This is a really interesting book that tries to help you understand why a child could kill. The author has clearly done her research and the story is believable but heartbreaking.
Chrissie has a secret that at first makes her feel good but later as Julia it makes her doubt her ability to be a good mother. I marvelled at the level of neglect in Chrissie's childhood and my heart broke as I realised there are children living in such awful situations. What really saddened is that other adults must have known but didn't report it, why?
It is difficult to say much without giving away the story but this a must read

This was a really difficult read, following Chrissie, a child who committed murder and Julia, her new adult identity and a parent herself. Chrissies voice, both in the then as a child and the now as Julia, trying to be a good parent, is really well written and the reactions she has at both ages to authority are incredibly well written and real.
It was impossible to forgive those around her as a child for not seeing her problems or for identifying she was troubled and neglected but not acting on their suspicions but I suspect that is all too typical as children often fall through the net despite the good intentions of some.
Overall emotionally challenging but well worth reading.

A well worthy read, a thought provoking and captivating tale based around Chrissie, who at the tender age of eight, strangles two innocent children to death. Having been found guilty of their murders, she is sent to youth prison, but is released under a new identity, and goes on to have a daughter of her own.

When I first started to read this, I never thought in a million years that I would end up pleased for Chrissie and how this all ends for her. However, the way Nancy writes this, makes it very hard not to feel sorry for her and I actually wanted to wrap eight year old Chrissie up in my arms and hold her tightly. Despite my first impressions of this book, I was very pleased to discover this isn't a case of a child that is born evil, she is simply a product of her upbringing. I don't want to go into too much details as I don't want to add spoilers to this review.

I really enjoyed this, and at times found myself picking it back up even thought I had just put it down, a few moments before. The writing style of then and now leaves the reader wanting to know more, and this had me intrigued and engrossed very early on. I highly recommend this, if this genre appeals to you and I will definitely be looking out for more from Nancy Tucker.

This was a very powerful sensitive subject to write about and I think the author was very brave to do so. I will admit to being angry and sickened with Chrissie at times because whatever her situation was this did not excuse her actions. I was also horrified by the people around her that did nothing to help her.

I read it through to the end in the hope that I may have misjudged her or had missed something but I still felt the same so I went back to the beginning and read the authors introduction again about she how she hoped it also asked important questions about resilience, nurture and the human capacity for forgiveness. This may be a reflection on me but I could not forgive.

This book really fired up my emotions and I feel it's good to step out of your comfort zone and do this so I thank the author for certainly making me do this. This book may not be for everyone but it certainly challenged my thoughts.

Wow This book completely fried my head, in a good way! The whole way through, I was having internal nature vs nurture debates with myself.
I was torn between feeling sorry for Chrissie one moment to being horrified at the warped logic of this child monster the next
The author dealt so well with such a sensitive subject and although this book won't be for everyone..personally, I loved it

This is an incredibly powerful story about what compels a neglected young girl to commit unspeakable crimes and how that impacts her later life. I knew this was going to be heavy but I’m still trying to process what I’ve read - the story is so harrowing yet utterly compelling which is a difficult balance to strike.

I think the author has done remarkably well with the tough job of exploring deeply traumatic subjects with sensitivity and care. Although hard to read in places, Chrissie’s story was written so candidly and I was intrigued in the psychology behind her actions. The story is told from alternating timelines of Chrissie’s life when she was a young girl and her present day reality as Julia, a single mother in her mid-twenties. The dual timelines flow effortlessly together and conjured very conflicting feelings for me - I was torn between horror at the terrible acts Chrissie carried out, shock at the neglect and abuse she suffered as a child and sympathy for the confused and paranoid mother she turns into.

