Scan barcode
niacsm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
annamareading's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
calturner's review against another edition
4.0
Mine by Clare Empson is a gripping psychological thriller that once started you will not want to put down. Focussing on family relationships, lost love and issues surrounding adoption, this is an emotional story that captivated me from the opening page right up until the final page had been turned.
Luke was adopted as a child and has always felt like an outsider. Now, with a family of his own, he appears to have the perfect life. But then he reconnects with his birth mother, Alice, and feels an instant connection with her. So when Luke’s girlfriend, Hannah, goes back to work it seems obvious that Alice should be the one to look after baby Samuel. But Alice begins to fall in love with baby Samuel, with the grief she felt all those years ago at the loss of her son beginning to become all consuming.
What follows is a gripping and beautifully written psychological thriller that’s told from the perspective of Alice in the past and Luke in the present day. The tension slowly increases as the story gathers pace, leading to a shocking turn of events that I did not see coming. A tale with family at its heart, Mine is a book that I thoroughly enjoyed and I can’t wait to see what this talented author comes up with next!
Clare Empson has written an emotional rollercoaster of a thriller that I would highly recommend.
Luke was adopted as a child and has always felt like an outsider. Now, with a family of his own, he appears to have the perfect life. But then he reconnects with his birth mother, Alice, and feels an instant connection with her. So when Luke’s girlfriend, Hannah, goes back to work it seems obvious that Alice should be the one to look after baby Samuel. But Alice begins to fall in love with baby Samuel, with the grief she felt all those years ago at the loss of her son beginning to become all consuming.
What follows is a gripping and beautifully written psychological thriller that’s told from the perspective of Alice in the past and Luke in the present day. The tension slowly increases as the story gathers pace, leading to a shocking turn of events that I did not see coming. A tale with family at its heart, Mine is a book that I thoroughly enjoyed and I can’t wait to see what this talented author comes up with next!
Clare Empson has written an emotional rollercoaster of a thriller that I would highly recommend.
pippad's review against another edition
5.0
I thought that the book was a little slow to get started, but when it did pick up pace it was predictable... until suddenly I didn't.
I found the last 1/3 of the book to be the best, good pace, good plot development and I liked the characters enough to care about them... to the point that I was reading this before I got up one morning and trying very hard not to wake my sleeping husband up with my sobbing!
If you are reading this and have come to see if it's worth going on... do. It's two, no three, wait four beautiful love stories (although we only really hear about one of them!) and worth sticking with!
I found the last 1/3 of the book to be the best, good pace, good plot development and I liked the characters enough to care about them... to the point that I was reading this before I got up one morning and trying very hard not to wake my sleeping husband up with my sobbing!
If you are reading this and have come to see if it's worth going on... do. It's two, no three, wait four beautiful love stories (although we only really hear about one of them!) and worth sticking with!
zooloo1983's review against another edition
5.0
Well, it’s a fact she did it again! Clare has broken me again! This is the second book I’ve read by her and Him was my book of the year last year, so when I picked this up I thought I knew what to expect! I was wrong.
I knew she would write a story where she had snappy chapters to keep me reading because I had to know what the frick would happen.
I knew she would write a story where we saw what happened in the past to shape the future and then write the present day to see the fallout.
I knew she would write a story where love would be so encompassing and passionate but also destructive.
What I didn’t expect were the number of tears there would be, I still knew there would be some. When we reach the catastrophic events in the past, I was shocked, my world had been rocked because even though you knew something like that would happen you still didn’t expect it to actually happen. Again, Clare has broken me. How a few sentences in a book can destroy you is unreal. You become protective of the people that are involved and you want to change the author’s words to make it all right in the world again. Problem is, as we know, we can’t. We have to somehow accept the events and we have to deal with it just like the characters. Man! How do we do that!
Alice is damaged due to what happened in her past, in the 70s, and Luke, he is damaged due to this past. It is euphoric when we see them meet for the first time, and there is so much hope. A hope that things can finally be different. As in Him, Mine is pivotal around love and destruction and it pulls you in from the opening pages. I couldn’t let go of Alice and Luke’s journey.
