Erin Kelly | STONE MOTHERS

Plot (via Goodreads):

You can't keep the secret.
You can't tell the truth.
You can't escape the past...

Marianne was seventeen when she fled her home in Nusstead – leaving behind her family, her boyfriend, Jesse, and the body they buried. Now, thirty years later, forced to return to in order to help care for her sick mother, she can feel the past closing around her. And Jesse, who never forgave her for leaving in the first place, is finally threatening to expose the truth.

Marianne will do anything to protect the life she's built, the husband and daughter who must never know what happened all those years ago. Even if it means turning to her worst enemy for help... But Marianne may not know the whole story – and she isn't the only one with secrets they'd kill to keep.

Review: 

I don't care what Erin Kelly writes - I want it. After He Said/She Said, I was eager to devour her next novel before I even knew what it was about or when it was coming out. I was anxious and excited for her next novel enough to have butterflies swarm my stomach when I saw the title and read the plot that was so mysterious and inviting that I had to reach out and beg for a copy. Lucky for me, Minotaur Books soon delivered an advanced copy and I quickly set aside time (during the weekend so no distractions) to read this novel and what an amazing experience it was. 

Stone Mothers has a much different style of writing compared to He Said/She Said and yet you can just tell that this is a story that only Erin Kelly could weave together. Told in three amazing parts (each a different time), I was in love with everything about this novel. The plot, the characters, the backstories, the revelations and plot twists, it was all so brilliantly effective and made this not just a day spent reading a book, but an experience that was beautifully enigmatic. I was being haunted by this story, captivated in Kelly's prose, and stunned with each part. What I loved about the fact that this was told in different parts was that Kelly truly captured that time period in her writing in a way that left me dumbfounded and addicted. With each part, it was like she wrapped up one storyline, but left more open to kind of tease the reader with what was to come. I loved how throughout this novel, this asylum almost acts as the main character and is in a different state throughout the different parts. 

With each storyline that is wrapped up and the ending that was not only shocking, but beautiful, I was applauding Erin Kelly for crafting  together such a stunning story in an unputdownable book with so many characters that I will cherish forever. I am so thankful to have enjoyed such a terrifying and ravishing story. No one can tell a story like Erin Kelly...and no one ever will. This is the author that people who read her novels today will be telling their children and grandchildren about years to come.

Special thanks to Minotaur Books for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5