'My Daughter's Secret' was not what I expected at all. The storyline kicked off with a powerful and highly charged opening chapter, one which set the presedence for the rest of the novel. Of course, as readers, we aren't aware that that is what the opening chapter ends up doing. I couldn't even begin to imagine what Claire was feeling when the reality of her daughters death sunk in. It was heartbreaking to watch her world cave in once again, as well as watching her trying to find the truth behind Julia's death. The police considered it to be suicide...but was it?

If you're after a book which uplifts you and leaves you beaming, personally I wouldn't suggest reading this book. Now before anyone says anything, I don't mean that in a bad way. Nicole Trope's novel is very harrowing with multiple depressing elements, so in my opinion, this novel is the sort of book you pick up when you want to delve into the finer details of a character's life, or if you need to read something which enables you to put things into perspective.

I would be lying if I said that I didn't find this book hard to read, because I did. I couldn't fathom why Claire's grief was being shrugged off by those close to her, but I could see why she felt as though she was going crazy at times. I mean, her daughter has died and shes now been left with pandora's box to try and find the truth.

I had a feeling I knew where the fingers would point, about half way through the book - something which doesn't happen to me very often. I felt sick by what came to life and I thought that Claire's reaction was quite tame considering. However, everyone deals with things differently as we know, I was just surprised by how she ended up dealing with things considering her thoughts beforehand.

I found 'My Daughter's Secret' to be such a gritty, emotive read which blew up any rational thinking I had. I thought that Nicole Trope is a very atmospheric writer who seems to go above and beyond when it comes to crafting her characters personalities.

There are a lot of dark and distressing themes discussed in this book such as suicide, domestic physical abuse and emotional abuse, most of which will have a lot of readers reaching for the tissues. I did enjoy the suspense of the novel, but overall I will admit that I'm still on the fence because of the spiralling negativity from start to finish. That said, the drama in this book is written very well.

An intoxicating, atmospheric and devastatingly emotive read that will leave you feeling things you've never felt before.

Thank you to Bookouture for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Our Daughter’s Secret’ in exchange for an honest review.

It’s never easy to give a low rating to a novel. I expect that I am likely to be in the minority but for me this novel had some major issues.

Claire wakes one night to find that her daughter, Julia is dead. She is naturally deeply bereaved struggling to understand why her beautiful and seemingly happy daughter took her own life. After finding a cache of letters hidden under Julia’s bed at university, Claire discovers that, as the title indicates, Julia was harbouring a secret. The letters from ‘x’ became increasingly alarming to Claire.

While I found the opening chapter powerful, my relationship with this novel faltered soon after. I found that I just didn’t connect with the characters, which in a domestic drama like this is vital. This was especially true of Claire but I struggled with pretty much everyone.

I also found it strange that people in Claire’s life were not more supportive of her grieving. It’s a process that takes time especially so with a death by suicide of a son or daughter. Here the idea of ‘moving on’ from Julia’s death might have been plausible if a few years had passed but weeks just felt unlikely.

Claire being an apologist for her former husband’s domestic abuse and claiming over and over that Joel had changed just totally wound me up. The narrative was already dealing with quite important and potentially triggering issues and this felt like an extra layer of drama.

I was very much aware of ‘X’s identity early on and Claire’s anger towards her various suspects was disturbing. The ending just underlined my prior feelings leaving me frustrated.

So really not my cup of tea. Interesting that Nicole Trope was compared to Jodi Picoult. On a couple of occasions I was frustrated enough with Jodi’s various mothers, plot lines and endings to metaphorically want to throw the books against the wall.

I am glad that the author/publishers placed a notice about the difficulty of the subjects covered in the novel and included the numbers of suicide helplines. For the U.K. the organisation Survivors of Suicide, might also have been useful to mention. Their mission is to assist with the special bereavement needs of those who have lost loved ones to suicide.

What an opening to a story! Definitely one I won’t forget in a hurry that’s for sure.

