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Member Reviews

"A swallow in an attic. A butterfly in a jungle. Random events. Heartbreaking decisions."

Adele Foyle, a 24-year-old documentary writer for Voice Dox, returns to Crannock to bury her grandmother. While there, cleaning out the house they shared once upon a time, Adele finds a backpack containing a diary written by her mother -- a 15-year-old who died when Adele was born. Her grandmother, Noreen, had always refused to tell Adele anything about her mother's pregnancy or the circumstances surrounding her birth, so Adele eagerly devours the diary. What she discovers is shocking and heartbreaking. Her mother, Marianne, had been sent to a home for others like her in Reedstown to wait out her confinement and it was run like a religious cult and known as the Sodality of Thorns and Atonement. When Marianne dies, Adele and Noreen leave Reedstown and hide away in Crannock where they lived until Adele moved to London for work, met and became engaged to Daniel. Because the information in the diary is so inflammatory, Adele feels compelled to go to Reedstown and discover if it contains the truth and to obtain justice for her long-dead mother. NO SPOILERS.

Well, the twists and turns just kept on coming so once I started this I could not put it down so read in one sitting. And what a beautiful but sad story it was. The events that ruined Marianne were tough to read and those responsible definitely needed just punishment. I liked the way the author told the story from different points of view and how the diary entries were shared. It never ceases to amaze me what some won't do to cover up their dirty little secrets, lies and crimes. I really liked the characters of Adele and Rachel, a Garda in Reedstown. Some of the others were also well-drawn and their reactions to the release of Marianne's diary were described in great detail. I can't honestly quite figure exactly what niche or sub-genre this book fits into but it does have themes of violent rape, imprisonment, mistreatment and psychological manipulation. I really enjoyed it and I think you will too.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.

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I am not usually one to agree with taglines or blurbs because they often feel over-the-top, but this is one case where I can wholeheartedly say that it is 100% accurate. This book was an addictive, emotional, page-turner of a psychological thriller (that’s a mouthful). The characters are real and well-developed, and the author does a superb job of bringing the village of Reedstown with all of its blemishes, secrets, and tainted history to life. Adele is a protagonist who is easy to support as she journeys into the past to find the truth about her mother’s life and death. In My Mother’s Name is one book you do not want to skip over. For a full review, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read a complimentary pre-release, digital ARC of this book.

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Laura Elliot’s book “In My Mother’s Name” is shocking, creepy, & impossible to put down. The plot involves a young woman looking for answers about her mom, who died during childbirth. The answers she finds are disturbing and haunting. If you like psychological thrillers, read this! If you like family dramas, read this! If you want to be completely creeped out, read this!! This book deserves to be in all the top charts!

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A deliciously intense and emotional thriller that you won't soon forget ! A shocking conclusion !! I highly recommend this book by a gifted storyteller !I Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book ! #Netgalley #Bookouture
#InMyMother’sName

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This book was at once engaging, sad, happy, dramatic and thrilling. The writing is very good, the plot intense. I very much enjoyed this book and the ending was satisfying.

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When Adele Foyle is roving about in her grandmother's attic, she finds a secret diary of her mother - someone she never met. Sadly, her mother died giving birth to her. What she is about to discover will be more than she could ever believe. Almost more than she will be able to handle.

She begins to discover secrets hidden for over twenty-five years. Adele starts looking for answers. In so doing, she goes back to the last place her mother lived, Reedstown. The circumstances of Adele's conception are devastating and she is determined not only to find out more about that, but to bring certain people to justice, even all of these years later.

Adele was born in an unusual environment. It was a home for unwed mothers run but a strange religious group called The Thorns. So that is where Adele begins her search. She soon learns that no one wants questions asked. No one has answers to offer. As a matter of fact, the deeper Adele goes in her search, the worst things get for her.

In My Mother's Name was a disturbing and fast-moving story. Adele is a strong woman, and I so felt for her mother and what she suffered. To imagine Adele's discoveries was very difficult. However, Laura Elliott is a gifted storyteller who managed to craft a sensitive story that held a lot of suspense.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

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First, I want to thank Laura Elliot, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

Laura Elliot definitely brings you a totally addictive and emotional psychological thriller in her latest book In My Mother’s Name. Laura Elliott has to be commended for her incredibly, powerful, mind-blowing storytelling in this book! Her storyline was so incredibly intense and very suspenseful. Not to mention some of the subject matter was shocking that you couldn’t help but feel empathetic for the characters. This is one book that will stick with you for a long time after. Not to mention this must be made into a Netflix Original! It would do amazingly well!

I absolutely loved this book for so many reasons. However, this book does bring up topics that may trigger some past bad experiences in readers. Therefore, this book may not be for everyone. This book brings up the topic of rape and gang rape, a cult, bullying, etc.

I fell instantly in love with this beautiful cover even before I knew what this book was about. I love Butterflies as they have a sentimental meaning to me. So, when I saw it and how it was placed on the cover, I just knew I needed to know more. Kudos to the graphic designer for catching my eye.

