Don't Say a Word

by Rebecca Tinnelly

Some family secrets demand to be told . . .

Connie lost her words at the age of five, the day she witnessed her mother and father's untimely death.

Since then she has been all but mute, only being able to choke out a few select words. Now, years on, Connie's husband is on his deathbed and all she can do is quietly sit by his side.

But there are so many dreadful secrets locked up in Connie's silent prison. And time is running out to set them free . . .

Genres: Ebooks

368 pages, Paperback

First published June 13, 2019

About the author

Also writes under Rebecca Thorne

Reviews

[Louise Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 4

Connie was just six years old when she witnessed the death of her mother and father in a car crash. That's when she stopped talking. Selina and Esther are best friends but they have drifted apart a little. Esther has been looking after Connie and helping to care for her dying father. Connie has also tried to commit suicide.

There are some surprises along the way, especially at the end. The story was not what I thought it was going to be like. It's dark and gritty at times. It's quite a difficult book to read.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author Rebecca Tinnelly for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Pauline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to engage with this book. The relationship between childhood friends Selina and Esther are distant and unfriendly. The story of Esther's mother Connie and her grandmother was difficult to read. I found the characters unlikeable and the story too disjointed for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Mandy White (mandylovestoread) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the idea of this book but I really struggled to enjoy it. Don't Say a Word was a tough book to read - dark and confusing for me. The story jumped all over the place and I couldn't stay interested. The characters were not very likeable either so I could not connect with them

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

With thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Staughton for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

Selina and Esther had been best friends since they were eight years old. The friendship continued in adulthood, Selina became a successful barrister and lived in the same block of apartments as Esther.

Esther`s mum Connie had been mute since childhood after the sudden death of her parents. One day Connie called Selina out of the blue asking for help. Connie told Selina a secret she had been holding since a child, shocked Selina promised to help no matter what. However the secret was so evil it affected Selina`s friendship with Esther and they were no longer close.

There is so much more to this story but I don't want to give any spoilers. Don't Say a Word was a dark story and at times very disturbing. The plot was told from the POV of Selina and Connie as a child and the present day. I.didn't know what Don't Say a Word was about when I requested it. As the story progressed I was hooked and found It hard to put down.


The cruelty Connie suffered at the hands of her grandmother made me angry .My heart went out to the young Connie and I just wanted to give her a hug. Connie was obviously intelligent and i was sad that her doctor had written her off as a `retard`. (I know the scene was set in the sixties but that word shocked me to the core!)

I liked Selina who was woefully misguided but I admired her loyalty to Connie and Esther.

I won't say anymore but I highly recommend this book

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a story! Very hard to read, and a bit confusing for a while, but I ended up enjoying it.

I couldn't imagine any of the many horrible revelations that came about, so I was shocked a lot of times.

3,5 stars.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the death of her parents, Connie goes to live with her Grandmother and her cousin Michael. But things are not rosy, Connie doesn’t speak and then is treated as a retard and a mute. She is ignored by her Grandmother. But Connie is clever and pretends to be silent and when her Grandmother is ill, she is left to look after her instead of going to school with the other kids her age.
Years later, Selina and Esther are childhood friends. Selina is a junior Barrister and Esther is Connie’s daughter. Selina is hiding a secret of a box of Connie’s. Trying to find the time to tell Esther what secrets lie in it.
Thank you NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for a copy of this book. For me personally, this story started well, and I was engaged the life of young Connie and Michael. But, the relationship between Esther and Selina I couldn’t engage to. I wasn’t really interested in any of their characters and I struggled with the rest of the book. 3 stars from me.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Selina and Esther have been friends forever but Selina has pulled away while Esther has been looking after her dying father and caring for her mother, Connie. Connie is a mute who has suffered through their life. Following Connie through her life to find out why she is the way she is and what Connie did that drove Selina to lose touch with Esther.

Wow.... I am going to need to take a breather after reading this. It was sooooo gripping and not at all what I expected. Definitely one for my book club! Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

[Debbie Howells · Rating 4 out of 5]

At five years old, when she witnesses the death of her parents, Connie loses her words. Their death leaves her with her cousin Michael, at the mercy of her cruel grandmother.
The cruelty inflicted leaves permanent scars, and makes her vulnerable to the one person she trusts.

This is a dark, shocking read. Rebecca Tinnelly describes the history of abuse that lies behind a disturbed and damaged mind in searing detail, as a lifetime of secrets is exposed.

[Louise Mullins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a subtly unnerving chiller with all the ingredients of an old-school psychological thriller, the suspense and tensions slowing building to an almost unbearable crescendo. Though I guessed the themes early on, this is because of my professional experience working with abuse survivors and offenders. The idea of embolisms caused this way was ingenious, something I've never come across before. And I couldn't turn the pages quickly enough towards the end.

This book deserves a definite FIVE STARS from me and I've just ordered the authors debut. I absolutely love her writing style, flawless characterisation, and brilliantly woven plot, and I'm positive you will too.

