I never read many thrillers before because I get stressed very easily. But last year I started reading some, and now every time I end one, it always leaves me with the need for more. They are quite addicting and this one was no exception!

 

The Gift has as a base for the story the concept of cellular memory. It says that the body can store memories outside the brain. Some believe that it’s possible to transfer memories trough the cells and that sometimes happens when a person has a transplant.

In the book Jenna inherited the memories of the organ donor. She starts having dreams about her life, liking or disliking the same things as the donor, … There are lots of stories about that and some are even present in the book, that our principal characters uses to backup her idea of it, that is received by her therapist with skepticism. But she doesn’t give up on the idea. She believed that the donor’s death wasn’t an accident, and tries to organize the dreams and resolve the mystery. 

I really enjoyed the chapters on the memories. And that made me create my own hypothesis for what happened. But in the end i was deeply wrong. The book has a very interesting twist and gets very emotional as you read it. I am happy to say that everything I thought I knew, was in the end deeply wrong.

Jenna is a very interesting and complex character. She makes a lot of mistakes but it’s impossible not to like her anyway. She was quite damaged with all that was going on, and sometimes it was difficult to trust her. She was always forgetting stuff and it was difficult to know one of the girls started and the other ended. But the more dangerous the book turned, the more connection I felt with Jenna.

The only thing I didn’t like about Jenna is that she pushed Sam away. Sam is her ex-boyfriend, and although I fully understand why she did it, it was still difficult and I couldn’t agree. But honestly I don’t know if I wouldn’t have done the same… Sam is the best boyfriend anyone could have. He is sweet, loyal and always there when needed.

And of course the writing. That was wonderful and gripping. It held the mystery in a way that was fantastic and it kept me connected throughout the whole book. Although the beginning, if I’m being honest, wasn’t getting me very excited, as you can see that absolutely changed! Also, the pace was just right and I could just feel the character and their emotions resonating in me.

 

I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you like Psychological Thrillers like I do. You will not be disappointed! I really want to read The Sisters also by Louise Jensen. I heard great things about it! And since I liked this one so much… Why not, right?

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I really liked this book.  The first chapter hooked me, it has a woman running in fear and I had to read this book, I had to know what she was running from.

Jenna has recently had a heart transplant and is having nightmares or are they visions/memories; but if they are, they aren't hers. Jenna needs to find out about her donor and once she does it doesn't answer her questions, it leaves her with more. It's a great read. Jenna tries to solve the question of her donor's death and deal with her own obsession/paranoia at the same time as heal from a heart transplant.

It was a great story with a very interesting idea, cellular memory.  It was a topic I didn't know that much about, but have since looked into it and it is such an interesting idea and the stories of people are amazing and defy explanation.

I was given a copy of this book by netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book by this author I have read and it won't be the last.  I was intrigued by the storyline and wanted to keep reading to its conclusion.

The main character, Jenna, undergoes a heart transplant from a female donor called Callie.  Jenna struggles after her surgery to get back to her old life and becomes fixated on the donor of her heart, her family and how she passed.  As time passes she starts to have visions and dreams she believes are from Callie and which cast doubt on how Callie died.  Was it an accident or murder?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found the twist of organ transplants being entwined into a psychological thriller fascinating.

Gripping and fast paced, the story evolves around the ordeal of a heart transplant patient that is withing the first 6 month of receiving the new organ. 
The psychological side effects, adding the fear of rejecting the organ and the guilty feeling of being alive because someone is dead conforms a scenario that can lead to a nightmare if we add the cellular memory concept.
Scary and thrilling, events unfold in a manner that will keep you glued till the end

The Gift explores the 'what if ' relationship between donor and recipient, it opens up a whole range of questions, can thoughts and feelings be transplanted along with the organ?..there are people who believe they can, and Louise Jenson has written a thought provoking subject matter.
 Jenna desperately needs a heart transplant, and at the eleventh hour a donor is found, and this is where the story really begins. Jenna starts to question everything about her life, her family, and most of all, who was the organ donor?, the person who saved her life, she makes contact with the family against all advice given, initially things seem to be ok , but soon it feels like the family are hidding something, Callie ,the donor died in an accident, didn't she?...Is she trying to contact Jenner through her heart, now beating in Jenners chest?, what does  she want Jenna to know?...This is such a sensitive matter, and is written with due care by the author, I loved the questions it raises and in the power of memory and beyond, this is a thriller that will keep you entralled, and a great psycological read that will keep you guessing right to the last pages.

