Is it a prank too far, or what is there truly happening?

Synopsis

Single mum Ellie is shown a missing person post on Facebook.
It’s of her three-year-old son, Tyler…
But he’s right there, holding her hand.

Surely this is some kind of prank – she knows her friend Louise can go too far with her jokes sometimes. And Ellie is used to the other mums gossiping at the school gates…

But now the other parents are questioning whether Tyler is really her child.

Ellie does everything she can to prove the post is fake, but the longer it goes on she knows it is malicious. Who would do this to her? And why?

It could be her ex, Darren, but deep down she knows it must be linked to what happened all those years ago – the night she’s been doing her best to forget…

All she knows is that she has to keep her son safe – no matter what.

My review

Ellie is a single mum, trying to build up her life together with her three – year – old son Tyler. Things aren’t always that easy, but she is doing her best and tries to be involved as much as possible.
Of course she knows that the school gate is the perfect place for the other mums to gossip. She tries to stay out of it as much as possible, but then she is the subject of the gossips, as there is a suddenly a missing person post on Facebook. And the missing person is her son Tyler…
Now Ellie not only has to figure out what is happening, as the post is only the start, but she also has to convince everyone that everything they are hearing about her is false. Is this a prank from her friend Louise that has gone too far? Or is there someone after her? And why? And is it linked with what happened to her three years ago?

Sometimes you have stories where you think you know what will happen. And when the book follows your thoughts, it can still be a good book.
But then there are books like this one, where you think to know what to expect. Yet then it turns out to go totally differently, even if a few initial hunches are still proven to be right.

From the start I somehow pitied Ellie. Yes, she is doing her best, but I can only imagine the hardships on being a single mum. Also reading how her ex – boyfriend keeps on refusing to acknowledge Tyler as his son was heart – breaking and made me frown my brows.
How could Darren be so sure of that fact, while Ellie was adamant on him being the lovely boy’s father…

It’s clear that Ellie has made mistakes in the past. Yet after a mysterious yet terrifying event three years ago, she has wiped the slate clean and has turned out to be a loving mother to Tyler. She is still wary of everything and everyone, which in her case, even if we are not aware of the details, is perfectly understandable.

I was astonished a bit reading about the missing person report. It made me even doubt for a moment about Ellie’s sincerity, showing how easily doubts can arise.
And while it’s always innocent until proven actually guilty, how do you prove that you innocent?

Yet I also admired in a way Ellie. She is an amazing mother, despite her situation. She loves Tyler deeply and would do anything for him.
She is also a very determined person. She won’t allow her ex to keep on ignoring that he is Tyler’s father. But she is also determined to find out who is after her.
And slowly we see her also growing more courageous by trying to figure out what actually happened that night three years ago.

The more I was into the story, the more creeped out I was getting. Not only upon discovering the facts of that specific night, but also reading about people’s characters. While we always should go out from the good of people, here we see the total opposite, in so many different, hideous ways…

There are for sure moments in this story that I got goose bumps. But even with those moments, I found it encouraging that Ellie, despite her doubts, found people ready to fight in her corner, with an unconditional love for her.

This book was a terrifying one, showing all the fears that not only a mother, but a woman in general too, can go through.
But beside the fear, we also see a lot of resilience and strength in this book, showing us that facing our demons, real ones included, can be a scary thing but isn’t knowing the truth always the best? And that we can only grow stronger afterwards!