Thank you to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review. I seem to have a long-standing issue of finding books I believe to be thrillers only for them to be family dramas - it’s hard for me to gauge whether this misconception impacts my opinion of the book a large amount or only a little. Our Little Cruelties is one hundred percent a family drama and while I enjoyed the sheer dysfunction of the Drumm family, I couldn’t stand any of the characters. While I don’t think they’re supposed to be likeable, it just left me with zero investment in what was going to happen and with such a slow narrative I was really just waiting to get to the end. Not bad in the family chaos department, but the rest was sorely lacking for me.

What a mixed up, dysfunctional family. I felt very uncomfortable in their company. The format of the book was good meaning you got to see the story from the point of view of all three brothers. At the beginning two brothers are at the funeral of the third, but which one is dead, and what role did his brothers play is the question on my mind as I read. Normally you empathise with the character telling the story, but as I read Will's story I cold only see how selfish and awful he was. Then reading Brian's viewpoint I went off him even more. Luke, I felt sympathy for - why on earth was his mum so hard on him? That would damage any child. A fascinating read. #netgalley #ourlittlecruelties

What an opener to a book - three brothers at the funeral but one was in the coffin !! Which brother has died and who is responsible ?

Will, Brian and Luke Drumm are brothers but their relationship is very strained. They compete for their mother’s love but even she doesn’t seem to love them equally, if at all sometimes !! Their Father used to bring them together and was a caring loving man but he died when they were young so it’s now just them and their cold Mother.

The story covers each of the brothers individually, so we can see how their lives were moulded by certain events that happened both in their childhood and adulthood. Each brother sees events differently and there is so much hate and resentment between them.

This is a great family driven psychological drama. I have to admit that I went through disliking a character and then loving them and then disliking them again. You will see events from various perspectives and see a whole new side to a character. A real must read !!

Thank you to Penguin Books (UK) and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

EXCERPT: All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral, although one of us was in the coffin.

Three is an odd number so there had always been two against one, although we all switched sides regularly. Nobody would ever describe us as close.

As the service began, I became tearful. Without ever realising it, I had inherited my mother's acting abilities. My living brother and I stood, side by side, at the top of the crematorium while people lied to us about what a brilliant man our brother had been, all the usual meaningless cliches.

His death was sudden. Horrific. The investigation was quick and conclusive. I was not a suspect. I had a sense of freedom and relief I hadn't felt in quite a while. I didn't expect that this air of serenity would last. But I thought I would enjoy it while it did.

My surviving brother was unreadable to me. Maybe he was thinking of our brother's smashed and broken body. Still, even he must have known that this outcome was all for the best.

Daisy sat in the pew behind us. She seemed not only to be aware of her surroundings, fidgeting and whispering to herself. I caught my brother's eye as her babbling became audible and people began to notice. He reached out and asked her to join us. That reaching out of his hand made me shudder momentarily. She seemed to return to reality and moved to stand between us without any argument. We both attempted to put a proprietal arm around her, but she shrugged us off. We brothers looked at each other. The old rivalry resurfaced.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: Three brothers are at the funeral. One lies in the coffin.

Will, Brian and Luke grow up competing for their mother's unequal love. As men, the competition continues - for status, money, fame, women ...

They each betray each other, over and over, until one of them is dead.

But which brother killed him?

MY THOUGHTS: There is a passage in this book that says '...here I was, a millionaire with a hot young girlfriend, the most successful Irish film producer of all time with every material possession one could want within my grasp, crying and whining like a child.' that, for me, sums up what I managed to read of this book. I dnfed at 42%, unable to stand the infantile rivalry and whining any longer.

If I had wanted to listen to three grown men bitch, whine, play oneupmanship and fight, I would have invited my own three brothers to visit.

None of the characters are at all likeable. And the plot was slow and, sorry to say this, boring. The story is told from the pov of William (hates to be called Willy), the eldest brother and one of the most narcissistic characters I have encountered in a long time. The thing that really annoyed me was the constant chopping and changing, with no apparent logic, between timelines.