Jenna is given another shot at life when she receives a donor heart from a girl called Callie. Eternally grateful to Callie and her family, Jenna gets closer to them, but she soon discovers that Callie’s perfect family is hiding some very dark secrets …
This was a good read, but rather too melodramatic and over-blown in some places. It was as though it was trying too hard with too many twists and turns. The parts about the heart transplant and muscle memory were interesting and to be honest I’d rather have known more about this than the convoluted plot. I much preferred the previous book, The Sister.

This is definitely my kind of book. It gave me everything I wanted but I was slightly disappointed with the turn of events which is my reason for 4 stars instead of 5. I already have Louise Jenson's first book, The Sister, all queued up!

This was a great story that grabs your attention quickly and keeps it's pace well. You get to know all the characters quite well so it's easy to follow along. There are twists throughout that keep you guessing and the end is great and not as I expected. I can't wait to read more from this author and would recommend her highly.

The gift is so much more then a psychological thriller to say the ending was unexpected would be an understatement.
Jenna needed a heart transplant or she would die now she wants to know who saved her life by donating their heart.
Months after Jenna begins to have dreams and thinks she is feeling the emotions of Callie the heart donor.
Callie was believed to have been killed in a car crash with no foul play but jenna has a different theory and memories.Jenna will not give up till she knows the truth.
Once I started this book it was impossible to put down.

Thank you Netgalley the Publisher and Author for a chance to review this book

I have to say this book left me very disappointed at the end with so many unanswered questions.
It could have been 3 stars if the plot had been tidied up at the end.
Bear in mind this is also quite far fetched.

My thanks to the publishers, Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I gave this a 4.5 stars or 9/10.

Whilst, the story primarily is a psychological style thriller, the subject matter surrounding the transplant and the feelings that Jenna experiences following it are very thought provoking.

In this story Jenna, had feelings that she was experiencing that were foreign to her and that she could only attribute to her new heart transplant. Callie the organ donor died, so that Jenna could live. How did she die though? By following her heart, is she going to find that she has taken on more than she should. Will she ever find out what really happened to Callie and how and why she died?

With plenty of twists and turns, this story will keep you guessing right until the end or will it? To find out then you need to grab yourself a copy and find somewhere comfy to sit while you immerse yourself in Jenna's life.

How do we know how we'd feel if we had something in our bodies that had once belonged to someone else? Organ transplants and donors have a very close connection to me. My cousin at the age of 21 received an organ from someone who had passed away, at the time live donors weren't being used as much as they are now. Fast forward 27 years and he has just undergone his second organ transplant, this time from his sister who was a live donor. I have no idea how he has felt about either operation. I would presume that he is very thankful to both the person who died and his sister for what they have been able to do for him.

Whilst, organ donors and recipients aren't supposed to find out the identities of one another when the organ is received from someone who has passed away. Jenna felt that she had to find out, whose heart she had received and all about them. IS this the right thing to do? Jenna feels that she is being pushed into doing this as she feels that the organ she has received has cellular memory. Cellular memory, is something that I'd never heard about before, but it does intrigue me. Can organs and parts of us (cells) retain memories about things that have happened to us, like our brain does? 

This story would make a great reading group read due to it's subject matter.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Having enjoyed Louise Jensen's previous book, The Sister, I thought this sounded like a fantastic follow up. I was excited to receive a copy for review. 

Although I feel that this book didn't quite live up to my expectations, it was still an interesting read. I felt that the supernatural element of the story made it that much more unrealistic to me. I had been expecting a gritty psychological thriller but found this to be more reminiscent of The Lovely Bones (which I didn't enjoy; book or film).

