I liked almost everything about this book, the writing style, the plot, the characters, the ONLY thing that was a bit meh for me was how much football there was. Total personal preference, I don't like reading about sports, watching sports (even if it is kids and the plot centers around a kids football team) it got a bit tedious. That being said, it was twisty, and suspenseful, and I loved the bit of witch hunting history sprinkled in. I can tell this author's style is right up my alley, and I'll be checking out more of her books, because I have a feeling I'll enjoy them even more than I did this one.

A huge thanks to Bookouture for my e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book follows Alex, her children, and her thirteen-year-old son Harry who move to a house at Primrose Cottage following the tragic death of her husband due to a hiking accident. Like every family, there are hoping for a new start and they think harry joining a local team is a step in the right direction. Things go haywire when someone in the parent group she has joined starts exposing secrets about everyone in the group.

The premise of the book was interesting but I wanted it to be more fast-paced.

I couldn't engage with the characters do didn't really enjoy this book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

The Parents was a fun read, centred around a boys' football team in a small village, and the parents thereof - mainly newcomer Alex, reeling from the death of her husband, and local beauty salon owner, Patti, who sets out to befriend her. There is, however, a large cast of other characters - there's a dramatis personae list at the beginning - who did prove hard to keep up with at times. The village itself is a bit weird, with a history of witchcraft, and *everybody* has secrets. When an anonymous vlogger gets busy disclosing them, the cat is well and truly among the pigeons.

There's a lot going on and an awful lot of unrelated secrets coming out near the end - I kind of expected them to be linked in some way, but that didn't seem to be the case.

The Parents was an enjoyable read and the football team was an original hook, even if it didn't amount to that much in the end. I liked it, but I didn't love it.

Thank you for the ARC of this book! This book was pretty good. Definitely not a favorite but intriguing enough to enjoy!

A new start in a new community. What could go wrong?

I did enjoy The Parents which was a bit dark and twisty, but the cast of characters was large and a little confusing to keep up with at times. This was an entertaining, slow burn of a read with lots of small football town dynamics and family drama thrown into the mix. I definitely look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book ahead of its October 25 publication date.

Meet Patti. She is the owner of a beauty salon, yet she is walking around the village collecting and spreading gossip all the time, wearing her pink fluffy coat. Her marriage is at it's end, yet it is HIS fault - of course. She is always there for her mates when the prosecco is chilled, but she gives them a cold shoulder when they are in trouble. And she believes in astrology.
Then meet Alex, an American transplant trying to cope with her husbands' passing and trying to make ends meet without him. Why did she move to the UK to start with? No idea. She is being bullied by Patti into "friendship" and she is actually glad for it.
Put these characters in a setting of junior football (or soccer in the States), where parents are at their worst and mix in a bizarre story of a vlogger trying to divulge all their dirty secrets. Then you have a pretty good idea what this book is about.
I am sure there are readers who will love parental gossip and backstabbing at the sideline of the football field, but this is just not for me.

A sincere thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author in exchange for an honest review.

I’m sorry to say that I was really disappointed by this. It was a great premise but the plot lost its way early on and the writing felt repetitive and flat. A couple of the characters were well drawn (Dez and Patti) but the rest felt like mere plot devices. I also found the descriptions of a character with a disability rather insensitive.

I am, however, grateful to the publisher and to NetGalley for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm sad to say I didn't really enjoy this book, although I did finish it. I really like Claire Seeber, but this story seemed very wishy washy and just wasn't really very thrilling.

First, thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. If I had just picked this up on my own, I likely wouldn’t have finished. It is described as a gripping psychological suspense but I would say it is more domestic suspense. There are so many characters that it is hard to keep them all straight. There is a legend at the beginning of the book describing all of the characters but even that isn’t helpful in keeping the members of each family straight. The story is told by Patti and Alex and it was easy to differentiate between their voices.

There is essentially no character development of any of many characters, an endless amount of dialogue, and really no plot movement or action until about 65% of the way through. There is someone releasing the secrets of the parents of the members of a soccer club, a dead body, and the mysterious past of the new family. Too much going on, too busy at the end, and by the time something happened, it was wrapped up but I didn’t really care because I wasn’t invested in anyone. I read this but maybe listening to a good narrator audiobook would have been better?

2.5 stars—the story was there but too much filler to really get to the meat of the story.

I enjoyed this juicy mystery! There were parts of the story that reminded me of "the stranger" on Netflix which I also enjoyed. Basically we are in the middle of a new family joining the community due to a tragedy. The local football team is a key component of them adapting to their new life and learning of the towns history right in the middle of drama concerning the football parents. I tend to love character based books so all of the characters didn't bother me, but I could see how that could confuse others if that's not a preference. Overall a slower burn but was entertaining!

Soccer moms and dads behaving badly, where no one’s secret is safe! This book has a lot of characters that take a while to get straight, but I like how they all interact with each other. The majority of the book reads as a family drama full of secrets, but the end has a lot of thrills. I only wish there had been less drama and more thrills, but I enjoyed this book all the same.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookoutour for the ARC. Out October 25, 2021.

Where do I start with this book. My heart is still pounding from finishing it, I couldn’t wait to do a review! It is near impossible not to run through the pages in an attempt to finish this twisty thriller. I can confidently say this is one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve ever read. It didn’t even feel like I was reading, the detail and set up dragged me into this world and held its grip on me until I was finished. It was like watching a movie! This novel is an easy 5 stars, the action throughout the book is unmatchable and the plot twists are gut wrenching. This is perfect for fans of Big Little Lies and ‘perfect family with dark secrets’ fans.

This is to me read as a family drama. I Kept waiting for something major to happen but it never got there. Way too many characters to keep track of but overall was ok.

This book was not for me. From the very beginning I was thrown for a loop trying to keep track of who the characters are. After only a few pages, I put it down. I was too confused.

This book was slow moving and had a lot of different characters. It was hard to keep track of who was who but easy to differentiate between Alex and Patti as narrators.

I feel like there were two storylines competing for the plot, the vlog and what happened to Alex’s husband. I think this would have been better if it just focused one on. For as big as the description made the clog to be, it felt rushed over in the book.

I did enjoy the talk and witches and haunted woods, perfect for a spooky read!

I’d like to thank NetGalley, publisher and author for an advanced copy for an honest review.

The Parents: An utterly gripping psychological suspense thriller by Claire Seeber caught my interest with youth football/ soccer being the setting for all the dramatic suspense to take place. However, when all the parents suddenly appeared to be targeted by an unknown my initial curiosity to who was out to take revenge peaked. I did not care for the social bullying of the one mom, when she was unknowingly videotaped. (I dislike the constant recording of moments we think are private, moral dilemma at its finest! )
There is so much happening in this story, at times it was hard to keep the characters in line with their own story. All the storylines were tied up nicely without a rush in the telling. Good over evil
Wins in the end. Why so much talk about witch baubles, tales , and such?? I felt like there was too much to overlook, but also, not enough. Was the last paragraph an attempt at a conclusion made about a witch? I think not, but to each their own conclusion.

Yoooo this is everything you want in a spooky thriller! It kept me on my TOES! I could not put this one down.

I absolutely loved this book and could not put it down! As a parent myself some of the experiences were all too familiar and really resonated with me. A gripping read full of twists and turns!

I struggled with this one. I was expecting more of a thriller sort of vibe, but it read more like chick-lit.

The characters were underdeveloped and I just didn’t care for any of them. I’m not a football parent- maybe I’d have recognised the actions more clearly if I was?

It’s not a bad story, but not one I’d reach for again. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.