If you love psychological thrillers like I do then you are in for a treat!! Laura threw everything in this book!! Tons of deep secrets from the past, lies that have been told, incredibly interesting investigation that blew me away, some characters you will love to hate, and an ending you won’t see coming!

My heart ached for Adele for all she wanted was to get answers on her Mom Marianne. So many hateful roadblocks along the way to get the answers she so desperately wanted.

One thing I loved about the book Laura wrote in Marianne’s Diaries into the book. We as readers were able along with her daughter Laura learn more about her. It gave us a more personal feel of what she was going through rather than the terrible things that were being said about her.

This book is dedicated to Sean the love of Laura’s life. She wants to thank him for all the golden years.

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I enjoyed this book. It was very well written and well thought out. The ending was fantastic. We follow Adele from the death of her Grandmother through finding her mothers diary and all the way back to the place she was born. Her whole life nothing is as she was told, now she has the chance to delve into her past but the things she finds can change her life forever, or cost her her life.
Suspenseful from start to finish, i recommend this book.
The only reason it lost a star from me is i found there were to many many characters and their roles were not always necessary, it was a lot to follow and it took away from the story a little bit.

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The premise of this book is promising and it deals with a sensitive and sad issues.

It deals with Adele's journey to know how her mother died all those years ago.
Her grandmother refuses to talk, and after her death Adele discovers her mother's diary.
What she found there was so heartbreaking and she sets on a dangerous journey seeking justice for her mother.

I mentioned earlier in my review that the premise was promising, however the execution lacked in my opinion. Although I see that fellow reviewers liked it, so it's a matter of personal taste.
There were many side characters and it was hard to keep track of who is who, also the pace seemed too slow for my taste. Also unfortunately I wasn't really surprised by the ending.
However, I really applaud the author for gracefully tackling a rather sensitive subject matter.

Thanks Netgalley, the publisher and author for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

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This book focussed on Adele and her journey to discover the truth surrounding her birth. It takes on a sensitive subject matter, which I applaud the author for being brave enough to do. Due to this it was uncomfortable reading at certain points during the book.
I did like the character of Adele and her determination to get to the truth regarding past events.
Unfortunately though, I was left feeling underwhelmed by this book. The premise of the story was set up well, but I really felt whole thing lacked any pace and could have ended about 50 pages earlier than it did. There were a lot of characters to keep track of which became confused at times. There was no big twist that I didn’t see coming.
Sadly, this one is not for me, but thank you to @netgallery and @bookouture for this advanced copy to review

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Wow! What’s the heck happened??? I really enjoyed reading this book and it was soooo good!
Loved that they had kind of secrets and a few lies...

Thanks to Netgalley for Laura Elliot, Bookouture, and Publishers..A exchange honest review

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Having read several of this author’s books I was looking forward to this one and it doesn’t disappoint.

Adele’s mum Marianne passed away when Adele was born. All of her life she has been asking questions with regard to her mum but her grandmother wouldn’t talk about her. When Adele’s grandmother dies, she comes across her mum’s diary which details the last months of her life. What Adele discovers sends her into a tailspin and she is determined to seek justice for her mum.

As Adele takes up residence in Marianne’s old home town, she is determined to gather information regarding the past but she is thwarted at every turn so she decides to put segments of the diary on social media and sets the cat amongst the pigeons.

A gripping heartbreaking read which had me hooked from the start and kept me reading well into the night. I would recommend this book.

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Although this book has many five star ratings, I found I didn’t particularly enjoy it. Of course it is focusing on a very sensitive subject but I just found the book totally lacked pace. There were a lot of characters to deal with and I felt it could have concluded much earlier.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

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I very much enjoyed but very sad how Adele finds out is heart breaking once you start you wont want to stop to find out very gripping a must read book

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I’ve just finished this and loved every bit of it.
While Adele is clearing out the attic of her Grandma’s house following her death, she comes across a backpack hidden in the rafters. The backpack contains items which belonged to Adele’s mother who died shortly after giving birth to her. The discovery of this backpack leads Adele on a journey which will turn not only her world upside down.
Laura has once again written a book which kept me wanting to read so much I struggled to put it down.
As Adele searches for the truth behind what happened to her mother, she returns to Reedstown where her mother was from originally and there discovers the lengths people will go to to protect themselves..
I would highly recommend this book

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I really enjoyed this book which tells the story of Adel's determination to find out the truth about her mother who suffered an unimaginable event in her life. Adel had her mother taken from her shortly after her birth and when she is clearing her deceased grandmothers house she finds a diary which tells of a violent sexual attack. Although Adel is preparing to leave for the US with her fiance she she is consumed with the need to uncover the truth of what happened, all those years ago in the sleepy Irish village.

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An emotional read. It is easy to forget that this story is fiction as it will be relatable to many on a number of different levels.

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This book was fast paced. Hard to put down. It flowed well and it was very well written. It caught hold of me and had me hooked from the start . I was literally on the edge of my seat reading this book.

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A very well written novel, dealing with harrowing themes with care and compassion. I was hooked from page one and couldn’t put it down.

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A gripping, intense book that kept me turning the pages. I liked the the way the tension built slowly and the screws tightened on the culprits. It was well written and held my interest from start to finish.

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