Wow! The Trapped Daughter is a well written thriller. Once I started it, I did not want to put it down. The characters were well developed. I never knew who to trust with the truth. This is the first book I have read by Jay Kerk, but it will not be the last.


Thank you to NetGalley and Jay Kerk for the digital arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was not what I thought it would be based on the description but I thought it was really good. It's written in the first person perspective of Belle, who informs you she's being held captive by her father and his girlfriend. But all is not as it seems. Very powerful and raw, it's a deep dive into the mind of those who suffer from mental illness. Highly recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley and Dr, Jay Kerk for the arc.

Belle is a young woman who is living in Richard's mansion. Richard is her father, and according to Belle, he is keeping her there against her will... as a prisoner. Belle wants to leave and go back to the life she had before with Gabe. She is in love with Gabe, but she feels her father is sedating her and keeping her from her true love. Why would her father keep her away from the one she loves? What is going on with her taking medication she feels she doesn't need? There is more here than meets the eye. Jay Kerk did a great job with this story and the characters. I feel like he really captured Belle's feelings. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley.

With the theme of mental illness, this story really did take on a life of its own. I wasn't sure if what was unfolding was truly happening or if it was all something created by the mind. With everyone telling you one thing but to experience something completely different, I now realize can be a mind-f$ck for sure.
This book gets real about creativity, art, longing, love, and the belief that what you experience is the only reality. Within the instability I still wanted more for her, to either figure it out or totally absorb into it.
Fantastic read!

I guess I am in the minority here but I thought this book was terrible! Very hard to understand and know what was going on and there really wasn’t a “plot”. Very repetitive that I skimmed whole pages and I had no connection to the characters. I would not recommend this book.

I absolutely loved the first half of "The Trapped Daughter" - Kerk does a great job of dropping you into a mystery and letting you find your way out of it as the story builds.

The problem is that although it has a great foundation, it feels as though there's something lacking between the story that you're reading - and the ending that you get. To be honest, I actually have no idea how Kerk (or any reader) even GOT to the ending.

Despite the disappointing ending, I still enjoyed the strong start/middle of this book - but should you decide to read it, just know you will be disappointed by the ending.

But thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the chance to read this one - It was certainly an interesting trip!

I am a huge fan of psychological thriller books. However, I have a tough time thinking of this book in that genre. I appreciate the author taking on a story about mental illness and the highs and lows a person deals with.

I felt this story was so very repetitive with Belle saying/thinking the same thing over and over in most of the chapters. The ending seemed rushed and really didn't explain Belle getting "better" or truly how/who she was during her lows. I think a little more back story from someone's perspective would have gone a long way with this story. The characters just weren't very defined.

This wasn't a bad book, just not one I enjoyed.

The Trapped Daughter was an unusual read. The point of view was completely from the main character, Belle. Belle is being held prisoner and on high doses of medication. Are things as they seem? This was a fast read

What a whirlwind of a thriller! I loved this book! This thriller is about a girl about college age Belle, who is being held prisoner in her father's house against her will. He says she is sick and delusional. Or is she? She tells a different story. All that Belle wants is to be released and back out in the world with her boyfriend Gabe. But what is the truth? It has so many twists and turns, just when I thought I had it figured out, I found out I was wrong. This is the first book I've read by Jay Kerk, but I will be reading more. Thanks to the author, Jay Kerk Books, and Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

The Trapped Daughter by Jay Kerk is a slow psychological thriller that was not as engrossing as I thought it would be, from the blurb.

I felt like I was on a merry-go-round, and I desperately wanted to get off! It is quite easy to determine what is going on with Belle and I felt the relentless pursuit of Gabe and the constant harping on about her situation quite tedious.

So much more could have been done with the storyline (a fantastic premise!). I kept reading because I hoped for a shocking plot twist. It didn’t come. And while the ending of a psychological thriller should still leave a little to the imagination, I did not find this ending satisfying in the least.

#netgalley #thetrappeddaughter #jaykerk #jaykerkbooks

This one was weird... Of course, I've come to expect that from Jay Kerk, and it's usually a good kind of weird. I found this one a lot slower going than my previous experience with his work though, and I admit I struggled with it a little bit and skim-read a fair chunk of the middle as a result...

I like the premise and I like the way things wrapped up, although it felt a little tidy, like it was hurriedly explained given the tremendous amount of detail that preceded the revelations, I still think it was an interesting approach and concept for all that though, and if you like your psychological thrillers a bit of kilter, this one might be for you.

I received a complimentary copy of The Trapped Daughter from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Excellent psychological thriller! I think I had it figured out by the end, but it was still good fun watching the chaos unfold. Some of Belle's situations were sad or just plain frightening. What a great point of view--I always love an unreliable narrator!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Why is Belle a captive in her father's house? Why is his personal assistant turned lover helping to keep her prisoner? Dr. Rossetti waiting in the wings to take her away. They are drugging her, hoping she'll forget. It is clear that something has happened but what?