Even though this is not a short book, I felt everything was rushed. It was just over too quickly, I mean I just devoured this book and now I am feeling so annoyed with myself that I didn’t savour the book more. I am so bloody gutted it’s over! I just know that anything Clare writes I will be reading, it’s like a compulsion I had to read the story written.
Mine tackles a subject of adoption and the impacts on everyone’s lives that it can have. It is incredibly emotive and it is one that will stay with me. My only complaint is that it is over way too quickly! I do not know what else to say, it will definitely be in my list at the end of the year.
I knew she would write a story where she had snappy chapters to keep me reading because I had to know what the frick would happen.
I knew she would write a story where we saw what happened in the past to shape the future and then write the present day to see the fallout.
I knew she would write a story where love would be so encompassing and passionate but also destructive.
What I didn’t expect were the number of tears there would be, I still knew there would be some. When we reach the catastrophic events in the past, I was shocked, my world had been rocked because even though you knew something like that would happen you still didn’t expect it to actually happen. Again, Clare has broken me. How a few sentences in a book can destroy you is unreal. You become protective of the people that are involved and you want to change the author’s words to make it all right in the world again. Problem is, as we know, we can’t. We have to somehow accept the events and we have to deal with it just like the characters. Man! How do we do that!
Alice is damaged due to what happened in her past, in the 70s, and Luke, he is damaged due to this past. It is euphoric when we see them meet for the first time, and there is so much hope. A hope that things can finally be different. As in Him, Mine is pivotal around love and destruction and it pulls you in from the opening pages. I couldn’t let go of Alice and Luke’s journey.
Even though this is not a short book, I felt everything was rushed. It was just over too quickly, I mean I just devoured this book and now I am feeling so annoyed with myself that I didn’t savour the book more. I am so bloody gutted it’s over! I just know that anything Clare writes I will be reading, it’s like a compulsion I had to read the story written.
Mine tackles a subject of adoption and the impacts on everyone’s lives that it can have. It is incredibly emotive and it is one that will stay with me. My only complaint is that it is over way too quickly! I do not know what else to say, it will definitely be in my list at the end of the year.
kittyp3777's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
the_coycaterpillar_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Mine deals with sensitive issues and really breathes life into the saying that your past is never really in your past. We are all a result of our upbringings. Memories. The laughter. Endless tears. It is all an echo that rings in the lost memories of our childhood. It is useless to try and outrun the fears that revisiting the past can open back up. You can lace up those trainers and try to get ahead of it, but it’s going to catch up with you eventually.
Mine is the story of Luke and his wife, Hannah. Together they have a son, Samuel. The novel examines the reawakening that occurs in Luke. The birth of his son has brought old scars back into the Frey. His past ghosts now inhabit his consciousness. He believed that he had moved on but now he is wrecked with thoughts about his birth mother. Every shadow and corner brings him back full circle – wondering about where he came from. It makes you wonder about the other side of the coin – how does the parent, especially the mother, move on from such an action? He meets his mother, Alice, now aged 47. A very attractive woman by all means who gave Luke up when he was only a few weeks old. She was an aspiring artist and now paints portraits of pets. Was it really worth it? Luke doesn’t gain much of a reason for why he was given up for adoption.
Mine certainly has a raw undercurrent of a melancholy tune. It is sadness for years lost. For an emptiness. The writing was magnetic. I was pulled towards it from the very first page. It was addictive and squeezed at my heart, especially as a mother. I don’t think I would have every fully moved on from that.
Alice was a deeply frustrating character for me. She was given the opportunity that doesn’t always come knocking for birth parents. He she has her baby boy back in front of her and she doesn’t grasp on to him with both hands. He represents a new life. A renewed future. A second chance. Instead he is greeted with this cold, standoffish persona. She never lets him in and I just want to grab her and shake her, make her realise just what an opportunity she has. As the story progresses we are afforded the details of why and you slowly come around to the idea that yes maybe she had her reasons, maybe even sympathise with her.