This book is extremely moving, delicately written and I absolutely know it’s one that will stay with me long after I’ve read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really powerful it was such a good one
It takes on loneliness especially for a child
It is about Chrissie who is a daughter and innocence and Evil is outstanding
I had an ARC

Chrissie is 8 years old and lives in the poorest part of town. Her clothes are ragged and skin complaints, and she lives with parents who don’t care. Her mother. Her mother never wanted children and is very neglectful and her da is never around for her and when he does appear he doesn’t want anything to do with Chrissie. Because of her situation at home, she is hateful to the other kids that live near her and she is always getting into trouble and always tries to scrounge food from others in anyway she can. She doesn’t know the ways of the world; she doesn’t understand that when someone is dead, they are dead. So, when she kills a toddler Steven, she thinks that he is going to come back later alive.
The story then tells us of present day when Chrissie is now Julia, and she has a child of her own Molly. Julia is so careful and so different to the little girl that she once was. She is also scared that she is not a good mother and Social services are going to take Molly away from her because of the crimes she committed all of them years ago.
Wow when I read the synopsis for this brilliant novel from Nancy Tucker, I wasn’t expecting this. This is a riveting unputdownable story of child murder, neglect and someone who just wanted to be loved.
This is a hard subject to read so people who are sensitive to these matters maybe not for you.
The author has written this powerful story so sensitively so not to offend and has done a great job. I found the main character of Chrissie deeply disturbing but in another way, I felt sorry for her. I don’t condone child killers. But she did the things she did not only for the way she was brought up, but I think also to get attention and for someone to love her and I am glad that she was able to turn her life around in the sense of her daughter. 5 stars from me.

This book had me gripped from start to finish. It is not the kind of book I would normally read, but the blurb piqued my interest. From the start you are thrust into the world of a little 8 year old girl, who struggles to understand the world around her. My heart broke for her, and the things she endured being born to a woman who did not know how to be a mum. The sense of abandonment drips onto each page, and I was surprised to find myself feeling so strongly for her plight. The horrors that unfold - her actions, are not glorified, but offer an insight to how and why she chose to kill. The story of who she became as an adult (and a mum) herself, was delicately handled and believable. Until the last page, I was hoping that she could come through from her past, and learn to accept that forgiveness could only come from within herself. I feel odd now, odd in the way that you feel when you finish a book that had you so entranced, that the real world seems somehow changed when you look up from the final page. I can count on my fingers how many times I have found a story that does this, and to me, those books are the most amazing, the most fantastic of them all. A sign of the best author, the best writing and the best kind of book. I’m not going to lie though, the contents of this book are not something I ever expected to evoke such thoughts of! But I guess it shows that excellent writing - even if in a genre you don’t normally read - can draw you in and make you care - even when you are unsure if you should be caring! A truly exceptional book.

I'm so sorry, as a mother and grandmother I found this too distressing to read. I knew what the subject matter was, but I was sickened by it. Again, I'm sorry I couldn't read it. It may we'll be a fabulous book, but I'm only going to give it one star as I don't think these things should be glorified in this way.

When a book starts “I killed a boy today”, you know it’s not going to be an easy read.
The person who killed the boy is eight-year-old Chrissie, who is being raised by a neglectful, uncaring mother, and has a feckless absent father who randomly appears in her life, and then leaves again.
I felt for poor Chrissie – she is clearly intelligent, likes school, because she is fed, and likes being milk monitor because she can drink a lot of the milk.
The other narrator is Julia, who is trying very hard to be a good mother to her young daughter Molly, and the reader soon comes to realise who she is.
This book is an uncomfortable read, I can’t say I enjoyed it, but I think I’m glad I read it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the opportunity to read this book.

Wow Wow Wow! There are no words to describe how brilliant this book is! From the very first paragraph to the very end.
It is raw, brutal and downright disturbing but I just couldn't put it down.
It is not a book that will be liked by everyone. In my opinion, if you can read and stomach the first page, you will be able to the read the rest.
The book deals with some extremely disturbing issues such as child neglect and child murder.
What makes this book a masterpiece is the way the story is told through the eyes and voice of the main character, 8 year old Chrissie Banks, also later known as Lucy and Julia. She is a lost soul, neglected by her parents, consumed by jealousy, anger and frustration, crying out for any kind of love and attention.
The book is so cleverly narrated that you feel you are a part of Chrissie's thought processes. Despite the most horrific acts carried out by Chrissie, for the most part, I felt sympathy towards her. She's the child you want to take home, love and make everything OK for.
What I also really liked about this book is how, in later life, Chrissie is given the opportunity to become a better person. She can't make amends for the terrible acts of her past but she can break the cycle and learn from her past. She learns what it is to love and be loved unconditionally. Most, including myself, would say she doesn't deserve it, but that is the magic of this book, the author tells the story in such a way that you are rooting for Chrissie and a happy ending.
I would 100% recommend this book to others as long as you can get past the first page.
Thank you so much Netgalley for enabling me to read an advanced copy of this book. It will most definitely be going into my top 3 reads of 2021! Wow!

