The Argument by Victoria Jenkins
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Publication date is 10th December 2019
Publisher - Bookouture
Received an advanced reader copy from @netgalley and @bookouture in exchange for an honest review.
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This was one of those books that is a quick but good read. In the beginning, you are introduced to a family whose oldest daughter Olivia is trying to test her boundaries by sneaking out to a party. Her family seem protective of her and her younger sister Rosie to a degree which seems a bit weird.
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The main body of the book is the battle of wills between mother and daughter and this is where the strength lies.
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Hannah (the mother) starts to experience strange events - a break-in, keys going missing, prank calls and a strange woman turning up on her doorstep.
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Eventually, towards the end, the revelations ramp up and the emphasis is placed on how experiences of being abused can make someone an abuser and them not even really realise.
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The characters were well-formed but there could have been more substance places on Hannah’s mental state - more paranoia of her husband working late, not being where he was meant to be etc. I don’t know if this was deliberate by the author to focus on the female perspectives of the situation, but I feel like Michael (the father) could have been more visible in the narrative, even made his personality seem more ominous towards the end.

Let's just say that this one was not what I expected.
In The Argument, we meet Hannah and Olivia. Olivia is 15, rebellious, struggling with the rules and her desire to be independent. Hannah is her mother, and absolutely sure that Olivia is a horrible child intent on ruining the lives of her family.
The story begins with Olivia sneaking out to go to a party she was forbidden from going to. (Haven't we all?) When she gets home there's an argument and Olivia stops speaking to her parents. Normally, this would involve the awkward talking to where sulky teen is asked if anything is wrong, you can talk to me, etc, but in this case it was just "my teen is awful and has ruined my life."
Through the book Hannah really irritated me with her single strong opinion being that her older daughter is just horrible and her younger daughter is much better. Her lack of understanding about being a teenager seemed so out of touch. I'm Hannah's age, and I still intensely remember how I felt as a teen. It does makes sense as the book goes on, but it did definitely make me think about how my own child and I interact.
It's definitely thought provoking. And twisted. I didn't see the direction this book was headed. It was well written and twisted. Without giving anything away, it reminded me of a case that was heavily covered in the news a while back. It was my first book written by Jenkins, but I'll definitely be checking out more.
My one real complaint is that the title doesn't really fit.

*I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for my review.

Reading the description of this book I was expecting a novel filled with teenage angst and parents attempting to be the epitome of the self-help parenting books. That is not what I got at all.

Mum Hannah seems to be sensible if maybe a little over anxious as she is tackling being the parent of a teenage girl for the first time. Like many mums she would love her children to stay as polite, obedient miniature adults for as long as possible so when Olivia starts testing the boundaries, as all teens do, she's a bit out of her depth especially as husband Michael isn't around as much as she'd like to support her in her decisions regarding discipline. One night Olivia sneaks out to a party which she knows she's been forbidden to go to then returns home bold as brass prompting an argument with her mum which results in her telling Hannah that she's never going to speak to her again. All pretty much par for the course in the majority of households in England so far. But then the story starts to take an unexpected turn.
Without giving the plot away, suffice to say that Hannah and Michael may not be the model parents they first appear to be. Allegations are made, and questions start coming from the school as Olivia's behaviour starts to nosedive outside the home environment too. The one person she thought she could trust to discuss things with and seek help from has disappointed her and she doesn't know who else she can turn to.
Then amidst the silent protest she is waging with her mother, she realises her younger sister Rosie is far more savvy than she had ever imagined, and that maybe she can be the one to help her.
By the end of the book I really didn't like any of the adults in the story but wasn't quite sure how much of any of the characters' versions of events was the actual truth.
An interesting look at family life behind closed doors, the writing took a few turns which I really didn't see coming and it's a book which certainly makes you think about what might be happening around you.
How well do any of us really know our outwardly-respectable neighbours?

This book is intriguing with its twists and turns. The family has so many issues with trust and control issues. I thought the book was interesting but it could have expanded in several areas that would have made the book an even more interesting read.

Olivia is a typical 15-year-old girl who is fighting with her parents about going to parties, who is unsure of how to dress and how to behave in school and daydreaming about finally getting away from her family. Except she isn’t. Her life has two sides: on the outside, there is the loving mother in the caring home, on the inside, Olivia and her smaller sister Rosie grow up much more than overprotected. Their parents keep them away from the life outside their small home. They are allowed to school, but not much more. Never can they visit or invite friends, never can they really bond with anybody outside their family. When one evening Olivia sneaks out to go to a party, she sets in motion a series of events that will reveal much more about the family than just explain this very uncommon behaviour of the parents.

