Review: Just What Kind of Mother Are You by Paula Daly

Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Pages: 320

Received: Received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley

Release Date: April 30, 2013
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Goodreads Synopsis:

A searing and sinister thriller for readers who liked Gone Girl.

What if your best friend's child disappears? And it was all your fault.

A searing and sinister thriller for readers who liked Gone Girl.What if your best friend's child disappears? And it was all your fault. This is exactly what happens to Lisa Kallisto, overwhelmed working mother of three, one freezing December in the English Lake District. She takes her eye off the ball for just a moment and her whole world descends into the stuff of nightmares. Because, not only is thirteen-year-old Lucinda missing, and not only is it all Lisa's fault, but she's the second teenage girl to disappear within this small tightknit community over two weeks. The first girl turned up stripped bare, dumped on a busy high street, after suffering from a terrifying ordeal.

Wracked with guilt over her mistake and after being publicly blamed by Lucinda's family, Lisa sets out to right the wrong. But as she begins peeling away the layers surrounding Lucinda's disappearance, Lisa learns that the small, posh, quiet town she lives in isn't what she thought it was, and her friends may not be who they appear, either.

My Review:

This book has been talked about a lot lately, and I knew I had to pick it up. This book was shocking and had me guessing until the very end. In my opinion this book was amazing and had just the right amount of creepiness to it.

Lisa Kallisto is a working mother who does her best to care for her children, and one little mistake causes her to lose her friend's thirteen-year-old daughter. There are so many working mothers out there that at times it can be difficult to keep track of everything happening, and this is exactly what happens to Lisa. Feeling guilty, she dedicates all her time to helping find Lucinda, and the secrets that are revealed throughout are shocking.

The story is told through alternating perspectives of Lisa, the detective on the case, and every so often we get a glimpse of the kidnapper's perspective. This last perspective really added to the book, it gives you this insight into what someone like that is thinking, and it makes the book that much creepier for me. I found myself getting shivers every time I read the kidnapper's perspective, and they are very quick chapters but they left me unnerved.

Everything about this book feels so real and is one of those things that could happen to anyone, which is what really makes this book even creepier. After reading this book and getting to the end, I could see there were a few little clues dropped in places, but I never could have seen that ending coming. If you like a good mystery, this book is definitely worth your read. Paula Daly will keep you gripped to your chair, you won't want to stop reading because you just need to know what happened to Lucinda.