Scan barcode
odmay's review
5.0
A great suspenseful read. This is the second book for me by Nicole Trope. I enjoy her style of writing and all the characters, who seem very real to me. I can imagine the consequences that just one mistake can have. I will be looking for more books to read by Nicole. Thanks to the publishers for the gift of this book which I won in a giveaway.
kcfromaustcrime's review
Everyone is saying this is one for fans of Jodi Picoult, which probably explains a lot of my reaction, because I'm not much of a fan of Picoult's books. I also suspect I may have overdosed on domestic noir of the "harried mother / useless father / tedious kids" variety. For that reason this came across as too predictable, and the messaging was too heavy-handed for my liking.
Obviously not my thing, and from the your mileage will obviously vary category.
Obviously not my thing, and from the your mileage will obviously vary category.
renwar96's review
4.0
This book was written from the perspective of two different mothers, both at different times in their lives. One is overwhelmed by her three children and less than helpful husband and the other is recently released from prison having lost everything. The detective working the case has suffered a huge loss and has had a baby which she has recently left to start back to work. This book touches on so many emotions felt by mothers at different stages of having a child. There's anxiety, mental illness, guilt, and so many other things going on. I worried about the baby through the whole story, would he survive, would he get back to his mother, would he be ok? Another page turner by Nicole Trope!
busyreading's review
4.0
One litre of milk was all Malia needed, so she quickly fastened her three kids in the car and headed to the closest service station. What occurs next is every parents worst nightmare and for Malia, her life will never be the same again.
Before Malia knows it, she finds herself being questioned by police and her mind is just a blur. She didn't understand how this could be happening. All she wanted was a litre of milk and now her five month old baby was missing. She knew she shouldn't have left him in the car, but she was just going to be a minute and she could see her car from inside the shop.
The police and those who were searching for baby Zach had to act quickly as the day was starting to heat up, so it was crucial to find him as soon as possible. As the minutes tick into hours things aren't looking good. Where is Zach and will he be found in time or has the unthinkable happened?
WOW!!! What an incredible book that had me thoroughly engrossed. This had me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen, but then again part of me didn't want to know. (Hope that makes sense) I was totally engaged in this book from the beginning all the way to the end. Highly recommended.
Before Malia knows it, she finds herself being questioned by police and her mind is just a blur. She didn't understand how this could be happening. All she wanted was a litre of milk and now her five month old baby was missing. She knew she shouldn't have left him in the car, but she was just going to be a minute and she could see her car from inside the shop.
The police and those who were searching for baby Zach had to act quickly as the day was starting to heat up, so it was crucial to find him as soon as possible. As the minutes tick into hours things aren't looking good. Where is Zach and will he be found in time or has the unthinkable happened?
WOW!!! What an incredible book that had me thoroughly engrossed. This had me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen, but then again part of me didn't want to know. (Hope that makes sense) I was totally engaged in this book from the beginning all the way to the end. Highly recommended.
carmenna's review
5.0
La chiamano "la Jodie Picoult australiana", Nicole Trope, e a ragione; anzi, benché siano passati molti anni dalla mia ultima lettura di un romanzo dell'autrice americana, posso affermare di apprezzare maggiormente la Trope per il realismo più spiccato e la capacità di dar vita a personaggi che sono piccoli universi, tanto minuziosa è la loro caratterizzazione.
Universi femminili, a dire il vero, perché in Forgotten, così come in Blame, sono le donne a farla da padrone, mentre gli uomini restano per lo più sullo sfondo, importanti a volte ai fini della storia, ma mai protagonisti.
Nucleo di questo romanzo è il rapimento di un bambino, Zach, che la madre, Malia, ha lasciato per qualche minuto in auto mentre si affrettava a comprare il latte per i due figli maggiori. Una donna immeritevole, ingrata, incauta... molti sono i commenti che potrebbero fioccare a causa del suo gesto - che è, sì, senza dubbio quanto meno poco saggio - eppure sin dalle prime righe della storia la Trope ci descrive una donna stressata, oberata dal lavoro, lasciata sola da un marito di cui non abbiamo ancora letto la parte peggiore, una donna, insomma, in cui qualunque altra potrebbe immedesimarsi, o che almeno potrebbe essere profondamente capita.
