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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was amazing! I picked this up on a whim and could not put it down, I read it in like 2 days over a weekend where we were snowed in and it was exactly what I needed. This book has so many important topics regarding raising children such as nature vs nurture. And the premise of this book was so interesting. This was one of the best thrillers I’ve read and I couldn’t put it down.
What a fantastic book, I really enjoyed it, and read it pretty much in one sitting as the pages flowed so quickly.
The story is told by Pete and Maddie and it revolves around another couple who believe they are the biological parents of two and half year old Theo, the child that Pete and Maddie have always believed was their own biological child, and that the child that Miles and Lucy had thought was theirs was actually Pete and Maddies’.
The children, Theo and David were both premie babies and started their lives in a hospital for some time. There seems to have been an accidential or deliberate swapping of the babies. One child has some behavioural issues and some issues with his speech, the other is developmentally challenged.
The story is about - what each set of parents goes through, do they remain as they currently are with the child they have had for 2.5 years, do they swap children and have their own biological children, do they share them 50/50. Will it be amicable. And of course can anyone work out what happened, why were the two babies swapped?
Pete and Maddie are forced to look into themselves, their relationship with each other and with Theo, and are Miles and Lucy as nice as they first seem or are they underhandedly up to something.
I have The Perfect Wife by this author to read, but am now actively searching to buy The Girl Before and Believe Me both also by this author.
The story is told by Pete and Maddie and it revolves around another couple who believe they are the biological parents of two and half year old Theo, the child that Pete and Maddie have always believed was their own biological child, and that the child that Miles and Lucy had thought was theirs was actually Pete and Maddies’.
The children, Theo and David were both premie babies and started their lives in a hospital for some time. There seems to have been an accidential or deliberate swapping of the babies. One child has some behavioural issues and some issues with his speech, the other is developmentally challenged.
The story is about - what each set of parents goes through, do they remain as they currently are with the child they have had for 2.5 years, do they swap children and have their own biological children, do they share them 50/50. Will it be amicable. And of course can anyone work out what happened, why were the two babies swapped?
Pete and Maddie are forced to look into themselves, their relationship with each other and with Theo, and are Miles and Lucy as nice as they first seem or are they underhandedly up to something.
I have The Perfect Wife by this author to read, but am now actively searching to buy The Girl Before and Believe Me both also by this author.
Playing nice kicks off with a complex case of baby swapping affecting two couples - Pete and Maddie and Miles and Lucy. Two boys born to two different couples on the same day end up being swapped and raised by their non biological parents.
Pete a stay at home dad has a knock on the door one day by two men. One of the men is Miles who discloses to him along with the other man who is a private investigator that Theo isn’t his child and that he is the biological father.
We get the POV of both Pete and Maddie. This is a very emotional and complex story and it’s evident the author carried out great deal of research on the subject. I learned many things along the way about baby swapping and medical negligence. The characters I found to be unlikeable but this added to the depth of the story. I enjoyed the letters, emails and different multi media formats included in the story. The writing is so engaging and well done and it all felt authentic and raw. There is also have representation of mental health such as post-partum psychosis to psychopathy so trigger warning for that.
The author did a great job depicting the legal aspect and I enjoyed the court case parts, I did not know which way it would end as we were given enough crumbs to keep us guessing but the ending was satisfying and wrapped everything up neatly. Whilst there was a lot of twists I would categorise this book as more of a family drama than a thriller and I could easily see this adapted for Netflix or the big screen.
Thank you to Quercus Books and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
Pete a stay at home dad has a knock on the door one day by two men. One of the men is Miles who discloses to him along with the other man who is a private investigator that Theo isn’t his child and that he is the biological father.
We get the POV of both Pete and Maddie. This is a very emotional and complex story and it’s evident the author carried out great deal of research on the subject. I learned many things along the way about baby swapping and medical negligence. The characters I found to be unlikeable but this added to the depth of the story. I enjoyed the letters, emails and different multi media formats included in the story. The writing is so engaging and well done and it all felt authentic and raw. There is also have representation of mental health such as post-partum psychosis to psychopathy so trigger warning for that.
The author did a great job depicting the legal aspect and I enjoyed the court case parts, I did not know which way it would end as we were given enough crumbs to keep us guessing but the ending was satisfying and wrapped everything up neatly. Whilst there was a lot of twists I would categorise this book as more of a family drama than a thriller and I could easily see this adapted for Netflix or the big screen.
Thank you to Quercus Books and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
Playing nice kicks off with a complex case of baby swapping affecting two couples - Pete and Maddie and Miles and Lucy. Two boys born to two different couples on the same day end up being swapped and raised by their non biological parents.
Pete a stay at home dad has a knock on the door one day by two men. One of the men is Miles who discloses to him along with the other man who is a private investigator that Theo isn’t his child and that he is the biological father.
We get the POV of both Pete and Maddie. This is a very emotional and complex story and it’s evident the author carried out great deal of research on the subject. I learned many things along the way about baby swapping and medical negligence. The characters I found to be unlikeable but this added to the depth of the story. I enjoyed the letters, emails and different multi media formats included in the story. The writing is so engaging and well done and it all felt authentic and raw.