I know I am alone in my one star rating, but I honestly could not bear to read one more word.

Reading is a personal and subjective experience, and what appeals to one may not please another. So if you enjoyed the excerpt from Our Little Cruelties, and the plot outline appeals, please do go ahead and read it.

😴

#OurLittleCruelties #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Liz Nugent worked as a stage manager in theatres in Ireland and toured internationally before writing extensively for radio and television drama.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Penguin Books UK for providing a digital ARC of Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

There are few authors that I actually count down the days until their books are published, but Liz Nugent is on that list – she writes amazing, gripping fiction, which draws you in, and makes you stay up until the middle of the night turning the pages so fast you run the risk of spraining your wrist!

Our Little Cruelties is about of three brothers, with one story, but three different sides to it.

The book starts with a funeral, but we don’t who is in the coffin, only that one of the brothers is responsible for the death of another.

The story looks at the relationships of the brothers, how they may believe that they are there for each other, caring and seeing each other through dark times, when in fact they are stabbing each other in the back.

You won’t like many of the characters in the book, but then you’re not meant to! Luke, Will and Brian all have their issues but instead of turning to each other for support, they turn against each other.

I haven’t read a Liz Nugent book I haven’t loved and this one is no exception.

Wow, what a read. Written from the perspective of each of the 3 bothers in turn, it tells the story by going backwards & forwards in time.
What a dysfunctional family! Such nasty brothers, such a messed up family.
Thanks to Netgalley for this one.

I'm feeling almost speechless because of this book! You can't choose your family and don't the Drumm family know it!

Our Little Cruelties opens with the funeral of one of the brothers but we don't know which one. One of the brothers is narrating but again, we don't know which one. As we follow the lives of each of the men in turn; William, Luke and then Brian, you start to try and guess which brother is dead and which was narrating in the beginning.

A lifetime of little cruelties they endure from their mother and from each other provide a scandalous read of sibling rivalry, lust, love, fame and betrayal.

Cleverly written by Liz Nugent with the key events of the brothers' lives linked together through their own perspectives and reasoning, you start to understand why each of the men are the way they are. None of the brothers are likeable; for a while I struggled to figure out which brother I disliked the least!

I was kept guessing all the way through Our Little Cruelties, trying to guess who was dead and who was guilty. Even at 90% complete I still had no idea how the book would end. Liz Nugent throws the reader off course every time with scandals and shocks that give each of the brothers their own reasons to feel guilty over their siblings or put them on paths that could ultimately lead them to their deaths.

Brilliantly well written, scandalous and shocking, my mouth dropped a number of times while reading Our Little Cruelties. My review feels like it doesn't really do justice to this brilliant book but I would highly recommend!

I am now adding all of Liz Nugent's books to my TBR!

Thank you to NetGalley, Liz Nugent and Penguin Books (UK) for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book took me a little while to,get into but once I did, could not put down.
The Drumm brothers lived in a very disfunctional family.
Their mother lived for the spotlight and as the boys grew up they thought their mother loved the spotlight better than them.
Luke the youngest son thought he was unloved and had a very unhappy childhood.
His father looked after him more than his mother and forever fought with his older brothers.
Luke and William had a different life to Luke as he was always treated as the underdog, and as the boys grew up,life lot very different for all three of them.
Thanks net galley for allowing me to read an early release of this great book, loved it and feel i would like to read it all over again at a later time.

“All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral, although one of us was in a coffin.” With this intriguing opening line, Liz Nugent draws us in to her new novel, Our Little Cruelties, and then teases us until almost the end of the book as to which of the three, Will, Brian or Luke, had died.

The book is aptly named! The story revolves around the Drumm family. Talk about dysfunctional! Melissa and her three sons are all, despicable characters – utterly selfish and happy to use each other mercilessly, breaking each other (and their families) down willy nilly. There’s scarcely a redeeming feature among them to the extent I did a kind of double-take whenever one of them did something remotely resembling kindness. This book is definitely not for you if you like your characters to be likeable. “Mum” is cold, uncaring and absolutely ruthless in her unkindness at times, characteristics passed on to her oldest son. She’s particularly psychologically abusive to her youngest son, who battles the consequences his whole life. “Dad” seems lovely, but useless, and then dies when the children are teenagers.

