This book had everything going for it: lyrical writing; intricate, empathetic characters; and a beautifully structured, atmospheric narrative that unfolded so tantalisingly, I couldn’t bear to stop reading. Then it went and fell at the final hurdle, demanding a complete suspension of belief, which I simply could not do. I howled with disappointment and frustration.

The story centers around Willa, who has never recovered from the trauma of her younger sister’s disappearance at the age of just thirteen. Laika vanished without trace twenty-five years ago after setting off for school, and while no body has ever been found, Willa remains convinced that she’s still alive somewhere.

Unfolding in two timelines, then and now, the story is narrated from multiple perspectives: that of Willa, her best friend Robyn, and teenage Laika. It’s an immersive, compelling read, as layer after layer is slowly peeled away to reveal a shocking backstory.

I loved the character of Willa, whose life has been blighted by these long-ago events, affecting her relationships, friendships, and career, and leaving her mentally fragile.

I was fully invested in the story, eager to discover the the mystery behind Laika’s disappearance. However, when the explanations came, they raised far too many questions for me to buy into them, and sadly completely undermined my pleasure at what had been a wonderful book up until that point.

I’m all for suspending belief in genres like fantasy and speculative fiction, and even in popcorn-style thrillers where you know certain plot points are meant to be taken with a pinch of salt.

However, Things Don’t Break on Their Own is a contemplative work of considerable literary merit, so none of the above apply. There is no place in it for make believe, outlandish serendipity, or the forced tying up of loose ends.

Sarah Easter Collins is clearly an author of abundant talent. This debut is not without its flaws, but it hasn’t put me off, and I’m excited to see what she produces next.

This is a beautiful story about family and friendship and the search for a missing sister that has destroyed Willas life and stopped her from moving on with her life and being truly happy. A chance meeting at a dinner party turns her whole world on its head and maybe now it’s time to finally look at the truth of her childhood and how damaging her upbringing has been as well as addressing why she could
Never commit to her best friend. Lovely read with very relatable characters and a satisfying ending.

This is one of the only books I’ve ever read and thought, wow that’d make an amazing film.

The heart breaking story of how one sister went missing, 25 years of how her older sister and friends dealt with the situation and how their lives were all impacted.

We start at a dinner gathering at cat and Robyns house, they’re a lesbian couple and are married with kids. Family and friends are invited, including Robyn’s old lover, willa.

Willa is the eldest daughter, and as we soon discover her family is the definition of dysfunctional. A missing sister, a controlling father and a withdrawn mother. Her family revolved around making sure her father was appeased and Laika is (rightfully so) not willing to do so.

Also invited are Robyn’s brother and his gf who specialises in memory, cats brother and his French gf, Claudette, and willas boyfriend Jamie.

We flash back to the past, meetings and journeys, questioning memories and reality, and after 25 years of almost obsessive devastation and paranoia, she thinks she’s finally found her missing sister.. and she’s sit across from her at the dinner table.

My favourite book so far this year!

I loved the character development over the entirety of the story line. I was invested in the lives of these characters and it made for an emotional read. You will love Willa, Robyn and Laika.

Perfectly paced, it was difficult to put down and I read it in 2 days.

Brilliant ending - I can't remember the last time I finished a book and felt so....satisfied.

This is a very clever and beautifully written debut, weaving together a crime mystery, love stories, family drama all making you want to keep turning the pages. The characters reveal the story, piece by piece much like the reconstruction of a broken piece of pottery. I found it a very captivating and at times heartbreaking book and I’d highly recommend it. Thank you to Viking and Netgalley for letting me read this. I’m looking forward to what the author has next. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not sure how I feel about this book and it’s took me ages to come back to review it. There is no doubt the author writes well and the story is interesting but just wasn’t my genre.

I finished this book a few days ago and I’ve had to think about how I feel about it.

For me, I thought it started off really well and I was intrigued to follow along as the story unraveled. The story talks about abuse which some readers may be sensitive to.

I liked it but was disappointed with the ending. It felt very unrealistic.

I would read this author again and reading other reviews I think this book seems to be doing very well.

