Review: The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith

I loved The Wedding Vow by Dandy Smith. It was addictive and fast paced full of red herrings and jaw dropping twists. The Wrong Daughter is every bit as addictive. I read it in one cold, wet, rainy day.

 

Smith pulls her readers straight into the mystery with a prologue showing how 13 year old Olivia is taken from her bedroom.

 

One plot line follows Caitlin sixteen years after Olivia's kidnapping. Caitlin is now twenty-six and she still isn't coping with the loss.

 

A second plot-line follows Elinor and Heath living on a secluded country estate. This plot has an overriding foreboding feeling that something isn't quite right. I was intrigued to see how these two very different plots would connect.

 

When Olivia suddenly shows up at their parents door Caitlin is ecstatic but as the weeks pass she is more and more convinced this woman is not Olivia.    

 

The Wrong Daughter is an addictive story of manipulation. Filled with adrenaline inducing suspense, a compelling mystery, and a few red-herrings to sift through. I thought I had it all worked out but, of course, I was wrong, and I love that!

 

The Wrong Daughter is definitely a roller coaster ride. It had me gripped right until the thrilling ending.

 

my rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith 

Publisher: Echo Publishing

Publication date: 3rd June 2025

Genre: Crime / Psychological Thriller 

Pages: 368

RRP: AU$22.99 ( B format paperback) 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

My review of The Wedding Vow: 

 https://theburgeoningbookshelf.blogspot.com/2025/05/book-review-wedding-vow-by-dandy-smith.html

 

 

Spotlight: Behind the Mask by Josh Piterman

Josh is a multi-award winning musical theatre performer who has played Jean Valjean in Les Miserables and the most coveted role in the West End, the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera.  

 

A note from the author:

My intention is not only to give you a backstage VIP tour of my musical theatre world, but also to provide you with some useful tools to help navigate life, find deeper meaning, explore a growth mindset, and ensure it's all done with a touch of humour.

 

Ultimately, I would like to help you step out from behind the masks you wear, the persona you have created. I want to give you the strategies and the confidence to understand and accept who you really are - because until you ditch the distractions and learn to love yourself as 'nobody', you will never truly love yourself as 'somebody'. You need to understand who you always were before you can realise who you might become. 

 

About Behind the Mask by Josh Piterman:

In Behind the Mask Josh covers anxiety disorders, panic attacks and fear of failure in a time where mental health discussion is of the utmost importance and sought out by many.

Behind the Mask also includes guidance gathered from an array of coaches, teachers, gurus, guides, mentors, therapists and philosophers.

 

What people are saying about Behind the Mask:

 

Well written and engaging, I recommend this to his fans, and I'm interested in checking out his podcast now. - Suz (Goodreads)

 

Humour, sound advice and personal triumphant moments coupled with low blows life throws makes this a book that could be picked up multiple times when needed. - Craig and Phil (Goodreads)

 

What a beautiful soul. Written with so much honesty and reflection. Everyone should read this book to connect back with the wisdom of the soul. - Mrs Cricket (Amazon)

 

What I appreciate most is how this book doesn’t just speak to the mind but speaks to the heart. It’s reflective and practical. - Jason (Amazon)

 

Publisher: Echo Publishing

Publication date: 29th April 2025

Genre: Self Help

Pages: 224

RRP: AU$29.99 (B+ paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

 

Review: The Lies We Tell Ourselves by Maura Pierlot

The Lies We Tell Ourselves is a deeply affecting story about body image, self esteem, grief and friendship. 

 

Maura Pierlot exposes the fragility of the teenage years in this heartfelt story that reflects on the societal perceptions of being thin.

 

When new student Carter starts year 10, Harley decides this is the year she will reinvent herself hoping to catch the attention of the new boy in school.

Harley's nan had always been her confidante and confidence booster. Ever since she died nothing is making sense.

 

Harley makes a new-year wish list; get a job, get a boyfriend, get a life.

But after being relentlessly bullied at school for her weight she changes her wish list to; get skinny, get a boyfriend, get a life.

