Sorry to say I DNF this book.I found it slow and boring which was dissapointing as I was looking forward to reading it, really tried to stick with it but no I'm sorry I had to give up in the end.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General UK for the ARC.

As usual in my reviews, I will not rehash the plot.

I have to say that although I finished this book, I did not enjoy it. The story deals with dark themes - including suicide, grief, loss, rape, domestic violence and sexual abuse - and although well written, made me feel depressed. I guess that's a sign of how good the writing is - sucessfully getting across the effects of all the darkness on those it happens to and also those around them.

Not recommended if you are likely to be upset or triggered by any of the above mentioned themes.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

Most of the story centres around Jenny a fourteen-year-old girl, who was found wandering the streets covered in blood. Tests revealed that the blood wasn’t hers, but she had been sexually assaulted and traumatised. Now Detective Laura Shaw, a victim interviewer, with her partner Niamh, have to find out what exactly has happened.

When her mother and brother are found unconscious and badly injured in a crashed car, the hunt for her missing step-father is stepped-up. If all the blood from Jenny’s clothes is from him, the chances are that he is dead or dying. But Jenny will only tell her side of what has happened through several fairy tales that are difficult to decipher. There is so much more to this story than you first think.

It is not an easy read as it walks you through the lives of Jenny, her mum, brother and step-father. The way that Jenny copes with it all to re-tell her life is remarkable, clever and distracting. The author has her characters perfected. Jenny, Laura and Niamh, all have voices in this story, with some shocking revelations about their pasts and how circumstances affect their current mental state.

It is a great read, tense with an urgency that could mean life and death for someone.

I wish to thank Net Galley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book that I have reviewed honestly.

I had high hopes for this novel as the blurb sounded amazing and right up my street. Unfortunately I got only part way through as I just could not seem to get on with this novel at all.

We meet two women who are trained in victim interviews and we meet Jenny a youngster who is an assault victim and literally makes no sense in what she is saying.

I always feel defeated when giving up on a book and I really do try and stick with a novel as I realise that sometimes books can take a while for the reader to get into but I just could not get on with this novel. I found it was leaping all over and I started to skip read which is my warning sign that I need to leave it alone.

Thanks to Gill Perdue, NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel.

I liked the sound of this one and it had so much potential.

Sadly I found it very muddled and jumped around so much and so fast that I could not keep reading it. It all seemed to blend into each other and I lost concentration with it.

Thanks for the chance to read it but it was not for me

Detective Laura Shaw is good at her job, although since the birth of her daughter she sees danger everywhere.
Then she meets Jenny.
Jenny is 14 years old and has been assaulted. Her mother and brother are injured and her step father is missing but the blood on her isn't human.
But Jenny is in a fairy tale world of her own and can Laura interpret it before its to late. But has Laura been there herself and can she help Jenny?

I really don't know how I feel about this book, the story line was strong and well written but it took me a good 30/40% of the book to start to enjoy it. Although enjoy is not the right word because it deals with dark subjects-domestic violence, sexual assault, mental health. It does demonstrate the huge affect these have not only on the victims but their loved ones too.
I can't say I really warmed to any of the characters however as the book went on I couldn't stop to reading to see what would happen.
All in all, I didn't hate it but didn't love it however I think it will stay with me for a while.

I am very sad to say I had to DNF this book.
The story just did not seem to budge at all, it seemed like one of the main characters had a lot of undealt-with trauma, so to think she was qualified and fit to perform this interview just makes her plain bad at her job.
Also, I felt like I saw what the author is trying to deliver by presenting the 14-year old's perspective the way it was written, but it made for a jarring read.
I did not connect with any of the characters either and did not care for them at all.
I kept on making excused not to pick this book up again and again, so I decided to just leave it as a 'did not finish'. Life's too short.
All in all, I did not enjoy the writing (it sort of felt like driving a car with square wheels for me) or the premise.
Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC, but with sadness in my heart, I still have to give it one star.

This tense thriller is narrated from three different viewpoints: two police detectives by the names of Laura and Niamh, and a teenage girl called Jenny, who is found in the street covered in blood and brought to an adult psychiatric ward. The two policewomen are hoping to interview her, but Jenny is not communicating. When it transpires that her mother and brother are also recovering from grave injuries and that their abusive, violent stepfather is missing, it appears a clear cut case….or is it?
From the beginning it is clear that this is going to be a book about physical and domestic abuse, but still I was not prepared for how graphic its language would be. It is understandable that such serious topics need to be adequately discussed in appropriate language, but there is also something to be said for challenging the reader’s imagination, rather than spelling everything out in brutal language that sometimes appeared nothing short of contrived. I found it hard to get to grip with the repetitive language choices ; some of the interview transcripts were also overly long. I wish to thank NetGalley for the free ARC that allowed me to read this book in exchange for this review but was left with the impression, having read the final pages, that this book would have benefitted from a good edit.