Many thanks to #NetGalley and #Penguin for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC. What an excellent book. I loved the writing style, which sucked me in from the outset. Willa’s sister, Laika, went missing when she was 13. Willa, beset by journalists, is forced to move to a boarding school where she ends up with Robyn as room mate. Fast forward 20ish years to a dinner party at Robyn’s house, a tense affair with Willa’s unpleasant partner Jamie, Robyn’s wife Cat, Michael, Robyn’s brother and his partner Liv and Nate (Cat’s sister) and his partner Claudette. One of those attending is not know who she seems … and impossible to say more without revealing too much. Suffice to say that this book revealed its secrets at an excellent pace, kept me wanting to read on, and was one of those books that you almost didn’t want to finish because you wanted it to go on longer. A 5* book

Reading the preview I thought the book would give me some insight into the subconscious memory. How one remembers things. Is it always how things actually happened.
An interesting story of Willa’s and Robyn’s coming of age with the underlying mystery of Willa’s 13 year old sister Lanka’s disappearance. What really happened?

#Netgalley

Things Don’t Break On Their Own is a debut novel described as “The Push meets Notes on an Execution meets Girl A”. I thought all three of those books were excellent so I immediately signed myself up for this one, although I would say that it needs no comparisons and is wonderful on its own merit.

Laika Martenwood vanished without a trace at age 13 while walking to school, leaving her mother and her older sister Willa, utterly devastated. The patriarch of the family became suspect number one but without proof, no charges were ever issued and to this day Willa searches for an explanation, or any trace at all of her beloved sister.

Her best friend from school, Robyn, helps her look still, even as adults, but really she’s just humouring her. Fast forward then to a dinner party at Robyn’s house where a conversation about childhood memories being unreliable pops up, and things start to unravel quickly. Slowly, the truth of what really happened to Laika starts to emerge, piece by piece.

Ohhhh I loved this book. It’s wildly atmospheric, and feels a little bit like a BBC 8 part drama that everyone would be hooked on watching.
The narrative comes together through multiple perspectives, with flashbacks to different events; this is really smoothly done and never feels confusing or distracting. The characters themselves are so well developed that I felt deeply invested in their storylines, and couldn’t wait to pick the book up every night to read more.

It’s a poignant and thought provoking read, and while unsettling at times, it ends on an uplifting note that felt quite life affirming to me.
Loved it, I can see this ending up in my favorite books of the year. I will read anything else this author writes!

With many thanks to @netgalley @penguinukbooks @penguinbooksireland @penguinrandomhouse for my early copy. All opinions are my own, as always. #ThingsDontBreakOnTheirOwn is available to buy now.

Willa’s sister Laika vanished as a teenager and she’s never given up hope that she’s still alive. Years later Willa joins her friend Robyn for a dinner party with a group of friends and acquaintances and the truth about Laika’s disappearance begins to unravel.

This has had really good reviews so I was intrigued but if i’m honest I was pretty disappointed. It gets off to a very slow start and I almost DNF’d a few times but pushed through to the end and I wanted to see where the story ended up. Unfortunately I found the climax and conclusion very far fetched and verging on ridiculous.

It wasn’t a bad book but it just wasn’t for me.

This book is SO good. Every time you think you know what's going on, the rug is pulled from under you and its completely different from what you originally thought. The characters are very well written and fleshed out. You'll be rooting for Willa to uncover the truth about what really happened to Laika and you'll be stunned when you find out what really happened. The story goes back and forth, from when Willa was a teenager up to now, when she is married with children. As she wonders what happened to her sister, will she be able to uncover the rea truth and make things right?! Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Willa's life is consumed by her missing sister, Laika. In the immediate aftermath of the disappearance she is moved school where she meets Robyn who, for a time, becomes her only true support. The story tackles both the relationship between Willa and Robyn as it is formed, then crumbles only to be built again, as well as examining family dysfunction and abuse under a close lens.

This multi-perspective mystery makes for an enthralling read as we watch the narrative unfold from Robyn, Willa and others point of view. For me personally, it's rare that a multi-narrative approach works but here it only added to the story as we flick from person to person, more secrets come to light and more insights are given. The threads of the story are woven very carefully with little given away until they are laid bare before you (indeed while I suspected the twist it still panned out in a way that I didn't see coming). I found myself thinking of the book long after I'd finished it.

