Little Rumours is the story of three women living in an odd little town in Devon where if you live there but weren’t born there, you will always be referred to as an incomer. The story is mostly told by the three woman whose lives collide when one of their children goes missing. These women have their secrets which are revealed as they search for the missing child. Tension rises and the women and their families begin to mistrust and blame each other the longer the child is missing.
I found the characters felt real and so did the emotions suffered by the family of the missing child. I enjoyed learning the characters’ backstories I honestly didn’t find this a psychological thriller but it is suspenseful and worth the read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC

This 3 person narrative from a small group of women is quite a common format atm. It's very big little lies or little fires everywhere. I do love this style of book qs long as it does stand out from all the others and isn't too samey and predictable. I didn't love this story, however it also wasn't just like all the others. There's just quite a lot of incredibly dramatic storylines which I felt made it all a bit unrealistic and like some topics we're just added for clout or because they're fashionable atm. The book is really well written and I did find myself relating to some of the characters and really feeling for them. The main theme of the missing girl is quite a good take on it but all the side themes do muddy the waters a bit and don't seem really necessary. It's definitely not a bad book by any means, it just wouldn't be my 1st choice

I actually enjoyed "Little Rumours" the twisting story focusing on 3 mothers.

Whilst reading it in places it reminded me of Big Little Lies, but that maybe because I had been watching it recently.

Bryony Pearce has impressed and this was my first one of her books, so I will definitely check out future titles.

Thanks to Harper Collins, Bryony Pearce and the Team at #Netgalley for this ARC

I liked this one!

This story is set in a very small village where newcomers are not always welcome. The narrative is set by three different moms who each have there own struggles. Their children are the best of friends, though the mothers are not. When one of the children go missing, rumors start swirling around quickly about the newcomer family. I felt for the mother of this missing child as well as for the mother of the accused. The book does have a twist ending and I liked it.

This is my first novel by author Bryony Pearce and I was really impressed. We meet the three characters Naomi, Aleema and Kelly - all very different women with their own secrets and darkness and all mothers. Unfortunately, one of their children goes missing and this is when the story telling really takes a new direction and kick starts the novel.

I really enjoyed the characters, especially Naomi seemed to resonate with myself the most. The characters are brilliantly drawn out and the story is easy to understand and really thrilling. I did find it quite slow to begin with but it does soon quicken up the pace and I was hooked.

I am not overly keen on reading about missing children, as a mother myself it is a hard topic to swallow but nevertheless I did enjoy this novel and the writing style was great.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bryone Pearce and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The author could not find more random plots mixed all together. It would have been sufficient to either focus and deep dive in a woman who was married to a psychopath, a child's trauma of witnessing the killing, a missing girl or a Muslim Pakistani migrating to the UK and living in an all British town, but instead we get all of it and thus it becomes one big mess.

The only character that is decently developed was Kelly. It was an extremely fascinating angle and I really felt for Kelly's and Josh's pain and what they have gone through. Nevertheless in some ways it was not very believable how anyone could commit any hideous crimes over a 2 hour break a few times a week. What if the jogger decided to return home sooner? Is 2 hours really sufficient? It could have been better explained if the book was not being distracted by unnecessary characters.

There are many good books about Islam and Muslims but this book did not do the justice. Aleema's story was a bit forced and shallow. Migrating to a completely different country will always be a struggle if a person prefers to preserve his/her culture and tradition.

Naomi was waste of pages because I am not sure why she was in the book to begin with. We barely get to know her and she added nothing to the story.

There seems to be pressure from the publishers to be very PC and adding certain characters into the story without knowing how to develop them, and that ends up in this superficial soup that has no substance nor taste.

Thanks Netgalley for the free copy in exchange of an honest review.

Unfortunately, I am in the minority reviewing the book, Little Rumours by Briony Pearce. I found it too wordy and the three backstories from Kelly/Naomi/Aleema that were woven together just did not click with me. It seemed more like a patchwork quilt that was forced together then something that was meant to be related. I was able to finish because I did want to find out just what happened to the missing child. My opinion, the ending was not satisfactory and too convoluted for my taste. I wish I had liked it more but it may appeal to people who are hungry for a unique story that runs a little long.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the chance to read and give an honest review.

