Anna, Rhea, and Maggie unexpectedly joined together to expose secrets about their children’s school and in the process worked through their own hidden struggles. I absolutely loved the character growth that all three main characters showed through this book! It was a suspenseful story that I found myself quickly reading.

Things We Never Say

My first book by Caitlin Weaver did not disappoint!

As a parent that couldn’t handle the surface level of our local Parent Teacher Organization, I cannot help but think there must be so many things never said just below the surface! “Things We Never Say” is like being a fly on the wall in the home of the elite, the untouchable, and the peculiar!

As a believer in friendship, especially finding true friendship in the most unlikely of people, this book spoke to me! I could feel the stress and emotions as if I were in the company of these women, like I was part of their group!

An easy read, quick to turn page after page, I became invested immediately and stayed that way to the end!

It really makes you wonder, what is being left unsaid around you in your daily life - at work, at school, on the playground?

Enjoy!

The story was great. Definitely a page-turner. I even wish it was longer. I can't wait for a sequel.

I loved this book! Couldn’t put it down. The characters are very relatable and real. I started to really care about their storylines. The story was interesting without being far fetched. I look forward to reading more from this author.

A good domestic drama. I liked all 3 women and found they had a believable mix of strengths and flaws. Really enjoyed the story, and read it quickly.
I know this is an ARC, but I must say I've never had an ARC with quite so many mistakes - I hope there's lot of editing to be done; wrong spellings, words missing/extra words added to sentences, many sentences structurally off and make no sense. Once these are fixed though, it'll be brilliant.

Great story on the surface, but lacked depth and felt rushed, like the author wrote on deadline without true passion for the story. The ending wrapped up perfectly, however, and I could see it being a Lifetime movie.

I loved everything about this one! The POVs of the 3 main characters kept me hooked, and I read this in one day. I’m excited to read more from this new-to-me author, and I hope this book finds a deserving large audience.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Things We Never Say by Caitlin Weaver is a compelling read that I both enjoyed and personally struggled to finish. With a trio of complex, relatable female characters, the story dives into the secrets that lie beneath the surface of their seemingly perfect lives. However, while it’s marketed as a thriller, it leans more into women’s fiction, leaving me with mixed feelings by the end.

Here are some of my thoughts...

What I Loved:

💖 Quick Hook & Relatable Characters: From the start, the story pulls you in with a quick hook and easily relatable characters. The three FMCs each have distinct voices, making them easy to connect with and also distinguish. Never once did they feel like they blended together, which is what sometimes occurs with many rotating POV's.

💖 "Every Family Has Its Dirty Little Secrets" Vibe: I appreciated the way the book explored the idea that every home and family has its dirty little secrets, secrets that change us, shape us, and redefine us. This theme was woven beautifully into the story, offering a nuanced look at domestic life, motherhood, marriage, and female friendships.

💖 Complex Characters: The story does a good job of making you care about each of the three women, despite their varying degrees of secrets and complicated relationships with their husbands. You become invested in their lives, rooting for them even when their decisions are questionable.

What kept this from being a 5 star read:

😞 Misleading Genre:Let me begin by saying... while decent, this book was NOT a thriller. The suspense and tension you’d expect from a thriller just weren’t there, which made the pacing feel somewhat off... despite the story being interesting in its own way. I would have personally marketed it as Women's Fiction, and delved deeper into the nuances of the underlying themes of the story (motherhood, marriage, etc).

😞 Slow Burn: The book is definitely a slow burn, which isn’t inherently bad, but it sometimes left me impatient. Just when I was expecting the plot to hit its climax, the story wrapped up, leaving me wanting more in terms of plot development and resolution.

😞 Predictable Ending: The predictability of the plot was another downside. While the characters were compelling, the twists and turns were not as surprising as I’d hoped, and the author TOLD us all of the answers to all of the character's secrets at 50% of the book... which dulled the impact of the story’s conclusion.

😞 Unrealistic Character Reactions: For a story that hinges so much on female friendships, it was frustrating that neither Rhea or Maggie seemed concerned when Anna suddenly "disappeared" towards the last 1/4 of the book. Given that Anna displayed clear signs of being a victim of domestic violence, it felt unrealistic that Maggie, a relationship psychiatrist with a PhD, didn't pick up on these signals. This oversight made the characters’ actions feel less believable, especially given Maggie's job and the relationship Weaver wanted us to know they had.

Overall, Things We Never Say is an enjoyable read with strong character development and a compelling exploration of the secrets we keep. However, the misaligned genre, slow pacing, and predictable plot detracted from what could have been a more thrilling and impactful story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Caitlin Weaver for the ARC copy to review!

I received an ARC of this book from Storm Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. I loved this book! The characters were very well fleshed out and believable. I loved the mentions of random items to make everything even more realistic - Rothy's, oat milk, Minecraft. Just current things that get the reader feeling more in touch with the characters. I enjoyed the alternating POV chapters and was always eager to read the next one from each character. I do feel that it could perhaps have been condensed a bit; it is quite a long book, and the climax is not till very close to the end. But I was still looking forward to picking it up again each time I put it down.

This is more of domestic drama/suspense than thriller, and TW for domestic violence and teen pregnancy.

I am thankful to have gotten the eARC for free from Netgalley and Storm Publishing so I can leave my voluntary review.

I’ll Admit that this took me a bit to get through but I’m not sure why. I think the beginning grabbed me but I have trouble with the flow and kept putting it down for other books until I got to the 50% mark.