Loved, loved, loved it. A real change - something totally new and different. You can't help but feel sorry for the main character, but at the same time, hugely dislike her. Couldn't put it down. Well written, easy to follow, Not written to be twisty or to give you a surprise ending that wouldn't make sense or any unnecessary shocks. It's well laid out. It deals with uncomfortable questions and issues and doesn't side step. One of the best stories I've read in a long time.

Chrissie was right when she killed another child, now she's done her time is grown up and has a child of her own. All Chrissie gets when she is young is that she's a bad seed so she begins to believe it, she is a victim of child neglect no food, or clean clothes her mother doesn't seem to care where she is and her father is not around much. At first she believes that when she killed the boy he would come back from the dead after a little while. after all that's where she's told her father is when he's not around and he comes back, so why wouldn't she believe it.

She does her prison sentence in a home and is rehabilitated enough to be sent into the world with a new identity. Her daughter has an accident and breaks her wrist falling off a wall and s h e thinks they will take Molly off her so she runs!!! Does she come back or keep running?

Many thanks to Net galley for letting me read this novel, it was upsetting but thought provoking at the same time. Raised questions about the nature and nurture debate.

It’s hard to identify with someone who has killed a child. How can you ever think well of them again? I didn’t like the main character and prejudged her before reading the rest of the book. This book must of been very hard to write and being a cosy crime reader I kept gulping back the tears. That being said it is a good book albeit grim to Start with.

This is so heartbreaking on so many levels. It’s immersive, lifelike and believable. It’s deep and thought provoking and challenging.

I found this book deeply moving but also entertaining. This is the story of a child who killed another child and the adult they became. It documents the effect parental neglect and cruelty can have on a young mind and the terrible events it can lead to. At the same time, it is about how forgiveness and redemption are possible with the right support. The narrative, told from the point of view of the child and their adult self, is very powerful. The reader is given access to all their thoughts and emotions which creates a feeling of empathy despite their terrible crime. I found this book remarkably easy to read and finished it in a day. The final chapters are uplifting, leaving the reader with a feeling of hope and a sense of completion. I would recommend this novel as a thoroughly enjoyable read.

This book was not for me, although as you can see from the other feedback given it is for others. I just didn't connect with the character whether it was Chrissie or Julia and although I did sympathise and could understand why Chrissie did what she did, it wasn't enough enough for me to like her and warm to her and I don't think that helped.

No matter what I write here and how much praise I give to the author it’s never going to do justice to how absolutely remarkable this book is. Told from two points of view the 8 year old Chrissie and the 20+ year old Julie who is the grown up Chrissie this is a harrowing tale of a neglected, unloved, starved and abused Chrissie and the terrible effect that it has on her life and the repercussions of all that neglect has on her.
This is a book that is without doubt very disturbing it’s not an easy read by any means but at its heart it shows us how things can be made better even if they will never be forgotten. Chrissie is a victim and must be punished by also she needs love and understanding, well that’s my thoughts possibly not everyone’s though.
I read this book with a lump in my throat many times it will leave a lasting impression on me and one I won’t forget, many many thanks to Nancy Tucker for the amazing writing it was a deeply moving story and 5 star read I can highly recommend.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The first day of Spring begins with a killing. The murder of a child by an older child but still a child herself. The story charts the life of the killer, exploring her relationship with her parents and her friends. Interleaved with this story of the murderer as an adult and a mother to her own child. I won’t spoil the plot but I have to say that I started reading the book intensely disliking the main protagonist but my feelings towards her had changed by the end. It’s a cleverly written book, with excellent dialogue. I would definitely read more books by Nancy Tucker.