Review: The Argument by Victoria Jenkins

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

‘OMG!!!!! This book is in my top 10 for 2019.’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘I raced through it, often with my heart in my throat!’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Wow! So not what I was expecting. But in the best way possible!’ NetGalley Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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.

Readers are loving The Argument

‘It got me from page one and I couldn't stop reading ‘til I found out how it would end.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars

‘I got so totally engrossed… I read it in under a day... A brilliant psychological thriller.’ NetGalley Reviewer

‘The TWIST (and I write that in caps that incredible of a twist it was) made my jaw hit the floor when it happened... I couldn't put it down...’ Goodreads Reviewer

‘Fantastic… so well written and emotional... I would highly, highly recommend this book.’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars

‘From the first page, I was swept right in… I read late into the night. So many twists that I never saw coming… highly recommend.’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars

‘Am still in shock after reading this… brilliant… a must read.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars

‘Usually I can see twists coming… But this book. Oh man. I had no idea this was going to happen, I did not see it coming.’ Goodreads Reviewer

‘Never saw that twist coming.’ Goodreads Reviewer

‘A devastatingly good book… if this doesn’t leave you shuddering nothing will. Brilliantly well done.’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars

I absolutely adore stories focussed on relationships between teenage children and their parents.  I love the nature of how both in the real world and in fiction they can turn into big sticky messes.  There is no guidebook on how to navigate the murky waters of parenthood, but I would live in hope that we would all fare better than the events that take place in The Argument.  The mother/daughter relationship is one that often falls foul to the trappings of clashing personalities and this story is no different.  Be prepared to hear the painful ticking of the clock in the silence of everything that is left unsaid. 

In a quiet cul-de-sac a mother and daughter are engaged in the battle of hormones.  The daughter thinking, she knows best and the mother enforcing her will with drastic consequences.  Olivia sneaks out to a party that she has been emphatically banned from.  Her parents, Hannah and Michael do not want her there under any circumstances.  Olivia is fifteen and looking through an objective microscope, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out what could happen…a teenager going missing.  Rape.  Drug misuse.  Alcohol abuse.  The list is endless.  Olivia finally arrives home and an argument ensues.  Hannah is angry, and Olivia professes that she has ruined her life and refuses to speak to her again.  Seems very like teenage behaviour, right?  However, it is at this point my eyes and my brain cant compute.  Something doesn’t add up with Hannah, my senses are on red alert. 

Olivia sticks to her guns.  She indeed doesn’t speak to her parents for several days.  You know there isn’t something quite right about the dynamics between Olivia and her parents and conversely between Rosie, her sister and her parents.  It’s clear as day that she gets treated differently and a knot forms in the pit of my stomach.  The untold narrative between Hannah and Michael, the silent looks passed between them.  What aren’t they saying?  Why are they so quick to pass the blame to their eldest daughter when things start to go disastrously wrong? 

My tongue was itching to scream the answers into Olivia’s ear.  She was on the right track she just had to hunt harder and take decisive action before it was too late.  Could a diary give her all the answers she has ever needed?  Could it explain why she has always felt different…never quite fitting in.  As a mother of three (boys I might add) this was a narrative that was difficult to both digest and understand.  Being a mother of teenagers is a difficult road to travel but ultimately, we have to give them the freedom to make their own mistakes.  We need to be their beacon of trust and love.  The one constant that will have them returning to you.  I count myself lucky that I seem to have found a workable balance. 

Just when you think you have the story worked out in The Argument, along comes a bomb to blow your thoughts into space.  So many details unravelled to turn my brain into soup.  I was confused by the actions of certain characters.  I revelled in the confusion, I was completely here for it.  Trust in the author she will deliver you safely to the final page but not without a rollercoaster ride of emotions.  We are engulfed in a fog of toxicity, but it will clear and bring us the light once more.  Everything we learn leads in multiple different directions but it all has a purpose.  Victoria Jenkins is the spider spinning her web and the reader is the unwitting fly tempted by the thread. 

The Argument is a book that the term edge of your seat was invented for.  The edge of my seat is worn out – I spent most of the novel on it!  Victoria Jenkins grabbed me by the throat and refused to let go until the final page had been put to rest.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Victoria Jenkins is a Welsh author who has made a name for herself writing the highly popular Detective King and Lane series of novels. The first novel in the series was “The Girls In The Water” that Jenkins first published in 2017, to much critical acclaim and popularity among crime fiction fans.
The series of novels features Detective Constable Chloe Lane and Detective Inspector Alex King, who are the lead investigative characters that solve some mysterious murders in their hometown.

Jenkins lives with her husband and daughter in South Wales, where her series of crime novels featuring Detectives King and Lane is based.

Victoria Jenkins