The Night Child A Novel by Anna Quinn published by Blackstone Publishing was a great read. I was given an arc through Netgalley for an honest review.
The story is centered around Nora as she finishes teaching a high school English class, when something unexpected occurs she sees the face of a girl with startling blue eyes above the desks. She has yet to figure out if she has lost her minds or if she is seeing a ghost. As the author continues to unfold the story for us we realize that the past has finally caught up with Nora and the future is not on solid ground. This novel is well written but the topic makes it hard to read. Poor Nora needs to fix her fractured past in order to bloom in her future. A thriller with dark topics that everyone who wants to read something different should try this book. This is a 4 star read for me.
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my god, the ANGST. half of it read like my 14-year-old self's poetry and that is never a good thing. no wonder I was always sent to the school psychologist's office whenever I turned in a creative writing assignment. ( )

I received this book free from the publisher via netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Please see my full reviews available at www.coffeeandtrainspotting.wordpress.com.

For requesting arcs and books to review, please visit www.netgalley.com. ( )

This book was a page turner. I loved it! I was not expecting what was about to happen, when the face appeared I had theories but what it turned out to be was shocking, hard, raw, sad, honest, and so so heartbreaking. You learn to love characters and find yourself to hate some of them. I loved this book, the only reason I'm giving it a four stars and not five is because of the ending. I liked the last chapter and how it was turned and what was about to happen, but I would have loved a bit more closure, an epilogue, something that closes the story. Sadly this book didn't give me any closure... ( )

The Night Child by Anna Quinn

January 2018

I received this digital ARC from publisher, Blackstone Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Nora Brown is a high school English teacher who begins to experience debilitating headaches and visions around the time of her daughter, Fiona's 6th birthday. These symptoms bring her to neurologists and psychiatrists to assess the cause of her visions and the raw terror she experiences as a result.
As the story unfolds, Nora uncovers past regressed memories from her childhood in therapy. Her story explores the ability within to rival against the experiences of the past and forge a new reality.
When the book seemed to end in an unusual fashion, I was taken back to the beginning of the book where Nora is discussing Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse" with her students. She cites how it takes daring writers to veer from the traditional story of beginning, middle and end. There are some interesting correlations between Nora and Virginia which I could only realize upon completion of the novel. Consequently, what appeared to be an abrupt ending suddenly became more thought provoking.

I agree with other reviewers that the book description does not portray an accurate picture of what to expect from this book. Honestly, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would based on he description. When I started reading It felt oddly like a "paranormal" story which is not my preferred genre. After a few chapters I was beginning to see how the story would come together. I don't like giving spoilers but given that many reviewers have already disclosed certain aspects of the story, I shall add my opinion on the book description.


The description mentions "split consciousness" and a "deeper psychological breakdown". I believe that it makes sense to disclose the history of sexual abuse. Because I'm a tune to these issues, I immediately considered abuse as the root of her visions and trauma which would make this book difficult to read for some people. What made this story unique was how it used split consciousness and psychological support to delve into how people handle trauma differently.



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