The loss of a child is devastating enough but to lose one the way that Claire does, gosh my heart went out to her. In fact I did get quite emotional in places as just the thought of it really hit me hard. The only thing keeping Claire going is her search for answers.

Her search leads Claire on a roller coaster of a journey. I loved how the author takes the reader in one direction to totally do a U turn and send them hurtling towards a different one. I was so sure at times that I knew where it was heading only to be totally wrong.

My Daughter’s Secret was an engrossing, page turner of a read. The author grabbed my attention from the first page and kept me there all the way through. There was certainly a couple of jaw dropping moments that I hadn’t expected, which excited and thrilled me at the same time. Great read and look forward to more from the author.

I really wanted to like this, and rarely give up on a book, but I am afraid to say I struggled with this and just couldn’t get into it. The idea was good, suicide and mental illness is a topic that needs to be discussed.

Although I couldn’t get on with this book, it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t try another book by the same author in the future.
2 stars because although I couldn’t get into it, I believe the topic is important.

"My Daughter's Secret" by Nicole Trope.

4 stars.

A mother learns that her daughter committed suicide but she can't believe it as she seemed happy... She wants answers, she wants the truth, she might not like everything she finds out...
People have secrets...
A mother's nightmare to dig and uncover the truth step by step...

I liked it a lot.
It's heartbreaking. I felt sad reading that book, it felt real, so much emotions, the way two girls discovered the body... It was scary and sad...
Well written!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review, all opinions are my own!

The discovery that her twenty-year-old daughter Julia was dead shattered Claire, her husband Adrian and the two boys. But the knowledge that she had committed suicide when the girl they had known had seemingly been happy was bewildering. Claire, riven with grief, knew she needed to find out the answers as to why her beloved Julia had resorted to suicide.

This novel revolved around grief, heartache, secrets and lies. The characters were not likeable; it was hard to even get to know them. As the marriage fractured, still Claire continued to fight for answers, especially when she discovered the letters under Julia’s bed. I was looking forward to this author’s latest release but found myself disappointed. Hush, Little Bird has been my all time favourite and although I haven’t particularly enjoyed My Daughter’s Secret, I will read more by Aussie author Nicole Trope.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

The author really knows how to catch your attention with the first chapter. It left me with goosebumps all over.

A lot of people do not believe in (female) intuition. I wonder why because it has already saved a lot of lives and maybe animals are more clever than humans. They do trust it for 100%. But there is something that is even stronger than that : a mother's intuition. Why is it that everybody finds it hard to believe when she is convinced that there is more to it than the eye can see?

It should be clear by now that mum's don't give up so easily and they will move heaven and earth to make sure justice conquers all.

I guessed rather early on who played the main part in the letters, but that did disturb me at all. The story was too good to let that spoil the pleasure. I wanted to know how the author would reveal everything and what would come to the surface. 

The book is a bucket filled to the brim with emotions.

And then there is the last chapter where ... No, no no, I am not going to say more. That's for me to know and for you to find out. 5 stars.

Thank you, Nicole Trope, Bookouture and Netgalley.

Book received courtesy of publisher/author.

This is such an utterly heart wrenching, gripping, twisted and jaw dropping story. It absolutely broke my heart to read but it was also very addictive because I wanted to find out the truth. Brilliantly written and very clever with the twisted truth. Although I felt like it dragged out a bit too long, I don’t think I would read it again. #MrsCsHonestBookReviews #NetGalley #Bookblogger #blogger #bookworm # MyDaughtersSecret #NicoleTrope

