The Argument
Victoria Jenkins
Today is Publication Day for The Argument by Victoria Jenkins. I am so thrilled to take part in the blog tour for this fantastic brand new psychological thriller.
First of all…
What Is It About?
It happens to every mother. One day, the daughter whose whole world you once were, becomes someone you barely know. And you don’t know the secrets she’s hiding…
One night, 15-year-old Olivia comes home late from a party she was strictly forbidden from going to, and she and her mother, Hannah, start arguing. Soon Olivia speaks the words that every parent has heard from their teenage child:
‘I hate you. You’ve ruined my life. And I’m never speaking to you again.’
Olivia has never been an easy child, a sharp contrast to her easy-going, happy-go-lucky little sister. But Hannah thinks Olivia’s outburst is the end of a normal family argument. In fact, it’s only the beginning of a nightmare…
After one day of silence, Hannah thinks Olivia is taking a teenage sulk too far. After two days, she starts to feel anxious that something more serious could be going on. After a week, when her daughter still hasn’t spoken, Hannah knows that Olivia is hiding a bigger darkness – something that could threaten to tear their precious family apart…
The Argument is an unputdownable psychological thriller that asks how far we can push our families before they finally break. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, The Woman in the Window, and The Silent Patient.
My Thoughts
The Argument is a tense family drama centred around the lives of what appears to be a normal family of four. Teenager Olivia sneaks out to a party and has a row with her mother Hannah when she returns. She then vows to never speak to her mother again.
This all seemed to be completely normal. An overprotective mother and angst-ridden fifteen-year-old locking horns just like families everywhere.
I was torn between feeling sorry for Olivia, who’s mother clearly didn’t understand her and sympathising with Hannah’s difficult role as the mother of a teenage daughter.
I found Hannah quite chilling, she was cold, distant and almost robotic as she went about her household chores and seemed old beyond her years. Olivia on the other hand just seemed in need of a sympathetic ear and a huge hug.
I was a little underwhelmed with the first part of the book, but oh boy did the second half make up for it! Talk about shifting up a gear! Just as you think this is a family drama like so many others the plot shifts rapidly and the book becomes compelling, dark and totally absorbing.
It reminded me of a series of books I read almost forty years ago which prompted my love of psychological thrillers and has stayed with me ever since.
A shocking, unexpected, multi-dimensional read.
Thank you to Bookouture for a copy of the book which I have reviewed honestly.
Author Bio
Victoria Jenkins lives with her husband and daughter in South Wales, where her series of crime novels featuring Detectives King and Lane is based. Her debut novel The Girls in the Water is an Amazon UK top 30 bestseller, and top 5 bestseller in the Amazon US chart.
Her first psychological thriller, The Divorce, was published in July 2019. The second, The Argument, is available to pre-order now.
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Oh my, mothers and their daughters certainly make for great conflict.