'No Child of Mine' Book Review #7

Before you begin reading this review of Susan Lewis' "No Child of Mine" please understand there are spoilers within this review; thank you.

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Within the thirty books I accumulated off from Facebook, there was this book calling my attention. Not only did the title snatch my curiosity, it was ultimately the description of Susan Lewis’ book titled, ‘No Child of Mine’ which made me read what it stored inside.

The first little bit of the book was extremely slow and more times than once I found myself wanting to put it down and start another read. However, I try my absolute best to give a book a chance. In the end, I am glad I continued on.

Enter Alex Lake, a social worker who meets a little girl in a park, swinging by her lonesome. Alex notices how the girl doesn’t speak and she clutches a Paddington bear against her chest: her best friend or, perhaps, a safe haven.

It was a surprise that the main character didn’t hold onto the imagine of this little girl as well as the gut-feeling something was off with the father, as the book progressed into explaining what Alex Lake does: care for children. It made you wonder what the significance of that meeting was and when that little girl would appear again. Susan wrote frequently about Alex's other cases and children as well as her home life which insisted of her boyfriend who isn't divorced with three children, being a play director, and the heartbreaking background on Alex. When she was younger, Alex's father slaughtered her entire family and she ended up getting adopted.

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Personally, I felt a strong connection with this book due to the fact I have been molested by a family member my entire life and was in foster care for two years. When there were details regarding the cases and the "legal side" of things, it was nice to understand exactly what was going on because of my experiences. Even if I didn't experience these things, Susan does a wonderful job describing everything you need to know.

As the book progresses, this read became slightly difficult for me due to what was happening with the little girl and her father; Ottilie and Brian Wade. The whole book pretty much explains how gut-feelings don’t do much justice if you don’t have proof. People will attack the social workers no matter what they do or don’t do.

Susan Lewis does an excellent job explaining the frustrations from all parties in this book as well as just how easy it is for criminals to paint a perfect family picture for social workers eyes so they don’t get questioned. It is all about appearance unless you’re as good as Alex Lake is at her job with gut-feelings.

Brian Wade is a disgusting human being- not one thing I can muster up to spray good on his name because there simply isn’t anything good about him. His wife, Erica Wade, is also equally as disgusting as him. Honestly, due to her mental problems, I am not sure if she committed suicide after sending Alex Lake the emails of Brian’s website featuring explicit photos and videos of Ottilie, or if Brian, himself, murdered her. In the end, he gets blamed, obviously and not an ounce of me feels bad for him.

A part of me, however, is extremely thankful for Erica Wade. She is not the motherly type whatsoever yet when she was the one calling social services all those years then breaking into Brian's disgusting shed where all the action takes place, hacking his computer and sending Alex Lake his website-- she did the right thing. There are so many things she did wrong yet in the end, she ended up saving Ottilie's life.

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The twist of Alex hiding the little girl in her house honestly surprised me- truly unexpected since Susan clearly didn’t state what happened after Alex found Erica Wade’s body. It definitely spiced things up! Then having Alex's mother help them sneak back to New Zealand was heartwarming yet extremely suspenseful. Susan was able to keep us on the edge of our seats, awaiting answers by leaving slight cliff hangers throughout her novel.

Steering away from these characters, I would love to praise Susan Lewis on the background of Alex. Like Alex, I was older when I found out my abuser was not my father. In her case, however, Alex learns that the man who murdered almost all of her family including her brother, did not pass genes onto her. Yet, her father was murdered by that man which is sad. In a way, all three of our stories are almost similar: Ottilie, Alex and myself. From this, I felt very connected with this story as mentioned before.

This novel will hold a special place in my heart due to the fact how much I connect with the characters and their story. I’m glad I was able to inherit this wholesome read by Susan Lewis and I truly cannot wait to pick up the sequel following this book.