The story moves forward with Hannah returning to work. Try as they might, they cannot find a suitable Au Pair to look after their son. After seeing Alice bond with Samuel, it is suggested that this could be a perfect solution. Luke watches and becomes jealous of the relationship between his son and his mother. Can he really trust her with his son? Just how much does he know about her? It is clear to the eye that his issues with abandonment run very deep, he is unsettled but just can’t shake off the feeling.
Mine is successfully layered this novel with the coldness and fear of what abandonment can result in. Clare Empson has created a menacing atmosphere with darkly compelling characters that take up space in your head.
Mine is the story of Luke and his wife, Hannah. Together they have a son, Samuel. The novel examines the reawakening that occurs in Luke. The birth of his son has brought old scars back into the Frey. His past ghosts now inhabit his consciousness. He believed that he had moved on but now he is wrecked with thoughts about his birth mother. Every shadow and corner brings him back full circle – wondering about where he came from. It makes you wonder about the other side of the coin – how does the parent, especially the mother, move on from such an action? He meets his mother, Alice, now aged 47. A very attractive woman by all means who gave Luke up when he was only a few weeks old. She was an aspiring artist and now paints portraits of pets. Was it really worth it? Luke doesn’t gain much of a reason for why he was given up for adoption.
Mine certainly has a raw undercurrent of a melancholy tune. It is sadness for years lost. For an emptiness. The writing was magnetic. I was pulled towards it from the very first page. It was addictive and squeezed at my heart, especially as a mother. I don’t think I would have every fully moved on from that.
Alice was a deeply frustrating character for me. She was given the opportunity that doesn’t always come knocking for birth parents. He she has her baby boy back in front of her and she doesn’t grasp on to him with both hands. He represents a new life. A renewed future. A second chance. Instead he is greeted with this cold, standoffish persona. She never lets him in and I just want to grab her and shake her, make her realise just what an opportunity she has. As the story progresses we are afforded the details of why and you slowly come around to the idea that yes maybe she had her reasons, maybe even sympathise with her.
The story moves forward with Hannah returning to work. Try as they might, they cannot find a suitable Au Pair to look after their son. After seeing Alice bond with Samuel, it is suggested that this could be a perfect solution. Luke watches and becomes jealous of the relationship between his son and his mother. Can he really trust her with his son? Just how much does he know about her? It is clear to the eye that his issues with abandonment run very deep, he is unsettled but just can’t shake off the feeling.
Mine is successfully layered this novel with the coldness and fear of what abandonment can result in. Clare Empson has created a menacing atmosphere with darkly compelling characters that take up space in your head.
mystikai's review against another edition
4.0
This was such an emotional read, Luke was adopted at birth, he found out when he was eight and when he was a lot older decides to contact his birth mother. They get on well initially, but when Alice offers to look after Luke’s son Samuel Luke starts feeling pushed aside, can they get past it?
Told in two time frames, the past when Alice was a young girl and the present day. I thought this was a good touch as I felt I got to know both Luke and Alice equally. I felt almost every emotion going while reading it and I keep thinking about it now I have finished. I think it will stay with me for a long time.
Clare Empson wrote this beautifully, it flowed well and kept my attention throughout. It really was a remarkable book.
Told in two time frames, the past when Alice was a young girl and the present day. I thought this was a good touch as I felt I got to know both Luke and Alice equally. I felt almost every emotion going while reading it and I keep thinking about it now I have finished. I think it will stay with me for a long time.
Clare Empson wrote this beautifully, it flowed well and kept my attention throughout. It really was a remarkable book.
always_need_more_books's review against another edition
4.0
Luke and his girlfriend Hannah have just had a baby and seem to have a pretty perfect life together. Hannah is an arts correspondent, while Luke works in the music industry and they both dote on baby Samuel.
