I felt like the writing was a bit simplistic but that might have been the translation? Lies was a character that really did feel like a teenager in all the good and bad ways that entails.
There was much build up that when the climax finally happened it, felt anticlimactic. The twists felt unnatural. I honestly think it would have been better as a family story vs having a mystery at its heart.

4 stars

Lies, a young Dutch teen, awakens one morning to find her mother missing. Her dad isn't bothered, he just assumes it's another attention seeking stunt to get back at him after the divorce. But Lies isn't convinced and goes down a rabbit hole trying to track her mom's online activity and find any clues as to her whereabouts.

I actually finished reading this in one sitting! The prose was simple enough; it translated nicely into English. The story was thoroughly engrossing to the point that I didn't realise I had finished the book until I got there and was hoping for more storyline. But this is a succinct thriller with interesting characters and intriguing plot points.

The only thing that I found a bit confusing was there were parts where the mom was speaking in journal form and sometimes it was italicized and sometimes it wasn't. So I had to use context clues to figure out whether we'd gone back to the daughter's point of view or not. Hopefully that formatting issue gets fixed before publication.

Thanks to NetGallery for giving me access to a free digital ARC of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own and are provided here voluntarily.

Saskia Noort's The Grown-Up is a gripping, edge-of-your-seat thriller that plunges into the dark aftermath of a mother's disappearance, revealing a tangled web of secrets and lies. Seventeen-year-old Lies wakes one morning to a chilling discovery: her mother's bed is empty, her car remains outside, and her purse and phone are still by the door. After a harrowing twenty-four hours, with all logical explanations exhausted, Lies is forced to confront a terrifying reality: her mother is missing.

Adding to her anguish, Lies's father and his new girlfriend dismiss the disappearance as another one of her mother's "attention-seeking stunts." Authorities show little interest, assuming the woman simply walked away from her old life. Compelled by a desperate need for answers, Lies embarks on her own investigation. But why would her mother abandon her and her younger brother? Why did she scrub her laptop before vanishing? And who are the mysterious strangers on her mother's phone?

With each passing, disturbing day, Lies uncovers secrets that turn her world upside down. Her relentless pursuit of the truth will not be stopped, no matter how shocking or devastating it proves to be. The Grown-Up is a compelling and suspenseful read about a family shattered by a single, terrifying instant, and a daughter's courageous journey into a darkness she never imagined.

Readers of domestic noir will revel in Dutch writer Saskia Noort’s dark new thriller that unravels the psychological aftermath of a mother’s sudden disappearance. Set against the backdrop of Amsterdam, The Grown-Up combines the suspense of a missing persons case with the complexities of family dysfunction, shared parenthood after divorce and toxic relationships.

Link to the rest of the review: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.com/2025/05/28/the-grown-up-saskia-noort/ and https://crimefictionlover.com/2025/05/the-grown-up-by-saskia-noort/

This book was a total page-turner, and had me invested from the very first chapter. The relationships between the characters and how they each coped with the situations they were put in was especially interesting to read and really well-done. I could very easily imagine the events of the Grown-Up happening in real life because it was written to be so raw and real. The protagonist, Lies, was my favorite part of this book by far, though, because she was so relatable in both good and bad ways. Even though I didn't appreciate her attitude towards her father's girlfriend at all and found her a bit annoying in some parts, I also really sympathized with her and all that she went through with her family. Lies really did feel like a teenage girl just trying to figure herself out all while going through a terrible tragedy, and her character was so interesting and sympathetic to me because of that. I think she's the sort of character that everyone can relate to at least in some capacity, really.

The only real criticism I have for this book is that the ending was a bit disappointing. The ending needed more room to breathe, I think, and maybe could've unfolded more naturally. This book really reminded me of a Gillian Flynn book in the way that the buildup to the big reveal is done really well, but the reveal itself is very underwhelming and rushed.

Maybe something got lost in translation. I just didn't really get this one. Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read and review. It had a lot of potential but missed the mark for me.

Such a great book, kept me intuned! A good quick read for me because I stayed invested! Will read more from this author

A masterfully written mystery by Saskia Noort.
The Grown-Up was a compelling story.
A well paced and engaging and kept me gripped until the end.

digital arc was provided by Netgalley and the publisher

The grown up isn't just a mystery of a missing mother, not only just a search by her daughter to find her. It's a reflection, a bitter truth on life, and how we can't control our psychological feelings. Often, most of the time, we would act by it, driven. It tells a story on how Lies, who believes that he mother won't leave her and her little brother, alone and stood by it. And when her mother is finally found, she still put her on a pedestal, unable to do the things she might did. Even when there are evidences. Lies has made up her mind, and I envy her strong headedness. Her mother is innocent, her father, flawed as he might, got seduced by another woman. Well, of course, life isn't that black and white. Lies's mother was a strong woman of her own, got herself a family, a career as a psychologist which, frankly, ironic, considering things that occur in the book.

Lies's as a 17 years old already has a mindset, that women would be divided into two: her mother and the other woman. The book struggles, greatly, with posing women at the centre, even when their actions are influenced by the male characters. In the end, I might say that Lies gets what she wanted, albeit several broken things. And Lies might be able to move forward, fine with not really knowing, further telling that our minds are powerful and selfish, catering to our whims and request. I'd like to know a future where Lies finally able to reflect and finds out, but more than anything, I hope Lies and Luuk grow up just great. Not going in a circle like their parents were.

The only downside of this book is the no-separation pov. Sometimes I was transported onto Lies's mind, others to Jet, unprompted. It hindered me fully enjoying the book, but the immaculate vibe, the loneliness, the desperation, the human way all of them acted, covered the negative experience.

Chef's kiss.

