Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book and was eager to start reading it.
On the whole, I wasn't disappointed but I did feel that the book could have been condensed quite considerably. There was quite a lot of filler which the story wouldn't have suffered without.

For this reason, I don't feel the book was as good as it could have been if we hadn't waited so long to get into the heart of the story.

However, it was well written and full of suspense.

I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to deal with such a vindictive daughter, adding to the most intrusive, neighbour from hell! It must be like a real-life nightmare daily.

Despite the subject being challenging I really enjoyed this book. I know the story was obviously fictional but I love having an insight into others family life and finding out about their dramas, I’m quite a nosey person like that!

Only negative I found with Little Liar is that I didn’t find any of the characters likeable. Mira, the next door neighbour, her interference with the Bradley family drove me crazy and made me question whether she was stable to actually work in a school with young children! Throughout the book we found out she’d had struggles herself growing up but I still found her a very odd woman.

I completely understand that Gemma’s situation would have been horrific to deal with and the things running through her head would have been indescribable however I did find it completely bizarre that she just left the family home for a while. Surely no matter how difficult the situation got you wouldn’t run away from it.

However, I was very glad when it all came together in the end and I loved the fact it was so easy to pick up and put back down between a busy work schedule.

Not quite my usual psychological thriller, but one that made sure I held my breathe and read, read, read. I thought this book had great suspense, characters, and thrills to make sure the reader kept turning pages, but the ending did upset me, so that is why I had to give 4 stars instead of 5. Do highly recommend, to those looking for a fast, thrilling read!

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This was an absolutely brilliant read. Gemma is everything a mother should be. Recommend

I really liked the sound of this book and the unique storyline drew me towards it. It had me gripped from the first page and I whizzed through it in a couple of sittings. It was a great debut and I look forward to reading more by this author. I loved how it ended and would definitely recommend this book

4☆ Every Mothers Worst Nightmare - Gripping domestic thriller.

Little Liar is a gripping domestic thriller that could potentially be very real.
It's unnerving, clever, Minipulative, lil subtle twists and hints, chilling and simply every mothers worst nightmare.

What I loved about this story was that not only was it written in Gemma's (the mother) point of view.
But you was also treated to the inner thoughts of Rosie herself. As she enters her feelings and secrets into her magic diary... I also loved the little invisible ink passages.
It really highlighted her vulnerability, her age, how she perceives the world and her parents. But also her angry, Minipulative side.

We also have the nosey neighbour Mira's story.
From early on you can tell something isn't quiet right with Mira.
She unnerved me a lil. As we divulge into her past, we are treated to flashbacks that uncover the secrets and truth about Mira's past.
I must say I disliked Mira, I found her story to be somewhat confusing as all of a sudden she would drift off into the past. Which at times seemed irrelevant.

You see Gemma has been accused of Child abuse towards Rosie.
It's actually scarey as you can see Rosie pushing Gemma to her limits... her parenting is all over the place. Both Rosie and Gemma have alot of rage.
Gemma is also keeping a big secret that is quiet clearly effecting her relationship with Rosie.

Rosie really isn't the easiest of children.  Her behaviour did unnerve me at times. She's very angry, she lies, keeps secrets,  A lil Minipulative & controlling.
I can't go into too much detail but I'm sure if you read this fab book I hope you will see what I mean.

Little Liar will toy with your morals and emotions as you try to uncover the truth behind the accusations. This is more of a Domestic Thriller rather than a psychological thriller. But still enjoyable and very real.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Little Liar.

