No Child of Mine (The No Child of Mine Trilogy Book 1)

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Alex was a child placement social worker in England. She was good at her job, very good at her job. She went out on a limb, took chances in her job, and her job was her whole life. Alex was really Charlotte who had been with an adoptive family since she was a young child. Although she loved her sister, as she also had her now deceased adoptive mother and father, she had always felt a little emotionally distanced from her mother. I ended up DNFing this book 25% in. The premise of the book sounded interesting which is why I choose this title. However, the main character (Essie) was not a good person. She was rude (as evidenced in her interaction with the doctor), self centered (when she went out with her husband and “friends” but didn’t care to interact with the female friend), and self righteous (in the interactions during the study group). All this makes her husband look down right saintly compared to her, which is not a good thing. I understand that this is probably setting her up for a change in motherhood but she is simply unlikeable and not someone I want to “interact “ with. The secondary story of the letters was interesting but slow. I could not put this book down...I read well into the day and late into the night. I loved this author's writing style...it was intense and addictive. The story felt so sadly real. Ottilie was the sweetest most innocent child and the thought of the horrors she lived through at the hands of her parents...was so sad. The only "good" characters encountered so far are white, middle class and live in big houses.....yawn! Kosminsky made the film in an angry response to her case. “I was appalled by the conveyor-belt aspect of child abuse,” he says. “Children can be abused at home, taken into care, then abused and lured into prostitution while in care.”

I’m kind of feeling like pregnancy thrillers are saturating the market right now. I seem to be avoiding them when I can. If you’re going to write a thriller about a pregnant woman, you need to change it up and make it original. I think this book accomplished that. Every other chapter was also a blast to the past. At first, I really didn’t like it. Another book with the plot surrounded by something that happened ages ago. I’m kind of over that trope, so it didn’t settle well with me. In the end, it makes sense, but still…From internationally bestselling British author Susan Lewis comes an unflinching, thoroughly suspenseful novel—perfect for readers of Jodi Picoult—about the darkest secrets a family can hide. Essie made a huge impression on me and my opinion of her managed to change as the book progressed. To many people, Essie would seem selfish and even self-absorbed, perhaps not a complete woman because of her reluctance to have a child and be a mother. But I don't think that's the real case with her. Essie is afraid of losing herself when she becomes a mother. She’s afraid she would stay only that and stop being everything else – a woman, a wife, a friend, a lawyer, a professional. She wants to be so much more and wants everyone around her to see her as something more, too, and the anxiety, fear and doubts she goes through while she is pregnant can not help but touch and influence every woman. Including the fear of losing her partner, who is the love of her life, the author gets so deeply into the emotions of the readers, that this story can not help but get under their skin and be remembered.

I liked Essie a lot. Here's a woman that knew her own mind and what she wanted. I loved that Giraldes had her as ambivalent as having a baby since she realized that her life was going to change and it was not going to be what she wanted it to be. Essie and Sanjay work a lot too. I think that Giraldes was smart enough to give us enough of their teen and now adult love story that you end up rooting for the couple throughout the book. If only it was just a dream, something created out of a small reality and blown into nonsense, but she knew the child was her; and that the little boy, who she'd never see again, and never would, was her brother. This book deeply touched me. I've not read a book about child abuse before, and I probably never will again, frankly. It was incredibly difficult reading about Ottilie and what she endured with her parents. Every time I had to read those parts of the book, it literally made my stomach ache. I could not WAIT to be finished with it, as I just couldn't stand listening to how her parents treated her. I have a young daughter who has a favorite stuffed animal like Ottilie, and I couldn't help but think of her in this story and how devastatingly awful it would be if something like that happened to my own child. It literally felt like my heart was breaking in two for this little girl.Starring: Brooke Kinsella (Kerry), Billy Geraghty (Dad), Sharon Small (Mum), Colin Salmon (Teacher), Geoffrey Church (Stepdad) Every now and then television exerts its power to help bring about important reforms. Peter Kosminsky’s drama documentary, No Child of Mine, is a classic candidate. The subject matter is child sexual abuse. This book is told through two timelines. In the past timelines readers meet Isabelle and Ana. Two women who are in love with each other but are married to men. With two timelines, I usually enjoy one more than the other. I found myself being very invested in the timeline in the past. I knew that there was going to be a connection to it and the present. I was fully invested in Ana and Isabelle's tale of longing, love, and being separated. I felt for them and enjoyed their letters. I very much enjoyed this book. The child abuse was difficult to read about, but in a very real world, it does happen. I thought the author did an excellent job explaining it without going into graphic detail. The repetitive phrases that Sanjay, our MC's husband, said during the book was killing me by the end. The "Are you okay" thing... Was this supposed to be there to make it seem that he was in a fugue state or was it just his catch phrase? Because I felt that I was reading the same conversation between Essie and Sanjay several times.

I am glad that the author put in so much detail about the abuse and what was happening. A lot of other reviewers complained about this but I do think it was important to really get a picture of what was going on. Like I said before it would not have seemed as real if she left out the details. There are bad things that happen in the world, not everything is roses everyday for everyone! If you want pretty - read a Romance. Alex Wade is a social worker and dedicated to her job. When she first sees little Ottilie Wade, she immediately register both concern for the child and a strange attraction. The climax is very fast, I almost couldn’t feel it, but I can not imagine a better fit for the book, as here it was not the action that was important, but the growth of the characters and the love between them. Essie comes from a long line of women. These women have daughters that must succumb to an everlasting family curse- the love of their lives must die.

Told between different POVS and timelines, this story is perfect for women who have gone through pregnancy, and those who like spooky reads and fast-paced stories. Can a person be haunted just as a house can be? That certainly seems to be the case with Essie and Sanjay, an ambitious couple who just bought a house and are working to transform it into their dream space. Sanjay is settled in his job, and Essie is in her last semester of law school when she realizes she's pregnant, something she never wanted to be. The pregnancy is difficult, and when she finds herself on bedrest, she can't determine if the woman she keeps seeing is real or the product of her isolation. There are a couple of good points anyway. I think one of the good points of this movie is that shows you a little and let your mind figure out the rest. And sometimes imagination is even more disturbing than the thing itself. The other good point is Brooke's performance. Better than some Hollywood kids of today. She was very convincing.