The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald

In the vein of Big Little Lies and Reconstructing Amelia comes an emotionally charged domestic suspense novel about a mother unraveling the truth behind how her daughter became brain dead. And pregnant. A search for the truth. A lifetime of lies. In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain dead, she’s pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia’s wrists. When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia’s fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the threads of her daughter’s life. Was Olivia’s fall an accident? Or something far more sinister? Christina McDonald weaves a suspenseful and heartwrenching tale of hidden relationships, devastating lies, and the power of a mother’s love. With flashbacks of Olivia’s own resolve to uncover family secrets, this taut and emotional novel asks: how well do you know your children? And how well do they know you?

2.5~3 stars
I have to take off a whole star for the last few chapters of this book. Once the mystery is solved Christina seemed to forget how to write and kept harping on like this was a therapy book.

Wow, I have forgotten what it's like to read a book that moves you and touches you on such a deep level that you sob like a baby and yet can't stop reading the book late into the night. I have had this book saved for a while on my Scribd app and am so grateful to my bookstagram friend for asking me if I wanted to buddy read this with her. I love buddy reads so I jumped on the bandwagon. And wow, this is one heck of an amazing book! I laughed, I cried, I lost many hours of sleep but it was all definitely worth it because this book will be hard to forget and it will always be a part of me.

First of, The Night Olivia Fell is about a teenager named Olivia, who is found brain dead and pregnant on the water's edge and put on life support to keep her baby alive and well enough to be born. Olivia's mom, Abi, has devoted her life to her daughter and is in a desperate journey to find out what exactly happened to her daughter and how they got to this point. The plot of this book was a heart wrenching one, it's definitely not for the light hearted and it's the furthest away from a breezy thriller then you can ever get. I loved the development of the story and the pace was perfect, there wasn't a second in which I was bored. I also loved the two dual timelines, of Olivia following up to her fall and then of her mom, Abi, desperately investigating and trying to figure out the truth as to why and how her daughter fell. Being a mom myself, it was hard to stomach this heartbreaking story but there was so much more to it, there was joy, hope and the human being's extraordinary ability to weather any storm life throws their way. So memorable, I will never forget it for as long as I live.

Secondly, the characterization was superb, beyond even. The characters, even the minor ones, had intricate personalities and felt like real people I know in real life. They had strengths and weaknesses and were wholly human, through and through. I felt like they could jump out of the book at me and I wouldn't have been surprised. I also loved Abi's and Olivia's relationship as mother and daughter because it illustrated just how beautiful and yet complicated and painful that relationship can be. This is by far the best depiction of this I have ever come across in a book so far. The characters also developed so much throughout the book that it was amazing to see and I felt like I was progressing and learning and growing along with them.

Thirdly, the writing style was just what I needed to propel me through this book at super fast speed for me. It was precise and to the point but wasn't overly simplistic but didn't stretch on either. Many meaningful points were gotten across and they all touched at my heart and will remain there. I don't often cry while reading books, especially thrillers, but this one made me sob like a baby because it was so much more then just a plain mystery or thriller, it was a story with many meaningful life truths and themes that one can always learn from.

In conclusion, this book is by far one of the best I have read ever in my life. I will be recommending this to anyone who wants a superbly meaningful and profound story and also likes mystery aspects to their books as well. I will be reading all of McDonald's works, she has made it onto my list of favorite authors and I can't believe I didn't give her books a chance earlier.

As a mother, simply reading the description of this book tore my heart out and I knew I had to pick it up... I'm so glad I did. A fabulous read - heartbreaking and tragic but I could not put it down!?

Abi wakes to the call no parent should get - that her daughter Olivia has been in a tragic accident. Having always felt so close to her daughter, Abi begins a search for answers after finding out that everything she knew about Olivia is a lie.

How far will a mother's love go? To the ends of the earth of course....

My first book by this author and I'll surely be back for more!!