This was an OK read for me. I did find it a bit slow to get into and the characters were all a bit irritating, so just not for me I'm afraid.

Thanks a million Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this book. This is the first book I've read by Clare Boyd but it certainly won't be the last. Brilliant and I would highly recommend it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2231056479

This book is totally relatable and very current. Ms Boyd (no relation) really hit the nail on the head with this family drama. Gemma can be any mom...Rosie can be any child on any given day. Mira is a neighbor we’ve all had, or even have been.

As a parent, we all lose our cool, or fly off the handle and regret it later! Ms. BOYD did a great job of showing all sides of the story without giving too much away. You feel so much for Gemma and her situation. While also disliking the meddling neighbor and being frustrated with the bratty child. She hit the nail on the head with the child pushing all Gemma’s buttons.

I have to say this wasn't what I was expecting but definitely well worth reading. I had so many emotions throughout this book at times I got quite angry at some of the characters often speaking out loud to them. Other times it was tinged with sadness that made you sit and think what if that was me. I don't want to give anything away about the story or characters because I feel it would spoil the book for those who haven't read it yet. It just reminds us not everything in family life is perfect and how people can perceive things differently without knowing the full story.
I'm really looking forward to reading more by Clare Boyd

I started reading but couldn't finish. When all you want to do is smack the parents, the child and the neighbors it doesn't make for relaxing reading. I had very little sympathy for the mother and father; and the kid deserved a damn good smack.
Halfway in i lost interest in it all.

Reading the initial bits gave me such a huge adrenaline kick that I was like a book junkie wanting to be stuck to the book. And Clare Boyd didn't disappoint me. Oh man, she took me on a rollercoaster ride. I generally can't tolerate rides, but this one, I didn't want to get off.
Till halfway through....
When I suddenly realized that the book has derailed, it didn't know where the it was going. The story is about a 10 year old child, Rosie, having tantrums to the point of hitting the mother and screeching her lungs out. The neighbor, Mira, hears this, calls the police, and the story rolls henceforth. The mother, Gemma, tries her level best to maintain a balance, till she starts losing her own mental balance. And then things go wrong, for both the characters and the readers.
The story which started strong should have ended strong. The author, Clare Boyd, promised me a journey with a thunderous finale, but all I got was.... Nothing.
I didn't like the answers given by the author as a finale to the story. It was too ambiguous. There were unanswered questions. I rushed through 80% of the book, leaving all other work, and I was left dejected... What I was promised in the blurb, didn't happen till the book reached the end. The blurb was misinforming. It put a damper on my reading mojo.
The first half of the book is excellent. There is a lot of action happening, the author maintains the tension throughout. But in this attempt to maintain a fast pace, tension biting atmosphere, the author loses control on the plot. I find it very ironic that the main character, Gemma, does not even like being a mother, but is pregnant with her third child. She is unable to find a work-life balance, yet takes on more and more responsibilities. And the most shocking was, she has a change of heart suddenly, after a few days of crying, she loves the responsibilities of motherhood. To me that is unbelievable... Both mother Gemma and daughter Rosie required extreme counseling, they are both extremely weird and they call that love. I am not even mentioning the other characters because they are insipid.
But instead of the neighbor reporting the mother, I think the child needed reporting for her night and day kind of moods. The mother had her own dangerous, dark thoughts...
Motherhood is overwhelming... But this is taking things too far. I read the book with an excitement and eagerness and I was left with a hollow feeling of wasted time.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher, Bookouture, and this is my honest and unbiased opinion

The blurb sounded so good and I was excited to read Little Liar, the beginning was really good and I was really intrigued but further into the story I just lost interest and struggled to get into it.

Little Liar is the first published book by Clare Boyd. Ms Boyd tells us the story with some back and forth in time, but most of the tale takes place currently.There comes a point in the book where Little Liar is very difficult to put down as the reader wants to know what happens next. Looking forward to reading more by this author. I was given an early copy to review.

This was definitely a chilling page turner! It's a domestic thriller, which is a genre I'm really enjoying. The story centers around Gemma and the trials her family faces. It's a really gripping, believable story and I highly recommend it!

Wow ! That was tense ! For a while, I didn't know if I was okay with the way the story was progressing. It was getting way to twisted for my comfort. In a way, what was most disturbing is that the innocence and naivety of childhood was portrayed in a twisted sense !!

So, the crux of the story is :

What if you are judged in your weakest moments by an outsider who only has a glimpse of the story ??

Gemma is so misjudged, and all because of one nosy neighbor's twisted thoughts. As a mother myself, I found that I was putting myself in all of Gemma's situations and thinking. And while it's easy to frown at her frustration, we cannot judge anyone from the outside. Gemma's love for her family was unconditional and she just had some breakdowns, which is definitely allowed for all parents. Parenting can become tiresome sometimes. To top it she was pregnant and had a stressful job. And by God !! That kid of hers is a nightmare !!

And while I know children these days can be drama kings and queens, Rosie's behavior gave me chills. I don't know whether her behavior can be considered normal or even common. I wanted to reach within the book and shake her hard. "What's wrong with you, you silly girl?? " Why all this drama? Why all these lies ? Is it normal to think of teaching your mother a lesson ?? Phew, I really don't know how to feel about her.

And Mira ! Oh my God !! I don't know what to say about this character. Talk about being dark and twisted ! For a moment there, I was worried about the safety of the Bradley family.

So, overall, my mind is f*cked !! It was way too dark and twisted on so many levels.

If you are thinking about becoming a parent anytime soon a word of warning you may want to give this book a wide berth! Motherhood is often portrayed unrealistically in fiction, full time working mum, always manages to balance work v home life perfectly, the children are the perfect “little cherubs”, but not in this book! Little Liar by Claire Boyd writes a very different and troubling tale of the challenges and the stormy side of being a mother.

