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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Playing Nice is a terrific read that is very hard to put down.
It is the stuff of parental nightmares in the extreme and a book that found me screaming inside my head at events that sent the lives of Maddie and Pete spiralling out of control.
I felt queasy and uneasy, alarmed and shocked, terrified and horrified.
Pete and Maddie have a son, born prematurely. Miles and Lucy have a son, born prematurely. In fact both babies are so poorly they spend a long time on NICU - the neonatal intensive care unit.
Theo thrives whereas David is brain damaged.
The families do not meet properly until 2 years later when one family claim the babies have been swapped and they both have the wrong child.
Not the kind of house call any parent would expect but a situation that allows the author and reader to explore the nature/nurture debate and the legalities surrounding biological parents caring for a child or continuity of care for a child remaining with its non biological parents.
The read is tense. I honestly haven't read a book that has made my heart race, not just at a certain point briefly, but consistently over many pages!
The sheer horrors of a legal system and the role of CAFCASS that can both make so many devastating decisions on behalf of a child without any way of parents fighting back is terrifyingly realistic and morbidly fascinating.
The plot so cleverly engineered, written in a way so that one small action, like writing an article for a newspaper can come back at a later stage and complicate matters, casting doubt and suspicion on characters that have so far been portrayed as decent human beings.
The hints at domestic abuse, mental illness, alcoholism, and most of all psychopathy all conspire to produce a chilling and suspense filled story, with some amazing twists towards the end that I just didn't see coming.
How far would you go to protect your child and what would you strive to keep secret?
Is there a happy ever after or will the two couples always hide their darkest thoughts and motivations?
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, but please do set aside a day when you don't need to get anything done, otherwise you might be late for work, leave the house in a mess or burn the dinner!
Thank you to the publisher, JP Delaney and Netgalley for the opportunity to read ahead of publication in exchange for this honest review.
It is the stuff of parental nightmares in the extreme and a book that found me screaming inside my head at events that sent the lives of Maddie and Pete spiralling out of control.
I felt queasy and uneasy, alarmed and shocked, terrified and horrified.
Pete and Maddie have a son, born prematurely. Miles and Lucy have a son, born prematurely. In fact both babies are so poorly they spend a long time on NICU - the neonatal intensive care unit.
Theo thrives whereas David is brain damaged.
The families do not meet properly until 2 years later when one family claim the babies have been swapped and they both have the wrong child.
Not the kind of house call any parent would expect but a situation that allows the author and reader to explore the nature/nurture debate and the legalities surrounding biological parents caring for a child or continuity of care for a child remaining with its non biological parents.
The read is tense. I honestly haven't read a book that has made my heart race, not just at a certain point briefly, but consistently over many pages!
The sheer horrors of a legal system and the role of CAFCASS that can both make so many devastating decisions on behalf of a child without any way of parents fighting back is terrifyingly realistic and morbidly fascinating.
The plot so cleverly engineered, written in a way so that one small action, like writing an article for a newspaper can come back at a later stage and complicate matters, casting doubt and suspicion on characters that have so far been portrayed as decent human beings.
The hints at domestic abuse, mental illness, alcoholism, and most of all psychopathy all conspire to produce a chilling and suspense filled story, with some amazing twists towards the end that I just didn't see coming.
How far would you go to protect your child and what would you strive to keep secret?
Is there a happy ever after or will the two couples always hide their darkest thoughts and motivations?
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, but please do set aside a day when you don't need to get anything done, otherwise you might be late for work, leave the house in a mess or burn the dinner!
Thank you to the publisher, JP Delaney and Netgalley for the opportunity to read ahead of publication in exchange for this honest review.
Was going to be a 5 star but the fact that the story is about TWO children being swapped but the main focus is only on Theo while David is ignored for basically the whole story ?¿
Very interesting and surprising!! Editing because the more I think about it the more I don’t like it as much
Wow, what an intriguing story. I'm not interested in having children, and perhaps as a result don't read many books centered around child-rearing issues, as I find myself unable to relate. I found Maddie and Peter incredibly relatable, however, and found myself feeling for them throughout the book. Delaney showed great expertise in getting the reader to empathize with his characters, and rally with them against the 'villains'. The character progression was perfectly paced, as was the plot and storylines that led off of or were nearly completely separate from the main plot track. I thought Maddie's character showed a surprising amount of gained awareness at the end of the book that I would have expected Peter to have, which was a neat turn of events.
I will say that while I enjoyed the way the conclusion came up all of a sudden but resolved in the right way for the book, I still would have liked it to have been a bit more fleshed out. The ending lines were a bit of a cliched happy ending, but they fit in line with the story and characters and didn't feel forced for ratings or status quo.
Overall a great book which only took four days to read, but just didn't have that 'wow' factor that I look for in a book in order for me to give it five stars.
I will say that while I enjoyed the way the conclusion came up all of a sudden but resolved in the right way for the book, I still would have liked it to have been a bit more fleshed out. The ending lines were a bit of a cliched happy ending, but they fit in line with the story and characters and didn't feel forced for ratings or status quo.
Overall a great book which only took four days to read, but just didn't have that 'wow' factor that I look for in a book in order for me to give it five stars.
My Weekly stated that this was: ‘The kind of book that keeps you up at night’ and I certainly can attest to such statement as I finished this book at exactly 5:08am following a feverish few hours of practically non-stop reading - every single time I attempted to put the book down and pace myself I simply failed. This surprised me as the premise of the book was not particularly exciting to me when I bought it (i did so on a whim) however it was clearly just what my mind wanted in the long run. Overall, I liked that the p.o.v changes were minimal (only between two characters plus small document references), the writing was strong and easy to follow without being muddled - the ending was decent and I found myself connected to the characters. I will definitely read another book by this author. Rating = 4.5 stars.
⭐️4.5 stars ⭐️ Everything I needed from a mystery thriller! Plot was intriguing and the story line moved so fast I didn’t want to put this book down! Also loved how the author included “court documents” and “text conversations” that went along with the story and the events occurring.
Felt like the ending could’ve ended a little better but the overall story was great and I still definitely recommend!
Felt like the ending could’ve ended a little better but the overall story was great and I still definitely recommend!
yes I loved this, an excellent thriller, I didnt guess the end and I could really associate with the characters. Well written and a real page turner as it didnt keep flitting between timelines as seems to be the current fashion.
This book has been in my tbr for years, and I wish I had gotten to it sooner! It was a fantastic thriller. The premise alone was so intriguing to me, and the writing didn't disappoint in the slightest. I love books that deal with thought-provoking concepts. Loved it.
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes