I really enjoyed this book! A lot of twists, turns, jealousy, & lies. Couldn't put down; kept me up reading til late in the night until I was finished.
Recommend to anyone who enjoys suspenseful drama!

3.5 stars - this is so well-written, great characters, nicely-paced but it's not a thriller in any sense. Which is not bad! It's just that the cover and the blurb, etc. sort of hint the book will be something it isn't. Sarah Vaughan is a terrific writer and she can absolutely draw you in and keep you moving from chapter to chapter but if you're waiting for action, you won't find it here.

I would recommend this to fans of Jodi Picoult. There were a LOT of difficult scenes to read, some I cringed at, because they were very realistic and horrifying. And you know there are people out there who harm their children and mothers who, in post partum depression, fear that they will harm their children.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc to review.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Simon & Schuster in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Based on the description, I thought this book was going to be a thriller, but it was more like a moderate-to-fast paced drama. In any event, I enjoyed it. There is one twist that you won’t see coming!

Without spoiling anything, the book follows two adult women (Jess & Liz), close friends, as they navigate a crisis when Jess’s baby is injured and Jess herself is suspected of having inflicted the harm.

The author paints a vivid portrayal of the postpartum struggles that many women experience and has created compelling and realistic characters in Jess and Liz. I enjoy reading about the bonds between women, and this book definitely delivered on that!

My only real issue with the book has more to do with me than the book. The story is set in London, and there were SO many English turns of phrase throughout this book that sometimes this American had to pause for definitions!

This is a dark look into motherhood and what mothers will do and go through. It had good writing and a good storyline, but it didnt really sit well with me at this moment in time and based in the ages of my children. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I read this quickly but I did not enjoy it. It’s full of triggers and if my kids were any younger I would have quit. As it was, I finished it. But I cannot recommend it. I did not like or identify with any of the characters.

I related easily to the characters in this book, and quickly became invested in their stories. About halfway through, I was worried that the plot had become predictable. But the end is definitely a twist I didn’t see coming!

4 STARS!

Wow! This is an excellently-written drama/mystery that I flew through in one day! It tells the story of Jess, a mother of three who has a newborn baby who is inconsolable despite all her efforts to comfort her new child. She feels like a wreck and unable to manage all of her children.

Jess has a group of friends and since the birth of her newborn, Betsey, Jess has felt isolated and scared of her inner thoughts. One of her close friends, Liz, a pediatrician, helps her as best as she can when Betsey is taken to the ER by Jess with a head injury. But because she knows Jess, she is unable to help the baby and the care is shifted to another doctor. When the doc performs a scan, they discover an injury on the baby's head that doesn't match Jess's story, which results in child services becoming involved.

The story is then told backwards and alternates between the voices of Jess and Liz. Eventually, it is discovered that Jess had a difficult childhood that explains her desire to be perfect. Liz also had a hard childhood, but she will ultimately be the one who finds out what happens to Betsey.

Twisty and suspenseful "Little Disasters" is a quick read that had plenty of heart-gripping pages. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a mystery and drama.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Netgalley.

The novel is set to publish on August 18, 2020.

Vaughan’s <i> Little Disasters </i> is a novel about every mother’s worst nightmare. Your child ends up in the ER with a horrible injury that can’t be explained. You were the one home with that child. All eyes are pointing at you. How do you deal with this tragic event? How can you explain that you would never harm your child?

Told from multiple perspectives and timelines, this novel was thought provoking and touches on a lot of issues — PPD, absentee parents, PTSD — as well as a number of triggering situations. I felt that the main character, Jess’ relationship with her husband should have gotten a lot more exploratory, but overall, I enjoyed this one!

I couldn’t put this book down. I was glued to my chair.... I am defiantly now a fan of the author! I look forward to reading lore of her books! This was fantastic!

Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgally for review purposes.

This is my first book I've read by this author and I am now committed 👏

This. Book. Went. There.

I've read books before that have touched on postpartum but never that fully dived in like this one did. It was raw, real, and honest. It didn't skirt around the issues and really touched on how scary and isolating it can be.

All that aside this mystery held my attention and gripped me. It was intense as anything and kept me glued page after page.

Overall I loved it and would definitely recommend. Super refreshing to read something this raw.

When four woman meet at a birthing class, with their babies around the same age they connect and become friends. Liz whose a doctor and is looked down upon by her boss for being a woman and taking time off for her maternity leave, Jess whose trying to make it through a day and shes a stay at home mom to three children, Mel who has two children and her husband had just left her for a younger woman who was his assistant and Charlotte whose a lawyer and had had fertility issues but has a son. One night Liz is working the night shift at the hospital when Jess walks in with her youngest Betsy. Betsy had vomited and isn’t acting like her self. After examining Liz is shocked she has skull damage and it appears to be child abuse. Liz doesn’t want to turn her friend in but as a doctor it’s her duty. Jess can’t seem to tell a straight story and the police begin to investigate. The hospital and the police begin to wonder was this mother suffering from postpartum depression who snapped? Jess’s husband does his own investigation he begins to realize he didn’t see the cracks at home and maybe he should have helped more. Did Jess hurt her own baby. As we dive deeper into the story we get Jess’s side and I really felt for her, it’s not as easy job being a parent and with the society we live in, people shame moms who ask for help and it makes it difficult to ask for help and that should never be the case ever. We get Liz’s side as she’s working though her moms deteriorating health and the abuse she had to endure and what really happened to her sister who died as a baby. I felt this was more of a psychological story with more of a character build story than a mystery or thriller. This book may not be for everyone with child death, postpartum depression , child abuse and more. Four stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love a good domestic suspense book, and I really liked that this book dealt with a topic I haven't read about in that format before: postpartum depression, postnatal anxiety, and maternal OCD. The author does a great job of putting you in Jess's shoes so that you can feel her anxiety about her children's safety. However, for some reason, I just could not muster an ounce of sympathy for Jess, the mother accused of harming her child, perhaps because it's revealed early on that Jess is an anti-vaxxer. Overall, it's an entertaining suspense novel, although I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who is suffering from the conditions covered in the book.

Review posted on Goodreads on May 5, 2020.

I was super excited about this book. Touted as a psychological thrilled, I expected twists and turns, never being sure about exactly what was going on. My kind of book, right?

The good things: This book jumps back and forth from the past to the presents and jumps between different points of view. At the heart it is about two friends, both of whom have secrets, and they're torn about when one makes a grave mistake.

Sounds good, right?

The bad: Here's the thing. I was bored. I wanted to care, but I just couldn't. I'm not entirely sure why but I just wasn't drawn in. I found myself skimming through the pages, just wanting to know if there was more than meets the eye.

And while sometimes the ending can totally save a book for me, unfortunately even the ending wasn't really enough. There were two twists, but I kind of felt like I saw them coming and they just didn't really surprise me.

This book fell short for me, which is disappointing because it had the opportunity to be great. And while I can't pinpoint exactly what went wrong, it was just average for me. Maybe next time.

The baby has a skull fracture. The mother's story is suspicious. Her friend is the ER physician who is duty-bound to involve the authorities. What actually happened to the baby? What secrets and deep-buried memories will be revealed?

I enjoyed the author's exploration of the ER physician's struggle with the ethics of reporting her friend. Descriptions of post-partum depression were compelling and relatable.

I'm unsure about the best audience for this book. Readers looking for a thriller may find this book sags or seems predictable. But readers looking for a novel about motherhood, post-partum depression, and the different roles of parenting may find the characterization thin or forced in service to the thriller twists.

For me, 3.5 stars, rounded up. Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this novel! I loved it. The pacing was fast, and I loved how the chapters switched from character to character. I really liked Liz but learning about her childhood and infant sisters death was tough. The relationship she had with her mom towards the end was something I personally would not have been able to achieve. Jess was a character I also related to on some level. I suffered postpartum depression with one of my pregnancies so I totally felt the loneliness that she was going through. The little twist at the end was a nice touch to finish up the mystery of baby betseys injury. 4 stars and would definitely recommend.

This one definitely kept me interested from start to finish.
We all think we know our friends but how well do we really know them?
Liz and Jess met at a birthing class years ago and have been close ever since, intertwining their daily lives with parties, dinners and long last friendship.
When Jess brings her 10 month old to the ER where Jess is on call it changes everything about their relationship.
What really happened to Jess's baby and how far will Liz go to find out the truth? What will it cost them both?

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! I did not see the twists coming, especially at the end, which kept me interested and turning the pages.
I really liked how the author highlighted some important issues including postpartum depression and mental health throughout, whilst also exploring the often intense, daily struggles of motherhood in a very vivid and sometimes frightening way. I've thought about this book and certain characters quite a bit since finishing and have recommended it to other Paediatric Nurses/Doctor's I work with.

Thank you to Net Galley, Atria Books and Sarah Vaughan for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

First off, let me say this was not a bad novel by any means. However, I feel that it was not a thriller but more of a domestic drama. Maybe my expectations were set too high, but this wasn't my favorite read this year. With that being said, it's still a good story. It was a hard read as well because of the postpartum depression issues and thoughts of abuse and may be a trigger for some people.

So good! Very slow to start but it picked up and I couldn’t stop. This is a good thriller! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Binged this and stayed up past my bed time

A pediatrician is called to the ER and finds her friend there with her infant daughter who is clearly unwell. It is determined that the child suffered a fractured skull and was in need of hospitalization and Social Services and Police intervention. The plot follows the stories of a group of neighbors who had become friends when taking prenatal classes with each other prior to their first child’s birth. It deals with suspicious, post natal depression, friendship and love. It is very well written and will keep the reader engrossed until the very end which is a remarkable twist. Thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for an ARC for an honest review.