A great read full of complex, well-developed characters' relationships feeding of each other's insecurities, issues and problems. Daisy, the daughter, troubled and anxious, trying to fight her demons with OCD, which rather, controls her; Max, Daisy's brother, full of guilt at his part in Daisy's mental health crises; Rosie, the mother, hurt and resentful, her marriage to Nick torn apart by his affair with her best friend; and Lisa, the best friend who betrayed her, dying of cancer and wanting to unload what's been playing on her mind.
A great story summed up by the title, 'The Betrayals.' These pages are full of them!

Really struggled with this book, i di not like the characters and found the writing clunky.. Sorry I was unable to finish.. just not my kind of book.

So the book is told by each of the family members in turn – the parents, Rosie and Nick, and their children Daisy and Max. Some of it is present day – and some of it is 8 years ago when their lives imploded.

It is VERY clever – and the way it weaves in Rosie and Nick’s careers is well thought through and plotted.

I can totally see why it makes a good book club choice as it’s so intricate – and you’re rooting for different people at different times, so there would be lots to discuss.

The term OCD is thrown about just because someone is a bit anal about you not wearing shoes in their house, or if people like their light switches all facing the same way (both of these could possible be referencing myself!) – but this shows just how debilitating proper OCD can be – with rituals, phrases and other behaviour patterns that can destroy a normal life.

There were a number of times when I shouted at my Kindle, as the characters just needed to discuss matters together and be honest with each other – but clearly that would have made for a less interesting book!

The betrayals are varied – the standard husband / wife betrayal, but also between best friends, siblings and family friends – it’s all riddled with it!

Overall I enjoyed the book – and am glad I have FINALLY got round to reading it.

This was the first Fiona Neil title that I have read, but can completely guarantee it won't be the last. Fiona deftly weaves an intricate yet totally relatable and page turning narrative of a family torn to pieces. She juggles 4 main narrative strands, children (grownups but still) Max and Daisy and parents Nick and Rosie.
The story centres around the revelation that Nick's second wife, Lisa, has been diagnosed with breast cancer whilst his first wife, Rosie(Lisa's ex best friend for obvious reasons) is a breast cancer specialist. Add in Max who is training to be a doctor and Daisy who is struggling to maintain a life after a mysterious illness (was it physical or mental?) and you have the perfect ingredients for a family drama which has heart, revelations, hidden secrets and more.
Wonderfully paced and written with great heart, I loved this book.

⭐️⭐️ 2 confusing stars

Well this book started great and I whizzed through it to begin with. But then what happened?!

It’s like the author decided to write about one theme then hold on! Let’s change to something else. Then something else.

I am sorry but I felt that as the book continued it got slower and slower.

Although the blurb suggests this is about a fractured family, it seemed the focus of the message focuses on how we perceive events in different ways and how these memories can subsequently alter the course of our lives. The author had clearly done a lot of research and there was a realism to the novel: the illnesses addressed, the nature of the relationships and the psychology explored all intertwined seamlessly to make an emotional novel. Many of the characters were shout-at-your-page unlikable but there were more sympathetic characters and I felt genuinely angry that they gradually seemed to be dragged down by those around them.
I've read other reviews commenting on the ambiguity of the ending. I didn't feel it lacked a satisfying conclusion. It was disappointing in ways I won't reveal (but on one of those ways that feels 'right') and seemed to bring us back full circle but shouldn't that be how a book ends? I like to feel the lives of the characters go on after last page turns and the fact I could imagine this simply suggests I believed in the characters. The mark of a job well done.
I'd recommend it to those who enjoyed ''The Girl on the Train', although, word of warning, don't be fooled into thinking its a similar storyline.

A tense and well paced thriller that keeps the reader guessing.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This was a sweet but yet harrowing read regarding how an affair in a marriage doesn't just affect the innocent party, but everyone around them. It was well written and worth your time. Recommended.

I did finish this book, but found it to be a bit of a struggle. I feel it could have been fleshed out a bit more, and some of the repetitions cut down a bit,

Really enjoyed this book it kept me wanting to read and I found myself thinking about when I could grab a few more minutes to read. would recommend and thank the author and publisher for the chance to read it..

Sometimes there are four sides to a story....
Told from all perspectives- this is not what I would consider a "light" read.
I did find it engaging and and well balanced and I do like a book that has obviously been well researched.
I think the ending could have been a bit more involved as it seemed to end suddenly.
Overall a good read but not one of my favourites.

A modern family saga told by each member in turn. Not a joyous read as it deals with depressing subjects about the type of problems which beset many families, although not usually all in one go. I found it well written but slow going. Not a favourite.

This was an excellent book right until the end.

Very well written, the 4 different voices were all convincing and the whole story was intriguing. There were also some very amusing reflections on modern life, particularly charlatans like Gregorio.

It just ended a bit too abruptly for me though. I don't need a nice tidy conclusion with all the loose ends tied up, but there was just too much left hanging for my taste and unconvincing actions given what we knew about the characters.

I read an ARC received from Penguin via NetGalley.

“One thing I’ve learnt is that life isn’t about doing the right thing. It’s about not doing the wrong thing.”

Do you remember the events of your past with utter clarity?