The story goes back and forth between key events in the lives of the brothers in such a way that keeps it very readable and never confusing, even though there is no chronological logic to the order of the chapters.

As she did in her previous book, Skin Deep, Liz Nugent has shown how well she can write about deeply unlikeable people.

Three Drumm brothers, diverse personalities, all larger than life, one is now dead. Chapter by chapter we linger on memorable episodes in their lives each from an individual perspective. Gradually we see a picture of a troubled mother struggling to survive during difficult times and the damage done to the minds of young siblings as they vie for attention and position in family hierarchy under the auspices of what would now be perceived as abuse. Love, jealousy, point scoring and competitiveness form the shape of endless childhood days remembered under the cloud of an unnamed brothers funeral. The development of this story allows the reader to learn all aspects of these brothers, their strengths and weakness , rivalry and family loyalty often disloyalty to the point where every facet of their personality and life becomes intrinsic with our involvement in the plot. A cracking read from start to finish. A well constructed story with a shocking conclusion that lingers in the subconscious long after the book is finished. A five star read that cannot be recommended too highly. Finishing this book left be bereft as if losing a part of a much loved family. Unmissable on every level.

This psychological thriller by Liz Nugent features the dysfunctional Drumm family, comprising selfish Melissa Craig and her sons, William, Brian and Luke. The story opens with the funeral of one of the brothers, though whose funeral it is remains under wraps at this point however, there is an implication that one of the other siblings is responsible for the death. In an unsystematic narrative, the brothers' perspectives on events in their lives are aired, culminating in a shocking finale that eventually reveals which one of them dies.

In Our Little Cruelties , Liz Nugent displays remarkable character development skills whether or not you love or loathe the main players. Self-absorbed, minor celebrity mother, Melissa favours her eldest son, film producer William, an entitled, chauvinistic, and unpleasant guy. She is indifferent to the mean and money-oriented Brian, and is cruelest of all to her youngest, the fragile pop star Luke, ensuring that his mental health issues haunt him throughout his entire life. Right from the start, it's obvious that things are headed towards a catastrophe, and Our Little Cruelties certainly didn't disappoint in that regard.

Viewing the same events from alternative perspectives afforded me greater insights as the lengths to which these brothers go to are gradually uncovered. The finale, when it comes, is devastating yet predestined. Don't miss out on this tremendous jaw-dropper!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel at my request from Penguin UK via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Nobody writes dysfunctional families and maladjusted personalities better than Liz Nugent. She has the capacity to understand what makes people cruel and unforgiving and to really flesh those characters out. It’s as if she crawled inside their heads then slowly pushed out the festering pus she found there until it spilled onto the pages of her manuscript.

This book is about the Drumm family, pretty well to do Dubliners. There are three brothers, William, Brian and Luke and their mother, Melissa, an ageing showband singer. The book opens with a funeral. One of the brothers is in a coffin, though we don’t know which one. As we read, we will find ourselves changing our minds about which one we hope it is.

The story is told from the perspective of each of the brothers. The narrative moves back and forwards in time to offer up reminiscences, and a completely compelling and quite horrifying look at three young men who grew up competing for their mother’s love; something that was in ever diminishing supply.

This is sibling rivalry taken to extremes. Not one of the brothers seems capable of empathy. Will is the first born and feels entitled. Dominant, not unattractive, he will forge his way into a successful career as a film-maker.

Brian is the middle son and has something of an inferiority complex and a bit of a hang up over his crooked nose. He goes into teaching but scuppers that career and ends up as a talent manager. Maging the career of his youngest brother, Luke, a pop star.

As the youngest, Luke battled in vain for his mother’s love and has always been a physically fragile waif as well as having a damaged psyche.

Melissa is self –absorbed and plays favourites without concern for the consequences. Will takes Brian’s would-be girlfriend, seduces and marries her, never for a moment considering how Brian might feel about this. Brian becomes godfather to their daughter, Daisy.

