A gripping and compelling read. Really enjoyed the plot and characters. I'm fast becoming a big fan of the author and her books never fail to keep me hooked.

I really enjoyed this and it kept me captivated throughout trying to guess what was going to happen It was just such a rollacoaster of a ride

I was given a free copy by netgalley and bookouture but the review is entirely my own.

A well written book. Keeps.your attention throughout. A family living on a small island who employ a woman Jayne from England. She is a nanny, although she has no previous experience of being a one. Celeste is a mother of three, suicidal and heavily pregnant and with her other daughter in the car end up in a lake. The quick thinking of a student who dives in a saves all of them. Celeste is then diagnosed with postpartum depression after that and has an emergency delivery of her baby. A nurse is hired to take care of the mother and a nanny is hired to take care of the children . Max the husband is a loving husband and is worried about Celeste. Jayne is their new nanny and Stephen is the doctor hired to look after Celeste. Marjorie, Max’s sister, is also there to help. What could possibly go wrong? Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for a copy of The Breakdown by Arianne Richmonde in exchange for an honest review.

"Behind them sits a place my husband refers to as our summer house. Apparently it’s my favorite place in the world, not that I can remember. Since the car accident, I’ve struggled to remember a lot of important things in my life, like giving birth to my daughter, Violet, just days after the crash. Or how perfect my marriage is.
As I stare at the huge expanse of blue before me, I have a flashback to the crash—a detail so small it might seem insignificant to some, but to me it’s everything. So why is it so different to what everyone around me is telling me? Beads of sweat gather on my neck. If my memory is true, my life and my children’s lives could be in danger. What really happened the day of the accident? And is there anyone left who I can trust?"

When Celeste is involved in a bad car wreck, it leaves her with memory lost. Losing time can be hard, but losing the memories of your child? That's even worse. Richmonde writes an intriguing, suspenseful novel that is thrilling and unputdownable.

3 for neutral, was unable to access my netgalley account for months, until today. Because of this, I was unable to see which books I needed to read. I apologize for the inconvenience and hopefully will not have any more issues in future.

The breakdown was another suspenseful and addictive read.
After a car accident, Celeste is finding herself at what seems to be her favourite place in the world. Her summer house where she spends her days with her husband, two daughters and her sister. Something isn't quite right and she tries to understand what's exactly happening. She can't remember giving birth to her second daughter at all and her husband and sister are very secretive about it all.
It's another Suspenseful domestic thriller that made me read it in one sitting, with compelling characters and some very twisted scene. That ending was really unexpected and intriguing.
Perfect for the fans of thrillers with twisted endings.

The action starts from the first page with this one and you dont know who to trust. It starts off as a slow burn but then quickly turns up the pace.

This book had me stumped. Sitting smug and thinking I had it all thought out, the author put me in my place. Finally we have a thriller that will keep you your toes.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book was just "okay". I feel like it was very slow and very difficult to get into, until the very end. As a result, I would not likely read this again.

Interesting story. About love, deceit, betrayal, lies, and money.
What lengths would you go to to make sure your children were safe? How many lies would you tell to make sure your life was your own?
So many questions need answers in The Breakdown…..answers that only two people can give. Which two people have the answers? You must read to find out.

This is quite the unexpected story with the puzzle pieces slowly coming together. Celeste had been in an accident, attempted suicide while pregnant and with her four yr old daughter in the back seat. Max is trying to care for his wife and brings a nanny and a counselor to help take care of the family. Jayne is from the UK and is only here for the summer to help with the kids. When Lizzie goes missing everyone is helping with the search. Will they find Lizzie? Will Celeste get her memory back?
This is a story that will keep you guessing and will not disappoint. Thank you to netgalley for complimentary copy.

Wow, this book! Talk about a head spinner!
I was really looking forward to this one. For the most part it’s twisty with small clues scattered throughout. The second half of the book really picked up the pace.
There are multiple points of view that are well developed but I felt like there were too many, and took away from the storyline. This book has a great premise, but unfortunately fell a little flat for me.
The ending was a little too tidy for my liking.
Overall a great and entertaining read, just not for me. I do however, look forward to reading more from this author.
With many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for my advanced reading copy.

This was a good book that left you guessing. It had plenty of twists. I definitely would recommend it.

Slow to start and just didn’t hold my interest. I feel like most thriller lovers will enjoy this one. The twists were good. I think I may try this one again when it comes out on audio.

This was a little more mediocre than I was expecting. Richmonde is a very talented author and even in this book leaves you with a huge glut of emotions.

Clever

I am a big fan of Arianna Richmonde's writing - The Wife's House was one of my favorite new thrillers that year -- totally original, compelling and twisty. Richmonde's latest effort, The Breakdown, was competent, twisty, and well-executed but did not quite recapture the shock or magic of The Wife's House for me. The storyline (amnesia! Mental breakdown!) has been done many a time in this genre, and though Richmonde did a nice job with the mystery and the plot, it did not feel like it trod any new ground for me, particularly after I had read BA Paris' book with the same title which to me was much more compelling.

Still a fan of this author and the book was entertaining but I'm hoping for another humdinger like the Wife's House. As long as Richmonde keeps writing, I'll keep reading!

After being in a terrible car accident with her daughter in the back seat, pregnant Celeste can’t remember what happened. Her unborn child was delivered safely by c-section and her daughter was unharmed. At least this is what her husband tells her happened. She goes home from the hospital with the assistance of her husband, sister-in-law, au pair, a full time nurse, and a psychologist. Everyone is hoping she will regain her memory and can tell them if she was trying to commit suicide or was it just a terrible accident. When the baby suddenly dies from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and then the daughter goes missing, those around her start to wonder if Celeste is killing her kids or if something more sinister is happening.

