This was a very dark story, illustrating the cruelties adults can inflict on children. There are two strands to the story, past and present, which are cleverly interlinked. Unexpected conclusion.

"She gazes at the wood and wonders how many lost children there are and whether it will ever be possible to find them."

This book is utterly heart-rending and beautiful.

5*

Monstrous Souls by Rebecca Kelly was a fairly quick read for me. I like how the author tells the story in two different timelines. The story unfolds well through the recovering memories of Heidi who survived an attack fifteen years previously and only now begins to piece events together. So far, so good. However, the plot soon reveals sinister undertones and historic organised child abuse. I didn’t really enjoy the book after that point as I find such storylines too distressing. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Agora Books for the opportunity to read the book.

Tough book to read, an uncomfortable subject but done delicately. Good string characters you believed in. A good book on a hard subject.

A fast paced suspense thriller that will stay with me for some time.  A brilliant read that I could not put down.  I look forward to reading more by this author.

This was a brilliant book, with a dark and disturbing theme.
Following a terrible attack in 2001 on two teenage girls in and the abduction of a third younger girl, we meet Heidi.
Heidi survived the ordeal that killed her best friend and saw her sister go missing. She can’t remember a thing about the attack however, or what led to it, so the case has been dropped by the police.
The story is then told from Heidi’s point of view in 2016 when she starts to remember some of the terrible events of that day, and alternately from 2001, the memories that Heidi can’t recall yet.
It’s a heartbreaking tale, my first from this author, I’ll certainly be looking out for more.

Outstanding suspense thriller with a heart-breaking theme at its core involving a paedophile ring. The horrific nature of the subject is handled sensitively by the author and she succeeds in conveying much whilst avoiding undesirable detail. All the characters are well drawn and developed wonderfully. We care about Denise and root for her!

An intriguing story with an interesting premise. I enjoyed the dual timeline and getting to see flashes of what happened in the past. Satisfying ending.

Monstrous Souls is a debut that reads as though it were written by an established author; it's dark and gritty, covering uncomfortable and often taboo topics, yet is written with sensitivity and flair. Fifteen years ago, Heidi was one of the victims of a brutal attack that left her best friend Nina dead and her sister Anna missing. She has been unable to remember anything about that day, or indeed the months preceding it, since. But now that is changing as little by little, fragments of memory are coming back. But some secrets are dangerous and there are people involved who will do anything to keep these particular secrets from coming to light.

Split between two timelines, you have the timeline leading up to the attack in 2001 and the current timeline in 2016 as Heidi comes to terms with the memories she is finally regaining. The dual perspective worked well, as whilst you as the reader often knew slightly more than Heidi actively remembered, it gave the same sense of events being slowly recollected. The narrative was often framed in a way that Heidi's memories were often interwoven with the events narrated to you, so everything tied together well and didn't feel jarring.

This is a dark tale, and the murder of a child is only the beginning of the tangled web of horrors as the memories from her childhood return and she realises that what the police know is only the tip of the iceburg. Except that isn't quite true either, as Nina was certain even at a young age that someone in the police force was actively involved in the atrocities committed against children. As an adult, the more memories Heidi gets back, the more danger she is in, but for her own sake and that of her missing sister, Heidi is determined to get to the truth. The truth isn't as simple as it might appear though. 

My main complaint with the novel is that for someone with a history of severe trauma - trauma that left her with long term memory loss and physical injuries - Heidi really can be seriously stupid. There were so many moments where she heads out alone - again - and as a reader I'm just thinking, why oh why!? To begin with, it's understandable. There's no immediate threat. But once she realises that she is being followed and someone is very keen to keep her quiet through any means, her behaviour becomes idiotic rather than naive. It's a pet peeve of mine in books. Any logical, sane adult fearing for their life is not going to run out on a whim to find the next piece of evidence; they would call someone to accompany them at the very least.

It's a minor quibble in the long run, although it did slightly mar my enjoyment of the novel. I found the characterisations of the children in the 'flashback' sections of the novel far more believable in that sense, as children make mistakes because they don't know any better. Adults making the same mistakes again and again is far less forgivable. 