Oh wow! This is one gripping thriller! Especially if you have children! I’m filled with so many emotions right now, I don’t even know where to begin! It was written very well. I would definitely recommend.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I became the victim when before I had been the accused. There was acute relief in this, but there was horror in it too:

My world has to be divided between those who believe me, and those who doubted me. I would be on the look out for signs in everyone close to me.
Gemma is a wife and the mother of Rosie and little Noah, plus little baby on the way. From the outside everything looks normal, but Gemma is exhausted and at the end of her ropes with everything, especially Rosie, her emotional daughter. Then her neighbor hears a child scream next door and calls the police. The more Gemma tries to defend herself the more her life seems to unravel, until all the secrets come spilling out.
I could not put this book down! I wanted to know where it was going and how it would end. Every mother’s worst fears coming to life. So many twists and so much scarier because it could happen. I absolutly loved Clare Boyd’s first novel and I can’t wait for more from her. Thank you to Bookouture for the ARC book for review we loved this one!!

Rosie is a 10 year old with an amazing temper and out of control tantrums. She knows how to push her Mother's buttons so her mother looses control and then Rosie lets rip. They are both balancing close to the edge. It is a dangerous combination of characters. Mira is the curtain twitching lady next door who finally calls social services - every parent's nightmare.

This book was safely heading for a four star review until the last couple of chapters. We had followed the story of the family and the twists and turns of Mira's own past and her current agenda. However, then the ending arrived, rather quickly and quite unlikely. It was almost as if the author had been unable to decide how to draw the threads into a satisfying conclusion. So she didn't bother trying to tie all the loose ends together but rather just gave a blanket solution which didn't explain anything. One minute we have Gemma living elsewhere and only allowed supervised access to her children & the next she is cuddled up on the settee with them after Rosie went missing. No explanations. As to the conclusion of Mira's issues - very unlikely and unbelievable.

One of the main issues I had with this book is the characters. The only likeable one is the six year old child, Noah, who has the sense to just close his bedroom door & hide when his sister is having a tantrum. Gemma and Peter are selfish beyond belief - when social services decree Gemma cannot be left alone with the children they ask her mother to take an unpaid sabbatical from work to move in with them in order for Peter & Gemma to continue working full time. Really? They couldn't rearrange their own lives to be there for their own children in this time of need? Apparently not. Peter is weak and unsupportive of his wife refusing to back her up or to take time off work to care for his own family. Mira has her own twisted agenda from the past and her husband is a bit of a wet weekend. Harriet, the Nanny seems nice but she is paid off and out of the situation.

Many families find themselves caught up in a spiral of mortgages, long working hours and providing excessive activities for their children to make up for it. Everyone ends up time poor and tempers can fray. The concept of the story is fine with a time poor family, a child with behavioural issues and a mother who struggles with her own self image as the perfect parent. I just wish the characters had been a bit nicer & the ending more believable.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley

Little Liar by Clare Boyd started out a bit slow. Readers are introduced to the two women, Mira and Gemma. Mira lives next door to Gemma with her husband, Barry. Gemma lives with her husband, two kids and she is expecting her third born. The neighbors co-existed peacefully until Mira heard screams next door and after a series of events, she suspected that Gemma was hurting her child, Rosie. Mira did what any good neighbor would do in a similar situation and called the police.

As I mentioned, this book started out a bit slow in the first chapter. However, I was soon pulled into the narrative and got totally immersed in the lives of the two women. The story is narrated through alternating POVs between Gemma and Mira. In Mira’s narrations, readers get to take a look at her past and present. I feel like her past really helped in building her character. It certainly helped in explaining her actions.

Little Liar is definitely an entertaining read. Apart from all the tension and drama though, it made me think critically about parenthood and its challenges. I would like to have kids someday. I think kids are super cute and adorable. However, reading this story made me think about the other side of parenthood and in particular, the tantrums. I have seen kids throw tantrums in public places. The kicking, lying on the floor and wailing but I have never really thought about how parents feel in these situations. Does it get frustrating? Do parents ever feel tired and helpless in the face of tantrums no matter how much they love their kids? I have never really thought about it before.

