I’m such a big fan of Jess Ryder books. I like that they keep me guessing and twist the story round perfectly until it all comes together in a nice neat knot by the end.

The Girl You Gave Away was no different, a fantastic piece of writing that made me panic for the main character the whole way through the story.

The only problem I have was the ending. I read an ARC of this and received an email from the publisher saying the ending had been changed. I honestly am not sure which was the original and which was the new one... so what I’ll say is that the ending with an epilogue from Jade... while the ending I wanted... didn’t sit right with me. In fact, it felt forced and too tidy and neat. Just wasn’t keen.

I wouldn’t really classify this as a thriller. It was a suspense, but it felt disjointed. I hated the fact that literally every character in the story blamed a 14 year old girl for all the mistakes. What a group of self righteous pigs. I read it in one sitting, because I wanted to see how it ended. I believe I read the new “revised” ending. I was given an advanced e copy in exchange for an honest review by NetGalley and Bookouture.

I think we all know the feeling of hiding things were are ashamed of or fear the reactions of loved ones. You can keep secrets for a number of years, but not forever. 

In this story we see that it would have been better to fess up and face the music straight away, because when you have to come clean later on the music only got louder and louder with time going by.

I do understand Erin and where she is coming from. She did not get a lot of understanding before, so she thinks she won't get any later on either. 

On the other hand, I understand her family's point of view too.

I was disappointed when the book ended. I was not ready to say goodbye yet. The author created some intriguing characters and I would not mind a sequel to find out where she would take us next.

I was captured by the writing style and the heartbreaking story that kept me up till 2 am. 5 stars

Thank you, Jess Ryder and Bookouture

I confess this Jess Ryder novel disappointed me. It’s about compulsive lying, duplicity and secrets - Erin is ridiculously gullible, and she and Jade have the compulsive lying gene. After a disgracefully disastrous sluttish youth, Erin finally finds respectability until there’s a blast from her past and a well-kept secret is exposed. The scenario when the secret is revealed sat badly with me. Wrongly or rightly, I believe Tom would have frozen into dumb silence, then hustled the children brusquely to their rooms and demanded an explanation from Erin. I didn’t think he would have a low mentality to hurl expletives at her in front of their children and crash out to the pub. That’s not who he was. The first Epilogue was fine but needed feedback on Jade. The second Epilogue would not have passed scrutiny during its journey to its destination as it exposed the real truth, which would have had severe repercussions for the writer and the recipient. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy of The Girl You Gave Away. The premise for the plot is a really good one and the author has a really good writing style; this is a dual narration but not at all confusing.

However, I just didn't like a single character in the book, not one, and having no empathy meant for a very tedious read.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. I wanted to like the book. Parts of the story were choppy and a little busy with subplots . The ending seemed rushed. The plot of the story at times was confusing with the different characters views and perhaps it might have been better including additional character narrations that might have made it more suspenseful and Interesting book was drawn out

Thank you @netgalley and @bookouture for the gifted copy. This book was an easy read, however it gave me mixed feelings. I enjoyed the concept-hidden past, deceit, suspenseful characters. It is certainly very intriguing but there were a lot of gaps in each characters stories and backgrounds. It was a great suspense-filled read but there was never a “height” of the book for me and I was left with more questions than answers!

Thank you @ NetGalley for my ARC.

It took me over a week to finish this book. Which is completely unheard of. However, it took that long because I did not like this novel. I was looking for a thriller and The Girl You Gave Away fell flat. So. Dang. Flat.

What made it hard to read was 1) I didn't like a single character in this novel 2) there were so many mistakes - either names being misused, details that didn't add up, that I can't believe the book made it to print/ebook with such obvious errors and 3) the ending was thrown out there, with little to no real finesse, causing it to be a bit abrupt.

It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay for it; every complaint already contains revenge.

Fourteen-year-old Erin found herself in a very peculiar situation. Typical teen looking for parents attention gets involved with a sketchy crowd. As a result, Erin develops a drinking habit, and the biggest surprise of all - falls pregnant. Underaged teen is unable to keep the child, and without her parents' moral and financial support is forced to place her daughter for adoption.