Belle tells her story between the present and in flashbacks. She is convinced that Gabe is the reason she is here. Belle makes efforts to alert the outside world of her situation but to no avail. After biding her time, the opportunity comes for her to make her escape. Out in the real world things just aren't adding up. She can't make contact with Gabe. His number is disconnected. so she has to go to his work where she is threatening the staff to get him to come. But he doesn't come Her father does-with Dr. Rossetti.

Belle wakes up in the mental ward. Two months later she is living at her dad's and loving life. Huh?

This book had great suspense and build up but it ended too quickly, wrapped up too easy. And I still have questions? When was Belle Gabe? Was she famous? Was Gabe some sort of a nom de plume? Was her best artistic work when she was psychotic? Was she bipolar? Paranoid Schizophrenia?

I feel that some of these answers could have been given without tarnishing the message of the story.

This is a really fast read. It drew me in from the beginning and even though I had an idea of what was happening with the main character the writing kept me wanting to keep reading. The ending was wrapped up nicely. Thank you to NetGalley and Jay Kerk for the opportunity to read this book!!

Narrated in the first person, the main character, Belle, has been imprisoned by her father and his partner Marie in a fortress of a house. This lies deep in forested countryside where wolves are said to roam, with absolutely no access to the outside world, and with absolutely no access to social media, or to a phone. A gilded cage this home is, as this is clearly a very well-to-do family: Belle is fed and watered with excellent food, on condition that she take the new meds that have been prescribed for her.

The prisoner refuses the meds by vomiting them up in the bathroom and through plotting escape, away from this vile abuse of her basic rights. She also plans revenge against a former and brilliant partner, Gabe, who stole or her creative ideas and brilliance for hself. Yet her captors say that Gabe does not exist.

So is this about an unreliable narrator, or does her father really hope ultimately to have her locked up for good?

This is an intriguing kind of a psychological thriller, though the ending is not quite what a reader might normally expect (though still a very interesting take, and original in this context). It is as suspenseful as might be hoped, and as gothically oppressive in atmosphere, as it is wondered if Belle will truly rediscover her freedom and sutonomy.

I was very disappointed in this book. It felt like it just kept going in circles. It’s pretty obvious early on what’s happening with Belle with not much build up. The ending left a lot to be desired.
I almost DnF this on several occasions. It is a short read, but not an enjoyable one. I give this 2.5 stars.

First thank you to netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was an excellent, even if hard to read at times due to subject matter. It's a story of three women whose friendship has been unbreakable since they were young girls. They're all married with children and they each have a son in high school who seem to be just as close as the women were. Everything is perfect. Until it's not. The book grabs you from the start when tragedy strikes and then slowly weaves its way through each woman's perspective of the tragedy and reveals secrets some long held, some new and shocking about each of them. I think this book is an important one for sure for anyone to read. We can't shy from reading about subjects that "upset" us and pretend like they don't happen. That said, if it's something you personally have lived through and know more than needed about their are a few trigger warnings here, namely domestic abuse, death of a child, end of life care, and gun violence (though the last in actual description is very minimal). I would recommend this book to anyone. It's a great story, and it's real. I appreciate the author doesn't ever shy away from the real details of difficult topics.

A story full of dark twisted half truths and and insecurities. Belle was betrayed by her best friend Gabe. He would go to her for advice then turn her ideas and talents into his. He never gave her credit for his fame and fortune. Then the women came along. Belle was pushed to the side like so much trash. All she wanted is a little recognition. She never got it. Now she is a prisoner locked in her father's mansion. No way of escaping and no one believes her story. Her ultimate goal is to escape. The medications make her so sleepy and tired and she can't think straight. Everyone is against her. She will find a way to escape!

I had a hard time getting through this one. I know I was supposed to sympathize with her situation, but I didn't find Belle to be very likable, or interesting. There seemed to be some huge hints at how the book would end (actually, the same hint repeated several times) and I saw what was coming, but I'm still not sure I understood the conclusion.

Belle is either very ill, or her father is keeping her at his house against her will for reasons of his own. Belle doesn't want to take her medication and struggles to understand how everything went so wrong with the man she loves, Gabe. Told entirely from Belle's perspective, we get glimpses into her past and present and try to piece together the puzzle that is her life.
I liked the premise, but for me, I think I am so used to more than one narrator in the psychological thrillers I have read, that I became somewhat bored just being inside her head. I didn't love the ending, but after thinking about the story, it did make sense. I would like to say more about her condition, but that would be veering way into spoiler territory, so I will just say I thought it was a different way to highlight the challenges of her life.