This is the perfect domestic noir filled with secrets and lies. The author did a fantastic job in building the tension from page to page. The two characters were in a situation that felt quite tense for both of them such that as a reader, I couldn’t help but feel anxious. I was especially drawn to Gemma’s story and kept wondering what I would have done in a similar situation. This isn’t a book about big twists and shocking reveals. It is an intense read and the final turn was definitely dark and chilling. I would have wished for a different ending but I am okay with the direction that the author decided to take the story. This was definitely a captivating read.

See link to goodreads review

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Clare Boyd for the opportunity to read and review her debut book - loved it! To me, when I can't stop reading a book, carry it around with me just to read a couple more pages, that's a 5 star book - and this was totally that book.

Real domestic life, not the Facebook life, is not always easy and pretty. Gemma and her husband, Peter, are busy navigating real life. Gemma has a high-powered job that takes her away from her family for long days. She relies on her husband, sitters, her mom and friends to help fill the void. But if she were truthful, she needs the job and has so many doubts about her abilities to be a good mom.

Ten-year-old Rosie is a difficult child, prone to screaming temper tantrums for Gemma. So much so that they attract the attention of the next-door neighbor, Mira, who worries for Rosie's safety. Mira has plenty of her own issues but can't let go of obsessing about Rosie and eventually calls the police, setting up a nightmare situation for Gemma who is accused of abuse.

This is just a great read - I couldn't wait to find out how it was going to turn out. Don't miss this debut novel - and here's hoping that Ms Boyd is busy at work on her next book!

When a child's scream from the house next door cuts through Mira's heart like a spear, she sees no other option but to call the police and make sure eleven year old Rosie is safe.  Before Rosie's mother, Gemma, can even blink, the police and social services are involved and her seemingly picture perfect family life falls to pieces. But things are not quite as they seem.

I don't have kids (thank goodness), nor do I have the meddling kind of neighbours and yet it's incredibly easy to imagine this frightening scenario, while you sit in your cosy living room reading this story and watch things spiral completely out of control. I'm sure all parents are familiar with temper tantrums thrown by their offspring. My sister's youngest suffered from the hysterical (and embarrassing) throwing-self-across-the-floor ones, which I thought only happened on television. But now imagine a neighbour or a bystander involving the police. Easily done. Sadly not so easily fixed.

I had a hard time connecting with Gemma, although as the story went on and we learned a bit more about her background, I could see where she came from and understood her a bit more. For me though, Mira was the stand-out character. She's brilliantly complicated and while it would be completely understandable to see her as the "bad guy" in this scenario, her story is so heartbreaking and complex that I couldn't help but feel for her. I loved how the author included Rosie's diary entries, which put a totally different spin on things.

Clare Boyd has delivered a chilling, unnerving and thought-provoking story that makes you wonder. What would you do? Ultimately, you just never know what goes on behind closed doors, do you? Would you sit back and do nothing and maybe get it wrong? Or would you act? And maybe get it wrong as well? Little Liar may be a tad of a slow-burner but it had me hooked and I couldn't wait to see what the outcome in this gripping family drama would be. I very much look forward to reading more by Clare Boyd.

Rosie is a difficult child. Gemma finds it difficult to control her. Rosie also tells lies and is disobedient. Children know how to push the right buttons. They know what to do to annoy their parents. Mira's phonecall to the police when she hears Rosie screaming sets a nightmare of events in motion. I would not call this book a thriller. It is a story about how lies can have serious consequences.

Little Liar is an addictive and intense domestic suspense that is a parent’s worst nightmare. We all know those nosey, busybody neighbours who have good intentions at heart. Little Liar is the perfect example of someone’s good intentions gone wrong.

This story made me feel really uncomfortable as I kept thinking “What if this was me?” There is a dark, creepy undercurrent that runs through this whole book. It’s a bit of a slow burner rather than a psychological thriller, which is why I classed is more of a domestic suspense personally, but the more you read the greater that feeling of unease grows inside you.

The characters are all multi-dimensional and realistic. Mira’s overly good intentions grated on me so much. I kept changing my mind over which characters I liked and which I disliked. Clare Boyd has written some very complex characters in this book and I found myself switching back and forth between who I believed in and who I empathised with. In truth I struggled to empathise with any of them, including Rosie!

