Daisy Darker: A Gripping Psychological Thriller With a Killer Ending You'll Never Forget

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Daisy- bless her heart- was born broken. She has a congenital heart defect and wasn’t expected to live beyond her childhood years. She was never allowed to go anywhere or have the fun her sisters did… I preferred reading Daisy's childhood memories than the chapters in the present, which I found to be full of repetitions and following the same pattern. My nana is the only person in my family who loved me unconditionally. So much so, she wrote a book about me, or at least about a little girl with the same name. If mine sounds familiar, that is why. Daisy Darker’s Little Secret is a bestselling children’s book, which my nana wrote and illustrated. It can be found in almost every bookstore around the world, often nestled between The Gruffalo and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Nana said she chose to borrow my name for the story so that—one way or another—I could live forever. It was a kind thing to do, even if my parents and sisters didn’t think so at the time. I suspect they wanted to live forever too, but they settled for living off the book’s royalties instead.

Daisy Darker - Macmillan Daisy Darker - Macmillan

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic—including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old. In my opinion, the best part of this book will be the one-liners (which we never usually expect in thrillers) told by the characters in multiple parts of this book. I think there are more than fifty one-liners in this book. I found each one informative, and these pearls of wisdom are placed in correct intervals and correct areas in the most effective way by the author. I will share a few of them here. She reveals that although Lily and Nancy tried to drug her, she dumped the drugged tea into a potted plant. She says she didn’t kill the whole family by herself, she had help. Nancy: a self absorbed, bad actress mother, trapping her husband into marriage, drinking herself into oblivion, fancies her villain child most because she has good looks!Daisy was never allowed to attend school, make friends or do any of the normal things that kids do. Daisy spent the school year alone with her books which transported her and inspired her. Daisy told Trixie her secret and Trixie told Nana, who was horrified. Conor’s father had committed suicide after Daisy’s body was found because when he found blood on his car (he car Conor borrowed) he thought he had been the one who had killed somebody.

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney - Pan Macmillan Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney - Pan Macmillan

The novel is inspired by Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" so you know how it goes, a character is killed one by one. This news goes about as well as can be expected within an emotionally stunted family. Everyone flips out except for Daisy, who is only saddened because she loves Seaglass and all its eccentricities the most. But she loves her niece too, and Trixie wouldn’t hurt her. They have a close relationship.Every member of the family has their secrets. Nana, alone for so long. Daisy's absent father, Frank. Her cold-hearted mother, Nancy. Her siblings, Rose and Lily, and her niece, Trixie, full of questions and without a father of her own. Daisy has never had an easy relationship with her family, but some secrets are much darker than others. This will be a gathering that some of them won't remember. Trixie tells Daisy to remember the Halloween party in 1988, the one where Daisy hid in the trunk of Conor’s car. This novel has a truly gasp-inducing twist. Some readers may say it breaks the “rules” but I say let’s smash them all into smithereens if it’s to this spectacular of an effect. What I particularly love about Feeney’s writing is that her twists are always only the garnish, never the main meal. Even if you guess it or suspect it, there’s still so much deliciousness to enjoy in her clever, stylish, and utterly gripping novels. Daisy dueled with the death 8 times and against all odds she survive! She’s expected to live not longer than 20 years but she’s 29! The family is stranded in a coastal mansion on the Cornish coast--the setting is dark, moody, and sinister, adding a layer of creepiness to the events.