Thank u for the early release copy.

This was a fantastic read,Laura Jenny and Niamh were fantastic character's I love the way the story end no bits to tie and it a explain will definitely be looking for more by the author.

Jenny, a teenage girl is found in a dreadful state. She has been raped and is covered in blood. Her mother and brother are found in the family car some time later, both seriously injured and her stepfather is missing, Laura and Niamh, the gardai interviewing her, suspect that Jenny knows something about this but Jenny speaks only to tell fairy tales and time is running out.

I think it must be the mood I'm in but I just couldn't relate to this book at all. I found it repetitive at times and quite frustrating as a) it was very clear what was going on with Jenny and b) Laura, the more experienced of the guards had issues of her own that interfered with her ability to do her job. Laura with her lack of insight into her own failings was a particularly irritating character. On the plus side, the writing is very good. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I do love a good thriller and mystery but for me this was too slow to get going and I couldn’t finish it on this occasion.

Sorry, dnf. Very slow and boring, with the repetition of ‘dumb bitch’ showing a marked lack of vocabulary. All the characters were one dimensional and the Garda extremely unprofessional and therefore unbelievable. I really hate giving bad reviews, but I was finding excuses not to pick up my kindle and read it; even doing some cleaning as a diversion. This is when I decided to give up on it.

From the blurb this book held great promise, and started off intriguing. However, the story just did not move on. Countless repetitions during the interview, and really did we need so much dumb bitch?

Laura was strange, so consumed by her OCD yet acted completely out of character towards the end of the book. Would she really have been allowed to return to her job? Never mind that she shouldn’t have held that role in the first place!!

There were a few flashes of brilliance in the writing, and I really liked the way that the author phrased certain events.

There are deeply disturbing issues raised in this book, and on the whole they were handled well, but the story was too dragged out and the actions of the Garda silly and unbelievable.

2.5* rounded up to 3*

Thank you NetGalley.

This is an unsettling story but showing deep understanding of the issues surrounding domestic abuse. The story of Jenny, brought in for interviews by the Dublin Garda, is rich in understanding and empathy. She has been abused by her stepfather who has disappeared. Her mother and brother are severely injured. She finds it difficult to tell her tale and resents the intrusion by the lead interviewer, Laura. It is a weakness of the book that Laura appears to be more emotionally damaged than Jenny. If the book was solely about that damaged teenager, it would be better. There is a great detail of fanciful description which makes it a long read.

Laura and Niamh are detectives specially trained in interviewing victims.
They are called to speak to Jenny, a non-responsive teenager found covered in blood by the roadside. Jenny’s stepfather is missing and the team is under pressure to find out information.
Laura, who normally excels at her work appears to be wrongfooted by this case and the victim and eventually takes some risky decisions to get answers.
The Interview is a struggle for a number of reasons. The small amount of information being disclosed by Jenny is presented as a fairy-tale, blurring the lines with reality and it is often impossible to know if Jenny is speaking in her own head or aloud. As a device, this would be fine in the context of solid characters and clear direction, but both are lacking.
Laura is difficult to empathise with in terms of her background and her current behaviour as is Jenny’s mum, and the interviews seem endless, going over and over the same stuff.
There is however, a sincerity and lack of self-consciousness in the descriptions of the violations. The imprint left on the victims is portrayed in a way which truly reveals the horror to which they have been subjected.

Really enjoyed it. A bit disturbing, and sometimes a little disjointed and hard to follow, but it was well written and you had a lot of sympathy for the characters.

The Interview, the interminable interview as I prefer to remember it by. Some very serious subjects form the skeletal shape of this novel. The interview occupies at least a third of the novel and whilst it tries to expose the thought processes of a teenage girl in deep shock, it's hard not to feel both ennui and frustration. If you're a lover of the phrase, 'Dumb bitch', then this is the book for you, it's used ad nauseam in the teenager's thought processes. I asked my partner if she thought in swear words (because I couldn't recollect if I did) and she couldn't recollect it either. Yes, for sure when it's vocalised but never in thought. I realise an author doesn't have the luxury of thought conveyance other than in the written word but less can be more when it comes to swearing. Laura the SVI (Special Victim Interviewer) would never have done what she did to bring the novel to a conclusion. Taking the victim out of hospital without the authority to do so and as for putting down a sidearm when it could have been holstered, just beggars belief. For me it was a powerful story poorly executed.

I was looking forward to reading this but just couldn’t get into it and stopped reading it. I don’t really like disturbing books. Thanks to Netgalley.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Fantastic story and characters. I stayed up late to finish reading as I literally could not put this down. Highly recommended.