There is also have representation of mental health such as post-partum psychosis to psychopathy so trigger warning for that. The author did a great job depicting the legal aspect and I enjoyed the court case parts, I did not know which way it would end as we were given enough crumbs to keep us guessing but the ending was satisfying and wrapped everything up neatly. Whilst there was a lot of twists I would categorise this book as more of a family drama than a thriller and I could easily see this adapted for Netflix or the big screen.
Thank you to Quercus Books and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
Pete a stay at home dad has a knock on the door one day by two men. One of the men is Miles who discloses to him along with the other man who is a private investigator that Theo isn’t his child and that he is the biological father.
We get the POV of both Pete and Maddie. This is a very emotional and complex story and it’s evident the author carried out great deal of research on the subject. I learned many things along the way about baby swapping and medical negligence. The characters I found to be unlikeable but this added to the depth of the story. I enjoyed the letters, emails and different multi media formats included in the story. The writing is so engaging and well done and it all felt authentic and raw.
There is also have representation of mental health such as post-partum psychosis to psychopathy so trigger warning for that. The author did a great job depicting the legal aspect and I enjoyed the court case parts, I did not know which way it would end as we were given enough crumbs to keep us guessing but the ending was satisfying and wrapped everything up neatly. Whilst there was a lot of twists I would categorise this book as more of a family drama than a thriller and I could easily see this adapted for Netflix or the big screen.
Thank you to Quercus Books and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
Guess what? Your son is not your son. He was switched at birth. But we want to work all this out amicably, k?”
Yeah...
Yeah...
This was a family drama/thriller like no other. Pete Riley opens his front door one day to his worst nightmare - Miles Lambert informing him that their two-year-old sons were switched at birth and they’ve been raising each other’s child. Shocked, Pete and his partner Maddie find their lives increasingly intertwining with the charismatic Lamberts’ as they try to interconnect their families and are sucked into a series of investigations and drama trying to figure out what happened. But who can really be trusted and what secrets are people hiding? Can Pete and Maddie protect their family?
Delaney did such an incredible job conveying the building concern, fear, and despair that Pete and Maddie felt as events unfold that I was legitimately stressed on their behalf and almost had to put the book down! This story totally dragged me in - I read it in one sitting because I just had to know how it would turn out. If you like a gripping family drama with alternating perspectives that keeps you in suspense and unease as it builds to the climax then unfolds with a bang, go pick up this book! Thank you to Ballantine & NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Delaney did such an incredible job conveying the building concern, fear, and despair that Pete and Maddie felt as events unfold that I was legitimately stressed on their behalf and almost had to put the book down! This story totally dragged me in - I read it in one sitting because I just had to know how it would turn out. If you like a gripping family drama with alternating perspectives that keeps you in suspense and unease as it builds to the climax then unfolds with a bang, go pick up this book! Thank you to Ballantine & NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
What would you do if all of a sudden the only family you've ever known is called into question? For Pete and Maddy, they face the nightmarish drama of discovering that their two-year-old son may have been switched at birth, and that they have been raising someone else's biological father. They also must accept that their biological child has been in the arms of another family for the past few years.
Of all JP Delaney's thrillers, this one read more as a drama than a thriller. While waiting for a twist that would have followed the trend of Delaney's, this novel read much more as a heart-wrenching court drama than a thriller with a secret twist. Like all thrillers, the twist is present (and expected), but it left me wanting more.
Where I was entertained, there was just too much that seemed a bit unrealistic. Maybe it's because England's healthcare system and laws are not something I am familiar with, or because I just could not fathom the situations that arose from the discovery.
As a mother, I felt like my heart was being wrenched from my chest thinking about this, so I definitely recommend for the sheer purpose of experiencing something absolutely mind-boggling. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ability to read and review this book.
Of all JP Delaney's thrillers, this one read more as a drama than a thriller. While waiting for a twist that would have followed the trend of Delaney's, this novel read much more as a heart-wrenching court drama than a thriller with a secret twist. Like all thrillers, the twist is present (and expected), but it left me wanting more.
Where I was entertained, there was just too much that seemed a bit unrealistic. Maybe it's because England's healthcare system and laws are not something I am familiar with, or because I just could not fathom the situations that arose from the discovery.
As a mother, I felt like my heart was being wrenched from my chest thinking about this, so I definitely recommend for the sheer purpose of experiencing something absolutely mind-boggling. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ability to read and review this book.
I LOVED Delaneys The girl before, wasn't overly impressed with the follow up "Believe me" and then there was the Perfect Wife, which I am still on the fence about. But this one? WOW I couldn't put it down. I loved it, such a page turner with a great narrative, completely plausible and heartbreaking premise written superbly. Couldn't put it down and I am sad I read it in less than a day! 5 stars Delaney - great book.
Whoa whoa whoa! That was so great! What a horrible situation that quickly went south, and then crazy and then a mystery and then one crazy finish!
I turned off my camera so I could read in meetings, that’s how good this was
I turned off my camera so I could read in meetings, that’s how good this was