[Kath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Connie is only young when her parents die and she, along with her cousin Michael, are sent to live with their Grandmother. Michael's own mother, Connie's Aunt, having abandoned him to her sister's care already. Her Grandmother favours Michael and pretty much writes Connie off as a waste of air! Although once she falls ill, it is down to Connie to take care of her whilst Michael continues his education. Fast forward several years and Connie's daughter Esther is now grown-up and worried about her father who is on death's door. She feels alone as her best friend since childhood Selina and her had a falling out a few years since. Selina, a barrister is holding a secret from Esther, the reason for their distance, something Esther is unaware of. Could this secret be the reason that Connie has been mute for years? And, could its eventual exposure make or break the lives of several of the characters?
This book was a bit convoluted and I spent quite a while in the dark, floundering. But towards the end, when several layers have been peeled back and certain truths uncovered, it all started to come together nicely. OK, so I had to read through a mild discomfort in getting there, but the end was worth the journey taken and left me, on the whole, satisfied.
The characters were quite hard to get to grips with initially, probably due to the narrative and what the reader was privy to along the way. Again, as I learned more about them, I did start warming to them and I really did start to feel for certain ones along the way. It's hard to qualify this due to spoilers but you'll just have to take my word for it. I will just say that the book does take a bit of a dark turn towards the end but the whole subject is handled very sensitively.
The one thing that didn't quite sit right with me was Selina's part in the whole thing. I am not wholly convinced about certain decisions she made and some of the actions she did / didn't take along the way. Things that, well, could have made things turn out very differently indeed. It just didn't seem congruent with the rest of how she was portrayed.
All in all, a good read that kept me engaged even when I was completely confused. My confusion was never enough to put me off finishing. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Connie has always spoken very little. She stopped talking after witnessing her parents death in a car crash aged 6. People have always assumed she is a bit simple & admire her Grandmother, her cousin and her husband for the care they have taken of her throughout her life. She is an adult now and her beloved husband is dying. Connie’s daughter Esther calls her friend Selina back to Somerset when Esther’s world finally seems to collapse – her Father is dying of cancer and her Mother has tried to kill herself. The final straw is that Connie is asking for Selina and not her daughter Esther…………….now why would that be the case?

This is a very dark book which addresses some dark family secrets. I’d like to say that the themes are too extreme for reality but I suspect unfortunately that isn’t the case. It caused some very conflicting views in my mind – sympathy and revulsion about the same characters. A difficult book to read.

I don’t want to say much about the characters as you need to discover them for yourself. The reader needs to discover who they are and what makes them tick gradually as the book develops – I don’t want to leave spoilers!

The plot itself is generally well written. There are some big reveals at the end which didn’t come as a surprise to me. However, they were well constructed and fitted with the book.

I wasn’t totally convinced by some of the characters actions – in particular Selina, Esther’s close friend. It was this that made this a four star as opposed to five star book.

This is a generally well written book but there are some very dark themes within it. At times it was a very uncomfortable book to read.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

[Pat Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a brilliant debut novel. The story centres around Connie and is told in the past and present. Connie’s parents were killed in a car crash which Connie witnessed when she was six years old and hasn’t spoken since. Connie and her cousin Michael, who lived with her, were then brought up by their grandmother, who favoured Michael and taunted Connie calling her a ‘retard’. But Connie is anything but, she is intelligent and can speak when she wants to. We then meet Selina and Esther, who have been friends for a long time but after a fallout have a strained relationship. Esther, who is Connie’s daughter, is worrying about her dying father when her mother is taken to hospital after trying to commit suicide and she asks to see Selina. Esther calls Salina, but she doesn’t realise that Selina is carrying a secret that Connie disclosed to her a few years ago and this has affected her relationship with Esther. Is the secret finally going to be uncovered? I don’t want to reveal anymore of the plot but I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was very gripping. A bit of a dark and difficult story to read at times but one which I highly recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't Say A Word is a difficult read at times, the subject matter is emotive and the character at the heart of it is difficult to like - Connie is silent and immovable, when we learn as we go about her life and her actions it is fascinatingly dark and in my opinion more realistic than most in how her experiences have informed her.

It's hard to review without giving too much away. Yes it has classic psychological thriller elements but it is also a story of the affects of abuse, grief and a difficult upbringing. The wider cast plays into things well, the mystery is intriguing and the end solution emotionally charged.

Overall a good thought provoking read that doesn't pull punches at all.

Recommended.

[Sarah MacIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very dark and disturbing read. Following the back story of Connie, now a mother and wife, from her childhood. After witnessing a massive traumatic event involving her parents Connie becomes mute and is seen as backward. However, she has complete intelligence but no way of showing it. Selina is in todays story linked to Connie via her best friend Esther, Connie's daughter. Connie and Selina have a secret and as it comes out it becomes more shocking the more we know. This covers many unsavoury topics but is a good read and I really wanted to find out the complete story and outcome.

[Mickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a tough read at times, touching on some upsetting subjects (check the TWs). The story of Connie growing up and her relationship with her grandmother and Michael, was heartbreaking, seeing all she had to endure. I felt the other side of the story, the part following Connie's daughter Esther and her friend Selene, was a little predictable in places. The twists didn't really feel like twists, it just felt kind of obvious.
I'll definitely give this author another try.

[Helen Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This twisty tale is packed with intrigue and kept me gripped from the first word to the last. Vivid, pacey and sensitively written, this is a book with characters that will stay with you long after you have turned the last page. In the spirit of delivering a spoiler-free review, let's just say this is a thoroughly engrossing read.

[Carla Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW. Rebecca Tinnelly

Don’t Say A Word

Such a fantastic novel.

Fast paced and deliciously dark. And with that ending such a shocker.

Five stars from me, I found the book utterly gripping and unputdownable.

[Suzie Pepperell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dark story

A dark story of women protecting women against depravity at an extremely high price. Ends on a, thankfully, hopeful note.

[John Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was both disturbing and impossible to put down. The pace never lets up and I found myself physically urging the words past me.

[Divine Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a struggle to finish, the storyline was all over the place.

[Fiona BookDragon4Life · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story line goes from past to future but is easy to follow. Great characters and a decent ending.

[Breda Ruane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense book, plenty of twists to keep you reading

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend this book 5 stars. First time reading this author, impressive writing skill.

[Rhian · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ☆ enjoyed it but it got a bit silly towards the end

[Danica Caunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is sickening but the plot is good. The relationship between Esther and Selina is very odd and unrealistic, however I would definitely read this book again