Although I enjoyed parts of this book - the relationships between the adults, the bravery and resilience of the children and the insight into Latin America I found parts of this book difficult to read. The rape scene in particular was upsetting and I felt it was a little unnecessary.

The fear of the parents was communicated well and I did enjoy the underlying tension between Liv and Nora - the cousin/sister type relationship was well written with the right amount of rivalry to make it realistic. It was a well written book but I would've liked a few more twists and turns to keep my interest.

Thankyou for the copy of this book

Do not become alarmed is a terrifying thriller about three families on a holiday cruise along the coast of South America.. On a trip ashore the mother's lose sight of their six children who go missing. There follows a series of frightening events in which husband's blame wives, the children encounter violence and kidnapping. Seen from the point of view of both adults and children, it is a slow burn of a novel and questions the nature of parenting in the face of adversity. A brilliant read.

Liv and Nora are cousins and organise a cruise for both of their families after the death of Noras mother. The children range in ages from 6 to 12. On the cruise they meet an Argentinian family with teenagers. To get a break from being onboard the women organise a trip with the children while the men play golf. Disaster strikes and the children go missing.
From there on we are told the story from various perspectives. We see relationships become fraught as the parents have to deal with not knowing where their children are and if they are alive or dead. They also are in a foreign country dealing with different authorities and languages. Because the story comes from the childrens' perspective too we always know where the children are but it doesn't make it any less traumatic.
I enjoyed this book, at times the tension was palpable and it was I think an honest portrayal of how relationships would handle such a traumatic time. There were times where certain situations were unbelievable but it is fiction.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Maile Meloy and Penguin UK for my copy of this book. My review is my own honest and unbiased personal opinion.

This book will stay with you long after you have finished it! A different style for me but very enjoyable, an unexpected twist in the first quarter leads to nail bitting chapters to find out what happens next. Great!!

I received a copy of Do not be alarmed through Net Gallery in exchanges for an open and honest review.

I've not star rated this book. I only got to 60% of the way through. Very much a book of two halves for me.

The first half of the book makes for ligustrum ht reading, it's not best placed as a psychological thriller. It's very much a story with little mystery. But makes for easy reading. An an escape from the tense thrillers.

However, when the children go missing - the eldest is raped and the it was sickening and to me unnecessary..... I didn't need to happen...... I had to miss those pages.....

Perceiving and continuing then there is a so called trophy photo of the rape the mother sees..... again completely unnecessary in the story. More pages missed.

It was after this I stopped reading, after two incidents that I skipped reading..... I lost interest.... shelved as "not for me"

Everyone is different and this book has lots of positive reviews.....

What a fantastic book! Nail biting and terrifying, this book gripped me from start to finish. Very well developed characters, this story is scarily believable. Excellent.

I am afraid I found this book a bit of a slog getting to the end some parts were ok and others quite inplausable. Not for me I'm afraid.

This is an absorbing story of several children, from different families, becoming separated from their families during a cruise round South America and the ramifications of this of this on both adults and children. A really good story with detailed descriptions throughout, great characters and lots of suspense.

The book tells the story of three families whose children go missing while on an excursion in an unnamed Central American country The plot is far fetched and the writing was poor with none of the characters developed well and some dark topics just brushed over in a shallow manner. One of the subplots, the story of Neomi, could probably be taken out completely and it would not affect the book at all. I really wanted to be engrossed by this story but I just disliked the characters so much that the story completely fell flat for me.

I was intrigued by this book from the moment I heard the title - I mean, just the fact it's called Do Not Become Alarmed tells you that it is indeed going to be alarming right? And it is, but not in the way I was expecting. I wasn't really sure what I thought this book was going to be about, probably more of a thriller on board a cruise ship than it actually is. But Do Not Become Alarmed actually turned out to be a gritty , brutal story of criminals, kidnap, murder and corruption.

It all starts when the two families decide to take a cruise holiday for Christmas. These people are successful, rich and privileged (and yes, a bit spoilt) and the liner reflects that. Surrounded by opulence and wealth, they set out to enjoy a life of luxury offered to guests on board the ship. But when they decide to leave the ship for a zip-line trip in Central America, one disaster after the other leads to the kids becoming separated from their parents and finding themselves in the hands of a violent criminal, who'll stop at nothing to make sure they won't be able to go back and tell of the awful things they've seen.

First up, this is a fast paced book with a narrative that begs you to read just one more chapter. I read it within a couple of hours on a weekend morning and couldn't put it down. Meloy doesn't mess about with words, and this tone makes for a compulsive and addictive reading experience, and the short chapters switching from the kids to the parents and back again rapidly makes it impossible to put the book down.

There's a lot to think about here, with some social and political themes running alongside this terrifying story

The concept of this book was good but the execution was unengaging. The emotional responses to some horrific situations were sugar coated and unrealistic. No one loses their child/children or gets raped (even worse a child) without some more reactions.