Harley feels if she was skinny she would be in with the cool girls and all life's problems would be solved.

 

I'm sure we all remember being 15 and how important friendships were in our life, and the ups and downs of those friendships. Teenage girls can be nasty sometimes! 

 

In The Lies We Tell Ourselves Maura Pierlot brings all the angst and torment to heartbreaking life on the page as Harley starves herself, dismisses her true friendship and alienates her family, all in the pursuit of a utopian goal that is undermining her mental health.

 

The Lies We Tell Ourselves is a must-read for teenagers 13+ and the perfect conversation starter for talks on body image, photo sharing and your online presence.

 

I quite often comment about books being overly dramatic however with The Lies We Tell Ourselves I truly think the drama could have been hyped up, especially where Talia's photo sharing was concerned. She seemed to shrug it off too easily.

 

The Lies We Tell Ourselves is timely and timeless: a story that will be relevant as long as there are teenagers.

 

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Big Ideas Press

Publication date: 1st August 2025

Genre: Young Adult

Pages: 352

RRP: AU$22.99

Source: Courtesy of the author 

 

 

Book Review: Saturation by William Lane

Saturation is the latest novel by acclaimed author William Lane.

I don't know where to start with this near future dystopian novel. The reader gets a small view of this future world as the story is mainly about the characters and how they negotiate this new normal. 

 

I found Saturation to be mesmerizing. I was fascinated with the concept and couldn't get enough of Ursula and Ambrose's world and how they fit themselves into that world.

Lane builds a world gripped by rising waters, relentless  rain, plagues and apathy. It was the apathy that got to me the most.

 

People's lives are ruled by an AI named Yoremind. It interacts by text message and points are awarded, for ever increasing acts of violence, to earn days off work and holidays. The world is deemed as being so bad no one is having children. The past has been forgotten and with no need to think or learn people have forgotten how to do the simplest things. 

 

I came across so many wonderful quotes but I'll just add a couple. One highlighting the acceptance of circumstances and the other the loss of memory.

 

'Simply do what it says, or suggests - at least sometimes'.                                                               'And if I dislike what it suggests?' 'This is life!' she cried. 'This is how things are and always have been, in case you haven't noticed.' 

 "I'm struggling to remember my password or user name. For some reason I can remember my old password and phone number, but not the latest one." Ambrose - Saturation

How true is that statement! I can clearly remember my childhood phone number and all my friends' home numbers but I don't know my husband's or children's mobiles. Everything is remembered for us. We even drive with GPS without having to remember a route.
 

Ambrose is the one to strike out and rebel. He is determined to save the books knowing that history and information is the only way to move forward and build a better world.
 

Lane's world is not so unbelievable! Country residents blame city dwellers as the bearers of all diseases. When a dictator, Bottrel, takes over Yoremind he thrives on fear and terror. Step out of line and you will be killed. Education is banned, libraries burned. Bottrel vilifies country people causing more unrest. People doing as they're told and losing the ability to think, reason and remember. Anyone trying to better society is hunted down. Saturation feels eerily presentiment. A unique narrative perfect for readers of 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451.

 

My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Transit Lounge Press

Publication date: 1st May 2025

Genre: Literary Fiction / Dystopian

Pages: 288

RRP: AU$32.99 (trade paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Quikmark Media 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: The Bridge to Always by Lynda Marron

I loved this book so much!! But then I do love real, flawed characters that make big messy mistakes in their lives.

 

The Bridge to Always is told in multiple points of view. We get to hear from everyone, even nine-year-old Emer. 

 

After the death of her mother Maeve moves to a small town in Cork hoping to rekindle a romance with Tim, the father of her nine-year-old daughter Emer.

 

Tim is now married but is tempted by the vivacious Maeve. He goes to see her and is shocked to find out he has a daughter.

 

Maeve is a totally unlikeable character and at times I felt like screaming at her. She is the most frustrating character I've read for a while. Maeve loves her daughter fiercely but the child is sorely neglected in her quest to win Tim back. She is very delusional and has an unrealistic dream of life.

