Fast paced drama/mystery. I read this very quickly. The author has created relatable characters, and each one has a complicated past. Just when I thought I had the story figured out, there was a new twist!

How far would you go to help a friend? This is the dilemma Liz is facing with her friend Jess. In Liz's eyes, Jess is the perfect mother while Liz feels like she's trying to hold it all together what with being a mom and an emergency room doctor. There's always the guilt when Liz is away and she feels subpar sometimes with Jess. However, one night, Jess brings her baby, Betsey into the ER when Liz is working. Betsey has been sick during the evening but Liz notices an injury to the back of Betsey's head. Jess claims that Betsey fell when Jess wasn't looking but Liz has a bad feeling. Could her friend have done something to her baby? Could Jess' husband?

This is a book about really not knowing what someone is going through and the lengths people will go to get what they want and to protect what they love. it's also a book about paying attention and reaching out to those in need when they are in trouble.

I really enjoyed this book. It caught me off guard in a few places and that's hard to do in this day and age. I was invested in what happened and in the characters. This was my first Sarah Vaughan book but it won't be my last. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher. More reviews posted online at publication date.

This book kept me reading late into the night but now that I’ve finished it, I’m only giving it 3 stars. I found myself thinking how it was dragging along for chapters on in and I would start skimming pages. So with that said, just ok for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

This wasn’t as mystery/thriller as I thought it would be but it did keep me guessing. I definitely did not predict that twist! I thought it gave a good picture of postpartum depression but may be too much for some people.

I really enjoyed this book and will be looking for more from Sarah Vaughan. The subject of post partum depression may not be for everyone, and given the implications of potentially harming a child, it is certainly a difficult topic to wrap your head around, but I thought the author did an excellent job in laying it out. The story itself moved along, and time shifts were handled well. The twist at the end was certainly a surprise and I loved that. I also think that the book is very appropriate for these uncertain times when we do need to be looking after our neighbors and friends and truly listening for someone struggling who isn't quite sure how to reach out.

A dark depiction of the complexities of motherhood that ratchets up the suspense towards the end.

I almost didn't finish this book - parts of it were very dark. Despite Jess' attempts to keep everything together, it's clear she's dealing with extreme postpartum depression. I appreciated Vaughan's unflinching depiction of Jess' situation, despite this material being very hard to read. Even though I don't have kids, it was easy to empathize with Jess, Liz, and the other mothers.

This is a slow burn, character-driven book that turns into a thriller towards the end - I definitely gasped at the big reveal. There is certainly more to this book than meets the eye.

Thank you to Atria Books for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was less of a mystery/thriller than I thought it would be, but it was well written and a good exploration of postpartum depression, I found it a little slow, but overall I enjoyed it.

Well written story. Kept me engaged the entire time. A page turner for sure! Looking forward to reading more books by this author!

Little Disasters
A Novel
by Sarah Vaughan
Atria Books
Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 18 Aug 2020 | Archive Date 18 Aug 2020

Excellent, well written, and thoughtfully put together book. Will speak to the heart of many a reader.
Thanks to Net Galley and Atria Books for a wonderful mystery/thriller.
5 star

I loved this book. The story was absolutely gripping and touched on Postpartum Depression which is something that needs to be more talked about. I really enjoyed the characters and the twist made the conclusion of this book so good! It's definitely a must read!

I thought this book was well written. I enjoyed the overall story but I think more could of been added to make it mysterious or other aspects could’ve been committed other than the head injury of Child.

Very good story, though heartbreaking at times, . Lots of twists and turns, and interesting ending.

This was certainly a gripping book, being childless myself I thought I might fail to empathise with the characters but it definitely drew you in. The book centred on the doctor's struggle to maintain professional detachment from her own personal feelings and loyalties both to her friend and also the memories that it invoked for her from her own childhood. The resulting stories were very skilfully intertwined and made for an enjoyable thought provoking read. The only reason that I gave this 4 stars, is that whilst I felt that the female characters were well drawn, the male ones were mere shadows.

Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review

Very well written and thought provoking story of friendship and parenting paired with moral and legal obligations. I story that brings light to the difficulty that can come with new parenting and need for more support in those systems. The book is a sad reminder of how quickly things can go to “disaster” and still remind us how easy it is to judge when we are not in the situation ourselves. While not an easy topic, it is a very addictive read. Very well put together.