All in all though, I enjoyed this. It's a dark and tense thriller that builds up the atmosphere well. The characterisations are strong, particularly those of the children and of the Detective working the case in the present day. I particularly liked how the focus shifted from Heidi to Detective Gizeen, as it means you get to see events from both perspectives. The ramifications of such a horrific act on the children concerned even many years later was portrayed well, and I felt the author did an excellent job at portraying Heidi and Nina's family as fully fleshed out characters, rather than solely as victims.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this novel.

Convincing characters and well crafted storyline. I could not put this book down. It made me angry, it made me sad and it made me envious of Rebecca Kelly's talent.
I look forward to her next novel.
Thank you Netgalley and Agora Books for giving me the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion.

This was a great read, enjoyed it thoroughly, was hooked from the first page, loads of twists and turns, would recommend it x

I loved the writing style, and the talent of the author to slip into the different characters heads, and realistically convey them.  It is a talent that not all writers have

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

This book is quite savage, but in all the right ways. It being set in the UK made it a bonus for me, but I loved the writing style, and the talent of the author to slip into the different characters heads, and realistically convey them.  It is a talent that not all writers have, and I am quite jealous of.  This book will grip you as you try and play detective yourself, and figure out who had done what to who.

4.5 stars
A debut story full of moments that will take you on a rollercoaster ride without doubt.
It's so interesting how our brain has a life of it's own and makes us forget or just block out sensitive and trauma moments from our life. 
The story is told in then, 2001, and now 2016 scenes, with multiple pov, with so many triggering topics but these are bringing more awareness of how cruel the world we live in can be at times.
It's a brilliant thriller that many readers will enjoy all the edge of the seat, dark and twisted scenes , some predictable, some very unexpected, a hard to digest story at times but a must read novel for sure.

NetGalley arc, all opinions are my own

A gut wrenching story worthy of any established author but bravo as a debut!

Rebecca Kelly packs endless punches in this raw, psychological thriller and shows no fear in raising the ugly head of pedophilia. She achieves this through the eyes of Heidi, a damaged survivor of a heinous, unresolved crime. With the crime 15 years before, Heidi is still living with the scars most notably the damage to her memory. As she tries to make sense of her past she works closely with Denise a police officer as the case is revisited. 

The story gathers pace through the gradual return of Heidi’s memory. This is successfully achieved by placing Heidi between the past and the present in first person narrative which she does with all her characters to great effect especially towards the end. Though we are not fed a huge amount of information about Heidi in the years since the crime, we discover enough to curry sympathy and with only threads to hold we are fed an air of menace and deep foreboding of what’s to come. 

As the detail builds in Heidi’s mind so too does the detail of the crime and its wider impact. The murky spectre of abuse is kept in the shadows throughout which more than sufficiently relays it’s horror.

Rebecca Kelly has displayed a maturity in her writing that I would look forward to experiencing again.

This story is also a book about  love and the profound loss of innocence and many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to discover this rising talent.

I loved the synopsis of this book and couldn't wait to get started with it: anything with the piecemeal returning of various memories is usually a surefire way to build interest and intrigue, for me. This book did not disappoint: I loved the slow burn as parts of Heidi's memory about the terrible events many years before, trickled back to her. The reveal was surprising to me; I wasn't able to correctly guess what had happened that day.

Another brilliant debut. I’ve just bought this for my daughter and she’s read it in 2 days. We both agreed this is EXCELLENT. The story is dark and it’s twisty and turny. I am now waiting for book 2 by this talented writer. Hurry up! You are amazing! 5/5. I’d give 6 if I could!!!

Wow! What an incredible debut novel. This had me gripped immediately, the story was so compelling, told by different narrators switching between 2001 and 2016. I really, really felt for Heidi, the main character. It also dealt with some really serious issues such as child exploitation and police corruption. The ending really was a shocker as promised too! I’ve already bought this for my mum who loves a great thriller too. Looking forward to Rebecca Kelly’s next book!

Monstrous Souls was clever, well written and plotted, but not an easy read sometimes. An accomplished book.