The story is told alternately from Olivia’s and her mother Hannah’s perspective. Quite cleverly, Victoria Jenkins first makes you believe in a fairly ordinary phase of rebellion of a teenager. Olivia behaves just like any other girl her age and seems to overdramatise her family life. Yet, slowly and almost unnoticed, something else creeps in and step by step, the image and idea you formed about the family shifts until you have to throw all your assumptions over board.

“The Argument” is a cleverly constructed psychological thriller which captivates the reader with the unexpected development of the characters. Both mother and daughter are actually equal protagonists, the age difference and uneven roles do not really make a difference. You focus on their subtle fight, the bits and pieces of their lives that lie beneath the surface and one after the other come out make them turn into realistic and multifaceted characters. While being occupied with the two women, you overlook the real danger and in the end, it is not easy to come to a final verdict on wrong-doings.

A spell-binding novel which does not offer the immediate thrill but which captivates you at a certain point and in the end, does not leave you without a melancholy feeling.

For most of the book I thought it was just a so-so family drama then it twisted into a direction I never expected and took off at a breakneck speed to the end.

The Argument begins as promised with a fall-out between mother and daughter. The daughter has been caught sneaking out to a party... Classic teenage rebellion or something more? As the plot progresses, we find that the mother's bizarre attitude to her eldest daughter has a deeper motive and all hell breaks loose on this seemingly normal family.

I think I'd have preferred the story if the mother, Hannah, was out-and-out evil. I think also I'd have preferred the story if the evil in it had been apparent from page 1. I nearly gave up on this book in the beginning because it appeared too samey and the writing too basic. I'm glad I stuck with it, though, as the plot definitely picked up and I zipped through the final 20% to find out what happened.

When I read the synopsis on this book, I knew I had to request it from NetGalley. I was lucky enough to be approved and couldn’t wait to get started reading it. I typically love any type of domestic thriller and was so excited to find The Argument.

Throughout the novel, it was clear that we were building towards something major to happen; it just took a good majority of the book to get there. When the crescendo finally came, I was thrown for a huge twist I never saw coming. I had no inkling or idea of what was going on and I was utterly shocked when the big reveal finally happened. The twist at the end is what saved this book for me, and is why I’m giving it three stars.

As I was reading, I just felt like the story was dragging and there were a lot of extraneous descriptions that weren’t really necessary. It almost seemed as if they were included to fill up space. And I know, the synopsis in the story says the teenage child is going to stop talking, but there was a disappointing lack of dialogue amongst the characters. I wish there had been more talking and discussions between the characters in this book.

While I'm on the subject of the characters, it was really hard to feel a personal connection to any of them. I found myself disliking almost every single person in the book. They were all portrayed as self-centered, snobby people who were only worried about saving themselves. I find it hard to really enjoy a book when you don’t love the characters within the pages.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review*

Unique mystery...

PLOT SUMMARY: Olivia is fifteen and is having a serious argument with her mother Hannah. After uncharacteristically attending a party without permission, rather than airing out their differences, Olivia chooses to maintain the silent treatment with her mother. And when her father returns home from his business trip, well, she will maintain silence with him too. The only family member she won’t freeze out is her sister Rosie.

What is really going on behind these toxic family dynamics? Is there a reason behind this stand-off? And why is Olivia trying so desperately to be noticed? Why does everyone seem to be keeping secrets?

PROS: Lots of twists and turns to this one, that’s for sure. An underlying tone of menace pervades the whole novel, and I was very interested in the big reveal at the end.

CONS: The plot was...what exactly? A bit unlikely? Impossible to guess? Something about it didn’t fit quite right with me.

YES or NO: It’s a YES - I enjoyed it and won’t forget it in a hurry, at the same time, there were a few problems with the plot..

The more I read, the faster I was turning the page to see what happens next! A very fast paced read and loved how this book was written. I can't wait to read more of this Author!

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. It was a very good read with lots of twists, I thought I had it all worked out but I didn't and I wasn't expecting the end.