Twenty-six years later, Erin receives a birthday card, signed "the girl you gave away". From that moment forward - her life is flipped upside down and very quickly fills with lies, betrayals, blackmail, and revenge.

"The Girl You Gave Away" is full of twists that make the reader glued to the pages, absorbing narrators, and entertaining and mysterious characters. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced and free copy of the novel, and Jess Ryder for another phenomenal thriller.

3.5 stars (rounded up to 4)
This was a story of Erin and her daughter, Jade, who have reunited 25 years after Jade was put up for adoption. There are many twists that kept the story interesting, and it’s hard to look at any one character and say, “This is a good guy. 100% innocent. There is the bad guy. So guilty.” Makes you reflect on what you would do in similar situations and putting yourself in the characters’ positions.
I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline but had a serious issue with the main character. Tell the truth. Why bother lying about it? Have you ever watched tv/movies?? Don’t you know you’re just going to regret it and they’ll find out anyway?? Would recommend to anyone looking for an easy mystery read.

This book had all the subplots of a thriller with attempted murder, kidnapping, revenge, false identity, secrets, lies, infidelity, teenage pregnancy, blackmail. I was quite taken aback at the roller coaster that these subplots converted the book into. I had fun with it.

This book started slow for me. The ending left me hanging—I like when everything is tied up and I felt like this wasn’t. I liked the character development, the addition of the friends were a nice touch. I enjoyed this book!

I really enjoyed this book, a good and gripping thriller. Although, for me ..:a little predictable in some places.

The story is told from 2 different people, Erin and Jade and in Erins past and the present. Which surprisingly works really and links the story.

Erin is fourteen when she becomes pregnant by older and troublesome Dean. An embarrassment to her parents, and scared she gives birth to a daughter, Jade and has to immediately her up for adoption. Erin eventually moves on in life, gets married and has two other children. On the day of her big 40th birthday party, she receives a card from the daughter that she had given up many years before.

It appears that Jade, is back, but all is not what it seems and is too good to be true and then sinister things start to happen to Erin and her family is driven apart by Jade!

This book had all the subplots of a thriller with attempted murder, kidnapping, revenge, false identity, secrets, lies, infidelity, teenage pregnancy, blackmail. I was quite taken aback at the roller coaster that these subplots converted the book into. I had fun with it.

Being on strict bed rest due to illness, I needed something to distract me from the aches and pains. And Jess Ryder helped me forget all that. I enjoyed the absolute change in direction thus book would take in every chapter. I even wanted to tell the characters not to bother fighting with what Ms. Ryder had in store. Let it happen. And it did.

Erin became pregnant at 14 and had a daughter at 15 who was given up for adoption. Cut to 20 years hence, she had a loving husband and children. On her 40th birthday, a hand written noted arrived on her doorstep from the girl she gave away. About whom the new family especially the husband knew nothing about. The fun began.

I have read nearly all of this author’s books, and each one was fun. This too rocked me up with the different directions it pulled me into. I didn't like any of the characters, but felt a sadistic pleasure at the way they treated each other. OK some part of me was horrified too. The masks worn by the righteous were removed at the right time which shocked me completely. I too wanted to kick asses. Literally.

The book distracted me, was easy to understand, even with different characters, I never had a problem keeping them in track. The writing was choppy as it needed to be, the dark psyche of all the characters was shown. I don't think the author soared any. Let me think if there was a kid in the book.... Hmm nah nada... The only time anyone was innocent in this book was at birth...

Soem parts of its especially Erin with her best friends Holly and Asha felt like Desperate Housewives but more wicked. So I liked the series, I liked the book. Fun times.

Erin is celebrating her fortieth birthday and receives a red envelope with a birthday card with a chilling reminder that should would rather forget. Lots of twists start to happen as you read this book. It will blow your mind away. It will be a book you will never forget with chilling chapter's. A fantastic suspense thriller to keep you turning every page. A bit of a slow start but still i found it fantastic once i got into it.