3.5 stars
In "My Daughter's Secret," Trope begins with a college-age daughter's (Julia) suicide and her mother's (Claire) quest to find out why she chose to do so. While I can certainly empathize and appreciate a mother's deep anguish, sadness, sense of loss over a child's suicide, the first half of the book seemed to dwell, at undue length, on her mother's extreme difficulty in the aftermath. The book tends to slow down as a result, with the first half to third ceaselessly driving this home and at some point, I began to lose interest (and hope) that there would ever be an end to her self-deprecating inner dialogue about why Julia committed suicide and her faults as a mother. Claire runs down a few leads, which end up being dead ends, and then as she returns home to Sydney (the book is set in New South Wales, and the daughter, Julia, attends university in Melbourne), she begins to piece together the puzzle left behind in the form of letters from Julia's love interest. From there, the novel picks up and in the final quarter of the book, Trope delivers a whopper (i.e., the catalyst for Julia's suicide) and then quickly ends the book.
Like other reviewers, I felt there was a lot to digest here in terms of a dysfunctional family history. While the ending was worthwhile, I'm not 100% certain I'd recommend this unless the reader is up for a book heavy on family drama, domestic abuse, and not prone to triggers of predatory men, "reformed" abusers and/or a mother's grief of her child. The writing was solid, but some additional editing would have been beneficial in terms of repetitiveness.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! Wow! Wow! My sweet darling Nicole, you have outdone yourself! This book is ahhmazing! From the first chapter, I was swept up by the sadness of the story. You sucked me in with grief so profound I could feel it as I turned the pages. You have portrayed the horrific nature of suicide in a way that feels so real and painful. And the beauty of a budding love relationship through the found letters! How beautiful and romantic it started and how horrific it all ended. About 70% in, I figured out whodunit but geesh I never expected it and it sucker punched me in the gut. I felt the anger of the mother as I too started to hate this disgusting abusive man. The last fourth of the book was totally unexpected and so well developed! This book had me reeling in every direction and I literally couldn’t put it down! I can’t remember when a book last shook my every emotion but you did it! I mean, seriously, how did you come up with this story- it was SO damn good! Thank you for writing, for bringing emotion into the life of your reader and for tackling a very sensitive subject in the most graceful of ways! WOW! I highly recommend!

Why did Julia commit suicide- hanging herself on the front porch of her home? Or did she? Her mother Clare is devastated but then things really go south when she finds a trove of Julia's writings. There's a secret lover. Unfortunately, I figured out who that was right away, which made the rest of this less than suspenseful. Adrian and Joel, her stepfather and father respectively, loom large here but neither one felt real to me. I wish there had been more a sense of Julia as we only see her through Clare's eyes. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

On Halloween night two girls find Julia hanging on her family home's porch while everyone thought she was a 5 hour drive away at school. Torn up by Julia's suicide we follow Claire's story as she tries to understand why her seemingly happy daughter would commit suicide. Along with Claire's point of view we also get letters throughout the book from someone Julia was seeing, getting insight into a relationship that no one else knew about any may hold many clues.

I initially was disappointed in the story when I was pretty sure that I had figured the mystery to the story. However as I read more of the story and got to know the characters more I think that perhaps Nicole Trope meant for the reader to understand and know the solution all along and it was really seeing the struggles of the characters that was the real thriller of the story.

The only character I got fully attached to was Claire as hers was the only point of view we really follow. That being said I didn't always agree with her and I had times when I really wished she would open up her eyes and see the damage she was doing while on her quest for the truth. While I enjoyed the book a lot, I can honestly say it was also painful to read. There was so much harm being done to various characters that there was times I did need to put the book down and just take a breather. I always came back to it though knowing I wanted to know the ending and the resolution. My one complaint might be that things were left a bit ambiguous at the end and I would have preferred a bit more closure.


This novel was heart breaking in so many ways. The trials and struggles these characters go through are not for the faint of heart. Strong trigger warnings for anyone who have a hard time reading about physical, emotional, psychological or verbal abuse, as all are very apparent in this novel. That being said they aren't present in a gratuitous way. Nicole Trope writes about abuse in a very deliberate and meaningful way to paint a picture that needed to be painted for her story and to bring light to such an important issue.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys domestic thrillers.

