His Secret Family by Ali Mercer was published by Bookouture on 09/11/19. I received a free copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.
Before we get started, trigger warnings. If you are sensitive to how children with autism are treated, this is probably a book you want to avoid. In addition, there is an infant death in the story. Had I known that, I would not have volunteered for this book. As someone who blogs about recommendations for future reads, I feel like it's my duty to bring that up. I would want someone to warn me.
That being said, on to the review.
Before we get started, trigger warnings. If you are sensitive to how children with autism are treated, this is probably a book you want to avoid. In addition, there is an infant death in the story. Had I known that, I would not have volunteered for this book. As someone who blogs about recommendations for future reads, I feel like it's my duty to bring that up. I would want someone to warn me.
That being said, on to the review.
This story focuses on 2 mothers, 3 daughters, and a man that is somehow connected to them all. Mark and Paula, once "happily married" are now angrily divorced, somehow related to their daughter Daisy. This divorce comes back to haunt him when he marries Jenny and attempts to be a father to her daughters Evie and Ava. All of the dirty laundry and secrets come to life through the viewpoints of Paula, Jenny, Evie, and Ava. This story is one that will haunt you long after you finish it. It's a tale of divorce, revenge, life, death, and everything in between.
This book is described as a family drama, and I think that's completely accurate. The different viewpoints give the reader a very interesting story line. Everything is not what it seems, and the end truly turns the story on it's head.
I understand that Daisy's autism was a major reason the marriage between Paula and Mark didn't work, but it didn't leave me feeling the greatest. In addition, Jenny and Mark eventually get pregnant, have a son, and he dies as an infant. I almost didn't finish the book after that. As someone with an auto-immune disease and fertility issues, that was hard for me to get through. It made me feel so gross. I get it....karma and revenge and all that. To me, the infant death wasn't vital to the story and it seemed like it was just put in there as a shock factor. I immediately thought of all the people I couldn't recommend this book to because of that part of the story. That could have been left out, or replaced with another plot point and it would have been fine.
Overall, the story was good but the ending was kind of spoiled for me.
🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars
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