An interesting premise with a poor final execution.

Abigail’s story is an interesting one and the need to know her Anne’s secret encourages you to turn the page and is quite intriguing. Whilst there were some good twists the post trail sequence wasn’t to my liking and a bit unnecessary.

3.5 stars.

This book has to be my second most favourite book I've ever read. It's incredibly insightful and cleverly put together. This author knows how to keep her readers hooked to every word, every page and every detail. My mind has officially been blown with this psychological thriller. And it's definitely one I recommend if you love twists and turns, cleverness and tenseness. This story has it ALL.

Anne, Abigail, Jess, Lillian, Robert, Fraser, Preston, Laurie & Sam, were all FANTASTIC characters. Preston wasn't mentioned so much, but as Abigail's father, I thought to include him in the list. Laurie & Sam too, Abigail's little twin brothers because they had a small impact later in the book. Abigail's presence back in the house certainly switched those two angels into little fighting devils. 
Abigail was a complex character with trauma to boot. Her ordeal, her mindset, her way of thinking, confuses you but at the same time, you completely sympathise with her. Anne, her mother, dutifully searched for her from the time she was missing - at aged 7/8, there was a contradicting with her age at the beginning to when it was mentioned later in the story - and when she finally got her back, she wasn't the same. I mean, who would be, right? After being away from her family for 7 years, being lied to, manipulated... she was never going to be the doting, adoring daughter they all longed for. Lillian & Fraser had their own parts to play and were very good secondary characters with quirks and flaws. Jess though... she was a little weird to me. I mean, I had awesome relationships with my cousins as child, but it never bordered on obsessive behaviour, and near the very end of the book she was wanting Abigail to kiss her... really? They were cousins. Jess was a clingy cousin, never wanted to leave her alone, always thinking about her. Extremely naive. Never grew up after Abigail disappeared as a child. She was an odd character but definitely brought grit to the story.
Robert was the perfect, loving, calm, considerate step-father any child would want and need. All the way through the book he was thoughtful and kind. He was the only one that didn't seem to have any flaws. Anne held a terrible secret and when it was revealed, Robert was only angry for a little bit before forgiving her. He is possibly the character everyone will adore the most.

The author is new to me, and boy am I glad I took a chance. From the description, I knew this one was going to be a good'n. And it exceeded all of my expectations and more. This book is worthy of more than 5 stars and awards as well. Philippa East's writing style is unique, and not one I've come across before. Which makes it compelling. The whole book was incredibly descriptive from start to finish. She knows how to draw the reader in, stick them on the edges of their seats and spits them out at the end with a smile.

Perfect story, full of lies, secrets, confusion, suspense and tensions. Everything you could possibly need in a psychological thriller. Can't wait to see what this author produces next!

I found this book really dragged, I was expecting more and was disappointed, I skim read a lot but almost gave up several times

This promised so much and delivered so little.
Abigail has been missing for seven years. She disappeared when she was eight years old. Suddenly she walks into a police station with another little girl.
It then starts to become so unbelievable. Abigail goes straight home, where as I thought she would have been hospitalised for medical and psychiatric tests. This wouldn't have been left for the parents to organise, especially as there was to be a trial of the man who abducted her.
The narrative was from two points of view. Anne, Abigail's mother and Jess her cousin and best friend. I found it hard work the jumping between the two and Jess just irritated me the whole time.
The whole family wasn't likeable or believable in any way and the story just dragged on while we are trying to work out what the little white lie was.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my ARC in return for an honest review.

The title of this book caught my eye, I had started reading it, before I realised it was about a missing child. It seems like I’m drawn to this topic like a moth to a flame!!

Abigail went missing at the age of 8, when her mother Anne took her eyes off her at the railway station and she disappeared into thin air!!She had been missing for seven years when she walked into a police station with another girl that had also been abducted.  The police are still looking for the man who took the girls.

Abigail’s family have put their life’s on hold, hoping now that they can carry on as normal.  Anne is thrilled to have her daughter back but what secrets is she and her sister Lillian hiding. Abigail has come back a changed girl after the horrors she endured. 

The story alternates between the perspective of Anne (Abigail’s mother) and Jess (Abigail’s cousin) 

This book kept me intrigued and I read it in one day. I liked that we got to see how all of Abigail’s family were affected differently by her reappearance. How one tiny mistake had a tidal effect on all of the family and could not be reversed!!

A griping story, that I would definitely recommend. 

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

'Little White Lies' is an extraordinary debut from a phenomenally talented writer.