Little Liar could be based on homes up and down the country, a child has a tantrum, (I'm sure every parent can relate to this at some point) screams the place down and a “kindly” neighbour reports the incident to the police, convinced the child is in danger. Unfortunately for Gemma in Little Liar when Mira hears reports her concerns to the police so begins a train of events that will have far reaching and life changing consequences for both Gemma and Mira.

Essentially Little Liar is more Domestic Noir than a psychological thriller but don't let that put you off, I personally enjoy this type of novel when it's done well and considering this is the author's debut novel I think she has done a remarkable job. The tension radiating from her characters is constant, rather like a cauldron you can feel the emotions bubbling away and at some point as the reader you know all these emotions are going to boil over, to the how and the why that's for you as the reader to find out. At times I felt like like a voyeur watching Gemma’s family in crisis, some of Gemma’s actions towards her daughter made me uncomfortable but they certainly helped to create a disquieting read.

As the title suggests most of the characters have something to lie about, and it's these lies that makes the basis of a very intriguing plot. If I'm honest it was difficult to find any empathy for any of the characters including Rosie, but that said this did not distract from the read, and at times I could sense Gemma’s frustration and Rosie like many ten year olds knew exactly how to push her mum’s buttons to provoke a reaction. Little Liar explores the sometimes difficult relationship between mother and child, the emotions, the guilt and the constant pressure to be the “best mother” or all things I could relate to as a parent. Well written with drama aplenty Little Liar is a thought provoking read. I would certainly recommend this book if you enjoy a suspenseful read that encompasses moral dilemmas that are relevant for today's society.

4 Page turning stars for the book🌟2 stars for the blurb🌟🌟

This book was very good, kept me turning those pages to see what was going to happen next.... although I would classify this more as a domestic thriller rather than a psychological thriller.... The book did a fantastic job touching on family dynamics....

Gamma was such a relatable character, living out every mothers nightmare.... as a Mom myself, I know there have been times I’ve thought to myself ~I hope nobody was walking by hearing my child scream like that, they’d probably call the authorities~..... well this is what happens to Gamma when her nosy neighbor Mira calls the authorities, after hearing 10-year-old Rosie screaming at night.....

Rosie quite honestly is every mothers nightmare as well.... I have a daughter who has some sass, but things that came out of Rosie’s mouth and her actions were so cringe worthy.... I seriously wanted to reach into the pages and smack the girl myself, she just was a piece of work that girl!

Mira has some major issues of her own.... The woman is so miserable and she has a husband who brings her champagne and chocolate while she is in the bath....who does this? So miserable Mira with the doting husband takes it upon herself to save bratty Rosie.....

Really felt awful for Gamma she was a good person just trying to be a good mother and just put into such a horrible situation.... she did have a pretty good support system with her husband, her mother and her best friend, but even their faith in her dwindles at times....

My only problem with this book was the ending.... there were some lessons to be learned, because lots of things went sideways because people were lying.... also nobody suffered any consequences in the end from behaving badly.... it was a little too much of a fairytale ending with a slight twist....

I would absolutely recommend this to people who enjoy a good domestic drama filled thriller with well-developed characters....

PS: the blurb..... don’t read the blurb..... it really has nothing to do with the book, and it mentions something that happens well after 60 percent of the book is over.... I often wonder who writes the blurbs for these books? Because this blurb does not fit this book.... and it is a good book that deserves a better blurb!

*** i’d like to thank Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review***

Great character development and a quick, page turning pace made Little Liar a winner for me.
I was grabbed from the beginning and couldn’t wait to find out what happened all the way though.
4 Stars for an amazing debut novel.

Such an accurate and honest account of being a parent as an outsider it’s easy to take the moral high ground but how anyone of us would react and be judged who knows- highly recommended

This is definitely a five star read. Addictive from the start with a satisfying ending. Just couldn't put it down!

The story follows the lives and dynamics of Gemma and her family, with particular struggles stemming from her daughter Rosie. With tempers flying high and lies to conceal, the tension mounts and mounts until one day, one particular lie causes their lives to crash around them.

I found the characters were believable and I connected to the story so much that I had to keep reading. I loved it and would highly recommend it.

Excellent story line and great main characters. I really enjoyed this book. I would recommend.

Brilliant book. Started off high paced and remained that way all through which was great. Loved the writers style of writing. Lies once there out there how can they be taken back. The plot was great, couldn't see how things could be turned around. What would you do if your daughter lied to social work about you hitting her? Poor Gemma faced this hell and rather than getting better things just seem to be spiraling out of control at a race of naughts. It was so true to life it made it all that more scary reading it.

A well written story that kept you on the edge constantly- but at times dragged.

The characters are well developed- but at times hard to understand- even in the end we couldnt quite understand the reasoning behind what happened- The donor egg situation felt un-nessecary and intened to create drama that wasnt needed

A really harrowing read. How situations beyond your control can change your life instantly. Little events that happen in many families are suddenly highlighted and a series of events follow that are devastating. A great read with a wide range of characters. I really didn't know which way this book would end. Many secrets that keep you guessing until the end. A good satisfying read.

This book was brilliant. It had me gripped right from the start and I read long in to the night to finish it.

It's a heartbreaking emotional story about a family who are at breaking point because a mum has a love hate relationship with her daughter Rosie.

Gemma gets investigated for hurting Rosie because of the neighbour next door. This story is really emotional and especially when you find out that Gemma is going to lose everyone she loves, no one believes her.

There is a really nice ending and makes you think can you trust your neighbours. A really nice book with lots of twists and turns just brilliant.

It would have been nice if we could have seen what happened to the charges that were made against Gemma, were they dropped what actually happened but still a really good book.



This book was a nice feel good read.