Book Review: Remember Mia By Alexandra Burt

REMEMBER MIA

By: Alexandra Burt

Published: July 7, 2015

Publisher: Berkley

Fiction/Suspense/Thriller

If you have been part of the craze reading books like GONE GIRL and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, you will definitely like Burt’s take on this gripping and suspenseful story of a mother and her baby. It’s not quite fair to say that Estelle is an “unreliable narrator” because she truly doesn’t remember what happened. She awakens to find her baby gone and her apartment completely devoid of anything related to her baby. It is like the baby never existed. Her husband is away working in Chicago while she is in New York City and he is certain that she has done something to their baby.  Estelle can’t believe that she has, but the baby is gone and she remembers nothing.

As Estelle flashes back to the days, weeks and months before Mia’s disappearance, the reader sees a mother desperately struggling to make it through her days as a stay-at-home mom. There is no doubt she is suffering from postpartum depression, but was it deep enough for her to harm her baby? As the reader, you will grow increasingly frustrated with both Estelle and her husband, who seems clueless to her despair. Her misery runs so deep she describes being at the bottom on a well and not being able to see the stars.

This is not a happy book. For mothers, it will make your stomach churn. What happens to Mia is unthinkable, horrific, and a nightmare for all involved. This book is tough to read at times. As badly as I wanted to know what happened to Mia, I had to take breaks from reading. I’m sensitive to these types of books and I rarely choose to read them because I have a hard time distancing myself from the story. This book may keep you up at night, both from the subject matter and because you will have to keep reading.  I can’t give away any of the details because you truly have to process this story as you read it.  The twists and turns take you all the way to the very end of the story. When you get to that final page, if you are like me, you will realize you have been holding your breath and thankfully, you can finally breathe again. REMEMBER MIA is Burt’s first novel with, hopefully, more to come.

Favorite quote:

Alexandra Burt – source