Liz Nugent strikes again! I didn’t think she could do better than her last book Skin Deep but I actually preferred this one! I very much like the way her books are character driven and this is a not a fast paced thriller, but a psychological story based on two brothers. Most of the characters are horrible! But just so interesting and compelling to read about. As in Unravelling Oliver we see the wicked and ugly side of people as we read through Liz nugent’s masterful story telling, I really enjoyed this book. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the book. Congratulations to the author on a wonderful book.

I really enjoyed the unique spin of this thriller which focuses on the three different brothers perspectives and which zooms in on intimate moments and memories the brothers shared from each of their different perspectives.

This novel follows three brothers: Will, Brian and Luke and the secrets that they share and also hide from one another and how it leads to all of their downfalls. Will the eldest is a professional producer of movies. Brian the middle child is a English teacher that spends some time in Paris working before becoming the family manager. And finally there is Luke the youngest who becomes an Irish pop sensation before eventually winding up washed up.

I previously read Skin Deep by Liz Nugent and loved it and was expecting that dark and brooding vibe that I found so propulsive in her precious thrillers. But this book is much more of a slow read and if I am being honest it was drawn out for a little bit too long. The last third reinforced each brothers deplorable behaviour and resulted in the reader remaining indifferent to the final plot twist which was unfortunate. If that was the purpose from the author I think it was a shame as I have found in previous thrillers dark characters very multifaceted and layered. Which has allowed me to both hate their behaviour but be shocked or sad about their sufferings. In this book I did not feel any connection to the main characters and so found the last third became more of a drag than pleasurable.

This book has some very strong elements to it. I loved the family dramas and the microscopic look this book takes into events and memories. I also enjoyed how this book tied well into its cultural landscape with the references to the #MeToo movement and current affairs. I liked the character development of the brothers and the intensity of our relationship as a reader to their most vulnerable moments.

But I unfortunately think this isn’t the book I was expecting from the blurb and from the author. A good read but not as enjoyable as Skin Deep. However I love this author and will continue to read this authors other books.

Thanks to the author Liz Nugent, Penguin UK and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Once I got my head around the fact that this book is written in the style of an autobiographical family drama, I enjoyed reading it. Even though there was no plot and the whole book was pretty much useless information, the author's skill in making me care about the characters and their outcome was second to none. Every chapter was interesting and each character's nuanced side of the story was woven so expertly in with the others that I could have read a thousand pages of the book and not become bored.
Ultimately, the disappointing fizzle-out of the ending and the silly, pointless reveal at the very end that had no impact on the rest of the book, along with just a little too much focus on SJW tripe landed the rating squarely on 3 stars for me.

I'd read another book by this author because her prose is awesome, but only if I wasn't in the mood for an actual thriller.

I confess I don’t usually read this type of book, which is a family history not really a mystery, so apologies if this review seems a bit naïve. The ‘same’ history is recounted three times by three Irish brothers who have very different personalities. We know from the start that one of the brothers has died because two of them, plus the daughter of one of them, are at the third’s funeral. What we don’t know is which brother is dead and how he met his end, a classic murder (or is it) mystery situation.
Inevitably, the three versions are told in flashback, so it is possible to compare the different memories coloured by personal opinions, which provides an interesting slant and can be challenging when trying to hold a single reality in one’s head. One feature which I didn’t like was the lack of linearity, as the flashbacks leap forward and back in time. You do, however, discover quite a lot about the whole family and its motivations and the final resolution is surprising but sensible.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with an advanced proof copy for the purpose of this review.

An Irish family with 3 sons and we begin at the funeral of one of them. Who is it? Well there’s a bit of a wait to find out. These boys/men were horrible specimens, if they weren’t whining then they were doing mean and nasty things to each other. The only decent, normal character was their father. The constant year changes were a huge distraction and made a messy book even more confusing. Things I enjoyed about it? Sorry, can’t think of anything - not my idea of enjoyment at all. I like dark family dramas but sadly not this one.

Got hooked on this book and finished it in a day. Brilliantly written, complex fascinating characters as always. The ending felt a little flatter than her other books but still an incredible read, highly recommend!

Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent is a very well crafted novel with a focus on a family of complex characters and strained relationships. While I appreciate that the personalities and behaviour of the people involved are intentionally unpleasant, I find it just a bit too much and can’t really enjoy it. I’ve read more than half the book and I’m giving up. I’m sure there will be many who read on and appreciate the book more than I have. My thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read this book.