This is the first book I have read by Bryony Pearce and while I appreciate her efforts made in writing the book I found it a bit of a struggle to get through. Three different women, all with families and who all lead very different lives but destiny will bring them together. All hold secrets that will only continue to cause pain in their lives. and several children are caught up in the middle of all the drama that happens. I found it hard to warm to the characters in this book and the end of the story it all seemed very forced and did not ring true to me. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review and am sorry I can't rate this book higher.

Three women, one missing child. Naomi has lived her whole life in Exeton Cross, a small village where everyone knows each other. Aleema feel like an outsider, and she hates the thought of her daughter being treated differently. Kelly is new to the town, she has her own past that she is running from. All of them are mothers wanting to protect their children, and then one of the children goes missing.

I enjoyed this book, although it did drag a bit. I liked how each character was described and loved and hated them all at some point. For me, well written characters help for a well written story. The story is told from each character's point of view, there were times where I had to remind myself who's side I was reading. Overall it was a nice read and would definitely recommend for any domestic thriller fans!
Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Loved it! Rich, broken characters drive the tale of a young girl that goes missing after playing with friends at the park. The theme of loss; a child, a mother, an identity weave through the story. This would make a marvelous Netflix series! A quick read, perfect for fans of Tana French.

Unfortunately, this just isn't for me. Found the identity of the killer to be predictable, and not very believable at that. Lot of red herrings thrown, and all I just saw through easily.

This is one of the best books I’ve read this year and is such a brilliant and beautifully-written novel. I never repeat the story in a review, but as we know from the description it concerns a missing child. It’s about so much more though – intolerance, abuse, bullying, friendship, loss, controlling behaviour, gruesome murders, secrets, lies, being judgemental … the list goes on. I love the way each chapter represents the perspective of one of the three main characters, and the way they were portrayed so well that you felt you knew everything about them. I experienced so many deep emotions while reading this story, and by the end I was mentally drained. Breathtaking, absolutely breathtaking, and deserving of more than 5 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this exceptional and gripping novel in return for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. When a child goes missing, everyone is a suspect. Someone has secrets that they are hiding. This book captured my attention from beginning.

A small town, a close-knit community suspicious of outsiders. The main characters; Aleema, Naomi and Kelly are totally different and connected only through their children's friendships at the village primary school. Mia, Leon and Joe are best friends. One day Mia is missing and all hidden and dark secrets come to the surface.

Desperate search for Mia begins.

The parents may find someone or something that they didn’t even know that they had lost.

This book is about intolerances in many forms, recrimination, bullying, convenient scapegoats, but above all about strength and power of friendship. The reader feels and understands the characters. The story is told in each persons point of view and is fascinating to see how different and wrong perceptions affect on the same situation. The tensions are very real and maintained and increased throughout the book.

Deeply emotional and character-driven novel.

“Little Rumors” written by Bryony Pearce is a fast paced and very engaging thriller surrounding three mothers. Due to the tragic event of a child going missing, these women are brought together. Secrets, lies and hidden agendas emerge. As a mother myself, this story does touch upon some of my greatest fears, and I found myself emotional and empathic to the mother searching for her child. There were so many twists and turns, I didn’t know who to suspect. This was a very well written suspense story! Thank you so much NetGalley and publisher for the ARC!

I completely agree with the comparison to Big Little Lies - this novel has all of the makings of a runaround bestseller, what with the scheming school mothers and their shenanigans. Highly recommended!

It was a good story with a twist at the end which I enjoyed. However I didn’t enjoy each chapter changing the story teller

A totally different type of book to what I usually read and I wasn’t sure I’d like it but I did. The suspense and waiting to find out what happens was really good. Well done.

This book was about Three women called Naomi, Aleema and Kelly
They all have a secret
But on the day that one-off the child went missing and no one says anything
I had an ARC

This story is about a group of school mums who live in a small village that do not welcome newcomers. There are two recent newcomers, there is Kelly who unbeknown to the locals moved down with her son as part of a witness protection scheme. Aleema who is Muslim moved there to help care for her mother-in-law. Aleema is quite lonely and begrudges having to leave her friends behind. One day Aleema’s daughter Mia goes missing whilst playing in the park with friends. The village comes together to try and find Mia refusing to believe that this could have been done by one of their own.

This is a fast paced thriller told from multiple prospectives. We slowly learn the secrets being kept by the mum’s and there are several red herrings before we get to the end. I have to say that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending and I am convinced that there is a couple of plot holes but I still enjoyed the book overall