NOT MY BOY by Kelly Simmons

 

SYNOPSIS: 

Who will you cross to protect your own?

When Hannah packs up her past and moves to the cottage next-door to her sister, she hopes the luxe neighborhood and close family ties will be the perfect escape for her son and the shadows that trail them. But when a young girl goes missing days after they unload their final boxes and her son is quickly thrown under suspicion, Hannah must do whatever it takes to protect her child.

Even if that means pointing the blame her sister's way instead.

With investigators swarming and neighborhood scrutiny closing in, the divide between two sisters grows. As one fiercely defends her husband, the other shields her boy from the crime, keeping quiet the secrets that might unravel it all.

And all the while, one young girl has vanished, and someone is to blame.

MY THOUGHTS:

I have to say that I did not enjoy it as it seems many others did. To me it was not at all a thriller until maybe the very end. I could not connect with anyone in this book. Basically I just didn't like any of the characters.

Eva, the mother, seemed very selfish in parts. Saying that her daughters would always choose each other. A mother should love that not moan about it. Saying they were invited to join a book club and she wasn't was another selfish act. Should she not be happy for them. I just didn't much like her. I did like that she was a fairly good grandmother. Except the scene with the deer. She acted very stupid about that. I would have been there for my grandchild if they was trying to save or console a dying animal. Not think something dirty or sinister was going on. Good grief.

Then we have the two sisters. Hannah and Hillary. Hannah was a bit more likable that Hillary but only a tiny bit. They are suppose to be so close yet they sure could turn on each other over anything and everything. Blaming each other for things that seemed to me when they should have been there for each other most. What grown woman turns on a child in this situation.(you'll have to read the book to know the situation). Hillary seemed to think she was better than her sister too. I didn't like that. Both were good mothers to an extent. Hannah it seemed wanted answers more than Hillary did. Then we have the fact that when they do finally start working together they have to do the job for the police. ha I didn't really find that believable at all. Sorry but I do believe that the police department would have been ahead of everything in this case. They would not have needed to mothers to solve the case for them. 

I didn't like that the killer was never named in this story until the very last couple of chapters. You never hear a word about him/her until almost the very end. Most books I've read give some hints so you can try and figure it out. It took the two sisters to figure it out. I just didn't believe it.

As for the story... It was written well. Not many mistakes. The scenes were realistic. There was a tiny bit of a few tense moments but it didn't read like an edge of your seat thriller to me. It was a mystery for sure. It had some parts that could have been left completely out as they served no purpose at all except maybe to explain Hannah's job. That really didn't contribute anything to the book though. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #KellySimmons, #SourcebooksLandmark for this ARC. These are my own true thoughts about this book.

I gave it a 3/5 star and that was a tiny stretch. Sorry but I just didn't like this one. I truly hate leaving a review like this. It makes me very sad. I do appreciate that the author put a lot of work into this story. It just was not for me.