After Olivia sneaks out to a party one night, she comes home to an argument with her mother, Hannah, in which she swears she will never speak to her mother again. At the beginning, I felt like both parties were overreacting a lot in their feelings towards each other. Hannah was assuming way too many things were Olivia's fault without any reason to do so, and Olivia was assuming her mother hated her and so on. It made me glad I don't yet have a teenager to deal with (and especially a girl). As the book went on, I started disliking Hannah more, especially when she told her younger daughter that the reason she was a good kid was because she listens, does what she is told, and doesn't ask questions. Great. I don't really want to give anything away, so I won't say much more other than the fact that Olivia's silence and other behaviors eventually force a lot of family secrets out. There was nothing wrong with this book and it was intruiguing and at points surprising, but I still didn't really enjoy reading it. Three stars.

The Argument by Victoria Jenkins is a slow, tense read that left me feeling unsettled from the very start, although it is difficult to ascertain exactly why that was the case. There is a sense of unease that settles over the reader quite early, despite the fact that not much seems to happen beyond what appears to be a normal dose of teenage angst, and a troubled relationship between a mother and her 15 year old daughter. We sense almost innately, however, that something has to give. Those who opt to stick this one out will have their due diligence ultimately rewarded, and any unsettled feelings will be wholly justified.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

I found this book slow for the majority of the novel. The teen in this book, Olivia, is annoyingly bratty, and the central conflict seemed relatively trivial for most of the book. I did enjoy the last 25 percent and the twist (which feels a tad random but enjoyable nonetheless). This was a middle of the road book for me, not my cup of tea.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Wow! Twisted story of a majorly dysfunctional family. Olivia is a typical 15 year who is acting rebelliously, at least that is what you are lead to believe as the story begins. What you soon find out is Olivia is living in a twisted nightmare with her younger sister. What looks like a typical normal family on the outside is anything but when you get into this well written novel. I can usually see major plot twists coming but I absolutely didn’t with this one. Excellent psychological thriller that is impossible to put down.

To say that the family in this story is royally screwed up is an understatement. The parents don't have the least bit of redeeming social value as human beings, although by the end it was pretty clear how they came to be that way. The best I can say is that others in the story - themselves seriously flawed - managed to escape, though certainly not unscathed.

While I can't say I really "enjoyed" the book, I can't deny the almost inescapable "can't put it down" aspect. Had I not started it on an evening when a couple of favorite TV shows and a couple too many glasses of Labbatt's Blue hadn't intervened, there's no doubt I could have polished it off in one day (at 235 pages, not all that difficult to do).

The title refers to a battle of words between 15-year-old Olivia and her mother, Hannah, when Olivia returns home late after going to a party her parents had nixed. Olivia is so enraged at what she considers her parents' unrealistic, controlling attitudes that she announces she will never speak to her mother again. And by golly, she sticks to her guns - much to the angst and anger of her parents.

As for her parents, Hannah and Michael wish Olivia could be like her little sister, Rosie, who's both outgoing and compliant. Little do they know, though, that despite their efforts to keep Olivia from turning Rosie into a cohort, the two girls have formed a solid bond. As the story progresses, readers learn that there's much more going on in Olivia's head than typical teenage rebellion - and once that realization dawns on her mother, things begin to turn sour. Meantime, weird things start happening in what Hannah always considered a close-knit household - things that worry Hannah even more than the silence of her elder daughter.

Honestly, I did guess the biggest "twist" a while before it was revealed, although to be fair I wasn't sure I was right until I read it with my own eyes. Toward the end, things got really hectic, and yes, from that point on, nothing would have stopped me from getting to that last page. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

The pace was very slow. It is not clear how the author wants to portray the characters, what sort of personalities, why they are behaving thus. I could not connect with this book.

Wow, this grips you at times and gets you thinking! Was not expecting that at all. Thank you netgalley. A psychological book indeed.

This book started out a bit slow for me and unfortunately it didn’t really capture my attention the way the authors previous book did.
Th twist although a good one just wasn’t enough to make up for how slow I found this. I will absolutely read her next book as I am a fan .... this book just wasn’t for me.

I didn’t know what to expect from this book based on the blurb, and almost the whole way through I was still waiting for something to happen. The pacing felt slow and a times it was hard to keep reading. The twists were definitely unexpected, but that’s because they felt like they came out of nowhere. I don’t want a thriller that spoon feeds me the mystery, but there were no kernels to go off of at all. My reaction to the first ‘big twist’ was something like, “wait, what? Really?” I didn’t hate this book. For the most part it was entertaining and the premise isn’t bad. It just could have been executed better. 3 stars.