This book honestly made me want to bang my head against a brick wall.
You follow Gemma a mother who is constantly fighting with her 10 year old daughter Rosie.
And you follow Mira, the next door neighbour who calls the police one day after hearing a massive fight from her neighbours.

Mira and Rosie were the most annoying characters I’ve ever read, especially Mira, getting into people’s business without knowing the whole story, and I know she had good intentions at the start. I wasn’t a fan of Mira’s background story. And I was not a fan of the ending.

Interesting story, but I quickly found out I didn’t like any of the characters except for the little boy, who’s character was just a “guest star” basically. The little girl was awful, definitely needed psychological help, and the parents were just as awful for never dealing with the problems. And that nosy neighbor! I kept seeing visions of Gladys Kravitz....Good book, but the ending left something to be desired.

This story had a lot of family drama in it. Between mothers and children, husbands and wives and neighbors. It was about secrets and shame and holding it together in the face of adversity. That being said, it mostly was about a little girl and lies. The characters were mostly annoying to me. A child whose behavior is out of control. A neighbor who sticks her nose where it doesn't belong. A mother who obviously needs some parenting classes. The ending for me missed the mark, being a little too wrapped up with an out of the blue twist. This was a debut novel for this author and I will read her next to see how she develops as a writer.

A Dark tale about the relationship between a mother and daughter and how truth and memories can be distorted. Compelling characters and story made this a very satisfying read and I look forward to reading more by this author.

A great rollercoaster of a read. Well written, thoroughly engrossing. Loved this! Highly recommend. 4* read.
My thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the advance reader copy.

Really well written tense thriller with great characters. I loved it!
Thanks to Bookouture and Negalley for the ARC.

Gemma Bradley is a mother of two and expecting her thir child. She has a high powered job in the city and does all she can to have the perfect life and perfect children. Rosie, her ten year daughter, is prone to tantrums and screams the house down on a regular basis. Mira Entwhistle lives next door with her husband Barry. She is a teaching assistant and can’t help but worry when she hears Rosie’s screams. Mira is convinced that Gemma is harming Rosie and when Rosie divulges to her she feels she has no choice but to report it to the police. Gemma and her family’s life becomes a nightmare while the allegations are investigated. Struggled to get into the book to start with but did find it an enjoyable read.

Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Claire Boyd for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I struggled a bit with this book but finally did enjoy it. It was one that kept me turning pages to see if anything would happen the way I wanted it too. I know that is not how it is written but that is what I wanted. It was pretty good. I did not like many of the characters. Loved Noah.

A compelling read, that proves how any situation can get so easily out of hand, and all dependent on your point of view. I enjoyed every minute of it and found myself feeling a great deal about the individual characters, be it it sympathy, loathing or simple irritation.

This is a 5 star plus book. It's one that doesn't come along very often and I just couldn't put it down! Gemma is the hard working mother who is married to Peter. They have two children Rosie age 10 and Noah age 6. Gemma is finding it very difficult to deal with her daughter Rosie who has frequent temper tantrums and screaming matches and she is at the end of her tether. Rosie is a troubled and emotional child who hates and loves her mother on a daily basis. Mira is the next door neighbour who hears Rosie screaming and is reminded of the abuse she suffered growing up. Mira befriends Rosie and starts to put ideas into her head about her mum hitting her. When Mira calls the police Rosie goes along with Mira's statement to the police about the abuse. Little does Rosie know that this may be the end of family life for her. Read on!

Late one night in the quiet Hudson Valley town of Havenkill, a distraught woman stumbles into the police station—and lives are changed forever.

Aimee En, once a darling of the ’80s pop music scene, claims that a teenage boy stole her car, then ran over another young man who’d rushed to help.

As Liam Miller’s life hangs in the balance, the events of that fateful night begin to come into focus. But is everything as it seems?

The case quickly consumes social media, transforming Liam, a local high school football star, into a folk hero, and the suspect, a high school outcast named Wade Reed, into a depraved would-be killer. But is Wade really guilty? And if he isn’t, why won’t he talk?

Told from a kaleidoscope of viewpoints—Wade’s mother Jackie, his younger brother Connor, Aimee En and Pearl Maze, a young police officer with a tragic past, If I Die Tonight is a story of family ties and dark secrets—and the lengths we’ll go to protect ourselves.

