Review: The Ones You Trust

Title: The Ones You Trust

Author: Caroline Overington

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia, 20 August 2018

Pages: 352 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: Mystery and Thrillers

My Rating: 3 Cups

Synopsis:

Emma Cardwell is the host of the top-rating morning TV show ‘Cuppa’. She has it all,  fame, fortune, gorgeous family, beautiful house, the perfect life, but is it what it seems? Who can she really trust?

When her 17 month old daughter gets taken from daycare by a stranger, we see a family in turmoil and a mother desperate to find her little girl. Emotions run wild and relationships are tested. A virtual group of strangers come together to #FIND FOX!

My Thoughts

While I was reading “The Ones You Trust”, I identified with the main protagonist, Emma, for most of the book. She was a busy working mother of 3 and was worried about aging and losing her job to a younger, more attractive prospect. Anyone in their 40s like Emma could easily identify with this.

Before I started the book, I actually expected Emma to be your typical TV star, spoilt, having everyone at her beck and call, everyone else bringing up her children (that bit was true!) and very unlikeable. The way that Caroline Overington wrote about her, made me feel very differently and changed my opinion of her. She portrayed her as a down to earth, busy, working mother of 3, who loved her family and treasured her children, especially her little girl Fox Piper:

‘...she was Emma’s only girl, and Emma had gone all out in her nursery, splurging on a Scandinavian cot…”.  

When Fox went missing it really tore at my heartstrings, seeing Emma and those around her go through such a painful ordeal, especially when they didn’t know if she was dead or alive. “...where and how would this story end…?” I found the character of Maven, ‘...the most powerful woman in TV land…’, very entertaining and humorous. She was portrayed as a cutthroat woman without a heart, who exploited people for publicity, but her caring side shone through when she rushed to Emma’s side after the kidnapping, “...okay, okay, let me help…”.

This book gave me an insight into what it’s like behind the scenes on a popular TV show. It demonstrated that no matter how perfect things look on the outside, when you delve deeper, you always find something there! It also demonstrated the levels some people will go to, to keep up the facade.

Unfortunately, even though I really enjoyed the book, I was quite disappointed by the very end. Towards the end there was a twist, which I identified with, but then she threw in a further twist that I really didn’t like. I couldn’t see how this explanation was warranted and it changed my opinion of Emma, the main character, and because I had identified with her throughout the entire book, it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Overall, I would recommend this book for the insights it provided, but be prepared for an unsatisfying conclusion.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.