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ClareR (6096 KP) rated Haven’t They Grown in Books

Jan 23, 2020

Haven’t They Grown

Sophie Hannah | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller

9.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

A compelling story, with an unguessable ending - well, for me, anyway!

Haven’t They Grown starts off with what can only be described as a bizarre incident. Beth decides to go and see what her rich ex-best friend’s house looks like before she drops her son off at his football match - after all, its kind-of on the way. What she is confronted with though, is unbelievable: her friend, Flora, with her two children. Her two SMALL children. Which sounds perfectly normal, but the children look exactly the same as they did 12 years ago.

Beth becomes obsessed by this conundrum, and is determined to find out what is going on. Honestly, at several points I thought I might have picked up a science fiction novel, and there was going to be some rational, clone-based explanation (of course these kinds of explanations are ALWAYS rational in my world!). But there wasn’t. There is a perfectly TWISTED reason behind all of this (and you’ll have to read it to find out!). I didn’t for one moment guess the reason behind the ageless children.

Beth is a determined woman - luckily she seems to have a husband who backs down, supports her and lets her get on with it. Her daughter seems as persistent and driven as her mother - except for when her GCSE revision is involved. Living with a teenager in his final year at school, I can empathise with Beth here - my son will do anything to avoid his revision as well! But Beth’s daughter is a good sounding board for her, and pushes her to do things and ask people questions that her character probably wouldn’t have done on her own.

I really very much enjoyed this. The big reveal at the end completely floored me, and I most definitely hadn’t seen it coming. This is a great, entertaining story, and had me gripped throughout.

Many thanks to Readers First for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.