This was an intriguing and well thought out story line. I never saw that ending coming!

*Thank you to Bookouture, Arianne Richmonde, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/the-breakdown/

I am a big fan of Arianne Richmond. The Wife’s House and The Newlyweds are two of my favorite books and this one does not disappoint. As with her other books, the theme of the unreliable narrator continues, though there are multiple narrations in The Breakdown, all of them seemingly unreliable.

Each voice has a different agenda and a different perspective on what is actually happening. This novel will keep you riveted.

The Breakdown opens with the perspective of a four-year-old little girl, Lizzie, who has seemingly been kidnapped from her home during a Nor’easter on the island of Casco, Maine. The reader is then taken back nine days previously when a young English girl, Jayne Smith, is being taken on a boat to the island, having been hired by Celeste and Max Wainwright to be an au pair for their two young children, Lizzie and Liam. Celeste has had a breakdown after an almost fatal car accident while 9 months pregnant with her infant, Violet. Sadly, her husband Max and her doctors believe it was a failed attempt at suicide. The accident has affected her memory, and she is now confined to her bedroom under the watchful eye of Alex Sharpe, a nurse assigned from the hospital. Max’s former college friend, Dr. Stephen, is given a cabin on the Wainwright property in order to administer therapy to Celeste. Everyone is keeping a secret, and it definitely keeps the reader intrigued.

Having been warned by Captain Eric on the boat that the Wainwrights are not the nicest family, Jayne is already wary when she arrives on the island. From the moment Max Wainwright picks her up, and she meets the other members of the family, including his sister Marjorie, she realizes something is not right. Within days, baby Violet has died of SIDS and Lizzie is kidnapped in the middle of the night and disappears without a trace.

The various points of view include Adele Alba, the serious detective looking for Lizzie Wainwright. Jayne, the au pair, Celeste, Lizzie’s mother and Dr. Stephen, the therapist. This book is written in a mix of third and first-person perspectives. The benefit of both first- and third-person perspective ensures the reader doesn’t miss out on anything. The chapters go back and forth from past to present, highlighting the before and after of Lizzie’s disappearance. It is difficult to believe any of them, as they all hint at secrets they are hiding, with the exception of Adele Alba. She soon finds out that she is stalled in her investigation because every member of the family is lying to her. This book brings true meaning to the fact that anyone can conceal their true self behind a mask.

The setting of The Breakdown is stunning. The Wainwright summer home is on Casco Island in Maine and the descriptions of the area are eerie but also beautiful. It definitely took this reader out of the story to look at pictures of the actual town of Casco. I loved how Richmonde described the small-town feel of the island and how everyone knew each other, but steered clear of each other as well. I loved this book. In almost every chapter, the reader is shocked to learn another secret that has been cleverly hidden. The Wainwright family captivated me, and the ending is just unbelievable. Arianne Richmonde has done it again!

Another great read from Arianne Richmonde! Twisty, intriguing, and suspenseful. A great psychological thriller.

Celeste is convalescing after apparently trying to take her own life, that of her unborn baby, Violet and young daughter, Lizzie. Her attentive and loving husband Max can’t find out what happened as Celeste suffered a traumatic head injury in the car accident and as a consequence now has terrible memory issues. Jayne, an au pair, is hired to help look after Lizzie and her brother Liam while their mother recovers. Soon enough Jayne realises that the family isn’t quite as perfect and happy as she originally thought. Also in the mix is the strange Dr Stephen who is a psychotherapist trying to recover Celeste’s memories and her domineering controlling nurse, Nurse Sharpe and Jayne starts to wish she hadn’t taken the job. However, when Lizzie goes missing Jayne has no choice but to stay put and while the police swarm the island trying to find Lizzie everyone becomes a suspect. Did Lizzie wander off on her own or was she abducted and if the latter, then who is the culprit.

I really enjoyed this book. So twisty. As with all of Arianne Richmonde’s books I definitely felt a sense of unease while reading which really added to the suspense of the story. It didn’t take me long to become hooked and finding that every single character had secrets really kept the intrigue going. I loved the twist, and I definitely did not see it coming so, great job!

I would highly recommend this book for any psychological thriller fans, Arianne Richmonde really knows how to write a story and I am never disappointed in any of her books. Twisty and brilliant. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

Thank you to Netgalley, Arianne Richmonde and Bookouture for my advanced reading copy. Out now.

The Breakdown
by Arianne Richmonde
Pub Date 11 Apr 2022
Bookouture
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers


I am reviewing a copy of The Breakdown through Bookoture and Netgalley:



One day her life was perfect, the next day I that perfect life was gone.


She stood at the edge of the cliff face, looking at the roaring ocean below her feet. She feels no danger because her husband and his sister talk just feet away, watching her every move.



Behind her husband and his sister sits the place they refer to as the Summer house. They say it’s her favorite place in the word,unfortunately she can’t remember. Since the car accident she’s struggled with her memory, even struggling to remember the birth of her daughter, Violet, just days after the crash, nor can she remember how perfect her marriage is? (Or is it?)



As she stares at the huge expanse of blue before her, a flashback of the crash comes to her, a detail so small it might seem insignificant to some, but to her it’s everything. Why is the memory so different than what everyone is telling her? She can feel the beads of sweat forming on her neck, if this memory is true, her life as well as the lives of her children may be in danger. What really happened the day of the accident? Is there anyone left she can trust…


This would be the perfect reads for fans of Gone Girl, The Wife Between Us and Here to Stay.


I give The Breakdown five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!