During Suzette’s chapters, my heart broke as she detailed her inability to communicate with her mute daughter, Hanna. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn't, her world begins to crumble. Suzette held each part of her body too tightly — her crossed legs, her tense shoulders, her hands curled into fists. She’s also becoming increasingly frightened by Hanna’s little games, while her husband Alex remains blind to the failing family dynamics. The knowledge of developmental milestones notwithstanding, I wasn’t really worried about my son’s lack of linguistic dexterity.

Stage expertly crafts this creepy, can’t-put-it-down thriller into a fearless exploration of parenting and marriage that finds the cracks in unconditional love. The child they’ve created, however, is slowly destroying the only bond she has ever had, and now she has to choose. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge.

I get that the it was an important part of her childhood and shaped the life she lives, but reading about her troubles with it every few pages was so tedious and boring!

Mia and Finn are busy turning a derelict house into their dream home when Mia unexpectedly falls pregnant.Absolutely unforgettable and unflinching, it digs right into the painful nerve of family, obligation and dependence—it's a hell of a debut. Suzette held each part of her body too tightly—her crossed legs, her tense shoulders, her hands curled into fists.

Maybe if the people in the white coats blew up the pictures they’d see her thoughts, mapped like mountains and railroad tracks, across her ghostly skull. Kate Bennett vanished from a parking lot eleven years ago, leaving behind her husband and young daughter. But when she found a boy in a red helmet also there one day, she turned on him, taking of the helmet and barking at him so that he hit his head on the wall until it bled.

She tried to guess, by the movement of Hanna’s eyes, if she was counting the total number of squares, or collecting them in groups of similar shades. Sometimes the presence of a doctor only made her trauma worse, but this one was here for Hanna, not her. Other reviewers mentioned being captivated, not able to look away, or being upset by the whole premise.