14 years ago the worst thing happened to Sarah and Michael. Whilst on holiday their 4 year old daughter Abigail disappears and the family try to carry on with their lives not knowing what happened to their child.

14 years later a girl walks into a police station claiming to be the missing Abigail. Can she really have returned after all these years?

This book may as well have been literally glued to my hand as there was no way I was putting it down.

There were plenty of red herrings to keep me hooked and trying to guess how this fabulous story would end.

Already looking for another book from Lauren North!!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Fourteen years after her disappearance while on a family holiday as a 4 year old, Sarah and Michael's daughter Abigail reappears, seemingly out of nowhere, but where has she been all these years and will they finally get to the bottom of what happened at that holiday home?

This was a good mystery, this author is great at giving you all the details but none of the answers, right until they want to! This was done really well again and kept me guessing all the way through.

Another good thriller by Lauren North. It is not appropriate to rehash the plot here as I would not want to give anything away. However, you will realise early on that the main aim for us and the characters in the story, is to find out if the girl who has turned up 14 years after her disappearance, is really Abigail. Her mother seems to understand something which we don't know but need to find out and it takes a while (most of the book) for us to join the dots! A good thriller to keep you reading into the night!

I loved this book. It was different and intriguing. The main question is whether the girl that appears saying she is Abigail, who has been missing for 14 years, is really her. It is written really well and the reader flops back and forth from believing it is her to believing it is not. The perfect mystery because you really don’t know and even once you make up your mind, you question your own belief. To say nothing about how your mind with swirl with trying to figure out the why and how.

Great writing, complex characters.


I received an ARC from Bookouture through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

Fourteen years after Abigail, the daughter of Michael and Sarah Wicks, goes missing, a girl claims to be their missing daughter. If she is Abigail, where has she been all this time? Or is she not who she says she is?
This book is a perfect page-turner, a cliché, but it really is! The characters were well written, so much so that you feel you are there in that moment with them. The effect Abigail’s disappearance had on each family member came through, certainly keeping my interest. Without giving too much away, halfway through, I thought I had figured out where the story was heading. Boy, was I wrong! There is a brilliant twist towards the end that was quite emotional but didn’t leave you hanging or unsatisfied.
Throughout the book, there are changes between the character's POVs and changes in time between the past and present. Usually, I am not keen on overly jumpy timelines, but this was very smooth and added to the plot's intensity. A great book you can relax into that also has a pace that keeps you on the edge. It is thrilling and unpredictable, and a recommended five-star read from me.
Thank you to the author Lauren North, publishers Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced digital copy.

I really really enjoyed this one a lot! I really had to know if she was in fact her daughter. Such an emotional and thrilling ride.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Bookouture for the ARC of #SheSaysShesMyDaughter by #LaurenNorth. First time author for me and I am blown away. This book sucked me in, held me down and twisted me all about. Amazing work. Bravo!!!

Lauren North returns with another cracking story. That grabbed me from the first page and never let go. As the Wick family on holiday on the East Coast of England are rocked to their core when their four-year-old daughter Abi wanders off and is never seen again.

That is until nearly fourteen years later a seventeen year old girl walks into a London police station and claims to be the missing Abigail Wick.

But is she? 

And what really happened fourteen years ago?

And more importantly if this is really Abigail where has she been?

And as the story unfolds all of these questions and more are answered and once again Lauren takes you on a roller coaster journey. That has you questioning EVERYTHING and believing NOTHING!! And I loved every minute of it and seriously I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

And with fantastic pacing, sooo many twists, shocks and surprises. This is another superb read and I would recommend this story and author to all and if you're yet to read any Lauren North novels what are you waiting for??

Loved it!! I would have never guessed who was behind everything until it was finally revealed. I couldn't believe it and felt sad/him/her. All the blame shouldn't be on his/her shoulders. This person definitely has mental issues. A lot of them were caused by the actions and lies of someone else. From the start I wanted to know what happened to Abigail fourteen years ago and is Abi really Abigail? There were so many twists and turns. It was hard to know who to believe. Wouldn't Sarah and Michael recognize their long lost daughter after all those years? Sarah is the only one skeptical about Abigail's return and doesn't believe she's really Abigail, while the rest of the family welcomes the girl with open arms. I really though Sarah's best friend, Janie, had something to do with the abduction. One little secret caused a lifetime of misery and destruction. Everything would have been easier without the lies and deceit. The disappearance of Abigail broke the family, although there were already fractures. I'm not sure how Sarah stayed with Michael, especially after the scandals. She stayed with her husband because of the children, but Daniel and Rebecca already had issues. I couldn't put the book down because I needed to know what really happened.

