The Gift by Louise Jensen @Fab_fiction

About The Gift

The perfect daughter. The perfect girlfriend. The perfect murder?

Jenna is given another shot at life when she receives a donor heart from a girl called Callie. Eternally grateful to Callie and her family, Jenna gets closer to them, but she soon discovers that Callie’s perfect family is hiding some very dark secrets …

Callie’s parents are grieving, yet Jenna knows they’re only telling her half the story. Where is Callie’s sister Sophie? She’s been ‘abroad’ since her sister’s death but something about her absence doesn’t add up. And when Jenna meets Callie’s boyfriend Nathan, she makes a shocking discovery.

Jenna knows that Callie didn’t die in an accident. But how did she die? Jenna is determined to discover the truth but it could cost her everything; her loved ones, her sanity, even her life.

A compelling, gripping psychological thriller with a killer twist from the author of the Number One bestseller The Sister.

'Hells Bells! The Gift by Louise Jensen is an absolute cracker of a read it's tense, gripping and thrilling. I literally devoured this book in one sitting, I love it when you read a book and the opening chapter grabs you by the throat ...Louise Jensen has written a belter of a book that will keep even the most hardened psychological thriller lover glued to their kindle/book' The Book Review Café

My review of The Gift

I'll start off by saying that I loved this book. Very often when I hear the phrase, psychological thriller, the book very rarely lives up to this name, but The Gift most certainly does. I'll admit that I was hooked from the opining page.

The premise to this story is that Jenna and her boyfriend, Sam, become very ill with the flu, but for Jenna, the infection penetrates her myocardium and as a direct result she suffers viral myocarditis, a life threatening condition. Her only hope is to have a heart transplant. She is incredibly fortunate and receives a transplant, just when her parents, and Sam, think that time has run out. You would think that this would be the end of the story, but for Jenna, it is just the beginning. The book hinges on the issue of cellular memory (CM), a relatively controversial and new field of research, that believes the heart can hold memories and feelings. Therefore, when the heart is transplanted, those memories and emotions, are evoked in the transplant recipient. This is what happens to Jenna, as she begins to feel memories that are not her own, but are those of Callie, her donor. I found this concept extremely fascinating, and a thoroughly new and original idea on which to hinge a psychological thriller.

I read this book quickly, as I needed to find out what would happen to Jenna. I also needed to find out what had happened to Callie, the young woman who had died, and the secrets that she had buried. The plot is an intricate one, weaving details from the past, into the present day, and it is as we read that we slowly learn the events that led up to Callie's death. To say that the ending was unexpected, would be a huge understatement. I really was surprised and was frantically reading on the edge of my seat at breakneck speed.

This book also has so many wonderful characters. Jenna, of course. is hugely interesting, but more importantly is likeable. I wanted to know why she was suffering in the way that she did. I wanted her to be at peace with herself, as this is what she deserves. For me though, my favourite character by far was that of Sam, Jenna's ex boyfriend, and best friend. The archetypal boy next door. I completely emphasised with him, and felt very sorry for him. It is obvious that he loves Jenna, and that he loves her unconditionally, but she cannot bring herself to be with him, as she feels that she is a burden and will not make him happy, due to her restricted life expectancy. Her new heart, the gift, is therefore of a mixed blessing.

The Gift is a clever novel, that focuses upon the themes of love, memory, and the importance of family ties and responsibility.  Overall for me, the novel was very much about unconditional love and that we need to live for every minute.

The Gift is published by Bookouture on December 16th. With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an Advanced Reader Copy

About the author

Louise Jensen is a USA Today Bestselling Author, and lives in Northamptonshire with her husband, children, madcap spaniel and a rather naughty cat.

The Sister is Louise's debut novel and it reached No.1 on the Amazon Kindle chart in both the UK and Canada and No.1 on iBooks. Louise's second book, The Gift, will be published on 16th December 2016.

Louise loves to hear from readers and writers and can be found at www.louisejensen.co.ukwww.louisejensen.co.uk, where she regularly blogs flash fiction.