A compelling and heartbreaking tale shrouded in mystery and deceit.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Each chapter delves into the life of a character. Following their family and school life, the influence of those around them and ultimately how that shapes the path their future lies upon.

Some of the characters are left unnamed, this at times was a bit confusing but their stories and individual traits were so well written that I was hooked to find out more.

I think ultimately the power of this particular story comes once you’ve finished the book. I’m not one for spoilers so I won’t tell you what happens other than there is an unexpected twist at the end.

The end of this book leaves open just as many questions as the rest of the book created. So, my initial reaction was ‘what? It ends there?’ But as I mentioned, the ending is one that stays with you and makes you reconsider what you simply read and accepted.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was an interesting, disturbing read and I had to read and read and read some more so I would k ow what happened. It kept me reading all day. Disturbing, scary, creepy it was a good read although there were some loose ends left that I would have liked to see be tied up. All in all a good weekend read.

A twisted plot written by the author when Danni's husband and two of her kids were killed in a fire, suspected to be arson. Only she and the eldest daughter, Mia, were the sole survivors but Mia didn't speak. She was locked in shock and terror. 
A dysfunctional family with lies abounding it was the core of the book. The story was steady paced as slowly the truth unfurled. There was the theme of abuse and infidelity written it, but at times, it got to me and forced me to skim read. The story had dual timelines but not written with clarity. I kept being taken unawares. The premise was good but needed a sharper way of telling me the story. 
Overall it was an okay read.

Sadly, this book was not for me. Aside from the fact that the timelines and different threads of the story are jumbled and hard to keep track of, there were a few areas that I just found too problematic for this to be an enjoyable read. The author states that the book is focused on a woman struggling with her mental health, but actually this just feels like a way to introduce a shock factor into the book, rather than ever actually seeing this woman receiving the help and support she so obviously needs. There are also some fairly graphic sex scenes involving what I understood to be borderline underage teenagers, and these just made me really uncomfortable.

The main character here is Danni, who loses her husband and two children in a house fire which is found to be arson. She survives, along with her older daughter Mia. Since the incident Mia does not speak and has shrunken into herself. The book follows Danni trying to work out what happened that night and try and work out who would want to harm her family. 

This was a thriller that intrigued me from the start, and held my attention. The more we found out the more I was convinced who was responsible however the twists kept coming. The final twist was brilliant and surprising and one I did not see coming at all. I thought the plot was great, and loved the flashbacks that appeared throughout, and the fact that we did not know who they were referring to until the end. Would recommend this and will be looking out for more by this author!

This book started off great and I was really enjoying it but unfortunately it seemed to lose itself along the way and I started to lose interest. An ok read

SOME SCENES MAY BE UPSETTING. 

They say family is forever. But what if it isn't? What would you do if your family were there one moment and gone the next? That's exactly what happened to Danni Brooks. 

Danni and Joe are happily married and fell in love at high school and they have three children, Mia Alexandra and Noah. 

One night, Danni is sleeping when she is woken by the urgent barking of their dog outside in his kennel. She rushes to his side only to get locked out when the door shuts. Try as she might, she cannot get back in. 

Flames have engulfed where her dear family are sound asleep. She tries to wake them with no success and her daughter Mia escapes. 

They huddle together shocked and scared. That is the last night Mia will speak.....

Danni must piece together what happened if she is to get justice for her family. 

WOW, I was hooked from the first page to the last. I felt the fear and sadness run through me and it is as if I were there that night. The characters are the family and a few others and this helped with how visual and gripping the novel was. 

The Silent Daughter is the first Kirsty Ferguson novel I have reviewed and she really knows how to pull at your heartstrings and create a twisty, dark thriller you will never forget. At least, I won't. This is one of my favourite thrillers of 2020. It is so well written, gripping twisty and the tough subjects are dealt with in such a way that the suspense does not stop.

I definitely want to find more books by Kirsty Ferguson. 

Thanks to Kirsty Ferguson, Rachel's Random Resources and Boldwood books for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. 