If you do, then it’s very likely that you remembered wrong. Well, according to this novel, anyway. This is a brilliant, fast-paced read – not too deep to struggle with, not too light-hearted to skim past.

I read this in a day. Yes folks, a whole day. I just couldn’t stop; I read on the train, at lunch, on the way home, at night until it had all gone and I was left knackered but really quite satisfied.

“Occasionally, there was poetry in her illness, although she would never see it that way.”

Neill has an uncanny ability to bring characters to life; each person standing out in their own flawed way. I didn’t particularly like any of them, but I was hooked into their stories and, more importantly, their memories.

I loved how each perspective of the same event differed. As a reader, you can’t help but take what’s on the page as real, so when another protagonist comes along and offers a completely different take you’re left lost (in a good way) and wanting more.

This is a well-drawn out and knowledgeable account of the modern contemporary family as it experiences breakdown and betrayal, with the consequent devastating ripple effects on everyone concerned through the years. The Betrayals is a great read and an author I’ll keep my eye on in the future.

To begin, I’d like to thank Penguin Random House UK for sending me an ARC of this book, and to NetGalley for facilitating. And a thank you to Fiona Neill for an interesting and entertaining read!

This book deals with several different themes (obviously betrayal is one of those), OCD, memory, cancer care, relationships and dating. It was not just a page turner, I actually found that I learned a few things while I was reading this book which I really liked. I enjoy books that manage to squeeze in some sneaky eduction to the readers! Lol!

The characters were focused on one at a time through different chapters. So each character narrated one - except Lisa - we didn’t hear her side directly which was a surprise. I expected her to have the last word in the book. But perhaps it’s better that we don’t know exactly what she was thinking. Each of the main characters have their own issues, secrets, betrayals, that are eating away at them throughout the book. And each of the characters is developed in just enough detail for you to relate with them, and empathise with them, but not enough for you predict the ending to the book.

And this isn’t a book that wraps everything up with a bow at the end. There is much left unresolved and secrets still waiting to be uncovered, people to be confronted. It would have been good to have explored some of the aftermath of these secrets and betrayals once they were revealed, because I was waiting on the inevitable confrontations that never appeared. So in many respects it seems to have ended a bit prematurely. Not that I expected everything to be resolved and finished cleanly... but some of it would have been nice!

This kept me entertained for a lot of a 9 hour flight and I would recommend it as exactly that - a holiday read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for the ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

I cannot believe I did not get around to reading this book sooner. It slipped under the radar as I had alot of NetGalley books to review. I started it yesterday and completed it today. It really kept me engrossed.

This book deals with so many painful issues but I enjoyed it as it was so well-written. One of the conditions highlighted in this book is OCD. It's something many of us don't understand. It gives us some insight into how life is for the person afflicted with it and how it affects the lives of those who love the person.

This was a really good read and I will definitely look put for more books from the author.

The first book that I had read by Fiona. It comes highly recommended and look forward to reading more

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review this title. Unfortunately in this instance,I didn't connect to the story. As I didn't finish reading, I will not be reviewing this title. Many thanks and I do look forward to picking up another read from this author.

3.5 stars - I wish we could give half marks!!!!
An enjoyable read telling the story of two fractured families and the repercussions and long-term effects of the events over years of friendship. Infidelity, divorce, drink, cancer, OCD are just some of the themes covered in this cleverly written novel from the viewpoint of several of the main characters.

The ending left me feeling a bit let down I'm afraid hence 3.5 instead of 4.
I will definitely look out for more by this author though.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Originally gave this book 3 stars but the more I thought about it, I decided to down it to 2 stars.
I was really looking forward to The Betrayals. The plot was intriguing and I felt sure it would be a page turner.... I was disappointed.
Rosie and Nick along with their children Daisy and Max are life long best friends with Barney and Lisa and their children Rex and Ava. 8 characters in this book and I’m sorry to say that none of them are likeable. All of the characters are weak and enablers; they allow each other to behave in a way that is detrimental to themselves and none of them seem to see each other for they really are. The only likeable character is Kit and he is hardly in it. I could pick at each character in turn as they are all flawed and selfish; Daisy, Nick and Lisa in particular.
The story is scattered and told in turn from the perspective of Daisy, Max, Nick and Rosie. The main plot line through this book focuses on demonstrating how everyone’s memories of events are different and how people are impressionable and can remember things differently based on the emotion they feel at the time. In the book, Nick is some kind of research scientist focusing on this exact subject and so parts of the book are written as low level scientific explanation of the logic behind it. But it feels a bit too coincidental that the exact thing happens to Nick when it’s his specialist area.
With the way this story is told and how it tries to link to Nick’s research subject, everyone’s version of events differ and for me, I started to question whether or not the author had just made mistakes in the plot as the events were out of sync or just didn’t match up to another characters version. I struggled to believe that people could remember things THAT differently.
One of the most disappointing things about this book is the ending. It leaves the book completely open and doesn’t resolve anyone’s story. I was wondering how it was all going to end before glancing down and realising I was at 99%! Given that we read all about the mess caused by these 2 families and them each uncovering a truth of betrayal, I expected resolution. But nothing comes... just a huge wide open ending that leaves a bitter taste and ended up with me feeling like it was a pointless read.
I really wanted to enjoy The Betrayals but unfortunately this just didn’t live up to expectation.