21 October 2026

I am new to this author, so thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC.

The title of this one immediately caught my attention. The loss of a child is an unthinkable event, and I cannot even begin to imagine what it must feel like to live through something like that. However, there is much more to this story than the title suggests. The author brings together a broken marriage, infidelity, family drama, a new fiancé and alcohol abuse, all of which add to the tension and make for a rather messy family situation.

The beginning felt a little slow for me, but the story picks up nicely about a quarter of the way in and continues to gather momentum from there. Looking back, I wonder whether this slower start was intentional, allowing us to experience Maisie’s anguish and watch her struggles build before everything starts spiralling out of control.

Maisie is invited to spend a week on a remote farm with her ex-husband, Kyle, and his family. She really does not want to go, but her little boy, Gus, is incredibly excited about the trip. Kyle’s new fiancée, Kim, will also be there, and Maisie knows she needs to meet the woman who will be spending time with her son. However, Maisie has plenty of her own problems to deal with. She needs to pull herself together, stay away from alcohol and make sure nobody discovers that she has lost her job. What could possibly go wrong?

I struggled with the whole idea of spending a week away with your ex-husband and his new fiancée. That sounds unbearably awkward for everyone involved, and I cannot imagine many people willingly putting themselves in that situation, no matter how much they want to do what is best for their children. Everything about this arrangement screams disaster, and I spent much of the time wondering how it could possibly end well.

The author did a very good job of portraying Maisie. This woman is a mess, and it is clear that she is struggling to keep her life together. She is divorced and largely raising her son on her own. Although she loves Gus dearly and is trying to do her best for him, she has unresolved issues with her own mother and is rapidly spiralling out of control. You are never in any doubt that Maisie is in trouble, and watching her struggle makes it difficult not to feel for her, even when some of her choices are questionable.

Kyle initially comes across as a decent guy, but as the story unfolds, I found myself disliking him more and more. He is pushy and comes across as rather controlling, which made it difficult for me to warm to him. I also struggled with Kim’s decision not to be honest with him about not wanting children. At the same time, I could almost understand her position, as I got the impression that she was never really given a proper opportunity to speak her mind.

But oh boy, Kim is quite a character! Some of her thoughts about Gus left me cringing, and I found myself increasingly uncomfortable with her attitude towards him. It is frightening to think that someone with those kinds of thoughts could be around a child, and she certainly added another layer of unease to an already tense situation.

With so many complicated relationships, secrets and personal struggles packed into one story, there is plenty to keep you turning the pages. The family drama adds to the tension, and once the pace picks up, I found myself increasingly invested in what was going to happen next.

However, by the time I reached the end, I was still sitting on the fence. I could not quite decide whether I had enjoyed the book or not. There were elements that worked for me, and I remained engaged with the story, but something about the overall reading experience left me feeling a little uncertain. The funny thing is that I cannot point to anything specific that I thought was particularly bad. Perhaps I am just being a tad difficult with this one!

In the end, I settled on a three-star rating. It kept me engaged, and I was curious to see how everything would unfold, even if it did not completely win me over.

If you are looking for a family drama with a slow-burning start that gradually builds into a runaway train of secrets, difficult relationships and increasingly uncomfortable situations, My Child Is Gone might be worth adding to your TBR.