Child abduction and its aftermath is far from an original plot device in contemporary novels, but Phillippa East manages to fashion what is a well hackneyed trope into a compelling piece of literature. The years between the disappearance of 8 year old Abigail to her reappearance 7 years later that formed the first part of the novel are particularly compelling and handled with a deft touch by East. As she alternates between the viewpoints of Anne, Abigail's mother, and Jess, a cousin, we gain a powerful insight into the supressed (and sometimes not so supressed) feelings of guilt, anger and shame that those left behind feel in their collective and individual failure to protect an innocent child from harm. Indeed, the child as inherently vulnerable and in need of constant surveillance and protection from and by responsible adults is part of the iconography of Western society, and woe betide any parent or guardian who does not fully inculcate their culturally mandated role. Think about the backlash incurred by the parents of Madeline McCann when their little girl went missing. Philippa  East takes these powerful ideas of family, its roles and responsibilities, and fashions in microcosm, a compelling domestic drama. 

The second part of the book, left me with a few niggles. The return of Abigail ironically left me with a feeling of absence. I could not fully grasp the individual behind the central aspect of the story. I would have liked for Abigail's voice to have joined those of Anne and Jess in the narrative to put more flesh on the bones of the story. Moreover, from a crash-bang-wallop perspective, the denouement is a little bit anti-climatic. Conversely, however, this can also be read as strength of East's writing as she resists the easy temptation to make this book all about shock value - those' Oh My God' moments that are depressingly becoming a staple of contemporary mystery thrillers. For this Phillipa East deserves to be congratulated for writing a poignant, well-observed novel of loss and rediscovery.

4.5 Stars

Summary: 
Anne White only looked away for a second, but that’s all it took to lose sight of her young daughter.
But seven years later, Abigail is found.
And as Anne struggles to connect with her teenage daughter, she begins to question how much Abigail remembers about the day she disappeared…

What a ride! I could not put this down.

I enjoyed the narrative and how the book was written-the concept is compelling and different.

A white knuckle thriller that keeps you guessing until the end. 15 year old Abigail has been returned to her parents after having been held captive for 7 years. She was abducted at a tube station aged 8. The drama features the intrigues within the extended family; the guilt of the mother as well as a highly traumatised teenager. 
The final dramatic scene is almost unbearable to read. 
The trauma of the family is well written and the guilt of the mother clearly depicted.
The novel is a real page Turner and perfect for any reader who loves psychological dramas.
Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this novel.

When Abigail goes missing at the age of  seven from a tube station in London  the whole family is frantic ..
Seven years later she appears at a London police station with a little girl in tow. 
Reunited with her family Abigail finds it hard to adjust to coming home, even her cousin and best friend 
Secrets and lies Abigail doesn't know who to trust, her abductor or her family.

An utterly compelling read - I raced through this! A fascinating story with twists and turns, which definitely keeps you guessing throughout.

Oh,What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive! Whenever we deceive others,in order to make things better for ourselves in the moment,we deceive ourselves most of all.

It has been seven years since Anne's eight year old daughter Abigail vanished without a trace. Seven years of searching, living for the day that she would be able to hold her beloved daughter in her arms again and with the guilt of what happened on that fateful day in the London tube station.

And now,unbelievably,the day that she has always hoped for has miraculously arrived. Abigail has been found,she just walked into a police station in London and the officers there realised that she was on the missing persons database. Anne is overjoyed to have her daughter back but also terrified of how much Abigail remembers from the day she went missing.

Because Anne told a little white lie all those years ago,and if the truth was ever uncovered,it would shatter the image of perfection that Anne has strived so hard to create.

The chapters of this heartstoppingly brilliant thriller alternate between Anne and her fifteen year old niece Jess. I was never really certain wether I liked Anne or not,she was a complex character who I wouldn't say had any redeemable qualities and was also very indecisive. But her struggles to make decisions for herself were unsurprising considering she had spent her entire life living in the shadow of her controlling sister Lillian. Now that was one character that I definitely didn't like,not even a tiny bit for various reasons. Lillian had a mantra that she expected everyone to live by,you could easily imagine her having those little wooden quote signs scattered around her home with we are fine,we are happy,we are perfect written on them. Poor Jess was treated more like a child of a much younger age and kept in the dark about anything that was even remotely connected to her beloved cousin because in Lillian's world,if you didn't talk about it,then it hadn't happened. Absolutely nothing or no one was permitted to tarnish the image of Lillian's perfect life and family. I loved Abigail's dad Robert,he was a fantastic,loveable character and Jess's dad Fraser who constantly found himself torn between keeping his Lillian happy and honestly answering Jess's questions. My heart went out to poor Abigail who must have felt like she had escaped one prison just to find herself trapped in another one. Living with her mum's overbearing  attempts to make up for the mistakes of the past and her constantly insisting that everything was fine. Whilst below the surface,a boiling pot of secrets,lies,manipulations,obsessions and deceit was bubbling away,and would eventually overflow resulting in more than one person getting very badly burned.

