This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

I was completely gripped by this story and was impressed with the writing quality. I was entertained throughout the story and would not hesitate to recommend this book.

This book had me gripped right from the start until the very second I finished! I loved this and thought the idea behind it was brilliant. It was interesting to have a book written from the perspective of a female offender and this is often lacking in the book world.

A pacy, exciting, thrilling read - would recommend to thriller lovers who like something a bit different!

I received a digital arc of this from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was gripped from the first page and couldn't put this book down!! I thought I'd figured out who was framing Jenna but I was wrong. It is a great twist though! Well written and the chapters flow really well. I found myself saying 'i'll just read one more chapter' and before I knew it, 2 hours had passed.

A great book that I definitely recommend.

I couldn't put down this emotive and moving thriller set in the world of an over-populated all female prison.. When Jenna ends up in prison accused of two terrible crimes, she realises she's been framed - but by who and why? When she discovers she's pregnant, she finds out the closest people to her have been lying. Relying on the kindness of her roommate - who is also pregnant, she starts to find out the terrible truth.

An eye opening tale about the realities of being pregnant in prison, about being taken for scans in handcuffs, about not being given basic midwifery treatment, about having your baby taken away and the scarcity of mother and baby units in prisons in the UK.

A tough, engrossing, important read.

I enjoyed this book with the unusual storyline which I felt was making a bit of a statement. The authors notes go into some detail regarding female prisoners, a subject she is clearly passionate about.
Although I did enjoy the story I did also find it rather cliched and sadly the ending was predictable, but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless.

This book was so intense and such a brilliant read! Jenna has a perfect life with her fiance but then one day she finds his teenage daughter murdered in their home and her life begins to unravel. The evidence is pointing at Jenna and she can’t explain her way out of it. The scenes when she is being taken for questioning and her seeing her jail cell for the first time were so visceral, I felt like I was right there with her. The writing really does bring you into the prison along with Jenna and it’s intense. This is such a good book though as we see how Jenna copes, alongside her fight to clear her name. I definitely recommend this book, it’s so good!

Enjoyed this book a lot. The narrative flips between then and now as Jenna tries desperately to piece together fragments of the past and work out what happened. The reveal floored me ... I had a few scenarios running through my mind but not that one!

Brilliant. I’ve worked in prisons, and this book definitely gives a real feel and insight into the system, the failings and the daily structures. Jenna’s story is a difficult read, and for me slipped into the background compared to the day to day prison life, which became the real story for me.

A brilliant read.

Without a doubt, one of the best books I’ve read this year! I don’t want to spoil it too much but... really insightful view into prison life, heartbreaking, with an ending I definitely didn’t see coming! Twist upon twist. I keep recommending this book to everyone.

Fantastic novel that explores what goes on within a prison environment. Didn’t see the twist coming at all.

A fascinating story of Jenna who is accused of killing her boyfriend's daughter. It moves between "then" - the time leading up to the incident and "now" when she is on remand in prison awaiting a date for the trial.
The time in prison appears scarily realistic and I was really hoping she could be found innocent and released.

Superb book. Really uses the setting to build up a sense of claustrophobic tension, not knowing who has set her up or why. I think there’s also a very poignant theme in here though about the challenges faced by pregnant women and bow stretched the resources are that they can access!

For quite a lot of this book, my heart felt like it was in my mouth and I had total goosebumps in moments of revelation. This book was so easy to read and enticing.

If I had to describe this book in three words it would be brutal, brilliant & breathtaking. I would honestly love a sequel to this novel to find out exactly what happens next; the writing style and the warmth of Jenna was really quite comforting.

Being both chilling and thrilling, I was kept guessing for most of the story; following along with Jenna for every clue she uncovers and detail she examines.

# On My Life # Netgalley
A welll written book with a great storyline, it’s one that you can not ignore it just draws you in without you realising it’s so compelling. I struggled to put this book down. I can only imagine it being a nightmare, when you know deep down your not responsible for something yet people just do not believe you. It’s twisty and a surprising twist unexpected at the end. Leaving you just wondering how you yourself didn’t see the end coming. After the end of this book I literally had to sit back half hour and put my head into thinking mode, running through the book again with undeniable shock. Genuinely not to have seen the ending coming at all. Quite often some books just are not what we expected at the ending, yet it’s not often I am baffled to the point I was with this book. I definitely recommend this book as a must read if you by pass this book all I can say it’s a shame because it’s a cracker of a book

On My Life has an excellent premise, I was so excited to be accepted for my request to review this. Unfortunately the execution did not reach my expectations. I have to say I still believe that this is a great idea for a thriller, I do think that maybe if the narrative hadn't been in this kind of "stream of consciousness" first person style it could have been a lot better. As it stands it is confusing and often irritating to be living inside Jenna's though process for the whole novel. She is not believable as a character who has achieved a good career and place in life as she demonstrates herself to be fairly unintelligent throughout.
As well as the story idea, which was great, another really good aspect to this novel was the portrayal of pregnancy for incarcerated women. The character of Kelly was well placed and a really good plot driver, she was sympathetic and I found myself wanting to know much more of her background and story.
This is a difficult review as there were some parts of the novel I loved and some parts that I found not to my taste, such as the narrative. Overall these good points have tipped the scale for me regarding the rating I have chosen to give as I feel there were some important issues touched upon that I have not come across in other works.

I started this book thinking it would be about solving the puzzle as to what happened and exoneration. However pretty quickly it became apparent that this book was more about life in a women’s prison. Don’t get me wrong, I thought the writing was good but I felt I hadn’t got the story I signed up for. There were parts of the plot that seemed a little too contrived and not realistic. I’m sure not all wardens are sex fiends, sadistic and/or lazy cba types. The finale felt rushed and incredibly unbelievable. I also felt there was too much repetition about the boyfriend and stepdaughter’s fate and while I’m sure a real life prisoner will keep thinking the same things over and over again, it isn’t necessary in a book. The relationships were a little two dimensional except the relationship between the two girls in their cell, which I found quite touching.

When I first started reading this it was thrashing my head because it reminded me of a Quentin Tarantino film, a bit all over the place. However it soon had me utterly gripped and I just couldn't put it down. This is one of those books that gets the cogs turning while your reading and trying to work out what had happened and who done it. I usually feel a bit let down by the ’who done it’ part because I find it's usually pretty lame excuse but this we an absolute shocker! I didn't suspect the real killer at all so was absolutely gobsmacked by the identity and by the reason. So very cleverly written and very addictive once you get into it. Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this little corker that got me on the edge of my seat.

This was an incredibly tense, exciting and thrilling read, it kept me on the edge of my seat and it really kept me guessing until the end.
Set mainly in a women’s prison, this well written and detailed book absolutely blew me away.

Thank you

Ooooh, this was such a gripping read! I hadn't previously read any Angela Clarke, but this was a cracking introduction, and one that forced me to buy the Clarke back catalogue! I really enjoyed the character development and twists, and particularly the narrator's character arc.