However once I got to that mark I flew through the second half of the book as I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. There really wasn’t any surprise moments as everything was fairly predictable but it didn’t detract from the enjoyability of the book.

I liked reading the 3 different perspectives and it really showed how from the outside you can have a very different perspective if someone’s life than reality. I think one thing that made it good is that it didn’t seem like fiction. It was all very realistic situations that played out.

I will give a trigger warning for DV.

This title comes out on September 27,2024 and will be on kindle unlimited so get it on your TBR so you don’t forget!

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my copy of Things We Never Say by Caitlin Weaver.
3 mothers agree to form a committee to raise funds for their children’s school.
3 perfect women with their perfect lives. But are they, is anyone?
When their lives start to unravel will they be there for each other?
A great read that I devoured. I couldn’t put it down.

Gosh where do I start. The character development was phenomenal and really made you think you were living and experiencing the emotions with Anna, Rhea, and Maggie. I have felt some of the very emotions and life turmoil they went through in the book. There were enough twists and turns to keep me engaged and not wanting to put the book down!! Great job with the writing Caitlin, I thoroughly enjoyed and can’t wait for your next book!!

This book would be great for fans of Big Little Lies and I could definitely see Things We Never Say being turned into a tv show. It has scandal, drama, secrets and lies. A great summer read. Definitely add this one to your TBR.

This book is perfect for fans of big little lies, the last thing he told me. With POVs from all three women you get to really learn about their lives. The characters are well written and completely relatable.

Their marriages seem perfect on the surface and so do their lives but like it’s true for real life, the story is completely different behind closed doors.

While the main mystery or scandal is about the elite school their children go to, I didn’t much care for it. I was more interested in their personal turmoils.

I think this book will make a really great tv show.

I give it 3.5 ⭐️

Thankyou NetGalley and storm publishing for sending me an advance copy for my honest opinion.

Scandal, friendship, secrets and lies.
Caitlin Weaver does it again. You can’t help but enjoy her work.
Her characters are genuine and you can relate them in one way or another. She writes beautifully and keeps you wanting to read more.
Not all relationships are perfect and secrets and lies seems to be the basis of the 3 main characters relationships. 3 unlikely women who have to work together to help their children’s school end up with way more then bargained for. A scandal is about to rock everyone’s world in one way or another.
If you enjoy powerful woman’s dramas this is a must read for you.

Three fascinating women with deep secrets and a shared mission to address a serious injustice make for a strong foundation in this gripping book. I loved the depth of each of the women’s stories and the insights into the relationships with their children and husbands. The ending is so satisfying and I was glad that all the loose ends were wrapped up. Yes, all three women came from a perspective of great privilege but this book was a reminder that there are always more layers and that no one’s life is perfect.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review Things We Never Say by Caitlin Weaver!

While this book is marketed as a thriller, it reads more like family drama and isn’t what I had been expecting at all. The middle dragged a bit and I feel like the secrets could have been revealed sooner to help it be more fast paced but overall 3 full stars!

Three unlikely ladies become friends due to their shared connection of their kids' private school. Anna is the headmaster's wife, Maggie is a relationship therapist and Rhea's world seems perfect. They're all working on a Gala committee through the PTA and really begin to become close friends. But each has a secret they've kept; some bigger than others. Maggie is having relationship troubles of her own, Rhea has a 21 year old secret she's kept under wraps, and Anna has a terrible secret to keep while maintaining appearances and the reputation of her husband. As they work on the logistics for the upcoming Centennial Gala, they uncover a huge scandal with major consequences.

Very enjoyable novel! It was fun to see the multiple points of view and how each weighed the consequences of their situation and potential fall out.

Thanks to NetGalley, Storm Publishing and Caitlin Weaver for the eARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and Strorm for the ARC. This book would make a phenomenal tv series. My first from this author and I really enjoyed this domestic suspense.

Scientia-labore-integritas (Knowledge, Hard Work and Integrity)

So reads the crest of Civitas-one of the country’s top private day schools, located in Atlanta, and run by headmaster Jerry Armstrong. But does he practice what he preaches?

Scandal is about to rock this community

Jerry encourages his soft spoken wife Anna to volunteer for the fundraising committee for the schools annual Gala-its MOST important fundraising event of the year, along with Rhea Connelly-the Parents Association President who knows the Texas secret ingredient for killer grilled cheese sandwiches and its other volunteer, Maggie Reed, a semi famous relationship therapist an author of best-selling book-“Reconnecting Between the Sheets”.

At first glance, it would appear that the three women would have nothing in common, but as it turns out-there is something that they do share-EACH ONE is hiding a secret.

And, when exposed, their marriages may NOT survive.

I recently finished Caitlin Weaver’s excellent debut “Such a Good Family”, and this book proves that the author definitely has a knack for creating well developed, relatable characters and a natural ability to write entertaining domestic suspense stories which cover a wide range of “challenges” that marriages and families might face.

Sharing more about what these women will encounter would ruin the surprises, for you, so I won’t say more, but suffice to say that things are not as perfect as they seem behind closed doors.

At 394 pages, I thought the pace could have been tightened in the first half, if a few pages had been trimmed and secrets exposed a bit sooner, but regardless, the author is now 2 for 2 for me, and I am looking forward to what she writes next!

3.75 ⭐️ rounded up!

AVAILABLE September 27, 2024

Thank You to Storm Publishing for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts!