Enjoyed - mostly. But I found the story lacking in areas. Especially the lacklustre ending, that did not really provide much closure.

The story revolves around four members of an ordinary family experiencing ordinary, everyday life with all it's pleasures and problems. Rosie and Nick were married until Nick had an affair with Lisa, Rosie's best friend. Rosie and Nick's children have their own problems and peculiarities, all of which are exposed when each member of this family tell it like it is.

Far from the gripping novel I expected I found this all rather boring, repetitious and heavy-going. Very much a character-driven novel with absolutely no pace or action.

Disappointed in this and didn't finish it.

Well written thriller, nice developed characters, a storyline that convinces and lots os suspense around the central plot.

None of them would forget that week on the wild Norfolk coast.

Best friends Rosie and Lisa's families had always been inseparable. But that summer, Lisa had an affair with Rosie's husband Nick. And now, after years of silence, she sends Rosie a letter begging for help. A letter which exposes dark secrets. Daughter Daisy's fragile hold on reality begins to unravel. Teenage son Max blames himself for everything that happened that long hot summer. And Nick must confront his own version of events.

There are four sides to this story. Who will you believe?

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

A fascinating read told through the lens of four family members and their reaction to the events over that summer. A reflection of a modern family with well-crafted characters - each flawed in their own way. Not a great pace to it but I didn't mind this. The ending a bit abrupt which not everyone will appreciate.

I read The Good Girl by Fiona Neill a few years back and i remember been so excited to having received it to review, so when i requested this i was so excited about it. However, ive just looked and this was released 2 years ago...oops - sometimes i am a rubbish blogger, in fact most of the time haha!



So, anyway. The Betrayals follows two families, families who have been friends for longer than they have been with their partners, they have spent the summers together many times over the year and no one will forget the last week they spent together before it all fell apart.Before Nick moved in with Lisa, before Daisy got ill and before they all had to find a new reality.



We follow the story from different perspectives, from that time and from the present. When Daisy discovers a letter from Lisa to her mum she knows that what she has to say will destroy everything, and Daisy has to protect her mum. Lisa is ill and needs to speak to Rosie but after all this time - why would Rosie even want to speak to her?



We also follow from male perspectives as well, we learn about how Nick is coping and how the situation is affecting him. We also learn about his work and how his knowledge on his subject is relevant to the narrative. We also meet Max who is the youngest in the bunch, he has been massively impacted by his sisters (Daisy) illnesss.



The Betrayal tells of all the events that impacted the family from different points of view and allows you as a reader to decide on the truth, who you actually believe? I found this book gripped me, not in a tense oh my gosh i need to know what is happening - but in a, i am enjoying discovering how this event actually happened. It wasnt the fastest paced read but it was a slow burner of a read that kept me hooked.



I would be very happy to read more from Fiona and i would recommend this to someone who is looking for a light mystery.

They say there are two side to every story but in this care there are four. This books switches between the events of the present day and a summer where everything changed. It will keep you gripped to the very last word.

A well written work of fiction that keeps you reading until the very last page. The story is told from multiple view points and explores many life themes.

Written from the point of view of all members of the family, The Betrayals is a story of the ultimate betrayal, when a woman loses her husband to her one time best friend. Although the book moved along quite interestingly and the different aspects of each character's story was good I cannot forgive the ending. I was left totally disappointed and this then ruined the whole book for me. There were no answers to many of the issues brought up by the story.

The nature of truth and versions of a event- Rosie’s best friend has an affair with her husband and this reverberates down the years.

I hate to say it but it falls into typical women’s fiction territory. I was invested in the characters, and tbh I didn’t really like them.
Maybe I wasn’t in the mood for this book, as it’s well written and plotted if a little predictable. Nothing really stood out as wrong but neither did I say ‘I must read this’.

Not my cuppa tea..

So this one was a bust for me: I really didn't enjoy it at all.
I felt like I was waiting for some big reveal to happen and It never actually did.
It was all so anti-climatic in nature and that ending for me was just so sudden and abrupt.
It's a shame really as the writing style here I did enjoy: this was great and was ever so easy to follow along with: but the story itself I found that to be a let down it never quite managed to capture my undivided attention.
Really my main issue here was I was bored and it was only the fact that this was an Arc that I persevered until the very end though I did find myself somewhat skimming in places.
So the idea here was very clever and in some way applied a three degrees of separation concept to the characters involved.
every action has a polar reaction and every unrelated incident is somehow connected on an alternate level eventually coming full circle: see really ingenious.
I may not have fully appreciated this but I can still applaud the author's creativity in this matter.
This was told from various POV: it was almost the same story from different perspectives portraying how each person can see the same incident but with a totally different interpretation and overall clarity concerning the exact same event.
The writing itself here had such an easy style I just failed to connect on any deeper level.
So this also explores a variety of diverse subjects from infidelity, betrayal, mental health: there really is a whole lot going on.
I think this will be more down to the style of fiction you ultimately like rather than the merits of is it well written: As I said earlier I cannot fault it in that regard.
On reflection, I would say this is more of a family drama type novel and it's just a shame that It wasn't really my cup of tea.
I voluntary reviewed an Arc of The Betrayals.
All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

I felt like nothing really impressive happened in the book. The characters was all right, although I wouldn't be friends with them. Also, the author had many different ideas throughout the book and none of them was gripping enough or hit me in a way that I had to read it all at once. Maybe the execution was bad or it was just me, I don't know.