As the title suggests most of the characters have something to lie about, and it’s these lies that make the basis of a very intriguing plot. The author was woven an intricate plotline, and the use of the information to flesh out the story, while at the same time keeping the tension maintained throughout, was expertly done.

Little Liar touches on very relevant themes, especially in a world in which child rights and the laws on ‘smacking’ of children are rapidly evolving. Would any behaviour make violence against a child, accidental or otherwise, forgivable?

As a mum, I found this book to touch all my nervous spots. Little Liar is a story that will push your emotions and judgement skills to the limit. Highly recommend this one, thanks to author Clare Boyd, Netgalley and publisher Bookouture for my review copy.

Rosie is a difficult child, anyone would agree. Gemma has a hard time controlling her anger when her daughter provokes her, but she’d never intentionally hurt the girl. Mira is a nosy neighbor with troubles of her own. Her call to the police after yet another screaming tantrum in the Bradley household sets in motion the most horrific nightmare any mother could ever imagine.


In the author’s note, Clare Boyd writes that she was inspired by a conversation with her friend whose child screamed so loud she was afraid the neighbors would call social services on her. Boyd wanted to take that idea and push it to the limit. A solid writing exercise. As much as I want to give her credit, I’m still left unsatisfied by my dislike of the characters and the slow pace of the novel.

Gemma’s "secret" isn’t the kind that makes the world come crashing down, and really no one is even irrevocably harmed by it. Mira is the one with the dark past, harboring a secret from her own husband for decades. When Rosie goes missing? We’re 92% into the story, with the conclusion rapidly approaching. The ending is tied up properly, but feels very rushed after taking far too long to get there. Though the story builds, it isn’t wracked with suspense. Mira’s story kind of goes off the rails in a way that feels incongruous to what we’d seen from her and her husband, and it happens and is wrapped up so quickly you almost forget the horror of it.

I will hand it to the author on the mastery of the emotions embroiled in the fear and doubt of motherhood and the complicated nature of family life. And the writing is decent, if long-winded. Gemma’s narration is what you’d expect from a mother wrongly accused. Fear, indignation, self-doubt, anger. Though I never made it round to liking her character, or any of the characters for that matter, I could at least sympathize with Gemma.

Although I didn’t particularly enjoy this novel, it effectively serves as a bleak portrait of the effects of strained relationships on a tired mother stretched to the limit within a waking nightmare. However, the blurb misses the mark completely and the comparisons to thrillers such as The Girl On The Train and Gone Girl are so off-base it's embarrassing.

Perhaps if I had gone into it with different expectations this could have been a 3 star novel. Ultimately, there are just too many issues with this work, and with the description given in the blurb, for it to get anything more than 2.5 stars from me. That said, I wish the author nothing but success in her efforts and would consider reading more from her.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher Bookouture, and author Clare Boyd for the ARC of this book.

For an in-depth look at my feelings regarding this novel, including spoilers, check out the discussions page at Grey Kat Reviews.

EXCERPT: What had she actually seen next door? Her heartbeat escalated. What had she seen? She had seen guilt in Gemma's eyes. She had seen fear in Rosie's.

THE BLURB: The perfect family... or the perfect lie?

When a child’s scream pierces the night, Mira does what any good neighbour would do: she calls the police. She wants to make sure that Rosie, the little girl next door, is safe.

Opening her front door to the police the next morning, Gemma’s picture-perfect family is forced under scrutiny of social services.

As her flawless life begins to crumble around her, Gemma must fight to defend the family she loves and protect her daughter from the terrible secret she’s been keeping.

But who has Rosie been confiding in when Gemma’s back is turned? And why has she lied to the police?

