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BOOK REVIEW: Her Daughters Lies by Mikayla Davids

 


Ten years ago my life was destroyed. And now I want revenge…

I gasp out loud as I step through the door of the beautiful country hotel. My heart swells and my hands fly to my mouth in shock as I see the room is filled with my friends and family, all gathered to celebrate my special birthday.

Everyone raises their glasses into the air to toast me. I should be enjoying the moment but I’m on edge and I can’t relax. Because they don’t know why I’m really here…

Ten years ago, my life was ripped apart at this hotel. And tonight, after years of heartache, I planned to get my revenge.

But who organised this surprise party? How did they know I was going to be at the hotel?

As I look around the crowd of smiling faces, I see so many people I love but a creeping sense of unease washes over me. I was going to finish off what happened all those years ago… but did someone else have the same idea?

A glittering masquerade, a beautiful powerful family and a body count that keeps on rising. The Baileys reunite for the final instalment in the Bailey Family series with the mysteries stacking up from the very first page. Jumping between voices of the Bailey women, we see little glimmers of what they're hiding from each other but have to wait anxiously as each storyline starts to weave together into a delicate tapestry of lies, betrayal and murder. Each little thread was brilliant, a mystery in their own right but when we finally zoom out to get the bigger picture it was utterly explosive and so satisfying. 

There was excellent pacing the whole way through, short chapters that give us just enough time to linger in a moment but never too long for us to fall into a lull before moving on quickly and almost making my head spin as though I'd drunk far too much expensive champagne in the elegant halls of Burcott House. 

And outside of the broken, blood-streaked remains of the Baileys and their impending implosion, there's also an undeniable warm streak hidden somewhere - a little moment of reflection on chosen families, on complicated relationships and the different kinds of love we encounter in our lives. 

This is popcorn thriller at it's finest - it might not want to teach you a profound lesson or break literary boundaries, but damn if it isn't fun to read. It's cinematic, dramatic and over-the-top in the best ways, with a family that feel like they've been ripped from a regency drama and thrown into a modern day world of privilege and opulence. 

Now I'll be honest, I'm a little biased here as I did have the pleasure of working on this series, but I can say I genuinely loved these characters so much in some strange way. It was hard letting go of the Bailey family and saying goodbye for the final time - but damn if we didn't say goodbye in style. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  • Her Daughters Lies is released today and can be purchased on Kindle, Kobo and online retailers.
  • I was gifted a copy of this title 

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