Cover Image: Little White Lies

Little White Lies

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Member Reviews

The book was archived before our group could download it. We are sure that we would have enjoyed the book judging from the reviews it has received.

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This was quite a good book to read, it has plenty of twists and turns. The characters were great, the story itself was interesting but the style of writing wasn’t what I normally read. I have read another book in the past by this author and enjoyed it very much. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys this genre.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

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I enjoyed this gripping and well written psychological thriller with excellent characters and lots of plot twists. Abigail is abducted at age 8 and then turns up at a police station at age 15. What had happened to her and what happens next? A real page turner.

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Overall really enjoyed this, plotline was good, characters ok however did find it a little slow in parts and would have liked it to have got to the 'secret' a bit quicker!

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A really good premise but I felt it fell a little flat in reality. I didn't connect with many of the characters, including Abigail and the ending was slightly strange. That said, I did enjoy the book.

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I found this a little bit of a laborious read. I initially enjoyed it but then I was getting fed up hearing about the secret and not knowing what it was and when it was revealed it did not really make me gasp out loud the way I wanted it to.
I found rhe end rather strange and rushed.
Never the less it was an enjoyable read.

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Abigail White went missing when she was eight - seven years later she walks into a police station with another missing child. Reunited with her family, it's a reunion that should have been a happy one for everyone, and yet it proves to be much more complicated as we discover it is a family full of secrets and lies. It kept me turning the pages, keen to discover the truth and I raced through it.

The story is told in a dual narrative, by Abigail's mother Anne and her cousin, Jess, to whom she was very close prior to her disappearance, Anne's behaviour seems hard to understand as she struggles to reconnect with her daughter, but as the story progresses we learn more about their relationship and events leading up to the fateful day seven years ago. Jess is overjoyed at the return of her much loved cousin, but it soon becomes clear that Abigail has, perhaps unsurprisingly, returned a very different person. We begin to understand how her return has affected the whole family in very different ways and we learn that it is a family hiding many things.

There are plenty of twists and turns and it is a book that kept me guessing. The tension builds throughout as it reaches a dramatic conclusion. I look forward to reading more of East's books.

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I read SAFE AND SOUND earlier this year and really enjoyed it so when I saw that Philippa’s debut novel LITTLE WHITE LIES was on an Amazon Monthly Deal of 99p it was a quick and easy click for me.

Firstly, I should point out that the story is about a missing/abducted young child so if this topic is a “trigger” then this book probably isn’t for you.

Abigail went missing at the age of 8, when she was with her mother and twin toddler siblings on a busy train in London. She vanished into thin air and hadn’t been seen again, until she walks into a police station age 15 with another little girl who had recently been abducted. What should then be a happy reunion with her family slowly starts to show the cracks and secrets surrounding her abduction and their collective guilt begins to split the family apart.

The story is narrated by Anne, Abigail’s mother and Jess, Abigail’s first cousin and best friend. As a mother I found it difficult to understand Anne’s behaviour towards her daughter, but as the story progresses we learn more about their relationship and what led up to that fateful day. The chapters told from Jess were so sweet and heartbreaking, having lost her best friend at the tender age of 8, Jess has refused to give up hope of her safe return and waited patiently for this miraculous day, but it’s apparent immediately that Abigail is no longer the little girl who vanished, but a troubled and secretive teenager struggling with her demons.

The story is full of twists and turns, surprises and questions, which kept me guessing throughout. If you enjoy well plotted stories with dysfunctional characters then I am sure you will enjoy this book.

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The premise of this book sounded good - a child missing for 7 years who is reunited with her family at the age of 15. I did feel the story was a little slow and I have to say I didn't really engage with any of the characters. Big twist at the end which went to show that one small action snowballed into something no one could imagine and it affected everyones lives.

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While I loved the concept of this book, I struggled to connect with any of the character or the plot. While I wanted to know what happened when Abigail disappeared, there were just too many issues with the delivery for me to truly engage and love the story. I was surprised by the identity of the kidnapper, but beyond that, this was pretty average.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

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Thank you for the ARC of this book
This was well written and the first book I have read by this author but it didn't really grab me sadly.
I would read another by this author in the hope it will be better than this one - hence the 3 stars

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So the general premise of the story had me intrigued. I wanted to know what exactly happened the day Abigail disappeared. The revelation of who Abigail's kidnapper was did surprise me, however this was really all that did.

I found the story as a whole played out well but didn't have me gripped and dying to know more. I found some of the behaviours strange - how the mother behaved the day Abigail disappeared, the struggles Abigail faced settling back in, but what was the strangest was the ending... I found it strange and feel that it didn't feel it fitted.

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This is an really well written book with lots of twists and turns. The characters are really believable - so well written. Highly recommended.

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A good read, although didn’t really grab me and I didn’t really like any of the characters. Would give the author another go as soon interesting ideas.

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I really enjoyed this book and would read more from this author. May have been first but won't he the last.

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This is an exceptionally well written book with many twists and turns.
The characters are well developed and flawed. All the qualities for a great thriller.
The ending was fantastic. So tense and gripping.
An excellent book for fans of twisty gripping reads

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A story told between mother, daughter and cousin. We meet Anne and learn about what happened to her daughter Abigail who went missing and after many years has been found, we follow her journey to the trial after her kidnapper has been found and learn how small lies have turned into big ones and effected so many people and spiralled out of control.
A gripping read with many twists and turns towards the end.

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Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

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What a corker, so basically Abigail goes missing when she’s 8 years old when her mum Anne is at the railway station she has been missing for seven years and all of a sudden swallow into a police station with another girl that she says was also kidnapped, the abducted is still on the large and the police haven’t found him yet....

That’s the blurb!

It’s a fast paced thriller with plenty of twists to keep you going, but if a roller coaster to be honest and it was a great storyline, I read it in a couple of sittings and found it easy going, love books like this and so glad I found this one!!

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Little White Lies by Philippa East was an enjoyable read, slightly let down by an over the top ending that I feel came out of know where and added little to the overall story.

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