La scomparsa del bambino apre il sipario ancora su altre donne, Jackie che l'ha preso, Ali che lo cerca, Edna che lo guarda alla tv, Garnet che pensa di averlo con sé.
Ognuna di queste donne, insieme a Malia, ha perso qualcosa, ma, a differenza della madre del piccolo Zach, per nessuna di loro c'è più alcuna speranza.
Ognuna ha una storia diversa, e un diverso modo di affrontare la perdita.
Ho trovato commovente il personaggio di Edna, un'anziana donna che vive in una camera in affitto, senza più marito e senza mai aver avuto figli, che ancora ricorda gli insegnamenti del padre, ma ha alla fine il coraggio di andarvi contro e fare la cosa giusta.
Controverso invece il personaggio di Jackie. E coraggiosa, direi, l'autrice, nel descrivere una madre che odia così tanto la sua bambina da mettere in piedi un piano che chiamare mostruoso è poco. Certo, c'è la sua infanzia orribile, la presenza certa di una psicosi, ma è impossibile empatizzare con la donna o provare pena per lei. Le pagine in cui Jackie fa da narratrice sono molto difficili da mandar giù, ed ho apprezzato molto il lavoro dell'autrice che è stata capace di farmi provare dei sentimenti tanto forti.
E poi c'è Ian, il padre di Zach, l'incubo di ogni moglie, e non perché sia un assassino o un adultero, ma semplicemente per la sua indifferenza verso la propria famiglia e per il suo egoismo che raggiunge vette davvero elevatissime. Un uomo normale, che non si farebbe fatica a rintracciare tra qualcuno dei nostri conoscenti.
Forgotten è un romanzo sulla fragilità umana, sulla maternità, sulle scelte, su ciò che è realmente o volutamente dimenticato - forgotten, temine che viene usato più volte all'interno del romanzo, e di cui ho apprezzato soprattutto l'utilizzo nel finale -. E' una storia che impegna emozionalmente e tiene col fiato sospeso fino alla fine. L'ho amato ancora più di Blame, e mi auguro che venga presto tradotto in italiano, così da poter essere conosciuto anche da chi non mastica l'inglese.
http://iltesorodicarta.blogspot.it/2017/08/forgotten.html
Universi femminili, a dire il vero, perché in Forgotten, così come in Blame, sono le donne a farla da padrone, mentre gli uomini restano per lo più sullo sfondo, importanti a volte ai fini della storia, ma mai protagonisti.
Nucleo di questo romanzo è il rapimento di un bambino, Zach, che la madre, Malia, ha lasciato per qualche minuto in auto mentre si affrettava a comprare il latte per i due figli maggiori. Una donna immeritevole, ingrata, incauta... molti sono i commenti che potrebbero fioccare a causa del suo gesto - che è, sì, senza dubbio quanto meno poco saggio - eppure sin dalle prime righe della storia la Trope ci descrive una donna stressata, oberata dal lavoro, lasciata sola da un marito di cui non abbiamo ancora letto la parte peggiore, una donna, insomma, in cui qualunque altra potrebbe immedesimarsi, o che almeno potrebbe essere profondamente capita.
La scomparsa del bambino apre il sipario ancora su altre donne, Jackie che l'ha preso, Ali che lo cerca, Edna che lo guarda alla tv, Garnet che pensa di averlo con sé.
Ognuna di queste donne, insieme a Malia, ha perso qualcosa, ma, a differenza della madre del piccolo Zach, per nessuna di loro c'è più alcuna speranza.
Ognuna ha una storia diversa, e un diverso modo di affrontare la perdita.
Ho trovato commovente il personaggio di Edna, un'anziana donna che vive in una camera in affitto, senza più marito e senza mai aver avuto figli, che ancora ricorda gli insegnamenti del padre, ma ha alla fine il coraggio di andarvi contro e fare la cosa giusta.
Controverso invece il personaggio di Jackie. E coraggiosa, direi, l'autrice, nel descrivere una madre che odia così tanto la sua bambina da mettere in piedi un piano che chiamare mostruoso è poco. Certo, c'è la sua infanzia orribile, la presenza certa di una psicosi, ma è impossibile empatizzare con la donna o provare pena per lei. Le pagine in cui Jackie fa da narratrice sono molto difficili da mandar giù, ed ho apprezzato molto il lavoro dell'autrice che è stata capace di farmi provare dei sentimenti tanto forti.