However, the story was still well written and even though I found myself switched off from the plot toward the end, I found myself compelled to finish the story.

This book was an absoloutly fantastic read. It was one of those books that drops crumbs of information to lead you in the wrong direction and it's done so well that you pick up every one of them and arrive at completely the wrong place.  
This was a really fast paced book that kept me up very late at night.  The plot twists are fantastically thought out and beautifully written. I cannot wait to read more of Louise's books.  A fantastic writing talent

This book could've been a 5 star easily, but lacked things that I need to give a full 5 stars.  The story itself is a great edge of your seat suspenseful ride, but the writing and grammar are awful.  I would recommend, if you're able to look past bad grammar, editing, and lots of repitation, but if you cannot look past these things, definitely do not read.  Excellent in psychological drama, actual writing needs some work!

Ridiculous!! Far-fetched and completely unbelievable. A complete waste of time. I do not recommend this and I will avoid this author in the future.

I have to say how much I enjoyed reading this story. I know it's fiction but I have also learnt a lot. And it's brought back some memories for me in a certain way.

This is about a transplant. A heart transplant.
I'm not going into details as if you haven't read it yet, it's quite fascinating, mysterious, enlightening and scary at the same time.

Fascinating because- a lot of people are on the donor list
Mysterious-because- This was something my dad said when he had a blood transfusion years ago
Enlightening because- there was a fact in this book that I just had to Google. Eye opener.
Scary because- it's perturbing but also comforting to know all at the same time


The plot of the story, the route of the story and the path it leads you down is dark at times but with sunshine. If I'm confusing you, what I mean is, there are two ways to look at this.
The transplant and the effects on the reciepiant and the family of the donor is very emotionally moving as well as very fascinating.

It's a fabulous story that really had me thinking, pondering at times.

There are some twists within the pages that hook you well and truly in by the jugular.

A fascinating superbly written plot.


My thanks to Bookoutour and Net Galley for my gifted copy

I'm afraid I jumped on that bandwagon to see what the fuss was all about with this book and I'm afraid I was left waiting for more.  I'm aware I'm in the minority as every other reader I know has loved this book and this is somewhat an unpopular opinion.
I found the whole cellular memory an interesting concept; although I felt I needed to suspend all disbelief for this premise to work.
My main problem was that I didn't gel with Jenna, I found a number of her actions, decisions and conversations implausible that made me eye roll rather than fear for her.  I found myself getting irritated with the plot rather than absorbed in the intended thrill for example the number of times artists and songs were referred to; it felt more like name dropping than trying to evoke an atmosphere.  It's just a cold...repeated over and over when it clearly isn't just grated rather than added to my sympathies and concern for Jenna and what did happen to Nathan? Why did he not take this further?
Shame really as I've heard the author's debut novel, The Sister, was exceptional.  Having said all that, the book had a good ending with great pace with a culprit I didn't see coming. Sorry!

This book is difficult to review as you need to completely suspend belief to enjoy it. I found difficult to do this and therefore struggled to relate to the characters and fully appreciate the story. However, it is written in fast paced short chapters, full of twists and kept my interest. I think it will appeal to many fans of the genre.
I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

A thought-provoking psychological thriller from Louise Jensen author of The Sister.

The Gift by Louise Jensen is a tense psychological thriller which introduces the concept of  “Cellular Memory”, where the recipient of an organ inherits the donor’s memories.

When Jenna was hospitalized with a heart condition she receives a transplant from a girl called Callie. During her recovery she goes through major life changes. She breaks up with her boyfriend Sam who was about to propose to her and starts suffering from panic attacks and hallucinations. Trying to get her life in order Jenna decides to find out more about her donor Callie and her family. When she meets Callie’s family Jenna realizes that all her dreams were about Callie’s death. Callie’s death occurred in mysterious circumstances and Jenna can’t stop obsessing over it .Against everybody’s advice Jenna starts to investigate and secrets come unraveling .

There were some twists and turns and the concept of cellular memory was explained nicely. I highly recommend this book to psychological mystery lovers and will definitely look forward to more books by Louise Jensen.

Many thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest and fair review.