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A review by bookph1le
Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan
2.0
While I thought a big part of this book's problem was that the writing was pretty weak, especially in the latter half, I also think this book just didn't know what it wanted to be. The premise of a mother who may be suffering from postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis possibly harming her child could make for a compelling and thought-provoking book. This one didn't, mainly because it has to throw in the obligatory twist and because Liz's story was, to me, nowhere near as interesting as what was going on with Jess and her family.
This is disappointing. For a while the novel does a good job of making the reader think hard about what women go through after they have a child, which is an important topic that is only now starting to get the attention it has long deserved. I don't think it's any coincidence that the growing understanding of and attempts to raise awareness of mental illness in general are happening at the same time more women are speaking out about miscarriage and postpartum issues. For far too long women have suffered in silence, afraid of the opprobrium of friends, family members, and society at large if they expose how they are struggling, and particularly if they admit to the kinds of feelings Jess is having during the course of this book. I really would have liked to see the novel lean into that. Having Liz as a narrator could still have worked had the book not thrown in her family drama, which drained the novel of its propulsive quality, and had the book relied on the strength of Jess's narrative rather than employing bog-standard thriller genre twists.
Which begs the question of why this book is a thriller in the first place. It could easily have instead been written as a work of contemporary fiction without the need for the tricks the thriller genre tends to demand, which I suspect would have been a better approach for this particular author.
This is disappointing. For a while the novel does a good job of making the reader think hard about what women go through after they have a child, which is an important topic that is only now starting to get the attention it has long deserved. I don't think it's any coincidence that the growing understanding of and attempts to raise awareness of mental illness in general are happening at the same time more women are speaking out about miscarriage and postpartum issues. For far too long women have suffered in silence, afraid of the opprobrium of friends, family members, and society at large if they expose how they are struggling, and particularly if they admit to the kinds of feelings Jess is having during the course of this book. I really would have liked to see the novel lean into that. Having Liz as a narrator could still have worked had the book not thrown in her family drama, which drained the novel of its propulsive quality, and had the book relied on the strength of Jess's narrative rather than employing bog-standard thriller genre twists.
Which begs the question of why this book is a thriller in the first place. It could easily have instead been written as a work of contemporary fiction without the need for the tricks the thriller genre tends to demand, which I suspect would have been a better approach for this particular author.