What when your daughter is not safe?

Synopsis

You’d know if something was wrong… wouldn’t you? But danger doesn’t always wear a mask – it can hide in plain sight.

After a difficult break-up, my six-year-old Daisy is finally settling into life in two homes. She’s spending more time with her dad, his wealthy and glamorous partner Kirsty, and her new stepsisters, Amelia and Freya. She seems happier. More relaxed. Like she’s finally found her place.

It should be everything I ever wanted for her. So why does it feel like I’m losing her?

Then Daisy confesses something that stops me cold. Something I can’t ignore. That Amelia isn’t kind. Behind closed doors, she’s cruel. Violent even.

Everyone says it’s just normal sibling tension. A bit of jealousy. But the more I try to dismiss it, the harder it becomes to shake the feeling that something is deeply, dangerously wrong.

What would you do if your child told you they were being hurt by someone you trusted? Would you risk everything to protect them – even if no one believes you?

My review

After Tasha’s partner Craig ends their relationship and starts a new life with another woman, Tasha is struggling with all the changes in her life. For the sake of their six- year-old daughter Daisy, Tasha has moved to live closer to Craig and his partner. So it is easier for Daisy to spend time with her father and his new family. After some time to adjust, Daisy seems happy with her other home. That is until Daisy admits that she is afraid of her oldest stepsister, Amelia. Because not only is there a big age difference, but Amelia is not kind at all towards her, on the contrary. It can even turn into violence at moments. While no everyone seems to see those evil streaks of Amelia, Tasha finds herself wanting to protect her little girl from getting hurt. But with no one in her corner, and a few secrets of her own, can Tasha give her little girl the protection she needs?

I am not a mother myself, and I have been happily single for a while now. So all I can do, is try to imagine how difficult it is when in this book, Tasha’s partner Craig decides to end things and have a new life with his new partner. The heartbreak itself is already a struggle, but the hardship to make a little girl like Daisy understand what is happening…

It must be said, that right from the start, Tasha does everything to make things as easy as possible for Daisy. I admired how Tasha realizes that downsizing is necessary, that moving closer to Craig, for Daisy’s sake, is a way to make things easier. And the way that despite how betrayed Tasha feels, she never talks bad about Craig whenever Daisy is near. It shows that Tasha for sure has only Daisy’s best interest at heart, and wants to do anything to make her little girl happy.

But while  I admired her actions, I also felt that Tasha is perhaps too protective over Daisy? Of course, Daisy is only six years old, and any good mother wants to protect their children for every possible hurt. But I also felt that Daisy has to learn how to fall, because only then she can learn to stand up again. But obviously, I was only a bystander in this book, and I am not a parent myself, so what do I truly know about parenthood?

My heart truly went out to little Daisy, as her whole life is changing and being so young, it is difficult to truly understand what is all happening. And as Daisy is obviously a shy girl, not knowing what to say in a new environment, I could understand why she closes off even more.

On the other hand, it was lovely to see how slowly Daisy opens up while staying with Craig and his new family. How she finds a new best friend in her stepsister Freya truly warmed my heart, showing us the innocence and the genuineness of children.

Amelia of course is completely something else, and before things truly get out of hand, I could understand her. She lost her father, her mother moved on, all this on top of being a teenager… But while I was a bit sympathetic with her initially, what happens afterwards is just not okay.

But the more the story progresses, the more I was starting to have my own doubts  about what is taking place. And yes, I have to admit, while I felt for Tasha and Daisy, I found it a bit difficult to actually truly like any of the characters. 

Because there is something about each and every one of them that just didn’t sit right with me. What is Tasha keeping from everyone? Why is Daisy afraid to truly tell what is going on? And Amelia, why is she truly so horrible to Daisy? How come Craig is so blind and doesn’t see what Daisy is going through? And how come that Kirsty can be so dismissive of her own daughter, no matter how difficult Amelia is?

In this book, we see how lives can easily be turned upside down, how not everything is what it seems, and how easily also things can take a very dark and unexpected turn. But we see the determination of a mother, to protect her child, the love that a mother has. A mother that isn’t without faults, but has her heart at the right place. A mother that even despite all the evidence, shows a compassion and understanding and also a determination to figure out the whole truth.

A truth that in this book went absolutely dark and went a way I didn’t expect it to go. Even if I had some suspicions, I was shocked of the level that some people would go…

But the story, even with its dark themes, shows us what it means to be a real mother. A mother for a little girl that needs protection, even if it’s not clear who the enemy is and what the endgame of that enemy is. A mother that will go lengths to protect the most precious thing in live…