The Grown-Up is a domestic drama/thriller that talks about how family life can be hard and traumatic and how divorces can usually damage children. Lies, a 17 year old girl sees her home life fall apart when her dad leaves, a divorce is finalized, and she and her younger brother, have to live one week with each parent, and in the case of her dad with his new partner who tries too hard to be a step-mother. Lies and Luuk hate the situation and wish everything could go back to the time the four of them were a happy family. Then their mother disappears and is finally found dead. She never accepts that her mother had killed herself and starts to dig through her mother's phone and computer and she finally finds a journal written by her mother detailing her feelings and encounters with another man (and videos and photos of those encounters) and she swears she'll find who is he and obtain justice for her mom. The story gets even more fast-paced in the last few chapters and it has a totally unpredictable ending.
I thank the author, her publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

3.5 STARS. This was a short and sweet translated to English murder mystery thriller that I mostly enjoyed. When Lies's mother turns up unexpectedly dead - Lies puts it upon herself to investigate the circumstances of the death. Was it a suicide as everybody believes or was it a murder - and if so, who was responsible for the murder?

Once I got further into the investigation I found this book quite hooking as I wanted to discover, alongside our protagonist Lies, what happened that fateful night. It can be a little harder to get invested into though at the start. The book is almost entirely focused on this premise and the investigation is the majority of the book - some may appreciate the directness with little fluff whilst others may prefer greater fleshing out of other parts of the story's world - but this is completely down to preference. One of my criticisms was that it can feel a bit unrealistic for a regular 17-year-old to be investigating an entire murder/suicide mystery almost entirely on their own with no prior skills and one of the weakest parts of the novel for me at least was the detective work did feel inauthentic - clues too convenient compared to real life in order to further the investigation since it could not be written in for Lies to perform more complicated detective work given she had been written as an ordinary person. I don't mind her being ordinary at all - however perhaps I might have enjoyed if other workarounds were used instead to present a less seemingly perfectly laid out cookie trail - perhaps by having different people possessing their own expertise helping her with different parts of the mystery, or just having a longer time between breakthroughs - so that she could struggle and work for each breakthrough (e.g. by having her conduct research, follow incorrect leads, etc.). I did like the ending, although I note I was not personally not one of the people who were surprised by it and had expected it of sorts. The ending did however resolve some of the issues I had towards Lies's detective work.

I really liked some of the darker themes dealt with by the book and the particularly portrayal of the twisted relationship between Jet and God was a highlight - I can't judge it on its accuracy having thankfully not experienced anything similar firsthand - however I think portrayals of such relationships are very welcome in media to help better inform society.

Note this can be a dark book with mature content - I had a good time with it, but please consider whether it is an appropriate book for you. Thank you to Netgallery and Saskia Noort for the ARC - I enjoyed the read!

I felt myself getting more and more invested as the lies and secrets unravelled, a very captivating read overall.

The Grown-Up by Saskia Noort is an absolutely mental, edge-of-the-seat thriller that left me with an open mouth more than once. What started kind of like a domestic drama ended up in a messy, jaw-dropping thriller!
The end of this book... OM(fu*ing)G!
That last chapter... F*k me! That's messed up!
I believe I stopped breathing at some point!

When Seventeen-year-old Lies discovers her mum is missing but her dad refuses to do anything to help the situation, she takes all matters into her own hands. Step by step she managed to untangle the mystery putting her own life in danger.

Talking about toxicity, this is it, this is an ABC on how to spot toxic people!

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Amazon Crossing for this copy!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Amazon Crossing for the book #TheGrownUp by #SaskiaNoort. This book is about live between a mother and child and the search for the truth. Lies’ mother is missing and everyone is baffled about what happened to her, it’s very out of character. Lies decides to find out the truth on her own about her mother. Can she deal with the truth?

This was a solid thriller and I really enjoyed it. Lies is dealing with her parents divorce when she wakes up to find her mother gone. Her father brushes it off and thinks it’s nothing. However, Lies believes her mother is missing. This book was right up my alley and it really worked for me. I would definitely recommend.

This was a super fast, fun read that kept me guessing until the end. I read it in one sitting. I loved the different point of views and the unreliability of the narrators. Perfect for anyone looking for a quick thriller! Thanks for the opportunity to read!

Seventeen-year-old Lies wakes up to find that her mother’s bed hasn’t been slept in. Her car is parked outside. And her purse and cell phone are still by the front door. After twenty-four hours, when every possible explanation is exhausted, the reality is all too frightening for Lies. Her mother is missing.

Lies’s father and his new girlfriend chalk it up to another attention-seeking stunt. When authorities show little interest in a woman who likely walked away from her old life in favor of a new one, Lies is compelled to investigate on her own. But why would her mother abandon Lies and her younger brother? Why would her mother scrub her laptop before disappearing? And who are the strangers on her mother’s phone?

Super quick read with that northern European weird creepy vibe that some thriller writers have. This kept me turning pages from the beginning. Unsettling. Turn all the lights on if you're reading after dark! 😀

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

First off I really like the front cover for this book it is so eye catching and definitely made me look twice which made me want to read it all the more. I really enjoyed the different perspectives in the book but they didn't always flow in the most natural way. The book did keep me guessing which I loved.
I will definitely be looking out for more from this author

This was just fine, Nothing mind-blowing and I read so many of this kind of book that I need something to stand out to care.

I think that [author:Saskia Noort|417258] [authorimage:Saskia Noort|417258] let the kids, Luuk and Lies), find that the man who was involved with their mother (Twigs), was involved with killing her. They had found a film with him on it, their mom and the man were quite the furious lovers and that was it for them. However the truth be told late in the stories quite different than that. But the main thing was that the police found that the lover was guilty of the crime. Yet their father who was the main character in the divorce with Laura eventually split up because he was with the kids all the time. Need to resolve his ex-wives murder.