I think this book is like marmite. I’m sure some people will love it, yet others will … not. For me it was a bit meh … I didn’t love it but neither did I hate it. Not sure why I wasn’t very keen, it was well written and the characters were good. I guess this book just wasn’t for me. 3.5*

I struggled with this book, mostly because the only character I actually liked was little Noah who was very much lost in a story about damaged but frankly horrible people.

Gemma seemingly has it all. A great career, a loving husband and two children she loves dearly. It's fair to say though the oldest of her children, Rosie, is somewhat of a handful. Her tantrums sound like someone's been murdered. And it's hearing and wilfully misunderstanding those tantrums that causes her neighbour to call in the police. Suddenly Gemmas ordered life is under scrutiny, and that scrutiny threatens to reveal a closely guarded family secret.

Without wanting to sound like a smug mom I don't really do the yelling brand of parenting (I'm more of a growler) but I totally get when people do and equally have made judgements on parents when they lose it with misbehaving children. So the premise of this book is very believable.The actual execution....well not so much. The neighbours intermittent interference and frankly bonkers character is properly OTT but immensely readable, Rosie is a little.....well let's just day darling isn't the word I'm looking for. We all know kids are manipulative but Jesus. It's written as a cry for attention and help but really comes across as a cry for been dumped on a church doorstep. Some people say you should never have a child but since she's fictional I'll just say it - I hated the brat. And due to the strong feelings the book kept me hooked throughout. I really never wanted to put it down. It's an enthralling and compulsive thriller.

A very sad but true story of a mothers struggles. A neighbour with her own issues jumps to help a little girl but choose the wrong side. A little girl feeling badly done by and wanting her mother punished for working so long and hard. A mother finding her daughter impossible to handle and instead of help gets persecuted by the social.

I really enjoyed this book from start to finish. It mainly explores the relationship between Gemma and her daughter Rosie. How children and their parents can press each other's buttons. How hard it is to not react and shout and scream when family life becomes difficult. A good book about the complexities of family relationships. Not a thriller but an enjoyable read all the same.

Thanks for sharing the book with me. I can’t say I romped through it as it was difficult reading for me at times. It feels heartbreaking when Characters are so lost in lies. The inner workings of our minds portrayed in novels is so common now and maybe I am reading too much of similar genres.
The author is extremely accomplished and I have huge respect for the quality of the book and the writing.
Thankyou

Utterly thrilling, didn't see the twist coming whatsoever! Highly recommend

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview this book.

It wasn't for me I'm afraid. I found it too long, irritating characters and non existent plot line.

The idea of interspersing chapters with extracts from the child's diary was a good one. However, reading about irritating children from the perspective of an irritating mother did nothing for me.

I don’t know how I feel about this novel. It’s certainly kept my attention and created a situation that I really wanted to see the outcome of.

But it wasn’t really a psychological thriller it was more family drama that made me a little frustrated.

Gemma has a hard time relating to her daughter Rosie, Who frequently throws fits and get some screaming matches with Gemma. When Rosie attract the attention of a nosy neighbor things start to spiral out of control, both for Gemma and the neighbor, Mira.

There wasn’t any mystery to this novel and it wasn’t necessarily a thriller, which leads me to describe as more of a family drama. You’re invested in how everything turns out, but there’s no big reveals which you’re trying to figure out throughout the novel like a regular thriller; I hope that makes sense.

And I was absolutely invested in the characters and their situation. I wanted to find out how they all ended up. And it was pretty good; I think the final chapters were actually some of the best.

But it wasn’t mysterious or too creepy. It just was like soap opera, giving you a look into the world of the characters. In that, I think the cover is a little misleading.

Plus the characters of Mira and Rosie were very annoying. I couldn’t get into them - both seemed to have a knack for just making things incredibly worse.

Bottom line: If you like dramas, particularly family-centered issues, you will probably like this book. If you’re looking for a suspenseful thriller, look elsewhere.

Thank you very much to netGalley and Bookouture for the advance copy of Little Liar my review is honest and unbiased in any way.
This is the first book I have read by this author but it definitely won't be my last! It kept me reading the whole way through and made me very thankful I don't have any children like Rosie she is definitely every mother's nightmare lol a brilliant read that kept my interest the whole way through!