Little White Lies is a expertly plotted,unputdownable,suspenseful thriller that had me hooked in from the very first page and frantically turning the pages,totally captivated by the gripping story. The characters were vivid and realistic.There was quite a few twists and turns along the way including one jaw dropping reveal that had me sitting in my comfy chair doing a very bad impersonation of omg cat. The feeling of dread is never far away,the reader can't help sensing that something bad is going to happen,a feeling that only intensified as the story unfolded. This is an extremely well written debut thriller that I couldn't put down and I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future. Worth far more than five stars and definitely one of my favourite books of this year. Very very highly recommended.

This is a story about a missing child returned home. It is an interesting take on child abduction as most books concentrate on the loss of the child. The struggles that the family have to work through throw a new light on the situation.
I found some of the characters' behaviours difficult to understand but decided that this was due to the confusion of the return and the upset. of the court case. 
I enjoyed the story and can readily recommend it.

There have been quite a few books and tv programmes recently, looking at the aftermath of a missing person returning but I think this is one of the better ones. I do think it could've ended after the trial though, as it became quite odd and a bit confusing after that.

The story is told mostly by Abigail's mum and her cousin, in alternating chapters. This makes the story more interesting as they both have such different relationships with Abigail, as you'd expect with relationships between peers and parents. This made Abigail's character far more believable.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. There were enough twists to keep me interested and the characters were likeable enough that I wanted to see how they got on. Definitely worth a read.

An intriguing thriller and solid debut novel from Scottish author Phillippa East. Throughout the book we are kept guessing about the circumstances surrounding Abigail's disappearance. The writer explores family dynamics in the face of trauma and the destructive power of guilt.

This book had so much promise as the story itself is an addictive one- missing child comes home, what happened to her and why etc. But the problem was Abigail and Anne weren’t likeable, so I just didn’t care. I did persist with the book and then it took a giant leap resulting in ******spoiler coming up *******
Abigail tries to kill her cousin Jess???!!!! That just lost me as the reader and I realised the book hadn’t made up its mind as to what story it was trying to tell. 
Interesting but not great

This book was gripping right until the very last few pages. I thought that the actual ending was weak but I can see how it's hard to end a book like this when all the drama and tension comes from not knowing what happened and trying to guess.

Anne White only looked away for a moment, but that was all it took: her eight year old daughter Abigail disappeared, abducted from a busy train station and vanished into thin air.

Seven painful years later, Anne gets the call she never thought she'd receive: Abigail has been found safe and well, and they're looking for the man who has been keeping her captive for the last seven years. 

As the family struggle to connect with the older version of the Abigail they remember - sullen, prickly, difficult - Anne must ask herself the one question she doesn't want to: just what does Abigail remember about the day she disappeared...?

I've read a fair few books that have really disappointed me lately, with a great premise followed by a disappointing execution, so I went into this one steeled for another let down as I liked the story idea so much. Thankfully, this was one of those books that hooked me in from the opening paragraph, and never let go, I loved everything about it - the writing style, the well-developed and fully-realised characters, and how the author sensitively explored the issues faced by not only Abigail after her abduction, but also her family in assimilating this now-stranger into their home. 

I loved the relationship between Abigail and her cousin - the  intensity of those childhood relationships beautifully realised - and I thought the plotting was wonderfully paced. I read this in two long sittings, and didn't want to put it down - I was fascinated by the complexity of the relationships, and wanted to find out what secrets each of them was protecting. And then that ending - so brilliantly done. 

I cannot wait to read more from this author - I loved this book, and will be recommending it to all of my reader friends. A fabulous, gripping, and entertaining novel. 

Thank you to NetGalley, who provided me with a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really interesting idea of a book that kept me reading purely in hope to find out who took Abigail. The book, for me, dragged this out, hiding information from the reader, making it really hard to understand or care for what is going on. Nonetheless i still read it, but i feel ambivalent about it.

Enjoyed this, Abigail returns home after being kidnapped 7 years ago when she was 8. The story is told from the perspective 
of 2 people. I found it interesting to see their reactions  as the situation developed. To me the ending was slightly unsatisfactory, but that’s just my opinion

I did find this quite well written but it took a long time to get to the truth, and I got tired of the hints of secrets that were not revealed until right at the end. The final dramas were not really worth waiting for, to be honest.