5 stars.

This book had potential, but it did not work out for me. I think it was going to be  great thriller, but the plot holes ruined it for me. There is a difference between when I can guess what is going to happen vs when things just do not make any sense in the story. I was sad because I did enjoy it for the most part. perhaps with a fixing of the plot holes, it could be a better story.

This was a great read, enjoyed it thoroughly, great storyline and loads of twists and turns , highly recommend this book x

This book was that good I went and bought another book this author had written. I didn’t see the twist at the end coming at all, very highly recommended!

When a house fire takes the lives of Danni Brooks’ husband and 2 of her three children, it leaves nothing but devastation in its wake. Danni and her daughter Mia are left picking up the pieces after the tragedy they have gone through. When the fire is determined to be arson, Danni sets out on a quest to find the culprit behind it all before her last remaining child is taken from her as well. But with secrets and lies weaved through the pages, the truth isn’t always that simple.

The story starts out nice and slow and before you know it you are thrown right into the thick of things as the story starts to intensify. I wouldn’t necessarily say my attention was captured right from the beginning, but then a certain point hits and I found myself flipping through the pages in order to find out the truth. There is something to say about a slow burn that can easily flip the switch in a heartbeat and captivate you all the way through with an unreliable narrator, secrets, lies and half-truths aplenty.

The SIlent Daughter is rather dark in nature, raw and unfiltered. There are a lot of scenes of abuse and they are definitely not for the faint of heart. Kirsty Ferguson hits her readers hard with the emotional impact abuse can take on a person, but also shows how one can also endure through heartache and pain.

Danni is suffering a great loss.  Her husband and her two young children have perished in a house fire.  She is sure that she and her older daughter were meant to die with them .. but who hates them that much to want to wipe out an entire family?

Her 17-year-old daughter, Mia,  is so traumatized she barely talks.  Danni is desperate to know what really happened that night, but everyone around her seems to have a hidden agenda.

Danni was horribly abused and bullied when she was a child ... by her older sister.  Danni's husband was once her sister's boyfriend .. you can imagine how well that went over!  She hasn't spoken to her sister in 20 years.  Would her sister, at this late date, still be angered enough to kill the family?

Mia is also a victim of bullying  by another classmate.  There is also a young man who follows Mia constantly, taking pictures of her.  Mia wants nothing to do with either of them, but no matter how hard she tries to stay in the shadows, these two cause her untold misery.  Could either of these young people go so far as to kill everyone in Dannie's family?

Eventually it comes out that her husband had been cheating on her .... with whom is the surprise.  She keeps pushing him to leave his family, but he'd finding it harder than he thought.  Did his lover get tired of waiting and decide to kill them all?

Well-written is story is told in segments from the past to today.  Warning:  There are a couple of chapters that leave the identity  of the person 'speaking' unknown.   It's suspenseful from  the very first page.  The characters are deftly drawn and the ending just took me totally by surprise.  Never saw that coming!  There are plenty of suspects to follow and wait for them to reveal their secrets and lies.

Many thanks to the author / Boldwood Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller.  Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Wow. Definitely one of the better reads this year. I have definitely recommended this book too many friends and colleagues.

he story revolves around the main character mostly in her adult  life but we get flashbacks into her childhood as she silently suffering through a mental illness that the main character wasn't even aware that she suffered from until the very end of the book. I also found that there were some side stories in the novel that I'm not sure that they needed to be included because they had no relevance to the main plot. 

I found the story to be a little confusing as it went back and forth to past she present of Danni, the main characters life, until almost the end where it really came into view what was going on and the rest of the story came into focus and made sense.
Danni a mother of three finds herself locked out of her farmhouse watching her house burn to the ground with her family image inside.  Luckily her eldest daughter escaped. The reminder of the book is watching Danni with her daughter trying to cope and mourn the loss of her family. Her older sister who was quite abusive to her in her childhood is back in the picture tormenting Danni and blackmailing her for insurance money from the fire.  The only issue is the fire was ruled an arson. As we have flashbacks to Danni's childhood we learn that it wasn't the best and ultimately disvover that Danni has been silently dealing with a mental illness that even herself wasn't aware of.