Luke craves his mother’s love but constantly rejected, he first turns, somewhat maniacally, to the Church and then substituting that obsession for the more normal addictions of drugs and alcohol. Somewhat stumbling into a pop career, he weaves in and out of addiction and lets himself be taken advantage of by all and sundry, but especially by his brothers.

Liz Nugent crafts each of these characters very carefully and by allocating the narrative to each of the brothers what we get is a deeply partial, three sided account of a number of life changing incidents where the reader is left to extrapolate exactly what has occurred.

But goodness me these characters are toxic. Full of self-importance and without a hint of self-awareness. William is a cheating, sexist bully. Brian is a mean and spiteful thief and Luke is a fragile ego with a weak mind and a pale, skinny body.

There is no sense of a family together here. Rather each knows the weaknesses of the other and they pinch, poke and prod at those weaknesses trying to get their victims to react.

This is very powerful writing and Liz Nugent builds up the picture in such a way that the reader is fascinated and horrified simultaneously, watching, like a fly on the wall as these men torture and torment each other in the name of family.

And the ending…..OMG that ending. Just thanking my lucky stars I was never caught in an isolation lockdown with these guys!

Verdict: Liz Nugent is an extraordinary writer at the top of her game. This is a propulsive, transfixing portrait of a family that should be on everyone’s must have list.

What a great story . It starts with the funeral of one of the three brothers but right until the end the reader does not discover which brother was murdered nor who murdered him.
The upbringing of the boys, especially where their selfish, self centred mother was concerned certainly shaped their future characters. None of the brothers are remotely likeable and they all seem to have caused problems throughout their lives. They were to say the least very shallow. I felt a lot of pity for all those that had come into contact with any of the brothers as they were not treated very well at all.
The brothers were despicable and Liz Nugent has captured their individual characters so well. These are very much alive people
I look forward to reading other books by this superb author.

There are not many authors that have me straying out of my comfort zones when it comes to reading, those being historical fiction or the lighter end of women's fiction, but Liz Nugent is one such author which I will always do this for. She is an incredibly talented writer who just gets better and better with each book. She creates such evil and dysfunctional characters that at times you start to like them but deep down you know you shouldn't but then with a turn of a page all that vanishes and you find yourself disliking them intensely for their abhorrent behaviour. Every new book that Liz Nugent publishes always causes a stir and everyone wants to get their hands on a copy as soon as possible.

Our Little Cruelties, Liz's fourth book, has had such buzz around it since the end of 2019. I saw people talking about it on social media and was so envious that they already had a copy so when I got the chance to grab an early copy I jumped at it and I wasn't in the least bit disappointed as once again Liz has created another masterpiece that only cements her status as an Irish author of a very high calibre. One who writes such gripping page turners with the most devious of characters at the centre.

I mean how does she come up with such twisted and unpleasant characters and get inside their heads so well? Not to mention the plots which leave you rapidly turning the pages eager to know what will happen in the end. With Liz Nugent you never know how things are going to pan out. You may think you are clever and have things sussed out but then you are always left surprised and shocked in equal measure when you reach the final few chapters. Again Our Little Cruelties is no different, that ending will leave you open mouthed and as for her opening lines they surely will go down in literary history as being some of the best around in terms of grabbing your attention and making you sit up and take notice.

'All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral although one of us was in a coffin'. That line certainly made me sit up and take notice because with a few simple words it says so much. Which brother is it and what happened because knowing Liz Nugent this wasn't going to be your run of the mill death. None of the Drumm brothers were especially close, it was always two against one and they switched sides regularly. Funny that was said because that was how I found myself throughout the novel, switching from side to side as to which brother I thought had some semblance of normality or believing one brother over another depending on who I was reading about. Even my thoughts as to which brother was lying in the coffin changed regularly.

