Thank you Barbara Abel, HarperVia and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC e-book. I don't even know what or how I am feeling after this book. What an absolute ride. This book made me say "what the ...." out loud more times then I want to admit. I felt one way thought most of the book and then BAM I'm hit with the truth and it left such an unsettling weird feeling I really thought about this book for a few days. Abel wrote such a great psychological thriller/mystery that kept you wondering the entire time. I completed this book faster than I have any others because I had to figure out what was going on.

A dark and disturbing domestic thriller. Two couples, David and Laetitia Brunelle and Sylvain and Tiphaine Geniot, are neighbors and best friends. They have sons three months apart who also become inseparable until one of them is killed in a tragic accident. Their parents' relationship initially deteriorates as they are full of blame and resentment. They try to regain the friendship they had before, but Laetitia becomes increasingly paranoid that her son is in danger from Tiphaine. Abel does a great job of depicting the relationships between the four main characters and building plot intensity. I saw most of the twists coming, but I still felt like I was "watching in horror" as the story unfolded. Some of the writing feels a bit stilted, but after a while, I got used to it and found it added to the atmosphere.

This book was a Wild ride! This was the type of book you cannot put down; you are so wound up with the tension! Oh. My. Goodness. I feel like I am left with no words! This is an unbelievable drama with two families who have been friends for 10 years, and one of their sons dies in a terrible accident. This shows what can happen between friends when faced with tragedy and grief. This is a book that will stick with you, and I see why it is going to be a movie soon with amazing actresses.

This is a tough read, but a must read. I recommend this book to everyone but prepare yourself for a crazy journey!

Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and Netgally for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mothers instinct was a fast paced twisted story. Best friends and neighbors like family raising their sons together until tragedy strikes, it’s really no wonder this will be a movie this book was amazing, if you like crazy twisted domestic thrillers this is totally for you. Trigger warning for death of a child .

I received an ARC of this book from HarperVia & NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. I would suggest not reading the synopsis and going in blind. I must have read it at some point, but by the time I actually started the book, I didn't remember it. Therefore a key event came as a surprise to me and I think it works much better this way.

This book is crazy and I have never read anything like it - as a voracious reader, especially with thrillers, that is saying something. The author does a fabulous job setting up the background of these two couples and their friendships. Although there are periods where not much action is happening, the atmosphere and suspense are always building, so I never found the book boring.

One star off for the horrible ending!!!!!

Disappointed. This story started off great! It’s intriguing and the plot is really good. The tension between the characters and the buildup to the climax has you on edge and then we get to the ending and it is just so humdrum . It’s almost like the author ran out of creative juices and just decided to end the story. This could have been a phenomenal story, but it just didn’t happen.

Good grief, one set of neighbors is absolutely vile!
Two couples, two sons, one is gone and the parents want just compensation.
The ending was eye opening and it made me cringe. I’d change it if I could since I felt very sorry for the survivor son, being left with those vipers.

When grief turns to murder, keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. The storyline didn't feel fully developed by the time the climax came and quickly went. The ending seemed extremely rushed as if the author had to wrap everything up as their deadline was quickly approaching. The ending left an unsatisfying taste in my mouth. I overall, this book was a quick read. Thanks netgalley for preview.

Barbara Abel's novel is a significant thriller that caught me by surprise. Two couples with two young boys living in attached houses began in a steady and exciting narrative. BA blew my mind when she switched things up and created a novel I wasn't expecting!

Milo and Maxime are the young boys who live next door to each other and spend all their time together with their parents. No one is perfect, and the couples are from slightly different backgrounds but over the years, they blend into one large happy family.

Writing about any part of the plot would be a spoiler, so just let me recommend that you read this gripping novel when it is published on May 16.

Talk about suspense! I was intrigued by the synopsis of this one and could t wait to dive it. The book started out with a bang and then went back to build up to the initial event. The tension and suspense was fantastic- and while I suspected I knew how it would end, it was so well written I didn’t mind!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I inhaled this book. It was intense, fast paced, full of twists &kept me guessing. I enjoyed this and definitely recommend. I can’t wait for this to be made into a 🍿 movie!
This book is Slated to publish 5/16/23

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Via for the opportunity to read this mostly engrossing book. Up until the very end I was loving the story, but the ending was not what I expected. Tiphaine and Sylvain got away with murder and the book ended so abruptly. It was great, very descriptive and moved a good pace, but the ending ruined it for me, I doubt I would recommend it unless the ending was changed. There should also be a proofreader before publishing as there were numerous grammatical errors.

Thank you HarperVia and NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

The intensity of this book was phenomenal. The book centers on two married couples that live next door to each other and become an incredibly close knit set of friends. As in there are few boundaries between the four of them and it feels like fate when both couples have baby boys around the same time. So their sons become the best of friends as well. They share nightly drinks, laughs, dinners and always get along.

When the boys are school aged Maxime ends up getting sick and staying home from school. Tragedy ensues - the little boy falls out of an open window. Suddenly that same tight knit friendship turns to anger, jealousy, mistrust, fear, revenge and confusion.

This book is being made into a movie and it has a ton of potential in terms of film. The book was originally written in French and while it is excellently translated it has some choppier moments that are most likely a language barrier issue. The lengths these characters go to is nothing short of amazing (both good and bad)- definitely a book not check out.

Nothing like a fucked up book about being a mother to make you question how far would you go to be a mom? How far would you go to make sure justice was served in your own eyes? So many trigger warnings here and at times the book read “old” to me, like the author was writing for an older audience then myself. Either way, I did enjoy it!

Thank you NetGalley, Barbara Abel, and HarperVia for letting me read a translated copy of this book.

I chose to request Mothers' Instinct after learning of its origin and that it will soon be a movie starring Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway.

Two couples become neighbors. They both have sons months apart from each other. The boys grow up as best friends. One dies because of accident. What then ensues is one heck of a roller coaster ride.

I ended up reading this book in one sitting. The chapters are very short, which made it feel like the pages were just flying by until the end. I took a star off of the rating because I didn't feel some parts were realistic enough and the ending felt rushed.

This book was a slow burn, but I liked it until the end.I like this book, but it was kind of slow. I think it either could have been shorter or had more twists. The end could have improved as well.

Two families that become neighbors and then best friends and then parents around the same time. One loses their son and the mom thinks the neighbor is to blame. The neighbor thinks the that she’s threatening her son. The dads confide in each other one drunk night and one’s fate for his family lies in the others hands.

The twists and turns are amazing and I can definitely see why this is being made into a movie! Which I will definitely be seeing!

This book was bananas.

I read it in one sitting. The writer did a great job building the tension, throwing in a couple red herrings and then the story took a turn I didn’t see coming.

I see that this has been made into a movie and I predict the internet will have loads to say about the ending.

Robert Frost said it best “Good fences make good neighbors.”

I was very interested to read this since it will be a movie starring Jessica Chasten and Anne Hathaway.
David and Laetitia Brunelle and Sylvain and Tiphaine Geniot are next door neighbors. They hit it off early being close to the same age and both had boys within a few months. The boys were good friends as were the parents. They considering putting a shortcut between their yards because they spent so much time together.

Things began to change when one of the boys got sick and things took a very strange twist. Surprises until the last page. Go into reading this blind to get the most enjoyment from this thriller. This has very short chapters, which I like for some reason. Great read and will make an interesting movie. "Thank you Net Galley and Barbara Abel.

What do you you do when a neighbor loses a child in a tragic manner that you witnessed? Could you have intervened? How do you help your own child deal with the loss of his best friend? Who is to blame if anyone?