Trigger warning – rape,  abuse, and mental illness

Danni Brooks wakes up in the middle of the night, heads outside to see what the dog is barking at and essentially get locked out – next thing she sees her house go up in flames with her husband and three children inside! Mia her oldest manages to get out by smashing her bedroom window and from here the story revolves around the fire investigation.

The book is told from Danni’s view from her past during her childhood suffering bullying and abuse from her older sister Beth to the present dealing with the aftermath of the fire and trying to coax her daughter Mia into not falling into a pit of darkness. There are several points of view from other characters that you begin to wonder who they are and how they relate to Danni, and once all is releveled I was not expecting that twist not only that we were thrown with another twist right at the very end!!

I really enjoyed this book and it was a 5 star read for me as once I started it I could no put it down = one word of warning the bullying, rape and abuse is very central theme but very essential to tell Danni’s tale.

5 stars

Where to start to review The Silent Daughter by Kirsty Ferguson? I have just finished this story and I'm still trying to digest everything I've read. At the heart of the tale is a family drama that revolves around our main character Danni Brooks. And, when I started to learn about Danni's childhood, I couldn't help but feel a strong emotional connection. As a mother I just wanted to reach into the pages and scoop her up to protect her. 

The story bounces around from past and present narrative, from numerous characters. And, I must admit there were times that I needed to be more focused to understand where in time I was. 

But, what interested me in all this jumping around were the chapters from two unknown characters, they were nameless but I still felt drawn into their storyline. Wondering how they are linked to the main story. My mind went into overdrive trying to solve the mystery of their identities. 

There are a few aspects to this storyline that may be tough for some people to read. But, it gave the characters depth and made us want to know more. 

The Silent Daughter is definitely a gripping thriller that will keep you guessing as to what the outcome will be. The intertwining storylines are weaved to perfection culminating in an unforgettable conclusion.

The Silent Daughter by Kirsty Ferguson is her newest thriller and as I always notice with Kirsty Ferguson she does nothing by halves. She always grabs you right from the start and refuses to let go until you have got to the last words. This book is a graphic and quite violent drama. 
Danni and Joe have been married for twenty years, high school sweethearts. They have three children, Mia, Alexandra and Noah, these kids are her life. One night she is woken by the dog barking, she gets up and goes to check it out outside, leaving everyone else in bed. Upon going outside the door closes behind her. As she attempts to wake up anyone in the house to open the door for her, she notices the house is on fire. Mia, knocks her out of her shock as she smashes her window to jump out to safety. The rest of the family die in the fire, leaving Danni and Mia bereft. Whilst attempting to come to terms with their loss, the police inform her it was arson.. danni has no clue who would hate them that much to kill them all while they slept.
This is a hard hitting, emotional, dark and raw story. The realism within this book will hit some like a brick. We all make life choices and they are, for some by necessity because of the hard life they lead. We see Danni’s journey to attempt to discover who would do such a terrible thing. There are graphic images of abuse but this puts Danni’s state of mind and her motivations into perspective. 
An excellently plotted story with just the right pace and oh, so many emotions run through your head, which makes for a disturbing but engrossing read, and the ending, well, yoy will have to see for yourself.
Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources, NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my copy of this brilliant book. To write this review today.

