Review: The Girl Who Came Back by Kerry Wilkinson

The Girl Who Came Back by Kerry Wilkinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A young woman has turned up in the cosy English village of Stoneridge claiming to be Olivia Adams who disappeared from her back garden when she was five years old.

Is she Olivia Adams or isn't she?.If she is - then where has she been for the last thirteen years and is she isn't - then why is she pretending to be the missing girl?.

Her mother is convinced that she is her missing daughter but not everyone is so sure.

There are those in the village who would rather Olivia stayed missing.The past is the past and some secrets must remain buried.

The chapters alternate between Olivia and another young girl called Lily.Olivia`s chapters are set in the present while Lily`s start in the past and work their way up to the present day.I enjoyed Olivia`s parts a lot more than I did Lily`s,there was more mystery and intregue in Olivia`s chapters.To be honest the changes in character point of view were frustrating at times because you would get to a really interesting part of Olivia`s story,turn the page and find that the next chapter or two would be about Lily.I honestly groaned out loud a couple of times and was so tempted to skim forward to the next Olivia chapter because I really wanted to know what happened next.

I really liked Olivia despite her faults,she could be really funny and witty at times.The villagers were a mixed bunch of believable,realistic characters,some likeable,some not so likeable.The author certainly likes writing about small communities where everyone knows everyone else's business and gossip spreads faster than the wind through the trees.

It's a well written thriller about families,secrets,lies and how far people will go to feel wanted and loved by others.It's not fast paced but it does have some intense,gripping chapters towards the end.Unfortunately I worked out what was going on quite early in the story but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of this book and I would happily read some more books by this author in the future.

Many thanks to Bookouture for a arc of this book via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review