But being adopted, Luke has always felt like an outsider and when Samuel is born he has an urge to understand who he is and tracks down his birth mother Alice. After having lunch together, things move quickly and soon Alice has met Hannah and they have both met Luke’s famous father, the artist Richard Fields. Alice quickly becomes engrained in the families life, and when Hannah needs to go back to work, Alice offers to look after baby Samuel. She is a godsend: Samuel adores her, and Alice obviously adores him in return. She cooks and cleans for them too and it all seems to be going well, apart from Luke starts to feel jealous of the attention Samuel gets and feels no nearer to having a proper relationship with Alice.
As well as from Luke, we go back in time to London 1972 where a teenage Alice is a talented artist at the Slade art school. With her gay best friend Rick one night she goes to see an up and coming band and attracts the attention of lead singer Jacob, who is interested in her as a potential artist for the band’s next album cover. Before long they are in a relationship and madly in love with each other.
I remember there being a lot of positive reviews around Empson’s debut thriller Him last year so when the blog tour for Mine came up, I jumped at the chance to take part. What surprised me most about this is the emotion attached the characters – although marketed as a thriller it is so much more.
Reading about the lasting effects adoption has on both the child who feels they never entirely belong and the mother who never truly gets over the loss of their child is heart-breaking. When an adopted child meets their birth mother for the first time, especially when both parties want the meeting to go ahead can still be a difficult meeting for both. Empson incorporates textbook snippets about adoption at the beginning of each of Luke’s chapters that mirror the stages he is going through.
Luke feels Alice is evasive about what happened and why she gave him up – he wants answers and Alice is unable to give them. He feels jealous over Alice’s relationship with Samuel and feels bad for feeling like that.
So much more than a typical psychological thriller, I was surprised at the depth of emotion portrayed throughout, both in the feelings of Alice and Luke, but it also looks with sensitivity at characters’ mental illness, which felt realistic. Mine was inspired by Clare’s husband finding his birth mother, and the difficulty in navigating a relationship with a biological parent, who is also a stranger.
A great read, I polished this off in just a couple of days. Empson has written a book of many layers that is completely enthralling.
But being adopted, Luke has always felt like an outsider and when Samuel is born he has an urge to understand who he is and tracks down his birth mother Alice. After having lunch together, things move quickly and soon Alice has met Hannah and they have both met Luke’s famous father, the artist Richard Fields. Alice quickly becomes engrained in the families life, and when Hannah needs to go back to work, Alice offers to look after baby Samuel. She is a godsend: Samuel adores her, and Alice obviously adores him in return. She cooks and cleans for them too and it all seems to be going well, apart from Luke starts to feel jealous of the attention Samuel gets and feels no nearer to having a proper relationship with Alice.
As well as from Luke, we go back in time to London 1972 where a teenage Alice is a talented artist at the Slade art school. With her gay best friend Rick one night she goes to see an up and coming band and attracts the attention of lead singer Jacob, who is interested in her as a potential artist for the band’s next album cover. Before long they are in a relationship and madly in love with each other.
I remember there being a lot of positive reviews around Empson’s debut thriller Him last year so when the blog tour for Mine came up, I jumped at the chance to take part. What surprised me most about this is the emotion attached the characters – although marketed as a thriller it is so much more.
Reading about the lasting effects adoption has on both the child who feels they never entirely belong and the mother who never truly gets over the loss of their child is heart-breaking. When an adopted child meets their birth mother for the first time, especially when both parties want the meeting to go ahead can still be a difficult meeting for both. Empson incorporates textbook snippets about adoption at the beginning of each of Luke’s chapters that mirror the stages he is going through.
Luke feels Alice is evasive about what happened and why she gave him up – he wants answers and Alice is unable to give them. He feels jealous over Alice’s relationship with Samuel and feels bad for feeling like that.
So much more than a typical psychological thriller, I was surprised at the depth of emotion portrayed throughout, both in the feelings of Alice and Luke, but it also looks with sensitivity at characters’ mental illness, which felt realistic. Mine was inspired by Clare’s husband finding his birth mother, and the difficulty in navigating a relationship with a biological parent, who is also a stranger.
A great read, I polished this off in just a couple of days. Empson has written a book of many layers that is completely enthralling.
ecb_15's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide