Moving and beautiful at the same time. 
The death of a child is something few of us can imagine dealing with. Missing Pieces deals with the immediate aftermath of the death of the Phoebe, and her family 25 years later. 
The mother's grief is almost unbearable to read, a skilful piece of writing for a debut novelist. 
Despite the subject matter, I'd highly recommend this, and look forward to another book by Laura Pearson.

This is a beautiful story that centres around a tragic loss and the emotions that come into play when a loved one is lost. I openly cried (a few times) whilst reading this and really connected with the charectors. As sad as the back story is I still found it heart warming and really enjoyed the strength and courage that brought the family back together as one, very emotional and this story will stay with me for a very long time.

Loved this book, it also brought me to tears.  Family, tragedy woven together but bringing all to a happy end.  It was lovely.

Loved this book.  Really gripping and very emotional.  Its like being on an emotional rollercoaster reading this book. Really beautifully written and this had me gripped from the very beginning.  Im not really one for crying, but this book had me in tears at the end. An absolute page turner of a book.  This is one that you need to read!

Page turning and fast paced. Very amazing storyline, kept me enthralled from page 1 to the end. This writer has a true talent for gripping her readers.

I enjoyed this book but it was a very sad story and I felt that it dragged a little bit, in terms of the reveal.  The mother's descent in the first half of the book was very difficult to read and the long-reaching aftereffects of the tragedy in the second half made it a slightly depressing read.  I'm glad I read it but I'm not sure I would recommend it.

This book begins in 1985, when we meet Linda who is at her daughter, Phoebe’s, funeral. We quickly learn that Phoebe was very young when she died and that Linda is pregnant with her sibling. The exact surroundings of Phoebe’s death aren’t revealed until the very end of the book.

I have mixed feelings about this novel. It is essentially well-written and the various threads of the story jog along at a decent pace. It’s very readable. But I could bring myself to like it. 

There are several reasons. Firstly, I have young children myself and I found the whole scenario disturbing. I think this is a story most parents would find discomforting. Secondly, all the main characters - with the exception of the unborn child (who is an adult by the end) - are utterly hateful. We are meant to feel sympathy for Linda, who is clearly deeply depressed, but her actions were so consistently abominable I simply couldn’t. She clearly needs help but not one person here - from her friend to the neighbour to the utterly incompetent school staff - insists she get it. Her husband Tom is if anything even more vile and so, it turns out, is her surviving eldest daughter, Esme. I didn’t like any of them and frankly felt they deserved each other. None of them are redeemed by the end, and Esme and Tom don’t appear to have learned very much, apart from having agreed Phoebe’s death wasn’t their fault. Even though, once the truth was revealed, I for one felt it absolutely was. 

Is the job of an author to always make you feel happy and uplifted? No, perhaps not. The book did engender strong feelings, so is successful in that regard. As I said, the pace is good. I’ve given it three stars. Other readers may like this book more than I did, but it wasn’t for me.

Linda is a mother who is missing a child. Mourning the loss of her daughter whilst looking after another and pregnant with a third is not how she saw her life going. Following Linda through her grief you begin to question how this tragedy happened and who, if anyone, was really at fault.

The second half of the book focuses on Bea, Lindas daughter. She is now pregnant and is looking back on her family for answers about the sister she never met.

The story is a heartbreaking mystery, exploring the family constructs that change following the loss of a child. Read with a box of tissues ready!

This is an amazing book that kept me engaged and entertained for hours and hours.  The characters come to life on the pages and I quickly felt like I was part of the family.  I laughed and cried with them.  I highly recommend this book!

Missing Pieces is a story about loss, heartbreak and not knowing how to cope.
How does a family get past a tragic mistake? How do they move on and live life to the fullest?

These are the questions this family has to ask themselves. Can they accept what happened and move on or will they always wallow in the grief they share?

These are so many truths in this story. Truth of what it does to a family when a tragic death occurs.....how they get past it and move on.

Great story and will be watching for the next book by Laura Pearson.

This is a story of a family tragedy and how each family member deals with it. You have to read right to the end for all details to come out. A very good book. I recommend it

Such an emotional book! I loved it, I was hooked from the first page, I couldn’t put it down. I loved the way the story unravelled. Highly recommended, five 
Stars from me!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Laura Pearson for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

I read this book with lots of emotion!  I loved the characters & all the feelings I felt while reading this!

I’m going to start with positives - really enjoyed the first half of the book and the quality of the writing was really good. I really detested the character of the mother and I found it really difficult to appreciate where she was coming from with the way she treated Esme. I felt it lost a bit of its momentum in the second part of the book when it was focused on the present day. I think I misinterpreted the genre of the book as I thought there was going to be a mystery around Phoebes death and there wasn’t really. It was more of a relationship/family drama. Thank you to Netgalley, Agora Books and the author for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This book grabbed me from the first chapter.   This is a story about loss, grief, and guilt. I can’t stop thinking about it and I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a new fresh author to try. I will be looking for more from this author.

Missing Pieces is a book in two parts: the first part follows the immediate aftermath of the death of a child, and the tragedy's impact on the family. The second part revisits that family years later through the eyes of the two remaining children: the one born into the sadness of death, and the other who blames herself for the tragedy.  

It's a brave and moving book with well-wroughr characters and an in depth exploration of a family ripped apart by grief

Captivating, suspenseful, entertaining novel! This beautiful thriller kept me on the edge of my seat while I was reading it! Would highly recommend to those who enjoy this genre.

What if the one thing that kept you together was breaking you apart?

Exploring family and love, grief and guilt, Missing Pieces follows two generations of the Sadler family, who are torn apart by the tragic death of a child. Grieving for her daughter, Linda becomes distanced from her husband, Tom, elder daughter, Esme, and even from her unborn baby. The second half of the book, set twenty-five years later, follows that baby, Bea, as she navigates not only the challenges of her family’s past, but also difficult questions about her own future.

So, it’s a book of two halves. In the first, everything slides off the rails and nothing is airbrushed. The repercussions of Phoebe’s death – and Linda’s anger at the injustice of it – is palpable from her clandestine drinking, to the breakdown of her relationships with the rest of her family. In the second, those old scars are very much present, but the unravelling of the past brings some kind of healing.

Missing Pieces is not a noisy, showy book. The tone suits the subject matter – it’s eloquent and raw, unassuming and unflinching. There is no schmaltz or melodrama – the author remains true to the characters and the threads of their relationships are woven realistically and sensitively throughout the story.

The characters’ attempts to scrabble together the ‘Missing Pieces’ are realistic and human – there is no tying everything neatly with a bow, no attempt to paper over the cracks. This is what makes the book beautiful – melancholy and thoughtful, without being bleak. Devastating and yet hopeful. Intense without being overwhelming. And compelling reading.

I certainly look forward to reading more from Laura.

Missing Pieces was well written and the characters were fleshed out pretty well. I enjoyed the story and didn't ever need to set it down and take a break because I lost my focus.

I received a Netgalley of Missing Pieces by Laura Pearson.  The story details the lives of the Sadler family after the unthinkable happens. Each member of the family deals with the grief and anguish. of the unspeakable event. It is a heart-wrenching account of a family's loss which leaves the surviving family members left to move on. I highly recommend this book.