Book Review: Saving Meghan

                                                                                   BOOK INFORMATION:                                                                  

Book Title: Saving Meghan

Author: D.J. Palmer

Publishing Date: April 9th 2019

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Page Count: 384 pages

Source: Netgalley for Review

Saving Meghan is a riveting new thriller full of secrets and lies from author D.J. Palmer. 

Can you love someone to death? 

Some would say Becky Gerard is a devoted mother and would do anything for her only child. Others, including her husband Carl, claim she's obsessed and can't stop the vicious circle of finding a cure at her daughter's expense. 

Fifteen-year-old Meghan has been in and out of hospitals with a plague of unexplained illnesses. But when the ailments take a sharp turn, clashing medical opinions begin to raise questions about the puzzling nature of Meghan’s illness. Doctors suspect Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare behavioral disorder where the primary caretaker seeks medical help for made-up symptoms of a child. Is this what's going on? Or is there something even more sinister at hand?

As the Gerards grow more and more suspicious of each other and their medical team, Becky must race against time to prove her daughter has a deadly disease. But first, she must confront her darkest fears and family secrets that threaten to not only upend her once-ordered life…but to destroy it.

Praise for Saving Meghan: 

"Plenty of twists...will keep you turning the pages as you guess...and guess again." —Lisa Scottoline, New York Times bestselling author of After Anna

"An acute, sensitive portrayal of family love under extreme stress...[with] a touch of Hitchcock." —William Landay, New York Times bestselling author of Defending Jacob

Links for purchase: Amazon // Barnes and Noble // Abe Books // Book Depository // Better World Books // Indigo 

                                                                        MY THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK:                                                             

This book was just so very excellent. It was unexpectedly good. I was surprised about it, to be honest. I didn't think I would enjoy this book, but I was exactly what I needed to cure me of the reading slump I was in. I love books about subjects like this one. 

The book follows 15-year-old Meghan and her mother, Becky Gerard. Meghan’s mother is a liar and manipulator, something that her mother taught her to do from a young age. As you can guess a life of lies has made her life has been filled with turmoil. Becky’s mother made her lie and manipulate doctors so her mother could get disability payments. This all has haunted Becky. She had to lie and cheat to earn the favor of her mother. A life like that will mess you up. 

Now at 48 years old, Becky wants to make up for her life of lies. She wants to share with her mother about how this life made her feel and really get down to the nitty gritty of what this did to her life. She wants to forgive her, but she isn’t sure she can actually forgive her. Unfortunately, her mother is on her deathbed. Becky can’t be there,  because her daughter is super sick. A sickness that can’t be diagnosed by any doctor at this point. 

Due to Becky’s upbringing and manipulative ways she is unsure if Meghan is really sick or not. Of course, she feels sympathy for her daughter, but questions remain. It was rather interesting to see this unfold, while I was reading about it. 

Becky is convinced that Meghan has something wrong with her. Part of me felt like that she really just wanted her daughter sick. The whole time I was reading the book I was sure that she was manipulating Meghan or somehow making her sick. I just was unsure if Meghan was aware or not. 

This book touches on a bunch of super tricky topics. Things that really happen in the world currently. Some parents go against doctors, hospitals, and government to save their children. They fight, as they rightfully should get their children the help they desperately need. But what happens when a mental illness causes the parent to come up with a disease or even worse inflict real or fake illnesses on their children? How should the healthcare system deal with something like that? How do we know its more than just concerned parents? All these questions were going around my mind while reading this book. 

This book was full of plot twists that will leave you feeling dizzy. While this book seems like it would be predictable, it is far from it. I kept going from not liking Becky to feeling sorry for her. I know she loved her daughter and would do anything to help her. This book is filled to the brim with secrets, lies, and omissions. It creates a thrilling read that I couldn’t put down. This family in the novel had such a strange family dynamic. I would recommend this novel to anyone. You should pick it. 

 Disclaimer: I received this book for free from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts are my own and do not reflect this. 

                                                                          A LITTLE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:                                                            

D.J. Palmer is the author of numerous critically acclaimed suspense novels, including Delirious and Desperate. After receiving his master’s degree from Boston University, he spent a decade as an e-commerce pioneer before turning his attention to writing. He lives with his wife and two children in New Hampshire.