E poi c'è Ian, il padre di Zach, l'incubo di ogni moglie, e non perché sia un assassino o un adultero, ma semplicemente per la sua indifferenza verso la propria famiglia e per il suo egoismo che raggiunge vette davvero elevatissime. Un uomo normale, che non si farebbe fatica a rintracciare tra qualcuno dei nostri conoscenti.
Forgotten è un romanzo sulla fragilità umana, sulla maternità, sulle scelte, su ciò che è realmente o volutamente dimenticato - forgotten, temine che viene usato più volte all'interno del romanzo, e di cui ho apprezzato soprattutto l'utilizzo nel finale -. E' una storia che impegna emozionalmente e tiene col fiato sospeso fino alla fine. L'ho amato ancora più di Blame, e mi auguro che venga presto tradotto in italiano, così da poter essere conosciuto anche da chi non mastica l'inglese.
http://iltesorodicarta.blogspot.it/2017/08/forgotten.html
gudzilla's review
4.0
Recently, I am finding myself drawn to psychological thrillers more and more. I am also finding myself ending up reading until 3 PM to finish one more chapter and then hogging the entire book in a day (or night)! Therefore, I am bit sleep deprived when I am writing this.
Bit Spoilery review - so proceed with caution ;)
This book is amazing – story told from 4 female POVs – Malia, Ali, Edna and Jackie. Generally, I'm not fan of multiple POVs, but here the story flow so smoothly, it really didn’t bother me at all. Also, all the POVs are 3rd person POV but Jackie has been given 1st person. The reading experience may be bit jarring for some readers but it didn’t bother me that much.
Malia is our story’s poor mother who is burdened with raising 3 children alone. She has husband but he falls back from all responsibility that should be handled and shared by a father. One fine day, where her husband Ian forgets to bring milk, Malia decides to go for quick drip to the nearest grocery store and ends up losing her the youngest son Zach within few minutes. At this point, everyone’s reaction would be ‘how could you?’
How could I not have checked? How could I have left him in the car? Why didn’t I just go next door to Mrs. Boulos and ask to borrow some milk? How could I have made such a stupid mistake? Where is he?
But after that we then go into psyche of a mother and responsibilities motherhood entails. After that, all Malia’s POVs are all about defending her actions. She has done terrible thing but why she has done what she has done – those minutiae are provided.
Ali is police agent who is investigating the missing baby case and she has her personal tragedy related to motherhood herself.
Motherhood can be so boring, so repetitive, so filled with endless minutiae, often forcing women to wonder what has happened to their lives. But she knows that if something happens to your child, the boring, repetitive elements of the day are what you remember most and what you wish back with every fibre of your being. Her heart breaks for Malia….
Edna is elderly living in lodge, sharing lodge to be specific, with odd characters. Most of them are x-criminals, and according to government deserves second chance in society. Edna doesn’t approve and constantly resents living in lodge afterwards….
Jackie is our convict here where she ‘finds’ a baby alone in a car and decides to take him for herself…Jackie is the most interesting characters of all and the trip inside her head makes you wonder if such people really exist? The answer is, yes. She is mentally sick but because she conceals it so well, no one notices there is something off with her. In her defense, she had terrible childhood and that translates into her obsessive behavior towards her husband and unkindness towards all children – whether it is her own or others.
The end was not so surprising at all – you can see it coming miles away but it really doesn’t dulls the enjoyment of the story. I really like my thrillers rather straight forward (no going back and forth in time, please) and without any kind of abuse (domestic or child). So, even though it was very predictable story, I enjoyed it immensely.
Bit Spoilery review - so proceed with caution ;)
This book is amazing – story told from 4 female POVs – Malia, Ali, Edna and Jackie. Generally, I'm not fan of multiple POVs, but here the story flow so smoothly, it really didn’t bother me at all. Also, all the POVs are 3rd person POV but Jackie has been given 1st person. The reading experience may be bit jarring for some readers but it didn’t bother me that much.
