A Necessary End by Holly Brown (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"How far would you go to get what you wanted? The author of Don't Try to Find Me returns with a taut, riveting novel of psychological suspense about a woman determined to be a mother despite a past full of secrets, a husband who's nowhere near ready for fatherhood, and a teenaged birth mother with a mysterious agenda of her own.

Thirty-nine-year-old Adrienne has tried before to adopt a child, but this time, nothing is going to get in her way.

Sure, her husband, Gabe, is ambivalent about fatherhood. But she knows that once he holds their baby, he'll come around. He's just feeling a little threatened, that's all. Because once upon a time, it was Gabe that Adrienne wanted more than anything; she was willing to do anything. . . . But that was half a lifetime ago. She's a different person now. There are lines she wouldn't cross, not without extreme provocation.

And sure, she was bitten by another birth mother—clear to the bone—and for most people, it's once bitten, twice shy. But Adrienne isn't exactly the retiring type.

Enter Leah. At nineteen, she bears a remarkable resemblance to the young woman Adrienne once was. Which is why Adrienne knows the baby Leah is carrying is meant to be hers. But Leah's got ideas of her own. If Gabe and Adrienne let her live with them for a year, they get the baby, free and clear. All Leah wants is a fresh start in California, and a soft landing. Or so she says.

It seems like a small price for Adrienne to pay to get their baby. And with Gabe suddenly on board, what could possibly go wrong?"

My Thoughts:

I've been putting off writing up my thoughts on this one as I just wasn't sure what to say.  Although this one was compulsively readable (is that even a term?), I found that I was left with many mixed emotions on it after finishing the last page.  I wanted to love it...I even expected to just from reading that description which sounds just as dark and twisted as I like.  A case of high expectations?  Maybe, but really for me I just didn't quite connect to this book like I had hoped.  If I could give half star ratings this would easily get 3.5 stars which for me is a good read but one that I had a few issues with.  

One of the main issues that I had with this book was the unlikeability of all of the main characters.  I mean really I didn't like a single one of them.  This has been the case for me with some other books (obviously Gone Girl is a great example) so I was able to keep reading.  But the fact that that they were so completely frustrating kept me from connecting to the story as easily as I had hoped that I would.  That being said their motivations (and especially's Adrienne's motivations) really kept me intrigued throughout my entire reading experience.  I could never quite figure her out and why she would act the way she did.  It was just one of the many reasons why I couldn't set this book down even when I wanted to kick her.  I just had to see what she was going to do next.  In fact, although this was quite a large book I ended up flying through the pages.  It was a train wreck waiting to happen but I just needed to see how that train wreck was going to play out.  Boy, did this author know how to knock me for a loop!  I didn't see the ending coming from a mile away and I really loved that I was left with closure while also having questions.  Does that even make sense?  We were given enough to wonder but without leaving the ending too ambiguous.  I loved it- not going to lie!  I'm sure other readers might not feel the same but for me it really was the perfect way to end this book!

Overall, this book left me wanting to discuss it with other readers!  I didn't love it but I liked it well enough that I would read more by this author easily.  It definitely was a page turning read even when I wanted to scream at the characters.  Really I just want to read other reader's thoughts and discuss!  So if you've read this one feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email.  I want to hear what you thought!  I will be recommending this one but maybe with a few hesitations.

Bottom Line:  A good read that was very hard to put down but I just didn't love it like I had hoped.

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a TLC book tour.  Unfortunately, life got in the way and I missed my tour date.  My apologies!  Thoughts are my own!