This book tells the story of four friends - but really revolves around Liz and Jess. Liz is a doctor and Jess is a stay-at-home mom of 3. Liz is working one night when Jess brings her infant daughter, Betsey, in because she just won't stop crying. Betsey is diagnosed with a skull fracture and admitted to the hospital. Social services is called in and the police investigate. Jess is insistent Betsey fell from trying to pull herself up. Jess does not (cannot) tell anyone that she imagines ways that Betsey could be harmed, even by Jess's own doing.

As the story progresses, we learn that Liz had a baby sister that died from SIDS. Liz had a troubled childhood and her mom was not very attentive, including when Liz's brother, Mattie, was severely burned and needed multiple surgeries.

A page turner which kept me intrigued throughout. The story focuses on a mother feeling under extreme pressure parenting her 3 children. With a husband who works long hours and friends who seemingly manage well she struggles with the intense feelings of trying to parent and keep her children safe. Her youngest has an accident which results in a serious injury turning her world upside down. A Compelling g read

Nancy @ nancysbooknook.com

Of the four mothers who met and bonded during prenatal classes ten years ago, Jess has seemed to Liz to be the most perfect mother, although to be fair she’s the only one of them who stays home full-time to parent. Nonetheless, Jess is invariably composed and relaxed with her (now three) children, even with Frankie whose behavioral issues are an obvious challenge. Corporate lawyer Charlotte returned to work when her little one was three months old and seems to view motherhood as more an inconvenience than a commitment. And Mel has more problems with her husband than her children.

Given what she knows of Jess, Liz is stunned when her eleven week-old Betsey is admitted to the hospital where Liz is a doctor, and further shocked when Betsey isn’t suffering from a cold or stomach upset, but instead has an injury serious enough that they are mandated to report it. Jess’s explanation rings false, even to Liz, and the police are convinced that Jess has harmed her baby.

As Betsey’s condition worsens, Liz wrestles with memories of her own abusive mother, unable to imagine Jess as evil.

Although a little melodramatic, Little Disasters is definitely a riveting read! My appreciation to both Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Little Disasters, for me, was kind of a big disaster. What starts as a well-written narrative account of several women’s journey into motherhood quickly devolves into a tale where it is clear that nothing we know about Jess is true.

Praised as an attentive, loving stay-at-home mother, Jess is blessed with a third child, a girl, who seems to have thrown her over some sort of parenting edge. Her husband’s not around enough. She’s drinking. Doesn’t bond with the new addition. She’s researching things like, “Why do I want to hurt my baby?” in the context of a severe head trauma that her infant daughter has sustained during a painfully-slow-to-unfold mystery that really isn’t all that shocking.

Liz, Jess’s friend from her early prenatal class days and a local hospital physician, tries to step back from caring for her friend’s injured daughter, but she’s peripherally involved, listing all the warning signs she can think of since even before Jess’s most recent pregnancy. Should she have known her friend was capable of harming her child? What is her obligation to tell the authorities what she knows? For her part, Liz is not a particularly loyal friend, and here’s the rub with this book: not a single likable character.

Cheating husbands, back-stabbing friends, terrible and irresponsible parents… these folks are all awful. I hadn’t realized until recently the importance of writing characters readers want to ride along with, but I can’t unknow that now and am glad to be done with this cast. I stuck out a book I would have otherwise shelved, because it’s a muddy mess. The part with Liz’s mother was a bridge too far for me and added nothing to the story that ended up so mundane that I can’t really find merit in having read it. Too many points of view. Too much internal monologue. Too little actual action and/or mystery. Also, if someone could search and destroy the term “cack-handedly” throughout the book before it’s printed, you’ll be doing this author a favor.

Overall, a slow and unenjoyable read that made me feel kind of miserable and bored. A shame, really, because the author shows a lot of writing promise. Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the ARC of Little Disasters.

I wanted to love this one - I am always in the mood for a good thriller. But for some reason it just didn't grip me like I wanted for it to. I have high hopes for the author's other work.

This book was not your typical fast-paced, gory mystery. But it was definitely a mystery until the very end. I felt myself craving to know what the truth was and Sarah Vaughan did a fantastic job of keeping me engaged and vying for the answers.

What I really loved about this mystery, is that every time I thought I had the answer figured out, I would get a new clue and be pulled in a different direction. Sometimes, mysteries are almost too predictable and it can cause them to fall a tad flat.

Little Disasters is told from multiple viewpoints, going back and forth between past and present. This helped create a well-rounded story and allowed me to get a sense of who these characters are and why they act the way they do.

This book has a lot of complex developments that involve the medical industry, social services, and the police. Vaughan did a great job of incorporating these elements in a way that made sense to all readers, not just the ones who know medical jargon!

Overall, a great and compelling mystery that is packed with secrets, twists, and the ups and downs of motherhood.