Good Evening All,

Here we are, second review blog post in the space of a day! Who am I?! As posted this morning, I didn’t have much planned for today and it’s been lovely and peaceful. I did go out for a lovely Sunday lunch with the family but other than that, it’s been me, the sofa and My Mother, the Psychopath by Olivia Rayne. Thank you to Penguin Random House UK and Olivia Rayne for this ARC in return for an honest review.

It is ingrained in us to trust our parents and some would say, our mothers especially. So what is one supposed to do when that person is the one person in the world that frightens you the most. Olivia Rayne grew up in a world where she was treated cruelly, abused and humiliated by her mother behind closed doors, but to everyone else, her mother was charming, funny and loving. It wasn’t until adulthood that Olivia realised that this behaviour was not normal or acceptable and attempted to cut ties with her Psychopathic mother. Except it wasn’t as easy as just walking away as her mother kept her claws in right through to Olivia’s early twenties and used new and frightening ways to keep complete control over her daughter. Now that Olivia has come to terms with her upbringing and her past, she has shared her experiences with the world through this book.

Wow, wow, wow. I don’t know where to start with this. Before I picked this book up, I knew it was going to make me emotional and it did just that. It made me angry, deeply sad, it shocked me and finally it made me feel such pride in Olivia. The fact that she has been through everything that she has been through (I’ll let you read to find out) and has been able to move on and find her own way in the world as well as be brave enough to share all of that in this book is astounding.

As this is a true telling, I don’t feel quite right talking about the “characters”. These are real people with real issues, but I do have to touch on some of the things on my mind. Firstly, the father. My oh my the father. How spineless can a man be seriously? I can’t decide if it was his love for the mother, his selfishness or just simple cowardice that allowed him completely abandon his duty to protect his child. For me, that was something that stuck with me throughout and something that I just kept coming back to. Secondly, Olivia’s friends and colleagues in her new life. What absolute angels! I can imagine that if someone was to share a story like Olivia’s with you it would be incredibly hard to digest yet all of these people around her completely supported her, understood and helped her to maintain her new life. The world needs more people like you guys.

Olivia Rayne, you are an amazing woman to have endured so much over so many years of your life but to have gained back your self confidence and taken control of your own life. I can’t imagine the internal fights you must have been through over the years, wanting to break away from a mother who is so very cruel, but whom you love so much. The fact that you found the strength to put yourself and your own life first is inspiring. Thank you for sharing your story with the world.

😍😍😍😍😍