This book starts at the funeral of one of three brothers. It continues telling the life stories of the brothers in turn. It details their lives and their family from childhood to the present day. You have no idea whch brother is dead and what happened to him until the very end.
As always Liz Nugent has created some very unlikeable characters. However the book still holds your interest. It examines the relationships between the brothers and in particular their relationship with their mother. It is another great read from Liz Nugent!
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for granting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review

The opening few lines of this book had me hooked. One of the three brothers is dead, but which one and what happened to him?
This is a dark family tale of three brothers, their mother and their attempts to get her attention and the death of their father. I did get a bit confused as it skipped time periods so many times.
However, it worked and it was a great read.

This novel is a slight departure from Liz Nugent's usual style and I think I prefer her previous books. That is not to say that this book is not worth reading as it is; the story is engaging and keeps the reader hooked right up until the end.

Like some of her other books, this one included some characters which were difficult to like on the surface but as you progress through the book and the story unfolds you understand why the characters come across in the way which they do.

This book presents a story about dysfunctional family life and there are parts of it which I am sure that everyone can relate to in some way. I would say that it has a slightly slower pace than some of Liz's other books but it tackles many family and social issues which are prominent across all social groups.

I would recommend this book, but it wasn't quite as enjoyable as her previous books.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, but I found it a little slow and more of a domestic drama than a psychological thriller. Plenty of twists and turns, well-written, great characters. Recommended.

I really liked this novel. It has a lot I love in a book - mystery, family drama, multiple point of views, and spanning multiple decades.

We start off at a funeral, knowing that one of three brothers is dead. We get three non-linear entries, one from each brother, about their life up until a year or two before the funeral. We then get shorter entries from each brother up to the death of one. I really enjoyed the way this was written, as we see the major moments from each brother's point of view - all of which differ slightly. Trying to figure out who I thought was dead and who I wanted dead was In reality, I accepted who was going to be dead before we saw it play out and was still eager to find out how it happened.

It was definitely more of a family drama than Nugent's previous psychological thrillers. That clearly didn't put me off, but I can see how it could disappoint some.

I enjoyed this, it was a little different from the author’s usual thrillers, it was more a family drama book..

Many thanks to netgalley and Liz Nugent for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

The premise of this book is so intriguing – three brothers who have a complex relationship and now one of them is dead, but which one? The novel is told in three parts – each told from a different brother’s point of view and I loved this. It was fascinating to go back and forth in time in each perspective and see all the little cruelties (sometimes real and sometimes perceived) done, and then to see another brother’s different take on what happened. It really built up such a vivid picture of sibling relationships and the pressures put on each of them. This is a slow-burn book but it’s gripping and it keeps you turning the pages. I love that it was impossible to work out who was dead and which brother had killed him, and I don’t even know how Liz Nugent managed to do that. I’m in awe though! This was such a good read and I definitely recommend it!

When I read the premise for OUR LITTLE CRUELTIES by Liz Nugent, I am not sure what I was expecting. A dark domestic thriller? Yes. Some family drama? For sure. Endless droning and enough timeline switches to make my head spin? Er, not exactly. But that is what I got.

The story centres around three brothers - Will, Brian and Luke Drumm. None of them like each other and all of them had plenty of angst towards one or the other or all of them that it made for tiring reading. Opening with a funeral of one of the brothers, we aren't privy as to which one it is until the end. It goes through the motions where we wonder if it will be this one or that one or the other one?

Honestly, there was nothing to like about any of them. They were horrible unlikeable and wickedly entitled. The three brothers did terribly nasty things to each other, I'm surprised they didn't end up killing each other!

Added to their dysfunctional world was a mother who us a self-obsessed fan of herself and her faded career. She has no idea who to be a mother or parent these three boys and basically shines in her own shadow. Their father is practically non-descript, I couldn't say much about him - he didn't appear to have a voice. And then there is the Catholic culture in which they grow up - Mass, communion, confession and the threat of fire and brimstone at the commission of any mortal sin. No wonder Luke had mental health issues! I can still see him screaming at his first communion - a key scene, I might add, that denotes the beginning of his mental health decline. The other two brothers are just nasty.

