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maegani's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Alcoholism
debtat2's review against another edition
5.0
A hard-hitting psychological thriller that will strike a cord with every reader – especially parents!
Forming a friendship from having children at the same time, supporting each other through sleepless nights, teething and toddler tantrums, Liz and Jess have been friends for years but the events of one night tests that friendship to its very core.
Liz is a paediatric registrar and whilst on shift she is called to A&E to access a baby with a head injury and to her horror it is her friend Jess and her young daughter Betsey. As Liz examines Betsey she follows protocol asking the obvious questions about how it happened, how long ago it happened and any other symptoms. All routine but Jess’s answers are pretty evasive and don’t tally up with the injury sustained. It is also routine for doctors not to treat friends and family so her boss is called in to take over the case. As she relays the information, Liz has to agree with her boss that something isn’t right, that their legal obligation is to the patient and the safeguarding of the child so she has no choice but to involve social service’s and the police.
A choice that goes against everything she knows about her friend and her friends parenting skills. She even looks up to her as an exemplary mother and has more than once gone to Jess for parenting advice, but as much as she wants to believe her friend would never deliberately hurt her child, something is definitely not right.
As the police and Jess’s family try to ascertain what happened that night, how Betsey sustained a fractured skull, lives begin to unravel, secrets are revealed and relationships are pushed to their very limits.
With growing tension and revelation after revelation this book has it all, it skilfully plays on every parents fears and expertly conveys the emotions of both women and their families in this compelling, multi-layered plot. Beautifully written, believable characters and a perfect balance of suspense, tension and emotion, this is by far her best book to date.
Little Disasters will be published on 2 Apr 2020 and is available for pre-order now from Amazon UK and Waterstones as well as your local bookshops.
If you enjoyed her previous book, Anatomy of a Scandal which is a hard book to follow, but she has surpassed that with this book so you really won’t want to miss this one.
A massive thank you to the author Sarah Vaughan, publishers Simon & Schuster, head of marketing Hayley McMullan and NetGalley for my digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest and independent review.
Forming a friendship from having children at the same time, supporting each other through sleepless nights, teething and toddler tantrums, Liz and Jess have been friends for years but the events of one night tests that friendship to its very core.
Liz is a paediatric registrar and whilst on shift she is called to A&E to access a baby with a head injury and to her horror it is her friend Jess and her young daughter Betsey. As Liz examines Betsey she follows protocol asking the obvious questions about how it happened, how long ago it happened and any other symptoms. All routine but Jess’s answers are pretty evasive and don’t tally up with the injury sustained. It is also routine for doctors not to treat friends and family so her boss is called in to take over the case. As she relays the information, Liz has to agree with her boss that something isn’t right, that their legal obligation is to the patient and the safeguarding of the child so she has no choice but to involve social service’s and the police.
A choice that goes against everything she knows about her friend and her friends parenting skills. She even looks up to her as an exemplary mother and has more than once gone to Jess for parenting advice, but as much as she wants to believe her friend would never deliberately hurt her child, something is definitely not right.
As the police and Jess’s family try to ascertain what happened that night, how Betsey sustained a fractured skull, lives begin to unravel, secrets are revealed and relationships are pushed to their very limits.
With growing tension and revelation after revelation this book has it all, it skilfully plays on every parents fears and expertly conveys the emotions of both women and their families in this compelling, multi-layered plot. Beautifully written, believable characters and a perfect balance of suspense, tension and emotion, this is by far her best book to date.
Little Disasters will be published on 2 Apr 2020 and is available for pre-order now from Amazon UK and Waterstones as well as your local bookshops.
If you enjoyed her previous book, Anatomy of a Scandal which is a hard book to follow, but she has surpassed that with this book so you really won’t want to miss this one.
A massive thank you to the author Sarah Vaughan, publishers Simon & Schuster, head of marketing Hayley McMullan and NetGalley for my digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest and independent review.
blondapst's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thatsssorachael's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Abandonment
nicjohnston's review against another edition
3.0
I had high hopes for Little Disasters but it didn’t resonate with me. Perhaps it is more evocative if you are a parent. I thought it started well with a clever hook but the characters weren’t hugely likeable and there were some unnecessary sub-plots which had minimal impact on the overall story. An enjoyable read which would benefit from a some further editing.
Thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for an ARC in consideration of an honest review.
Thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for an ARC in consideration of an honest review.