Agnes and Malachi, who live on properties nearby, try to help Maeve as they can see she is struggling, however she is rude and dismissive of them.

 

I feel that Lynda Marron has taken a gamble creating a main character who is self-centred, morally challenged and unlikeable. Although, for me, it paid off. 

 

The story moves back and forward from now, with Maeve living in Drohid, Cork to ten years ago when she first met Tim. 

 

As with her previous novel Last Chance in Paris Marron writes about people's lives crossing and how a brief moment in time, a brief encounter, can change your life forever.

 

In The Bridge to Always I was quickly drawn into the immersive tale of the citizens of Drohid, where even the most well meaning of people still, on occasion, looked out for themselves first. 

 

I would recommend this affecting and moving novel to readers who enjoy stories on love, identity and finding yourself.

 

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Echo Publishing

Publication date: 29th April 2025

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Pages: 340

RRP: AU$32.99 (trade paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

 

 

Book Review: The Florence Sisters by Tessa Harris

The Florence Sisters follows a group of English women living in Florence during the second world war.

 

Tessa Harris bases The Florence Sisters on the true events of the German army taking great works of art from museums, in countries they invaded, and keeping them to build a super collection of renowned art.

From this, Harris builds a fictional story filled with danger and intrigue. 

 

Angelina's love of art led her to obtaining an arts degree. When she is asked to help label and hide great works of art from the Germans she enlists the help of her great-aunt Agatha and the English Ladies Arts Appreciation Society, a sisterhood of elderly English women who gather together to study and talk about great works of art.

 

The Florence Sisters is an intriguing story that highlights the vulnerability of the Englishwomen living in Italy during the time of the war and showcases the strength and determination that went into protecting the art works from the Germans.

 

Harris writes about ordinary people risking their life for what they believe in and I loved how tough and resilient the older women were, never giving up when the odds were against them.

I enjoyed Angelina's story as she put her life in danger to protect these precious artworks ensuring they would not be lost to the world.

 

I was totally invested in the brilliantly conceived plot rich in danger, tenacity and determination, all wrapped around the world of fine art.

 

The Florence Sisters is highly recommended for lovers of art and readers of WWII fiction. The foreboding atmosphere throughout the book makes it hard to put down.

 

My rating 5 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

Publisher: Harlequin Australia

Publication date: 30th April 2025

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 368

RRP: AU$32.99 (trade paperback)

Source: courtesy of the publisher

 

 
 

Book Review: The Reunion by Simone Van der Vlugt

The Reunion is a compelling mystery with an unreliable narrator at its centre.

 

I couldn't find my edition of this book, borrowed from a friend, anywhere on the internet. However, if you are interested enough to want to read it there are many options to buy other editions on eBay. 

 

The story is narrated by Sabine whose best friend Isabel went missing when they were 15 years old. Sabine has memory loss and can't remember anything about the day Isabel disappeared.
 

Nine years later the announcement of a high school reunion and a visit back to her old hometown triggers flashes of memory but Sabine can't make sense of them.

 

The Reunion is the classic unreliable narrator, think The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. She has psychotic episodes, alcohol dependence, PTSD and repressed memory.

 

The story goes back and forward between the present, where Sabine is trying to unravel her memory flashes, and nine years ago, when Sabine was relentlessly bullied at school.

 

The Reunion is a compelling mystery. I could feel the tension mounting as the story unfolded. I kept jumping back and forward with who I thought was involved in Isabel's disappearance. Plenty of red herrings kept me guessing right until the end. 

 

You may have to suspend your disbelief, around the police investigation, however this didn't spoil my enjoyment of the novel.

 

Exquisitely translated from Dutch by Michele Hutchison.

 

Content: underage drinking, alcohol dependence, bullying

 

My rating 4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

 

 

Publisher: Text Publishing

Publication date: this edition 2008

Genre: Mystery / Thriller

Pages: 295

Source: Borrowed copy