Review: The Forgotten Ones by Steena Holmes

Title:  The Forgotten Ones 

Author: Sheena Holmes
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing 

Publishing Date:  April 1st, 2018

Pages: 348
Length: 10 Hours 42 Minutes
Genre: Adult Mystery/Domestic Noir

Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audio

 

Elle is a survivor. She’s managed to piece together a solid life from a childhood of broken memories and fairy tales her mom told her to explain away bad dreams. But weekly visits to her mother still fill Elle with a paralyzing fear she can’t explain. It’s just another of so many unanswered questions she grew up within a family estranged by silence and secrets.
Elle’s world turns upside down when she receives a deathbed request from her grandfather, a man she was told had died years ago. Racked by grief, regrets, and a haunted conscience, he has a tale of his own to tell Elle: about her mother, an imaginary friend, and two strangers who came to the house one night and never left.
As Elle’s past unfolds, so does the truth—if she can believe it. She must face the reasons for her inexplicable dread. As dark as they are, Elle must listen…before her grandfather’s death buries the family’s secrets forever.

I came across this book sometime recently and it was an added then forgot about. Then I rediscovered it on Audible. It just sounded too good to pass up. This book was freaking amazing. I could blabber on and on about but it would give too much away. SO this will be somewhat of a short review, too much will ruin it for others. Just know you must read this book. 

Elle only had a mother growing. Her mother, Marie, said that her parents were dead, no siblings, no one. The closest thing they have to family is Grace, the one that helps take care of Marie. Marie has DID and other mental issues. So she can't live alone. Elle is a nurse in pediatrics, lives on her own, but visits her mother frequently. 

Elle's roommate and best friend works in the same facility as Elle but works the elderly. She has one patient that is dying, David. He has been trying to get a hold of his estranged daughter through letters. Giving up on getting an answer from his daughter, he writes a letter to his granddaughter. As it comes about, Elle is his granddaughter. 

This is the story of Elle and David and the stories of Marie's childhood. This story is not quite the happy one. It's full of pain, secrets, betrayals, wrongdoings, and lots of lies. This is Elle's story, to find the truth of her family. To discover who she is. To find roots. This is Marie's story, to uncover her past, her mental illness, and possibly forgiveness. This is David's story, the story of coming to terms, of reaching out, of not dying with secrets. 

This story is a bit of a mystery and a bit of family drama. I felt it was more of a domestic noir and family legacy twisted together to weave a very dark, mysterious, heartbreaking story. This is a crazy story, really it is.

The mystery is pretty easy to figure out at times, or at least till you find out you are wrong. There are some twists and turns. Not the kind that you just weren't expecting this kind of wow moments, more of I pegged it as something completely different kind of twists. 

I feel the mystery is the main course of this book. The mystery of Marie's childhood and the mystery of what happened between David and Marie story. But it's also a story of love and loyalty, family, really bad decisions, and mental illness.  There really is a lot to this story. 

The book is a slow burn but there is so much coming out in pieces that I was never bored and never felt I was growing impatient. Everything kind of leaked out in perfect timing. The writing was beautiful. The characters, well they were interesting and I totally loved something about all of them. 

What I can say about the characters is that there was something to love about them all and something to hate about some... even though I hated them, I loved them and felt for them too. I loved Elle and my heart broke for Marie and even a little for David. Grace was pretty awesome too. There isn't anything easy about this book.  

I can't say that I understood the decisions and choices that the characters made in this book but I could see how they came to the choices and the decisions they made. 

I really can't express how much I loved this book. I was totally immersed in the story and invested in the characters.

So without giving anything away, there went my incoherent thoughts because this book left me a total mess. Book hangover to the max. I recommend this to anyone and everyone. It's just so good! 

So in love with this book. Words can't do it justice! 

NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author - Steena is the author of the heart wrenching Finding Emma series.

The Word Game was included in the Top 20 Novels to be Written by Women in 2015 by Good Housekeeping.

Her latest novel - The Word Game won the 2015 USA Books Award for Best Fiction and her novel, The Memory Child was a finalist in the same category.

Steena Holmes grew up in a small town in Canada and holds a Bachelors degree in Theology.

In 2012 she received the Indie Excellence Award. Holmes was inspired to write Finding Emma after experiencing a brief moment of horror when she’d thought her youngest daughter was missing.

She currently lives in Calgary with her husband and three daughters and loves to wake up to the Rocky Mountains each morning.