If you’re looking for a thriller & some excitement pass this one up, this is not for you! The concept of this book was alright, Ryder definitely has the writing skills., she’s very descriptive with everything it made it easy to visualize the characters & where they were, etc.. I like her writing style for the most part (got a little sloppy at the end I couldn’t tell which character was thinking/talking), This book was easy to read in the sense of reading (how Ryder writes) but not easy as far as keeping my interest, I had to make myself finish this book. A couple times I found myself thinking ‘ok something exciting is happening there’s a twist finally’...nope! For me this wasn’t a thriller but a messy overly dramatic ridiculous unrealistic family drama of a 14yo girl starting life out wrong, bettering herself along the way & then having a tornado come through to make mess-this one fell REALLY flat for me.

Thank you so much Netgalley & Bookouture for providing me with this book!!

Thank you @ NetGalley for my ARC.

I was not sure what to expect since is my first time reading something by this author. The cover and description drew me in, and I was hooked from the beginning.

I couldn't put the book down. The book is about secrets and how they have a way of haunting us or catching up to us when we least expect it. Everyone has skeletons in their closet, the question is whether they'll reveal what they are or spend a lifetime waiting for the grand reveal to surprise them.

Erin became pregnant at the age of 14 and was forced to give her daughter Jade away by her parents to avoid the shame of Erin's sin. The book is told from two POV, Erin's and Jade. The book alternates between the past and present. This approach gives readers a between understanding of how the past influenced the current situation and connect different characters. I was attached to both Erin and Jade, I felt sympathetic with their journey and angry for many reasons. The author does an amazing job at keeping you at the edge of your seat wondering whether Jade's intention are pure, a re-connection with her long lost mother, or if she's after revenge for being abandoned. How will Erin's husband, who honors transparency and honesty, process the secret Erin's been holding for years? Will the family fall apart or hold it together? Are there more secrets? I couldn't put the book down until around 60%. That is when I paused and said "please no." Please do not fit so perfectly together, please do not add another twist to this story so that there are other dramas outside the original drama.

Sadly, that's exactly what happened. I felt the added twists were excessive and there were more undeveloped side stories that are great for a thriller but left me wanting more. It felt too much, granted I was still hooked because I needed to find out what would happen, but with every page, I felt the story was no longer believable. Overall it is a good thriller, but I give it a 3.5 instead of a 4 because the revelations towards the end were kind of thrown out there as a slight mention, and then the book ended.

I will consider reading another book by this author in hopes that the other pieces are more realistic and a thriller that one can handle versus so many situations raining down at once that you lose track.

i absolutely love a jess ryder book. i’ve read them all and gave 5 star reviews. I’m so sorry that this one fell short for me and I found myself constantly checking to see how much more I had left. I just couldn’t get into it and was waiting for something to happen while really getting annoyed at Erin, the main character. Premise sounded fun but I don’t really think this is a psychological thriller. Maybe because I read so many of them and they need to really THRILL to stand out.
i wish Jess nothing but absolute success with this book.
Thank you for my free ArC in exchange for my honest review.

I thought this book was interesting until it became clear that there was an implication about women who have to give up their children for adoption due to legitimate reasons - it seemed as though these women were being shamed for it through this story, and this was not something that settled well for me. As someone with an MSW degree and familiarity with the adoption system, it was uncomfortable for me to read certain things. I feel the story could have used some more compassion there, in that regard.

The Girl You Gave Away by Jess Ryder is another gripping read from a talented author who has become, for me, a firm favourite. Ms Ryder deftly crafts a story that will keep you reading into the night, desperate to see how it all plays out.

Erin is only fourteen when she becomes pregnant by the older, nefarious Dean. Frightened and alone, she gives birth to a daughter, Jade, to whom she immediately gives up all parental rights. Erin eventually goes on to marry and have two other children, and is blindsided when she receives a card on the day of her fortieth birthday from the daughter that she had given up so many years before. Jade, it seems, is back, but is this reaching out all in good faith, or has something, or someone, more sinister resurfaced in Erin's carefully ordered new life?

I am always thrilled to read the newest offering from a favourite author, and this one does not disappoint.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.