Claire is dealing with the death by suicide of her 20 year old daughter. She is, of course totally devastated and heartbroken and is finding it difficult to function. But even more, she cannot believe her daughter, Julia, would take her own life. Claire is carrying around the pain and guilt of a mother who thinks she should have done more, or less, or done things in a different way.
Claire decides to go to her University to sort through her room. While packing up her things she finds letters which point to a secret affair. Is this why Julia took her life? Why didn’t her friends know about this relationship? Claire is determined to find the truth for her daughter.
This was quite a gripping and compelling read - and an emotionally charged one too. I had to put it down a couple of times. I cannot imagine the pain of losing one’s daughter or indeed one’s child under any circumstances. The only nagging little question I have is can an abuser really change like that?

While fairly predictable (I guessed the big plot twists about 20% in), this book is very well written and broaches some pretty difficult topics. Overall, I did enjoy this book and look forward to future books written by this author

Thank you, Netgalley for this ARC.

This one started off in a big way...two young women stumble upon a body hanging from a porch. And even though Julia’s death is immediately ruled a suicide, her mother Claire just can’t let it go. So she begins to dig into Julia’s life, looking for answers. Why would her daughter kill herself? Eventually this question changes to, DID Julia actually kill herself? Although the story lost a bit of momentum about halfway through, it's still a gripping, twisty story up until the very end.

This book had me crying from the beginning. An extremely sad story of a mother who lost her daughter to suicide. This book felt so real and painful very well written by the author. Finding her daughter's letters was very emotional. Definitely well written and made you feel part of the story. Too sad in my opinion but gives truth to pain in every way. My honest review in exchange for an ARC from Net Galley. Thank you.

On Halloween night Claire finds her 20-year-old daughter, Julia hanging from the front porch. While she is trying to come to terms with her daughter’s suicide she makes some discoveries. Julia was in a secret relationship. Claire digs further into truth to find out who the person was and if he was responsible for Julia’s death.

The novel opened up with Julia’s friends discovering Julia’s body on Halloween night. That opening chapter was the best one in the book. After that, I was greatly disappointed. I could guess who the secret lover X was when I was 30% into the book. It was that obvious. I can’t say any more without spoilers. Claire was also unlikable which made it even worse for me. If she were a likable character it would have made reading the book more tolerable. The ending made me pretty upset as well. I kept shaking my head bewildered and frustrated at this mom’s choices.

This is the story of the mother of a young girl who is found hanging on her front porch on Halloween. In her grief, she goes looking for a reason behind why her daughter could possibly want to do such a tragic thing when she seemingly had it all.

While visiting her daughters dorm room, she located a box of letters that brings the reader into guessing what the secret was who might have been behind it.

The story was well thought out, though I did guess all of the surprises before I read about them. This can be a difficult read for some people, if you’ve dealt with losing a child or loved one. An enjoyable read, 3.5⭐️ from me.

Thanks the Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I guess you can say that the author has done her job when you come out at the other end of her book feeling emotionally abused yourself. In the course of less than 300 pages I have witnessed suicide, murder, domestic violence, one particularly unpleasant relationship and a complete set of adults seriously in need of psychoanalysis.

There is a good story in the middle of all that which kept me reading, despite the fact that all of the characters, except the two poor sons, were unpleasant. There is a mystery revolving around why the victim committed suicide or even whether it was suicide at all. And there is a shock answer and a dramatic conclusion. All good but I still closed the book feeling depressed.

Claire is heartbroken when her beloved daughter Julia dies in what is an apparent suicide. Claire, feeling that her daughter was happy and full of life, vows to uncover the truth as she finds a box of letters that Julia wrote. The letters seem to describe a happy, in love girl - but she then uncovers the darkness that will finally give her the truth she has been seeking.
This book was emotional and dark - and while it was well-written and I had immense sympathy for Claire - it was almost too sad for me to continue reading and finish. I felt like it left me an emotional wreck at times. I appreciate the author for evoking these feelings, but it was definitely a hard read.
Thank you to Nicole Trope, Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.