The story is split into three distinct voices – William, Luke and Brian. Over the course of the book we get to hear from each of them and this was such a brilliant way of really getting to know the three individually and what their different take on various situations were. Sometimes there was repetition in that one brother may have spoken about an event and then further on a different brother would recall it. In the hands of anyone else this wouldn't have worked and the fact also we move back and forth in years in each brothers section would often confuse me. But Liz Nugent is so adept at chopping, changing and stirring things up that I felt like I was in the hands of a master and everything flowed so well as each character and every scene was so carefully crafted and plotted.

It was clear from fairly on that this wasn't your average family unit. Even from their childhood which seemed fairly innocuous each brother had their own issues and grudges. They judge each other and the way their mother and father parent them. As they grow older and from reading further on into the book, it's evident they have no redeeming qualities. It was each to their own, with them either trying to outdo or shaft each other. They seemed to have chips on their shoulders and there was no unity or strong family bonds. Compassion and sentiment were definitely lacking. Family squabbles led to resentment, sibling rivalries, jealousy and adultery. Liz certainly threw everything at them and I thoroughly enjoyed that these men were made to squirm when shocking truths were revealed. I found myself very quick to form judgements on each one because I really believed what ever brother I was reading about was saying. I was taking it as gospel but then a different brother would show another perspective on the same situation with a totally different viewpoint or he would recall well that actually that event didn't occur that way.

For me compassion started to creep in in relation to Luke, the baby of the family and perhaps the most messed up. He shows his inner self on his sleeve and his path of destruction ebbs and flows just like his career does. He was vulnerable and in need of help as he spirals into addiction and depression. But I felt like Brian and William just let him off as they were too absorbed in their own problems and again it showed how self centred they both where that family didn't really mean that much to them. Luke was ill and despite his success as a singer it only brought more pain and devastation into his life. Brian and William ignored the fact that Luke was silently crying out for help and instead of offering aid and support the words taking advantage spring to mind. Agitation, anxiety and self destruction sum up Luke and even from chapters told from the point of view of his early childhood it all stemmed from there and some of the things he did and thought were totally off the wall which led to him being flawed and damaged as he became an adult.

William was the first brother we heard so maybe I was really stuck on his opinions and views of everything but then as I said that changed. His dream is to be a successful producer in film and to this end I think he sacrificed his family unit with Susan and young daughter Daisy. Things you thought he would learn to rectify from his own childhood never seemed to happen. It's like none of the characters ever learned a lesson because they were so self centred and self absorbed. So caught up in their own trivialities which manifested themselves into larger amounts of hatred and anger. There was a distinct lack of trust and soon deceit, blackmail and betrayal came into play.

As for Brian, initially I thought perhaps he is the most sane of the three, the one with a bit of common sense and who at some points tried to help Luke. But it soon becomes clear as we reach his section of the book that he is just as bad as the other two. Some of the reveals regarding Brian left me very surprised as he had put on such a good front. But deep down he was dark and brutal like William and Luke and these dark shadows haunting all three could only inevitably led to further lies, hypocrisy and unpredictable events and ultimately resulting in the death of one of the brothers. But which one and why?

Our Little Cruelties lived up to every one of the expectations I had for it and even went way beyond them. I thoroughly enjoyed how everything came together as it was so expertly paced and plotted. It has all the hallmarks of a best seller written all over it but sure every book that Liz has written has had these traits in spades. It has such divisive, unreliable, vile, vicious and hateful characters that will leave you up in arms. You'll want to know what makes each of them tick and what exactly are the roots of their issues? The ending alone makes this is a five star read. An edge of your seat finale which was very twisty and clever. I hope Liz Nugent is already hard at work on her next book because truly I would be happy just to continuously read more and more from this magnificent author.

Three brothers ... only one is in a coffin. You won't know who or why until the very end of this character driven psychological family drama.

The Drumm family are totally dysfunctional. Mom is a small time celebrity of sorts and feels she deserves more. She really has never been much of a mother and even doesn't want anything to do with the first grandchild. After all, according to her, she has borne 3 sons ..she's done.

The husband is almost a shadow. He's been beaten down by life ... and his wife's extramarital excursions.

The story line jumps back and forth through time to see the things that have shaped the men they have become. They are each damaged in their own way. They've grown up never feeling loved, they are all self centered and hugely jealous of the other brothers. Each of them tell their stories ....

