Breaking by Amanda Cassidy is a novel that I struggled to finish. I found the story to be dull. The characters were not likeable, especially Dr. Mirren Fitzpatrick. Mirren spends more time at the bar than on the beach. Mirren comes across as cold and unfeeling from the very beginning. She does not love her youngest daughter, Alannah, because she is adopted. We get to know Mirren from the chapters that describe her past. The police investigation is clinical (monotonous). Those chapters are a great cure for insomnia (they put me right to sleep). I ended up skimming through those sections. The investigators lacked depth and were unlikeable. There is a touch of excitement near the end, but it is too little and too late. It is easy to guess what happened to Allanah. The story concludes with a loose end or two. Breaking moved along at a snail’s pace. As you can tell, Breaking was not an enjoyable experience for me. Breaking lacked action, suspense, and emotion as well as relatable characters. Breaking was not my cup of tea.

A good thriller with some very sad issues within. When the mother was caught drinking when her daughter goes missing, I immediately judged her and then, well, the rest of the thriller gets right under your skin!"

I was confused at the start of the book as to where Mirren was. I like it when an author immediately gets you to ‘see’ the setting but in this case I was never sure. However I stuck with it and the writing settled down. So many characters who were difficult to like. I never got a proper image of Nick and then the antagonism between the detectives took things a bit too far when the plot could have be3n exciting enough.
I didn’t see the twist coming but thought it a little far fetched.

Mirrens daughter has gone missing. There is alot more to the story than that though. Is it something to do with Mirren or is it something more sinister? I flew through this book, the plot is very compelling. I loved finding more out about Mirren and her background. I will admit that I was judgmental. I found the POV from Rolle to be more interesting and it really adds something to the story. I enjoyed the authors writing style and would love to read more books by Amanda Cassidy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed feelings on this one. I did not like any of the characters, especially our main character, Mirren. I think she was written to be unlikable, but it made it incredibly hard to root for her, especially her decision at the end of the book. I did enjoy the plot, and I had to keep reading to find out what happened, but I found the book got slow towards the end. I didn’t love this one, but I didn’t hate it either, but I’m not sure I would recommend it.

Slow burner that gripped me at times but other times not so much..Some of the characters were unlikeable. Twist I didn’t see coming at end.
Overall though its an ok read and I would give the next offering a chance. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Canelo for the ARC. Whoa! What the heck? Great writing. You think you know what is happening, you don't. Recommend

3.5 stars for well written and emotional novel about parenthood and how you survive when the worst has happened. Dr. Mirren Fitzpatrick, her husband Nick and daughters Rea and Alanna are vacationing in Florida from their native Ireland. One day during their vacation, young Alanna disappears from the beach. It turned out Mirren was drinking at a nearby bar when her daughter disappeared and she is blamed by the police, the media and. her husband Nick for the disappearance. It didn't quite make sense to me because she had asked her 16 year old daughter to watch Alanna, and certainly 16 is old enough to babysit. The book goes between the story of Mirren which includes flashbacks into her life and Rolle, a detective who is working the case.

Mirren has a lot of guilt because Alanna is adopted and she has never loved her the way she loved her biological daughter. Husband Nick told her during the vacation that he was through with her which is what started her drinking that fateful day. Mirren's own mother was not loving and she found herself not trusting herself to love and she gave most of herself to her medical practice. Mirren does come across as a bit cold but she was treated poorly by both Nick and the police from the beginning. Much of the book is a police procedural dealing with a possible sex trafficking and drug ring operating on Kite Island. Rolle, who transferred from Miami has a difficult time getting along with his superior and dealing with his unhappy wife.

The pace was good and I was invested in finding out what happened to Alanna but I found the big twist toward the end to be unbelievable. There is also unneeded fat shaming in the book ( Rolle meets a woman who also lost her daughter and decides she looks like a "ham" because she is overweight). Characters are also described as bulky or big in a derisive way. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a ARC copy of this book in exchange for a review..

I love the cover. I enjoyed this story and kept me hooked from the beginning. Definitely fast paced and definitely would recommend.

This was a solid debut. I like reading stories with unreliable & unlikeable narrators, and this story had a great example with Mirren. We see how she copes with the disappearance of her youngest daughter while on holiday. Throughout the story, I was torn between two opinions on Mirren - is this her punishment for not loving her adoptive daughter as much as her biological daughter, or will this give her a second chance to prove that she loves them both equally? I also liked the commentary on how parents, especially mothers, of missing children are supposed to act in front of the media. If they don’t fit the specific expectations, then it’s assumed that they’ve done something wrong & it’s their fault their child is missing. All in all, I found this book to be very readable - it was so easy just to sit down & not realize how much time had passed. I did find that it dragged in places, and while the last chapter was open ended, I did feel a bit let down at this. Still, I’m looking forward to seeing what Amanda Cassidy does next.

Demons collide for the protagonist of this story Mirren, a survivor of maternal childhood psychological abuse. Having lost her father she sought love from her employer’s husband. Pregnant, used and discarded she had moved on and built a new life as a successful doctor and mother but her happiness is short lived; unable to bond with her second daughter, her marriage on the rocks
and her mother’s death brings it all to a head. On a make or break holiday and drinking to fill the pain, she leaves her daughter in charge of her sibling. What happens next is every mother’s nightmare. Where is Alannah? Is she still alive and if so, can she be found in time? I’m not telling, read this fast paced, relatable book for yourself, you won’t regret it.
This book is an absolute tour de force. Hands down the best debut novel I’ve read. The only problem with it is where does the author go from here? Surely it doesn’t get better than this?