When Rosie disappears without a trace, Gemma thinks she only has herself to blame. That is, until she finds a little pink diary containing a truth even more devastating than the lie…

If you loved The Couple Next Door and Big Little Lies, you’ll adore this razor-sharp, tense and utterly engrossing page turner about the people we choose to trust and the secrets we keep behind closed doors.

MY THOUGHTS: Another brilliant debut novel! I just loved Little Liar.

Clare Boyd captivated me with her firm grasp of family dynamics and personal characteristics in Little Liar. We have supermum Gemma, juggling a demanding career, pregnancy, a volatile ten year old, and keeping a secret, determined to 'have it all'. Rosie is the ten year old daughter. She throws tantrums like I eat chocolate, and is quite adept at manipulating people. Add to the mix one nosey neighbour, Mira or 'Mrs E' as Rosie calls her. Mira has her own problems, her own secrets, her own unfulfilled needs.

Little Liar is a slow burner, an onion. By 25% in, I was hooked and read most of the night, captivated, mesmerized and agog! And the revelations just kept coming.

I also really liked how, at the end, it wasn't tied up all neat and tidy. There are a lot of things that I was left wondering about, but in a pleasant way. I think that perhaps I wasn't quite ready to let this family go. 4.5☆

Thank you to Bookouture via Netgalley for providing a digital copy of Little Liar by Clare Boyd for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.

This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Without a doubt I recommend everyone to read this book. My book of the month undoubtedly. Gemma Bradley is juggling a highly powered job with two children and another on the way. A deranged neighbour believes she is abusing her daughter Rosie, decides to take action and that's when the fireworks rocket into the sky. What is most chilling is that this could happen to any mother through a neighbour with the best intentions or even a vindictive ex husband. It's an uneasy, unsettling and harrowing read. Drip....drip....drip as it cranks up the tension. It portrays the concerns most mothers endure - are they a good mother? Are they handling situations correctly? Rosie is a precocious, headstrong, obnoxious brat who is eager to test her mother's endurance and boundaries. Between the lines and from Rosie's secret diary we get a glimpse of the child's wistful vulnerability. Without giving too much away I thought it perfectly portrays the power of suggestion as well as the raging anger a mother seeks to control with a difficult, defiant child so a situation doesn't get out of perspective. This is followed by the guilt of what you felt inclined to do. It gives you a grim insight into how easy it could be to go over the edge. A fascinating portrait of the neighbour Mira who has suffered grave injustices as a child and has never recovered. What a shocking ending. An absolutely unforgettable book. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

Really enjoyed this book, read it in one go, the ending was very surprising but I liked it. Well crafted characters

Gemma Bradley seems to have it all, a gorgeous home, a loving husband, two wonderful children and a high flying career, but is she a victim of her own success?

Working all the hours god sends to live the lifestyle they’ve all become accustomed two and sacrificing time with her family, Gemma is finding it hard to juggle her home/work balance. Her children seem to spend more time with their nanny or Gemma’s mum than they do with their parents so is it any wonder that daughter Rosie starts to act up?

Being a handful is what children are good at from time to time and Rosie is certainly no exception. Not only is she pushing the boundaries, she’s also and pushing mum Gemma to her absolute limit.

Neighbour Mira as had enough of hearing Rosie’s blood curdling screams coming through the walls and after one particular incident she decides that enough is enough and it’s time to call the police, accusing Gemma of abuse but things soon spiral out of control.

But Mira has her own story and secrets that even her husband, Barry, knows nothing about and because of this she believes she’s doing the right thing by reporting Gemma.

I really enjoyed the story, slowly discovering Mira’s secret, feeling Gemma’s frustration with Rosie for her tantrums and also with her husband Peter for his lack of support and the insights into Rosie’s world via her entries in her magic pink diary.

Little Liar is a well written and thought provoking book and author Clare Boyd does a really good job of ramping up the tension and showing just how easy it is to misinterpret situations when you don’t have all the information. I do feel that this is more of a domestic noir novel rather than a psychological thriller, but that said it’s still a cracking read and I’ll definitely be reading more from this author.