Guilt, grief, heartbreak, and possibilities.  A devastating novel about life after the death of a child and the future of the family. A well written thought-provoking novel that will haunt you for a long while after you turn that last page.

Oh my god what did I just read. Why did I read this? 

If you want to have a rollercoaster of a ride, read this. If you want to use up a box of tissues, read this. If you want to carry on reading through your tears, read this.
Laura Pearson.

I need to look up her other books.
Oh my, can she write well. She made the characters real, so real I wanted to hug them, sit down with them, reason with them. 
I was so invested in this today I’m so glad I had nothing else to do because there was no way, no way at all I was going to leave this book. It was glued to my hands.

Tom and Linda were expecting a baby, so they should have been on top of the world, but tragedy struck.

They were devastated. Life was never going to be the same again, ever.

The first part of the book started from 1985. 
Just twenty one days before the devastating tragedy.

The second part was twenty five years later.

Each chapter alternated between character and was easy to follow.
Heartbreakingly easy to follow.

This is about,
Guilt
Pain,
Suffering
Learning to forgive others but also learning to forgive yourself.

What a compulsive read! 

And the author has a new book out March 2019 I so want to read this

The terrible sadness in this story makes it difficult to read, but I had to keep reading because I wanted to know how the tragic events had occurred, what was going to happen to the characters, and whether it was possible for the family to recover. You will have to read this book yourself to find out, as I am not going to tell you. A wonderful debut novel, I look forward to reading her next.

How can you repair something broken if pieces are missing?

I thought this was a beautiful read. It was aching with loss and felt incredibly real, with a depth of character that reminded me of the work of Maggie O'Farrell. This is a story of a torn-apart family - the reasons behind this are sad and life-affirming in equal measure. A book that feels incredibly real and true.

This book was really excellent.  It covered a very difficult subject and was very accurate in its portrayal of the family involved.  It was just very very sad.  Definitely recommended by me.

A child is dead but what happened? A mother is grieving for her child, while pregnant with another.  What a good book, it kept you guessing what actually happen and you don’t find out until the second part, which is 25 years later.  You feel for all the characters and want to know what happened.  You hear from different points of view.  Thanks to netgalley  for letting me read this book.

This is a heartbreaking, raw tale of motherhood and the effect of one tragedy, on one family. Laura Pearson writes  so beautifully, the prose just flows like water, and I felt I barely realised I was going from one chapter to the next as I couldn't put it down. The characters are so deftly done, and so real, that you find your heart aches alongside theirs, and I still find myself wondering about them now, wondering how they are, and where they'll end up. This is so hard to do in a novel, but Laura does it so well. A wonderful, accomplished debut.

This was a story about a families loss, the effects on the family dynamics and how they can put their life back together. Keep the tissues handy, a real heartbreaker.

I found this book quite slow and hard to get into but it gathered pace and was quite emotional to read....A very sad story of a family in tragedy but with good meaning behind it. Thank you

This tells the story of a family devastated by loss and separated by grief and pain. Bea discovers she is pregnant and decides it time to find out the truth about what happened to the sister she never knew. Her father and sister have never wanted to talk about when Bea was a baby. before she can bring this new baby into the world though, Bea wants to know.
I found this story truly moving and touching. I truly felt the pain and grief of the family. I could see from all perspectives. It was an emotional ride. I would highly recommend this book. It is a very hard subject and story but the writer deals with it beautifully.

Any loss of someone you love is difficult, but the loss of a child? There are no words, the very thought is unbearable. To outlive your child is against the natural and right order of everything. Missing Pieces tells the story of the Sadlers, who lose their daughter Phoebe. Her mother Linda can't cope, doesn't want to cope. Pregnant with her third child, barely able to look at her eldest Esme, just existing is painful. For her loving, her new child is a betrayal, any attempt at moving forward doubly so. Flash forward and Bea, the child she was pregnant with during that tragic time finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. She needs answers. Why did they all feel so guilty, what happened? 