Overall it is a fantastic debut from Easter Collins, and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

What a brilliant and beautiful debut from Collins! Things Don’t Break on Their Own is a deeply haunting and emotional mystery, unravelling as friends gather for a dinner party and unresolved trauma from three guests’ lives forces them to look into the past. Willa was only a teen when her younger sister disappeared without a trace while they walked to school. No matter how many times she’s retraced the steps, Willa is no closer to understanding where Laika is, but one thing remains: she’s convinced Taika is still alive.

As a true crime enthusiast, the synopsis of this book drew me in and was a captivating thread throughout the story. (Worthwhile to include this since I find many books draw me in and that point ends up being 1% of the plot!) Willa is a great protagonist: she moves the story along and isn’t afraid to confront others, the situation, or herself. There’s some excellent character development from almost all of the characters and a thoughtful way of exploring big themes like familial relationships, domestic violence, treatment of the elderly, and identity. Collins’ attention to detail is incredible, creating a gorgeous slow burn in the first half of the book, before cranking things up into a compulsive page-turner in the second. Loved this one!

"Life's most important journeys you take on your own. Certainly the hardest ones. You just have to be brave."

When Willa was 17, her younger sister Laika went missing on her way to school. Years later, everyone assumes she's dead, but Willa never stops believing she'll be found. It's something that's overshadowed her life ever since, ruining her connection to her best friend, Robyn.

Fast forward 25 years and Robyn and her wife, Cat are hosting a dinner party. Willa is there with her boyfriend Jamie, as is Cat's brother Nate with his partner, Claudette and Robyn's brother and his girlfriend. But during this party, secrets will be revealed that will shake the foundation of all these relationships.

This book is very much about memory: how we suppress the most painful ones, how we may misremember to protect ourselves, and how we cling to what is precious. It's also about how difficult it is to escape abuse, and the undeniable strength of love, between sisters and between mothers and their children. Willa and Robyn's relationship is so tender and beautiful and heartbreaking. You can't help but feel for Willa and everything she's been through.

'Things Don't Break on Their Own' is both an intriguing and moving mystery that will stay with me for some time. I think my only critique is that sometimes I struggled a bit to connect to Robyn – I wanted more of her flaws to make her real to me. I feel like the book could have been grittier to really gut-punch you. Otherwise, a great book that I read in a day.

Beautifully written but ultimately I struggled to get into this book and I am unsure why :(

I think at another time I would probably have thoroughly enjoyed it!

This is an emotionally charged family drama, rather than a thriller. It’s about a missing sister and contains references to child abuse and domestic violence.

It’s very literary and isn’t the easiest read. But, it’s well written and has real depth of emotion. I found it overall to be a decent read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK, Fig Tree for the opportunity to preview.

The cover of this book jumped out to me so had to read it.

I'm so glad I did as it was brilliant read.

Couldn't put it down.

It amazes me when someone writes a book so perfectly then you find out it’s their debit! This is such a book and her hardest task will be to write something equally as good or better.
Twenty Five years ago Willa’s younger sister, Laika, disappeared on her way to school. No trace was ever found of her, no sighting, no glimpse no last minute eyewitness account. Willa has never stopped looking for her. Now a group of friends old and new gather for a meal. During the course of the meal the last 25 years are relived, an undercurrent of violence and despair filter their way through the story. Old love, friendships and a startling revelation from one of the guests changes the course of the dinner.
It’s a haunting story of family violence, sibling love, aching loss and the importance of memories. I loved it.

#ThingsDontBreakOnTheirOwn. #NetGalley

I was sent a copy of Things Don’t Break On Their Own by Sarah Easter Collins to read and review by NetGalley. While I quite enjoyed this novel I’m afraid I can’t rate it as one of my favourites. The premise of the story was good and the characters were engaging, however I found the foil of having the same episode being often relayed via a different character to be annoyingly repetitive – there was not enough difference in accounts for me to feel this was worthwhile. It could also be quite confusing as to what timeline the specific characters were ‘living in’ until further into their chapter. I did like the fact that the characters were each voiced first person, I always like that point of view, but I’m afraid it wasn’t enough to move this novel out of the mediocre bracket for me. Such a shame as it could have been quite outstanding.