Until one of them dies - but which one? And which brother is the murderer?

This is well written with deftly drawn characters. None are really likeable .. it's like watching a train wreck in action ... you just can't stop looking. Although not highly suspenseful, it is a murder mystery with only the conclusion bearing witness to the crime.

Many thanks to the author / Penguin Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this riveting tale. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I love Liz Nugent’s books. Her style of writing is just wonderful, her characters draw you into the book and hook you deep to her superb plot and make you read every single gripping word.
Our Little Cruelties opens with the line ‘All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral, although one of us was in the coffin.’ This intriguing line had me hooked immediately. Will, Brian and Luke, the three Drumm brothers, do not a perfect sibling relationship. The story is told from each of their viewpoints and is told so very well. Each of them have their flaws as we discover over the course of the book.
Which brother is in the coffin? How did he get there? Why do the brothers have such a poor relationship?
Such a wonderful book, I highly recommend this.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story is about the Drumm family and their dysfunctional life.

It's a psychological thriller and it has all the right things to make it a good read.

Weirdness, thrilling and chilling this will keep you on the edge if your seat and leave you wanting more after its finished.

This is a stoeynabout three brothers Will, Brain and Luke Drumm. We learn of the relationships that they had with their mother who had been in showbusiness. The story opens with the funeral of one of the brothers, we just don't know which one yet. We don't find out until the end who it was.

The story is told, in turn, by each of the brothers perspectives. They are each given a third of the book to tell their part. The timeline also jumps back and forth so that we learn about different stages in their lives. Neither of the brothers were likable, infact I wasnt keen on their mother either. This is a well written story about a dysfunctional family. In my opinion, this is the authors best book so far.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Penguin Books (UK) and the author Liz Nugent for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Our Little Cruelties is Ms Nugent’s fourth psychological thriller and having read her preceding three, which I enjoyed, I must admit this, for me, was a considerable step up in terms of quality compared to the rest. The plot revolves around three brothers William, Brian and Like who have been at loggerheads most if their lives the catalyst for which was their mother favouring one more than the others. It really is one of the stupidest and most short-sighted/myopic things you can do as a parent as it can end up exactly where this book does: with tragedy. Their mother Melissa Craig is a narcissist through and through hence the poor decisions she makes regarding others as she only truly cares about herself and is completely lacking in empathy and consideration of other people's feelings. Right from the start, you can tell it's very clearly heading to a catastrophe and it didn't disappoint in that department.

The plot centres around one of the most dysfunctional family units I have had the (dis)pleasure of reading about of late; I can guarantee you haven’t ever read about such a dreadful domestic situation as we are presented with here. I thanked the lord that they were merely fictional, to be honest. The plot identifies how a seemingly inconsequential decision can massively impact the lives of others. There are so many similar domestic dramas with almost identical blurbs that it’s difficult to pick out the ones that do it best but I felt I could rely on Nugent’s exceptional form and she proved me right. This is such a compulsive, addictive and twisted page-turner. Nugent spins a compelling and intriguing yarn with a deliciously dark and sinister atmosphere that begins almost immediately and continues right until the frankly shocking conclusion. Many thanks to Penguin Ireland for an ARC.

Our little cruelties by Liz Nugent was a deeply unsettling read. Let me start by saying it’s a great read if you are ready for a twisted and extremely unpleasant storyline. Hateful characters (without exception really!) William probably takes the prize for the main manipulative, bullying creep but Brian brings his own brand of despicable self-centredness to the mix. Luke never really stood a chance! The storyline is interesting with emotional neglect and sibling rivalry to the nth degree. Dysfunctional and exploitative throughout with some truly shocking glimpses into human cruelty, jealousy and vindictive behaviour. To be fair this was a well written book, obviously with very well developed characters since I feel such antipathy towards them, but a book nonetheless which I’m glad I’ve finished - now to try to find something a bit more positive and uplifting in the midst of the current world Covid-19 pandemic! This was a bit too dark for my taste.