Definitely recommend the book. It was a great mystery/thriller that kept me guessing until the very end. Loved the characters, story and writing style. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookouture through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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

OMG!!! Lauren North's last minute twist at the end of She Says She’s My Daughter totally shocked the heck out of me! Never did I once think this was how your book was going to end! The bombshells in your book were wickedly good!! My Mind is still trying to wrap my head around this story! SOO GOOD!!!

She Says She’s My Daughter is a story that could be ripped straight from the headlines! It is a truly heartbreaking story that is every parent's worst nightmare come true. After reading this book I just want to give my nieces and nephews a huge hug and never let them go!

Ohh I was NOT a fan of Micheal when I learned all the scandalous things he did!! I was literally yelling at my Kindle!! My thought was why in the world would he do that during the tragic time!!

In the middle of the book I thought I figured out one huge mystery! Ohh how I found out how wrong I was! Lauren is GOOD at throwing us off the trail!

One major life lesson I took away from this book was to follow your initial gut instinct!!

She Says She’s My Daughter is heart wrenching, suspenseful, thrilling, has some intensely wicked twists that will blow your mind!! It is a must read!!

Fourteen years ago, our family holiday ended in tragedy when my darling four-year-old girl was snatched from us on the beach. Not a day goes by when I don't picture her wide brown eyes, and the freckles dusting her cheeks. I only looked away for a second, and I have never forgiven myself. Today, a seventeen-year-old girl has walked into a police station near our house. She says she is my daughter. Abigail is back. I can't believe it. After years of grieving, my family is finally back.

Fourteen years ago, the Wick family was shattered when their four-year-old daughter went missing during a family holiday. Now, a girl has turned up at the police station claiming to be Abigail. The pace is fast. The timeline jumps between the present day and the past. We also get an anonymous third voice throughout the pages. The twist at the end was perfectly executed. This is another gripping and well written book by the author.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #Bookouture and the author #LaurenNorth for my ARC of #SheSaysShesMyDaughter in exchange for an honest review.

<b>4/5 stars</b>

This was a very well written psychological thriller that kept me guessing until the end. I actually didn't end up guessing the ending of this one and I usually get pretty close to the actual ending with my guesses. There are a lot of red herrings that keep the reader wondering who they can actually trust.

My one issue is that I wish that the sections from the anonymous villain were separated out into their own chapters. It just seemed a bit jumbled to me with the format that the e-book used.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookoture for an e-ARC of this novel. Review will be posted on Instagram by publication date (@ellie.reads.a.lot)

What I liked:

The premise get more original than other psychological thrillers I’ve read recently.

There were secrets you wanted to revealed, and multiple narrators that kept you guessing.

What I didn’t like

There were twists, but a red herring that was set up wasn’t adequate addressed, in my opinion, so the ending felt a bit hollow.

If that had been covered in the last couple of pages, it could have accounted for another twist that would have made the book mind blowing.

But it didn’t.

Was the ending bad? No. But it didn’t feel buttoned up like it should. Or compelling open either.

Also, the main character’s motivation for some of her lines of thinking made her less likable when things were revealed. Like really?? Hmmm.

Ultimately, it’s also in the 3s for me. 3.6 this time, so that’s a round up to 4.

I received this as an ARC on Netgalley.

I very much enjoyed this book. The writing and editing were solid.

The plot was interesting and kept me engaged. The characters seemed well fleshed out with their own personalities and quiks.

I did not guess the twist, which is always a plus.

I'm still pondering the ending. I'm puzzling over how I feel about it. It does leave the door open for a sequel.

Overall, quite good.

When Sarah and Michael took their three children on a beach vacationn in suffix their middle child Abby went missing. It’s now 10 years later and a girl shows up claiming to be her and she even has the chickenpox scars to prove it. Daniel their oldest son was Abbys constant companion and didn’t talk for a year after she went missing. Michael the father, who is devastated and sold his business and dedicated all his time to finding her the youngest Rachel who is just a baby grew up to be a happy girl but everyone who is affected by the tragedy the mom Sarah is a TV show host for a morning magazine show and with the exception of her existing children is a very closed off person it seems Abby‘s disappearance has affected all of them when the girl shows up it will not only reveal the secrets they were hiding it will also show all the cracks they try to ignore. because there is someone behind the scenes that knows who the girl lives and has coached her as to what to say and they are dead set on the truth coming out but even they will be surprised when it does. This was a top-notch banger of an ending there is no way someone can say they guessed the ending because OMG this was a great ending that definitely came out of left field. Laura north is a thriller writer that you know if she wrote it it’s going to be a good one I haven’t read many books by her but the ones I have have been absolute winners. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and OMG found it so hard to put down this is a book I highly recommend. I want to thank NetGalley and Bookoucher for my free Ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Fourteen years ago, four year old Abigail disappeared from the garden of the holiday cottage she was staying at with her family. Now, a seventeen year old girl arrives and declares that she is the one and only Abigail Wick. Sarah Wick isn't convinced though. Is this girl the real Abigail? If so, where has she been all this time? And if not, what is going on?

