This book sounded interesting, and the idea behind it is a good one. However, I found it all rather boring. The characters are completely off-putting, and I didn't really care what happened to any of them, with their shallow, dull lives. I didn't enjoy the Whatsapp interruptions, which I felt were unnecessary.

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Fallout’ by Rebecca Thornton in exchange for an honest review.

This domestic (or rather school gates) drama revolves around the friendship between two women Sarah and Liza as well as their wider group of affluent young mummies who are members of a posh health club in West London. The fallout of the title relates to an accident that befalls Liza’s five-year old son, Jack, at the centre’s play area.

‘The Fallout’ contains plenty of angst, guilt, secrets, lies, repercussions, and lots of drama. Some of the conversations on a WhatsApp group that the mummies belong to provide a bit of humour though overall it’s quite a solemn story.

I find that these kind of dramas with emphasis upon parenthood are not really my thing though this was certainly a quite readable novel.

An interesting, at times ferocious look at :
School gate politics
WatsApp group wars
Affluent Mummies with their spoilt brats and
( I am not sure which one’s comes out top tbh ) the love, hate, respect and envy of friendships

All based around an accident at a ‘well to do’ Leisure club in West London and what one friend decide’s to tell another about what they have witnessed of the accident ( involving their son ) this decision changes theirs, and others, lives dramatically

I found the complex, often quite brutal friendships between the women featured scary tbh and wondered just how traumatic a daily trip to the School gates can be?, if this book is anything to go by its something I dont envy any Mum ( or Dad ) having to endure

An advert for ‘Sisterhood R Us’ it is not,although there are also positives of female friendships shown throughout the book!

There are many secrets and lies, red herrings and ‘misundertstandings’ througout the story and often just as I found my mind wandering these cropped up and got me focused back on the story

There is dark rye humour alongside utter despair and feelings of inadequacy and the author manages to do a wide range of ‘emotion description’ well

A good story, well written, at times a tad repetitive with good sub stories and a satisfyingly ‘real’ ending that dealt with many issues and did the ‘‘friendships built on a lie/secret’ thing well

8/10
4 Stars

Unfortunately, this book didn't blow me away. Starting the book I had high hopes. However, the book just started to drag and felt very samey to other books I've read. A miss from me I'm afraid.

I am very sorry but I did not enjoy this book. I felt the content was very shallow and found it very difficult to engage with the characters. It reminded me of children in the school yard and their petty arguments.

A dynamic, engaging story that quivers with tension and edginess.

The theme of this contemporary thriller is motherhood and the thing that stands out for me in The Fallout by Rebecca Thornton is the author's engaging writing-style, along with her wonderful characterisation and the tautly written narrative. The story itself is powerful, along with the usual tropes of secrets and lies and the voluminous resulting consequences, but so are the (terribly unlikable) characters who effortlessly lift this drama to new levels.

The plot is driven by the fallout from the accident of a child and the lies told in its wake, but it is also a tale about motherhood in the social media era - the unsparing judgement of women and the mightiness of gossip, rumour and hearsay.

Highly recommended for those who love dramas about motherhood and female friendships.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my request, from HarperCollins via NetGalley and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

When a new Sports Club opens that promotes family health and well being it soon becomes to place to join for the local yuppy families in the area. Somewhere for the kids to get a fitness routine in their lives from an early age while parents go to their classes or chill out at the centre catching up on gossip.
Since a small group of local friends all had babies about the same time, they had all kept in touch with the exception of one, Ella, she had just disappeared and now Sarah had caught a glimpse of her when she was supposed to be checking up on her best friend's 4-year-old son, who was playing outside. She glanced him climbing a pole but didn't want to miss the chance to talk to Ella. The first thing Lizzy asked her when she got back to the table with Ella was did you see Jack. Ella answered yes, just before the screaming began.
The first lie was set in place and now it set Sarah on a downward spiral of lie on top of lie and the longer it went on the further away from the truth it all became. This is a story about superficial friendship groups and the lengths some people go to a to be seen in the right group of friends. Loved the Whatsapp messages that kept springing up with gossip about one or another of these elite groups. Everyone had secrets that were misinterpreted. Not everyone was as perfect as they all thought and money certainly didn't solve what couldn't be bought.
This story is entertaining and quite sad that people couldn't just be who they really were in order to fit in. It made life so much more of a struggle.
I wish to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

Normal school yard mum stuff. For me I didn't find it a psychological thriller. A book certainly for mums to relate to. Saying that I did enjoy reading it.

