Review - I Did It For You - Jayne Cowie

I Did It For You by Jayne Cowie

Publisher: Penguin

Release date: 31 August 2023

Back cover blurb: If you could test your son for a gene that predicts violence, would you do it? Antonia and Bea are sisters, and doting mothers to their sons. But that is where their similarities end. Antonia had her son tested to make sure he didn't possess the "violent" M gene. Bea refuses to let her son take the test. His life should not be determined by a positive or negative result. These women will go to any length to protect their sons. But one of them is hiding a monster. And there will be fatal consequences for everybody....

How far would you go to protect your son?

I loved the originality of this novel. It's unlike anything I've ever read before.

Imagine a world where men are tested for a violence 'M' gene at Birth?

How their lives will turn out is pre-determined from the moment their parents receive the test results. 

What schools they'll go to, what sort of friends they'll have...

Sounds like something from a move right? But what happens when it's reality? 

 

Antonia and Bea are sisters, each devoted Mothers to their sons. But that's where their similarities end. Antonia has had her son tested for the M gene, and Bea hasn't. 

We pick up the story with one of the sisters in jail visiting the other. It's clear that they've protected their son from something that they've done, but at this stage we don't know who, where or what.

We're then transported back in time to years before when Bea gave birth to her beloved son and refused to get him tested. Determined he should live his life without the judgement of society. Though that was easier said than done.

Testing was in it's infancy back then, but as Bea's son has gotten older, testing has become more and more common, and those who are not tested are judged almost as harshly as those that have tested positive.

Antonia had her son tested immediately and has been a staunch advocate of the testing programme. She has never understood her sisters reluctance to get her son tested. 

But which one of them is right?

The way that this novel is written, forces your thoughts to go down a specific path, and then something happens that you don't expect, and you start wondering if what you thought you knew is correct (my favourite type of twisty/turny novel!)

I Did It For You is a thriller with an enjoyable twist, and I look forward to reading this author's next. 

I Did It For You is available now via Amazon online and all good book shops.

Thank You to the publishers who approved my request via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.