Malia is our story’s poor mother who is burdened with raising 3 children alone. She has husband but he falls back from all responsibility that should be handled and shared by a father. One fine day, where her husband Ian forgets to bring milk, Malia decides to go for quick drip to the nearest grocery store and ends up losing her the youngest son Zach within few minutes. At this point, everyone’s reaction would be ‘how could you?’
How could I not have checked? How could I have left him in the car? Why didn’t I just go next door to Mrs. Boulos and ask to borrow some milk? How could I have made such a stupid mistake? Where is he?
But after that we then go into psyche of a mother and responsibilities motherhood entails. After that, all Malia’s POVs are all about defending her actions. She has done terrible thing but why she has done what she has done – those minutiae are provided.
Ali is police agent who is investigating the missing baby case and she has her personal tragedy related to motherhood herself.
Motherhood can be so boring, so repetitive, so filled with endless minutiae, often forcing women to wonder what has happened to their lives. But she knows that if something happens to your child, the boring, repetitive elements of the day are what you remember most and what you wish back with every fibre of your being. Her heart breaks for Malia….
Edna is elderly living in lodge, sharing lodge to be specific, with odd characters. Most of them are x-criminals, and according to government deserves second chance in society. Edna doesn’t approve and constantly resents living in lodge afterwards….
Jackie is our convict here where she ‘finds’ a baby alone in a car and decides to take him for herself…Jackie is the most interesting characters of all and the trip inside her head makes you wonder if such people really exist? The answer is, yes. She is mentally sick but because she conceals it so well, no one notices there is something off with her. In her defense, she had terrible childhood and that translates into her obsessive behavior towards her husband and unkindness towards all children – whether it is her own or others.
The end was not so surprising at all – you can see it coming miles away but it really doesn’t dulls the enjoyment of the story. I really like my thrillers rather straight forward (no going back and forth in time, please) and without any kind of abuse (domestic or child). So, even though it was very predictable story, I enjoyed it immensely.
crazybooklady_'s review
3.0
Nicole Trope has been described as Australia's answer to Jodi Picoult. I can't say I have ever been a big fan of Picoult myself but I'm always willing to try something new, particularly Australian and I was lucky enough to receive this one as part of my monthly Sensei Subscription. Forgotten is a story of a mother's worst nightmare. One hot day. A minute of inattention. A missing baby. A race against the clock to avoid disastrous consequences.
This was a fast-paced read only taking me a day or two to finish it. I liked the format of the novel with multiple posts of view slowly revealing their pieces of the puzzle. Each point of view was unique with an important perspective to share. We meet four unique women each with their own demons. I very quickly found the "villain" abhorrent and didn't enjoy her point of view as it was quite despicable and disturbing. The mark of good writing to have such an intense response to this character.
The pacing of the novel was perfect keeping the reader on the edge of the seat. I do have to admit I found the ending a little too neat for my liking. Overall I wasn't a huge fan, however, I attribute this more to the style of book not appealing to my taste rather than any criticism on the novel. Fans of Picoult will enjoy this one, particularly ones who want a bit of an Aussie spin. I give Forgotten three stars, a good read if you enjoy this style of novel.
This was a fast-paced read only taking me a day or two to finish it. I liked the format of the novel with multiple posts of view slowly revealing their pieces of the puzzle. Each point of view was unique with an important perspective to share. We meet four unique women each with their own demons. I very quickly found the "villain" abhorrent and didn't enjoy her point of view as it was quite despicable and disturbing. The mark of good writing to have such an intense response to this character.
The pacing of the novel was perfect keeping the reader on the edge of the seat. I do have to admit I found the ending a little too neat for my liking. Overall I wasn't a huge fan, however, I attribute this more to the style of book not appealing to my taste rather than any criticism on the novel. Fans of Picoult will enjoy this one, particularly ones who want a bit of an Aussie spin. I give Forgotten three stars, a good read if you enjoy this style of novel.
janerel's review
3.0
I'm afraid I didn't like this quite as much as Nicole Trope's Hush Little Bird. After just finishing a detail rich/heavy saga, this was very light, even given the weightier topic at hand. I whizzed through it pretty quickly. I enjoyed the story but just didn't love it. Thanks to Allen & Unwin and Bookstr for this copy.
More...