This was such an odd read for me, Realism crossed with family drama makes me feel a little grubby, like I am actually living in someone's dirty house and watching them get undressed. So yes this book was a little uncomfortable, which obviously shows off the skill in the writing, to feel that close and tainted by the family.
So I didn't really look forward to reading this book, but that says more about the style of writing I prefer rather than a lack of skill by the author who did manage to describe symptoms, authentic reactions and emotions brilliantly well.
However, the storyline was really off for me. The whole narrative centered around something that happened in the past - which turned out to be not that interesting or important.
And as soon as something interesting happened in the present day - Rosie & Barney getting together, Maxi discovering his dad was sleeping with his girlfriend, Rosie and Lisa discovering Nick was having an affair etc - the book just ended! I couldn't believe it. I had been through so much raking through the boring past with this family that as soon as something actually happened I was excited to discover what the fall out was going to be but was denied any kind of ending at all. Lisa just going into the sea was an absolute anti-climax. I almost wished the book had started THERE rather than finished.
So no not one for me sorry.

Plot: Rosie’s best friend has an affair with her husband, and it affects more than you could possibly imagine – their relationship and their entire families’. But the story isn’t as simple as it seems – there are 4 sides to this story. Told between all of them, there are secrets to unravel, memories to examine – not all of which may be completely true, and relationships to tear apart.

My Thoughts: Normally with a narrative that flits between multiple characters, I’ll find at least one of them to be slightly less interesting than the others. To put it bluntly, you usually get at least one “boring” character, but one who is necessary to push the story forward. With this book, I felt that from none of the characters. Each perspective was completely whole and interesting, albeit dysfunctional – well, what’s the fun of a book with normal characters?! Every character was properly filled out with their own storyline, their own backgrounds, and most importantly, their own opinions and voices. The fun is figuring out the points at which the stories the branch out and come back together; whose memories are faltering, whose recollections are not to be trusted, and why. The medical backgrounds of the characters plus the fact that unreliable memories are Nick’s speciality makes it all the more fun to unravel. This was a really good read and one I would recommend.

There were times when i was sailing through this book and times when i put it down. I am not fond of books whereby it has different points of view by family members, which no doubt took away some of my interest. The topic of OCD was of particular interest, as i have family members who suffer from this. Thankfully not as bad a Daisy! Although this book wasn't really my ideal read, it wouldn't stop me from reading more books by this author.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, freely given.

Slightly outside the genre I usually read but I was drawn in by the description and I'm so glad I took a chance on this book. Modern families are difficult and complicated, full of complex relationships and unresolved secrets. And yet also at times deeply, darkly funny. Fiona Neill manages to capture all of this in a way this rings true and feels genuine. The story feels genuine and believable.

Two families holiday together the same way they have done many times before but this time lives are changed in unexpected ways and years later everyone is still paying the price for what happened that summer.

Events are told from the viewpoint of different characters and I found this fascinating. It shows how our memories are fallible. It reveals how the same event can have different consequences for each participant because of their different interpretations of what has happened.

This is not a fast-paced read, full of action and adventure. It is engaging and thoughtful, witty and yet full of dark moments. I found it to be a perfect gem of a story from an author I hadn't come across before but whose other work I will be looking out for.

Good twisty family saga which jumps from past to present but is easy to follow. The premise was interesting as well as the numerous issues all of the family and extended family members are dealing with. A good read.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

this is a story that could be based on real life...

two families..two children in each family, the mothers best friends since teenage years and the hubbies friends since uni days...

what could go wrong...

this is a well written story with believeable characters, each chapter is a character from the families and gives different viewpoints on their lives

unfortunately a very realistic view of some peoples lives....but still enjoyed reading it

I really tried with this book and continued reading even when I felt my interested waning. However, I decided to DNF at 63% because I felt a total disconnection to this plot.

First of all I liked the front cover of this book. If I saw this in a bookshop it would compel me to pick up the book and read.
Rosie and Lisa have been best friends since school. Years later Rosie married Nick a scientist and Lisa married music journalist Barney. Rosie's daughter Daisy and Lisa's daughter Ava also became best friends. Both families remained friends and Rosie was a shoulder to cry on when Lisa's marriage was failing.
When the families go on their annual holiday to Norfolk, Lisa and Nick start an affair. When Rosie finds out she throws Nick out of their house and the two families become estranged. After her father left Daisy was diagnosed with crippling OCD.


Seven years later Daisy intercepts a letter from Lisa wanting to see Rosie. The letter prompts Daisy's OCD to return. People often make jokes about OCD but the description of Daisy's rituals just to function sounded exhausting. In this book we find out what happened on the Norfolk holiday through the eyes of Daisy, younger brother Max, Rosie and Nick, but how reliable are their memories?

Loved this book and I look forward to Fiona's next book!

This is easy to get into, but the people are hard to like.

Om; the brash medical student seems to have had a pretty messed ip life which has made him as he is..
His mother is vague and uninterested unless it involves her or her important medical work. She never noticed her teenage daughter slipping into obsession, nor does she notice when the adult is about to do the same.
The father is opinionated and more interested in his research work although he does have a human side unless bed-able women are in his way.

Everything hinges on events which tool place on a holiday some years ago, when a couple with their children shared a house and turned all their lives around; Instead of the tired format of narration by each character in turn, giving their version of the same events, these characters take up the same narration and develop the story by adding their perspective,
There are many surprises and unexpected twists and although the page of the story seems slow, an enormous amount happens in just one sentence.