The Night Olivia Fell
by Christina McDonald
In the vein of Big Little Lies and Reconstructing Amelia comes an emotionally charged domestic suspense novel about a mother unraveling the truth behind how her daughter became brain dead. And pregnant.
A search for the truth. A lifetime of lies.
In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain dead, she’s pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia’s wrists.
When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia’s fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the threads of her daughter’s life. Was Olivia’s fall an accident? Or something far more sinister?
Christina McDonald weaves a suspenseful and heartwrenching tale of hidden relationships, devastating lies, and the power of a mother’s love. With flashbacks of Olivia’s own resolve to uncover family secrets, this taut and emotional novel asks: how well do you know your children? And how well do they know you?
Momma Says: 3 stars⭐⭐⭐
The Night Olivia Fell is filled with emotion, mostly of the heartbreaking kind, and it is an interesting read, but there are some lags in the story. There is a mystery, but I would consider this one more domestic drama than suspense as Abi deals with the shock of losing her daughter while also learning that she's going to be a grandmother. On top of that, she's rather closed off to most people and afraid of letting anyone in, so there's that to overcome too. On the mystery side of this one, the author does give us more than enough plausible suspects to keep us guessing, but most are a little too out there. In fact, it began to feel like almost everyone in Olivia's life had some reason to kill her - not all of them were logical reasons, but reasons just the same.The answer to who and even why was pretty clear early in the book, so the big reveal wasn't a big surprise for me. While this story is a little too predictable for my taste, the writing is good and the author shows talent. I'll be interested to see where she goes from here.
The Night Olivia Fell is filled with emotion, mostly of the heartbreaking kind, and it is an interesting read, but there are some lags in the story. There is a mystery, but I would consider this one more domestic drama than suspense as Abi deals with the shock of losing her daughter while also learning that she's going to be a grandmother. On top of that, she's rather closed off to most people and afraid of letting anyone in, so there's that to overcome too. On the mystery side of this one, the author does give us more than enough plausible suspects to keep us guessing, but most are a little too out there. In fact, it began to feel like almost everyone in Olivia's life had some reason to kill her - not all of them were logical reasons, but reasons just the same.The answer to who and even why was pretty clear early in the book, so the big reveal wasn't a big surprise for me. While this story is a little too predictable for my taste, the writing is good and the author shows talent. I'll be interested to see where she goes from here.
❃❃ARC provided by NetGalley and Gallery Books
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