OUR LITTLE CRUELTIES is told, in turn, by each of the brothers as they are given a third of the book to tell their story. What I didn't like was the constant jumping around of the timeline. I mean, I love thrillers and stories that are told through different timelines, but this was on a whole other scale! We go from 1994 to 1985 to 1882 to 1978 to 1999 to 1983 and so forth until the present day. Honestly, it was enough to make my head spin and thoroughly confuse me.

I couldn't keep up and in the end, I didn't want to. I didn't care enough about the characters to care what happened to them in the end. I ended up skimming the rest of the story to get to the end and find out which brother died because I honestly didn't care about all the bollocks in between.

I will say that end the Epilogue was a nice touch though. It kind of gave it a spooky feel. Maybe in a supernatural way or maybe in a psychosomatic way. But it was enough to give the reader chills.

However, that clever little ending wasn't enough to save the book in my opinion. I just couldn't connect with the characters and didn't care about them in any way. I just wanted to be rid of them and their crap.

If you want to read this drama of dysfunction be my guest, but OUR LITTLE CRUELTIES just didn't do it for me.

I would like to thank #LizNugent, #NetGalley and #PenguinUK for an ARC of #OurLittleCruelties in exchange for an honest review.

I was granted access to this title by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This character driven, dark and twisty suspense thriller was ace! The story follows three brothers, each competing for their unevenly weighted mothers affection, and after years of betrayal, fighting and social climbing, one of them is now dead and the hands of one of his brothers.

The story was really well crafted, as I've come to expect from Liz Nugent, the many PoV's as well as shifting chronology could well have ended up as a disaster in the hands of a lesser writer but she weaves something sharp and suspenseful together with incredible skill.

I was fully engaged in this book. Liz Nugent didn’t disappoint in ripping my heart out and thoroughly depressing me. She writes truthfully about how sometimes life can just be awful, but she does it in a compelling and entertaining way.

Gritty, gruesome, awful family drama. I agree with other reviews that this is more a family drama than a psychological thriller. The brothers' narratives did seem to be somewhat repetitive at times and I really didn't care what happened to them... I would happily read more from this author as I love the way she writes. This subject matter just wasn't for me and I ended up scanning rather than devouring the story.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

” Three brothers are at the funeral. One lies in the coffin” “

The opening line of the novel is enough to grab your attention and it manages to hold your attention till the end. First thing first, though classified as a mystery thriller, Our Little Cruelties is more of a family drama. The main mystery is the identity of the dead brother but it’s not critical to the main story. This is a dark, disturbing story of a dysfunctional family of three brothers Will, Brian, and Luke, and their twisted relationship with their mother and with each other, starting from their childhood through to the rest of their lives.

Will, Brian, and Luke grow up in a dysfunctional family. Of all the dysfunctional families I have read over the years, this has to be the worst of the lot. Will, the eldest and most successful brother, Brian, the middle child who is a perennial loser and Luke, the youngest, who has probably the most exciting life journey of all, is more of rivals and competitors than brothers. As they grow up and go ahead in their different careers, the 3 brothers often find themselves, crossing each other’s paths, always with disastrous results.

The story is narrated by the three Drumm brothers, told from their individual perspectives. Covering one brother’s story at a time, their stories move forward and back again in a random manner. The author skillfully manages to keep the narrative running smoothly as keeping track of individual events may prove tough. The story tracks their bitter relationship full of betrayals, adultery, rivalries, and full-blown rivalry towards each other. Though disturbing at times, I found the Drumm’s family history immensely readable.

Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent is a dark story full of cruel individuals, doing despicable things to each other. So, it’s not a surprise that none of the characters are likable but Liz Nugent has kept the readers engaged despite the characters. The narrative is engaging and you keep reading on. There are shades of dark humor, probably to lighten the mood. The alternating point of view makes the story more unpredictable.

The stories of brothers often overlap and feel repetitive; especially when each brother’s story starts right from the beginning. As none of the characters are likable, you tend to not care about them over time, and that includes the final reveal. The final third act feels unnecessarily stretched with a lukewarm ending.

Overall, Our Little Cruelties is more of a family drama than a psychological thriller. If you enjoy dark & twisted family dramas, you will enjoy this one.

Many thanks to the publishers' Penguin Ireland and Netgalley for the ARC.

Competitive brothers, rivalry, betrayal and constant expectation that something bad is going to happen.

Gripping and dark.