Personally I felt that one of those mysteries was solved just that little bit too quickly, taking away much needed suspense for the rest of the story. Whether the girl is Abigail or not, she is filling a big hole that's been ripping the family apart for the last fourteen years. Each family member has their own way of dealing with the grief. Sarah made a very conscious decision to move on. After all, she still had two other children who needed their mother. Now though, Sarah struggles with a sliver of hope on the one hand, and extreme paranoia on the other hand. Why isn't her family seeing what she sees?

That's a part of the story I think Lauren North did really well. The various ways the remaining family members dealt with Abigail's disappearance. Her big brother who mostly hides away within himself, the younger sister who seems to think she always needs to be happy and cheerful to keep everyone else going, the mother who focuses on her career, and the father who, even after all this time, is clinging on to hope. That gradual accepting, somehow, that Abigail's face is no longer featured in the media; that nobody is looking for her anymore; that she won't be coming home with them from the holiday. It all felt quite real and believable.

In contrast, most of the rest of the story for me didn't. Obviously I can't give anything away, but I found it all became rather far-fetched and over the top. Yes, I know, it's fiction. And I quite happily take many leaps and bounds, and go on wild rollercoaster rides but sometimes there's that wee step too far. Which I feel is what happened here. I suppose, on the plus side, I didn't see any of it coming so there's that.

That said, 'She Says She's My Daughter' is a well-paced and addictive page-turner. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing, and if you don't dig too deep or ask too many questions, it's a perfectly entertaining read. I think I just expected more from this author.

Sarah and Michael have a troubled marriage, the origin of which was the abduction of their 4 year old daughter 14 years ago. Family life has suffered since and their son and daughter have had to live with the impact of the loss of their sister. Then a girl walks into a police station in London claiming to be Abigail, the abducted daughter. She has been in South America.
Told from different viewpoints, the plot is tense and has a few twists and turns. It is pretty soon apparent that Abi has contact with someone who knows her lifestory, but the details are not revealed until later in the book. Sarah is not initially convinced that this girl is her daughter. The psychological tension builds up throughout the book and there is fall out for the whole family. The book is well told and characterizations feel believable. It is a quick read .
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I thought I had this one figured out but I was wrong on several hunches.
Sarah is suspicious of a girl who suddenly appears and declares she’s Abigail, her long lost daughter.
I did think several characters were acting weird and I did hone in one the main culprit fairly quickly.
I didn’t see a couple of the angles merging, which was a big chunk of the story.
I thought the Janie story wasn’t explained enough. Where did her daughter come from??
Ultimately, a family is torn asunder because of dark secrets and we do learn what happened to Abigail.

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘She Says She’s My Daughter’ written by Lauren North in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A sixteen-year-old girl goes into a police station in London to report that she’s Abigail Wick who’s been missing for nearly fourteen years since being abducted from a garden She’s welcomed home with open arms by her father Michael and siblings Daniel and Rebecca but her mother TV presenter Sarah who although she can’t prove it doesn’t believe she’s Abigail. With the help of Ryan, their Family Liaison Officer, they arrange a DNA test which comes back a match so Sarah should be happy but as Abigail’s stay with them lengthens there are little things that don’t add up, but if she isn’t the real Abigail then who is she?

‘She Says She’s My Daughter’ is the first novel I’ve read by Lauren North but it definitely won’t be the last as I’ve been so blown away by the intriguing plot and clever twists and turns that abound in this compelling psychological thriller. The narrative is told by Sarah and Abigail with italicised sections by an unknown person who’s somehow involved in the whole event. The story has been cleverly written with tension and suspense and has had me spellbound from the first page to the last with its complex plot and characters so convincing that I didn’t know who to trust. This is a thoroughly enjoyable unique thriller that’s had me hooked and unable to stop reading. I recommend it.

WOW.

I hadn’t heard of Lauren North, but now I won’t forget her. After this thrilling, page turner, I am running to grab her other book.

She Says Shes My Daughter is a thrilling story about a mothers love for her daughter that comes back after being abducted 14 years ago.

A page turner and a book I couldn’t put down once I started. BRAVO!!