The Silent Daughter is a thriller with a twist you won't see coming. It's filled with secrets, lies, and some subject matter that may be triggering to more sensitive readers.
As someone who enjoyed Never Ever Tell, another taut thriller with a twist ending from Kirsty, I was excited to read The Silent Daughter. And I wasn't disappointed.
The story starts with Danni, a married mom of three who is unable to sleep. She hears the family dog barking outside and heads out to see what's going on. When she tries to go back inside, she discovers she's locked out of her house. More than that, though, her house is on fire...with her family trapped inside. Her eldest, Mia, manages to escape, but her husband and other two children aren't so lucky. Devastated, Danni and Mia have to figure out where to go, what to do, and how to start rebuilding. 
But not everything is what it seems...
I really enjoyed this one, although it was a bit tough at times to read. There's a lot of bullying and abuse in this one, and as someone who has suffered both (at home, at school, and in my first marriage), it was a little distressing at times. And while I felt for both Danni and Mia, I didn't quite connect with them. I did absolutely hate Beth, Danni's sister, and Julie, another character who is awful and a bully. 
There's a lot going on in this story, and trying to figure it all out is definitely a daunting task. But it's well worth the read.
If you're into intense thrillers with a twist ending, check out The Silent Daughter.
4 stars!

This is the emotionally charged,heart breaking story of one girl's struggles with abuse whilst growing up and as a adult to connect with her eldest daughter after the other members of their family are killed when a devastating fire destroys their home. The story slips back and forth in time and is narrated by multiple individuals but the main characters are Danni and her seventeen year old daughter Mia. In the chapters that were set in the past, we learnt about Danni's shocking upbringing whilst living with her alcoholic mother and sadistic older sister Beth. Her lonely life and lack of friends,how she was one of the invisible misfits at school until popular handsome Joe walked into her life, how to everyone's surprise and Beth's disgust, Danni and Joe started dating, Danni fell pregnant with baby Mia and they got married and moved into the old farmhouse. Seventeen years later,they have two more children,their marriage is on the rocks and Mia is struggling with her mental health,feels neglected by her parents and is being stalked by a boy called Oliver. You would have hoped that after the neglect that Danni had experienced whilst growing up that she would have wanted to have a loving relationship with her children but apart from the alcohol bit, it appeared that Danni was repeating her own mother's uncaring treatment with her own daughter. 

Most of the characters who appeared throughout this story were unlikable for various reasons, my favourite was poor mentally scared Mia. I felt a lot of sympathy for young, tormented Danni, the treatment that she received from many of the people she encountered whilst she was growing up was both shocking and heart breaking. I had mixed feelings about Oliver,he was another kid who had a tough time at home and although his money scheme was wrong, I understood why he behaved the way that he did. Interspersed throughout the book was chapters that were narrated by two female characters but who were they and how did they fit into the story?

The plot of this well written,hard hitting,thought provoking thriller covers a multitude of realistic, relatable issues, abuse, bullying, mental health issues, infidelity, victim blaming, parenting, obsession, issues that affect many people everyday of their lives. The author has written about the characters who are affected by these issues with care, understanding and sensitivity. It's a captivating tale that has some unexpected twists and turns including a mind blowing twist towards the end of the book and the ending was heart breaking and a total shock.The story would raise some interesting and intense discussions of the book was read by members of a book club due to the sensitivity of some of the issues that are raised by the author as the story unfolds. I really enjoyed this enthralling drama/thriller and would happily read more of this author's books in the future.

If you’ve been reading my blog posts or watching my Booktube videos, you might have noticed that I’ve been addicted to reading thrillers in the past few months. So, when I was given the chance to jump on to this tour, I felt so excited.

I was so happy that I made the decision, because, boy, did I enjoy this book!

The Silent Daughter is a story revolving around Danni, who lost her house, her husband, and her two kids in a fire. She is left with her daughter, Mia, who has been pretty silent since the incident. However, Danni strictly believes that somebody deliberately planned on burning the house. The thing is, who is it?

As we try to unravel the culprit for Danni losing most of her family, the book brings up to different timelines. There was alternating present and past narratives, but the stories were mixed up in terms of a linear form. At first, it can be a little confusing because there is also an unnamed character telling her story between every few chapters. But this pacing made the book much more interesting. Watching the story unfold is so nerve wracking – you don’t have to worry about dull moments!

If you’re not into dark themes, this book might not be for you. It has graphic sexual content, vulgar words, and check on the content warnings mentioned above.

Overall, I had a great time with my first Kirsty Ferguson book. Her writing style fits my taste and I hope to read her future works.