It's fair to say there were a few tears reading this book. Having experienced losing someone way before their time I've witnessed that sudden unfillable gap, searching for answers where there are none to be had. And this book captures that experience scarily well. Beautifully written, never sensationalist, just purely emotional. All  I can say is keep the tissues close.

Very easy to read and emotional - well written and believable .
 I did not want this to end and have thought about it often since.

A truly moving story describing the loss of a child and how all those who are affected deal with this loss in the short and long term.

A warm, deeply affecting exploration of loss. The loss of a child, the loss of a marriage, of a life. All the characters in this novel are treated with compassion, from the miserably-depressed and drinking mother, to the unfaithful husband, to the (sometimes) warring and often rebellious sisters. A lovely novel. And so refreshing to read one that alternated viewpoints without once feeling the need to deliver a 'shock twist.'

This book was so sad.... well done, but heartbreaking. My pain for this mom was so real. The way the girls lives were shaped so differently by tragedy was incredible.

A beautifully written debut novel this is a story of loss, pain and healing which made me cry on several occasions. I refuse to spoil this for anyone by giving too detailed a review but will simply say it is a 'must read' covering many topics such as death, grief, depression, love and forgiveness. I realise this hardly sounds like an uplifting and joyous read and there is no doubt that it is sad and emotionally difficult to read as it focuses on the devastating impact that the death of a child has on a family but it is so beautifully and sensitively written that you will be glad you read it.
I can hardly believe that this is a debut offering and will be impatiently waiting for the second book from this author - definitely one to watch!
In my top 5 favourite books of 2018 so far it get a thoroughly deserved 5 stars from me! Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publishers and author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A moving story of a family suffering through a horrible loss that they never quite recover from.  The story is told in two distinct parts.  The first part sets the tragedy and the aftermath.  The second part sets up the story of Bea, the daughter born just a few months after the tragedy.  She is now an adult, pregnant with her first child and wants to know what happened to make her family fall apart so completely.  This is an emotionally wrenching story for most of us.  It is well written and easily holds the reader's attention.  Make sure you have your tissues handy!

This story follows the Sadler family following the sudden loss of their young child and how they overcome this. It was really saddening to read how heavily pregnant mum Linda tried to cope with the loss of her daughter tragically when they should have been enjoying this stage of their lives. 

I really felt for the family including the remaining young daughter and how she struggled to come to terms with when her sister tragically dies. 

The book was written in two parts with the first part being the story of the past and the tragedy that unfolds. Whereas the second part of the story was about how now adult daughter Beau finds out about what happened to her family and sister who died before she was born and how this shapes her decisions in life.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a parent this was a painful read and not something that I would usually read but I felt that nothing I was picking up was gripping me so I thought I'd give this a go.

From the beginning, I was completely gripped. Laura Pearson has created characters that I can sympathise with but that are also unlikable. They are flawed characters that I wanted to shake at times, and hug at others.

Dealing with the themes of loss, depression, alcoholism, guilt, mental illness and parenthood, this book drew me in and though it was heartbreaking, I just had to know what was going on.

The first half of this novel is set in the eighties and deals with the loss of a three year old and how that can effect each family member differently. The mystery surrounding that loss ties in with the second half when the daughters are adults dealing with their very different childhood experiences. It's a story of secrets within families but the author has injected so much realism into a novel that easily could have been longer.

On the whole, the second half was a slightly easier read than the first but the mystery carried throughout, the reveal coming in one of the final chapters.

Overall I love the feeling of hope that I was left with at the end of the book and how I still feel conflicted about all of the characters. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in a heartbreaking story of loss, guilt and family. Some people may want to be a little careful because it could be extremely upsetting at points but I think that the author dealt with the themes brilliantly. 

5 out of 5 stars!

This book is quite tragic in the beginning and you can feel the family's sadness tearing them apart. A real page Turner and a different type of novel from the usual chick lit thrillers available. A thoight provoking read about blame and how life can change in  an instant.