Liz and Nora decide to spend Christmas on a cruise with their families- and dream of a wonderful break. The start of the cruise sounds idyllic and everyone enjoys spending time aboard.
When they decide to book a zipline excursion, the men decide that they would rather play golf. The women take the children with a guide. Disaster strikes and they end up on a beach and the children disappear - presumed carried away by a riptide that the guide was unaware of.
The story is told by the parents and the children- so you are aware at all times where the children are and the tension they are under.
They start to blame each other- why did one mum wander away from the beach, why did the other fall asleep whilst in charge. Secrets are being hidden whilst the police try to investigate. You are aware of a different culture making investigations difficult and the dangers that must be facing the children.
I would be keen to read more by Maile Meloy

Love and Nora decide to take their families on a Christmas cruise. They make friends with an Argentinian family and decide to take an excursion to shore. The fathers head off to play golf whilst the mothers and children head off on a zip line excursion in Central America. However one minute the children are there and the next they are gone.

The book follows the parents trying to find their children and the children trying to get back to their parents. It's told from. It's the childrens and adults perspectives and has me gripped to the end.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I look forward to reading more.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Books UK and Maile Meloy for the chance to review.

Its Christmas and Liv and Nora decide to pack up their families and spend it on board a cruise ship, its destination Central America.

The children, aged 6 -11 befriend two Argentinian children and soon the three families are planning an off ship excursion. Husbands depart to play golf and the wives and children along with local guide Pedro set off to the local zip wires. Disaster strikes when a tyre on the van blows and instead they end up on a deserted beach waiting for a taxi to take them back to the ship. As Liv drifts off to sleep,  Nora disappears into the forest with Pedro allegedly searching for birds. What they don't bargain for is a strong tide that carries the children downstream,  who are unable to swim back and subsequently become lost in the dense forestry. As they try to find their way back they witness the burial of a murder victim and find themselves held captive.

What ensues is a race against time to find the children, a set of parents who begin to blame each other and a portrayal of a country wracked by corruption, drugs and murder.

Told from the perspective of the children and the parents I was all set for a fast paced thriller only to be left a little disappointed.

Yes, it was fast paced in parts, but I found some of the characters a little cold and unbelievable. I didn't feel much empathy for their situation and the women in particular were a little irritating.

I much preferred the story told from the perspective of the children. They were certainly more believable, slightly naive and the character of Isabel a real highlight. Her story was well written and sensitively done.

I am  not quite sure about the young girl Noemi, and her place in the novel. It wasn't necessarily needed or added in anyway to the story. Maybe the author used Noemi to show the plight of children left at home with relatives, often in abject poverty whilst parents worked away or simply escaped.

A good read, interesting plot and setting but unfortunately a little disappointing.

I would like to thank Penguin UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Do Not Become Alarmed’ by Maile Meloy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
Liv books a cruising holiday to Central America for herself, husband Benjamin and children, together with her cousin Nora and Nora’s husband and children. When the ship stops at Panama, Liv and Nora and their children leave the ship to go on a zip-line trip, leaving their husbands playing golf. Their tour bus is involved in an accident and while waiting for a replacement bus the party decides to relax by a river. The children are swimming when the tide turns and carries the them away from land. When their parents discover them missing the children have already been taken by people who think they may have been seen burying a body.
From the title and description the book sounds exciting but unfortunately it’s anything but. I thought it was extremely boring, written in a very old-fashioned style with an implausible storyline and unconvincing characters. I’ve not read any Maile Meloy books previous to ‘Do Not Become Alarmed’ and after my experience with this one I doubt I ever will.

A worst case scenario that in the depths of your nightmares you conjure up. A holiday gone wrong for two family's and their children! It's very well written and paced to the point of a knife! The way the characters turn on one another to relieve themselves of the blame that has become their lives! Uniquely this book gives voice to the children and provides a perfect balance to the righteous neurosis of their parents!

I could not get into this book too much describing stuff I don't want to know, it needs to get to it, I started skipping pages early on then gave up.

Do Not Become Alarmed is a very well written book .Two families go on a cruise to relax and find themselves caught up in a nightmare when their children go missing because no one was watching them .This book is told from the viewpoint of the parents and the missing children .It was very exciting and I found myself willing the children to be alright .I really enjoyed the book the ending left food for thought .

I'm afraid I didn't get on with this book at all It is billed as heart-racing story, but I simply found it unengaging and rather dull.

As the publisher's synopsis reveals, two wealthy and successful American families go on a Christmas cruise to Central America, where their children become separated from the adults. It takes about 75 pages to get to this point, and those pages are filled with details of characters' lives and their activities on the cruise which I found unconvincing, pretty boring and not very well-written. I'm afraid things don't improve much once the plot finally kicks in. I just didn't find the story very plausible and I thought the characters were rather thin and in some cases a bit stereotypic. I slogged dutifully on to the end, but I rather wish I hadn't bothered because the book didn't engage me in any way.

I'm sorry to be so critical, but that's the truth of it. Others may well enjoy this more than I did, but I really can't recommend it.

(I received an ARC via NetGalley.)

Do Not Become Alarmed

I found this book gripping and once I started it, I didn't want to put it down!

The storyline resonated with me as my children going missing is my worst nightmare. I really liked the way it was told from the children's perspective, as well as the parent's. It's a heart wrenching, harrowing and totally addictive. A must read for 2017! 5 shiny stars from purplebookstand!