With thanks to Netgalley, Canelo and the author Amanda Cassidy for the advanced reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Finished ✔️ Breaking by Amanda Cassidy and thoroughly enjoyed it.
4.5 ⭐️’s
Kindle Unlimited: No
Child missing
Mother questioned.
Think you know the story? It’s only begun….
This story draws you in immediately.
There’s a real breathe of fresh air to Cassidy’s approach to storytelling.
The ending is moving and disturbing.
Delivers a confronting examination of maternal love and the expectation that weighs so heavily on women.
Breaking is a hugely satisfying debut.
Expert plot and great characters
An emotional read.
It had me guessing throughout and kept me turning the page.
Absolutely brilliantly written.
Yes, I’d recommend.
#DeesReading #DeesRecs #DeesBookRecommendations #BookNerds #BookLovers #BookNerdProblems #BookNerdsUnited #BookProblems #BookProblems101 #BookNerds101 #Bookworms #BookwormProblems #BooksOfFacebook #DeeTheBookReviewer #DeesReadOfTheDay #DeesBookOfTheDay #DeesBookReviewsOfTheDay #BookReviewer #NewToMeAuthor #AmandaCassidy #ReadOfTheDay #BookOfTheDay

Mirren is on holidays and her daughter goes missing . It is any Mums worst nightmare, The book is a bit slow and the characters are not that relatable. Overall it was a good read and I enjoyed it

I hate giving books such low ratings especially when I do believe that the book has potential and it will appeal to many others, even perhaps myself if I’d read it some other time maybe!
It was just slow and I didn’t like any of the characters, Mirren is portrayed as cold and unmoving and at the start your confronted with the knowledge that she doesn’t love Alannah as much as her Biological daughter Rea.
The two detectives where both so unlikeable too and there didn’t seem to be any depth to the crime parts, they were all so clinical.

Overall it just was too slow and a lack of good characters mean it wasn’t for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for the ARC in return for an honest review.

"Thriller" is a genre that promises to keep readers on the edge of their seats, and this definitely delivers. From the very first page, the tension is palpable, and the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways, making it difficult to put the book down. The characters are well-developed and the author does an excellent job of keeping the reader guessing as to who can be trusted and who is hiding something. The pacing is spot-on, with just the right amount of action and suspense to keep the reader engaged. The writing style is gripping and evocative, making it easy to visualise the scenes and feel the emotions of the characters. The author's attention to detail and ability to create a believable world adds to the overall experience of the book.

Overall, this is an excellent example of the thriller genre. It's a page-turner that will keep readers guessing until the very end and is sure to satisfy fans of the genre. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a good suspenseful read.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

During a visit to Florida from Ireland with her husband, Nick, and her two daughters, Rea and Alannah, Mirren is horrified when her youngest daughter disappears. Mirren is desperate to find Alannah, but the police is suspicious of her, as she was drinking alone at a bar when she disappeared, and the media joins in, quickly turning her into the villain of the story.
Beautiful writing, but too literary to my liking (and for the genre). Not enough dialogue. Crime fiction, could've been a little more thrilling, I felt it dragged most of the time. Dual POVs, one first-person (the mother's), one third-person (the detective), which I'm not a fan of. Dual timelines, past chapters entirely in italics, which I'm also not a fan of. So, it's safe to say I'm not a fan of this novel, but it all comes down to personal preference. The plot was good and included very interesting themes (motherhood, adoption, sibling dynamics, familial dysfunctionality, police corruption).
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved the premise but sadly it didn’t fully deliver for me in terms of a thriller. Mirren is a very unlikeable character.
I am happy that this is Irish fiction.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this arc.

This review will be posted on my Instagram review page, www.instagram.com/kayleyisreading week commencing 27th March!

R E V I E W:

▫️Seems to take its inspiration from a high profile missing child case, I'll let you decide which one you think it is! 😱
▫️There is ALOT of poetic description, which is great to start with but towards the end it was infuriating because it felt like it was taking away from the action.
▫️I also found it repetitive in parts, the various points of view would go over the same scene
▫️There are parts of the story that felt unfinished, in fact I've got more unanswered questions than answered ones... 🤷🏼‍♀️ it's made it a bit forgettable for me, because I feel like I've DNF'd it almost!
▫️The ending is ambiguous which I'm not a huge fan of, I'm sure it's done on purpose and an excellent writers trick, it just ain't for me!
▫️It was compelling enough to read until the end, but mainly because I wanted answers to my questions, which sadly never came...

R A T I N G

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the authors debut novel and what a book! I found this slow to start off but once it gets going you are gripped and I kept guessing until the end and has some standout chapters. I read this very quickly as I wanted to know what happens. I would highly recommend this book.
Huge thanks to Canelo and netgalley for sending me this arc in exchange for my honest review.

An excellent first novel full of dark places and unresolved issues.
A slightly slow start which builds to a heart stopping conclusion which I hadn’t guessed.
Leaves you wondering what will happen to the characters after the final chapter as this isn’t a book with a happy ending .