REVIEW: A Mother’s Confession by Kelly Rimmer

A Mother’s Confession by Kelly Rimmer

Published October 28th 2016 by Bookouture

 

ALL THE STARS!!!

 

Oh WOW! I almost have no words. I had no idea what to write so I’ve holding off on writing this review for quite a while. I thought maybe I would just give it 5 stars and leave it at that. Because every time I started to write this review I got emotional.

How have I not read any books from Kelly Rimmer before?

The story is told from the point of view of Olivia and Ivy. Olivia is a young mother to Zoe and she’s recently suffered what everyone refers to as “The Tragedy”, her husband David’s recent death. Ivy is David’s mother. The chapters alternate between Olivia and Ivy.

There were many secrets in David and Olivia’s relationship….

Olivia tells us about David, his death, their marriage and we are slowly given little snippets of information that make the reader well aware of what kind of man David was. But this is just the beginning and the way the story unfolds is compelling and heartbreaking.

From Ivy, we first hear about her early life as a new mother to David. Then as the book continues we learn more about her life, marriage and her relationship with David as he grows. Her husband, Wyatt and son, David were her sole purpose in life. We also hear her perception of David and Olivia’s relationship.

Olivia’s story is mostly in the present but still contains flashbacks to many things Ivy refers to in her chapters. Olivia explains that most people try to avoid talking about what happened. But part of her wants to talk about it.

“I just want to say his name. I want to scream it in anger, and I want to wail it in grief.”

I was totally immersed in both perspectives. I didn’t find any of it redundant. At times the switch in perspectives gave me a break when things got very emotional. But there were also times when both perspectives were intense.

The character development was phenomenal. There were so many awesome and wonderful characters. Olivia’s parents and sister. Her family’s love for her made my heart swell. Ingrid, the real estate agent with a heart of gold. Ellen, the daycare owner was one of the most kind-hearted, loving, and PERFECT characters.

You know when they say a novel has you on a roller coaster of emotions. I’ve probably said it before too, but honestly I don’t know how many different feelings I felt while listening to this audio-book. The kind of book that pull you in, grips you, holds you, wrings you out, leaving you a quivering mess of emotions…

The narrator of this audio-book was phenomenal. Her voice able to take on each character and what they were saying and feeling at that moment was amazing to me. I HEARD the pain in Olivia’s voice and it went straight to my heart. I HEARD the rage in David’s voice and it terrified me. I HEARD the kindness in Seb’s voice and it brought me to tears…

I know this may sound like a devastating read, and it is very emotional.  However, there were also many genuine moments of happiness, laughter, and hope.

I like to think I can see things coming, but there was so much in this novel that I didn’t see and would never have guessed. And even if I had figured things out, I still would have been left reeling. A thought-provoking novel in which everything that happened, really COULD happen. It made me think of how we parent, how we raise and protect our children. And that excusing or ignoring terrible behavior is not protecting them.

When I first started this audio-book, I honestly thought it was going to take me some time to get through it,  only because I find it hard to do other things while listening to an audio-book. However, it had me gripped and was NOT letting me go. It didn’t care that it was already 4am…

After the audio ended and there was just dead air, I couldn’t move. I don’t know how long I sat there. It was five am. I was gutted, raw and so emotional, my eyes puffy from crying.

I wanted to wake up my daughter, call my mother, call my best friend, call SOMEBODY to talk about this book…

Outstanding read! I can’t recommend it enough!