I don't know if I would class this as a psychological thriller. More of a description.

Liza and Sarah are best friends then Elle reappears. Liza's son
srq the re has an xxx zz as sx after Saràh promised to check on him , has forgotten to do.5hl
🌞🌞
There are several twists as we
Move through the tale.
It was an average book for meas I found it hard to read and I wasnt. Keeñ on the characters.

Not the best thriller I have bet read but certainly not the worst it wasn’t really for me sadly though !!

Recently I've been on a mystery thriller binge and many seem to centre around schools and mums. This is no different, and neither did it have any element that set it apart from others. It felt very samey and I didn't like any of the characters enough to care about what was happening; they didn't read like real people. It seemed to drag on and on and on, which negatively affected the impact of any twists

Unfortunately this one wasn't for me. What I expected to be a dark and twisty thriller was in fact a rather humdrum domestic drama, full of irritating and unlikeable characters who feel that motherhood gives them the excuse to act like children.

It might be that I wasn't a fan as I'm not a parent - maybe you have to be a mum to get it? I just found the whole thing very overblown and childish, and while I did enjoy the inclusion of WhatsApp chats, it just felt very dull and dragged out to me, with an unfulfilling ending.

Description
Everyone has an opinion.

Everyone has a secret.

Nobody can escape #TheFallout.


When Sarah forgets to check on her best friend’s little boy, distraction turns to disaster. And she’s faced with a dilemma.

Tell the truth, lose a friend.
Tell a lie, keep her close.

In a split second, Sarah seals her fate. But accidents have aftershocks, and lies have consequences.

And when it’s someone else’s child, the rumours are quick to multiply.

Everyone’s talking about what happened. And sooner or later, the truth will have to come spilling out…

Sarah doesnt check on her friend's little boy when she says she will and he suffers a fall. She doesnt admit what shes done though and is left with her own guilt. Liza the mother is dealing with her own issues and what does the reappearance of Ella mean?

This was a really interesting story dealing with a lot of difficult subjects. The story flicks between different narratives and sections written in WhatsApp text which adds a modern edge to the story. The plot itself builds steadily and ends much better than I expected. I wasnt keen on the very end section but it does remain true to the initial story. There are some truly difficult issues dealt with in this and does show a raw side of many of these. An interesting read that resonates with the reader.

There are few things I love more than a good meaty domestic drama on a long winter night so I was really excited when I got approved for The Fallout on NetGalley. It sounded like the ideal intriguing page-turner that I can’t get enough of at this time of year.

The action revolves around three West London yummy mummies Sarah, Liza and Ella and an accident that tears through the heart of their community. When Liza’s son Jack falls from the top of a wooden post at the local health club, fingers are pointed and the rumour mill goes into overdrive. As time goes by, secrets begin to leak and friendships face their toughest tests yet.

One thing that Thornton does really well is depict a believable group of affluent young mothers. The energy between the characters was very realistic and I really believed that these women existed. There’s a constant anxiety and vigilance surrounding their children’s safety and this is probably what drives the characters for the majority of the book.

Sarah is Liza’s long-time best friend and after Jack’s accident, she is racked with guilt due to promising Liza she’d check on him just before but she didn’t. Instead, she became distracted by the sight of glamourous, enigmatic Ella Bradby, who has kept a low profile for a while and has now reappeared. Sarah’s fascination with Ella intensifies and eventually warps into obsession. The speed at which this seemed to happen really jarred me, as I could quite grasp why Sarah was so enamoured with Ella.

I was curious as to where Ella had been and her reasons for resurfacing but beyond that, I didn’t really care about her. In turn, I couldn’t connect to Sarah very well either because she seemed so consumed by Ella and her movements.

The extent that Sarah’s obsession reaches all just felt so terribly juvenile to me. She began to read like a teenage girl crushing on the school Queen Bee rather than a responsible grown woman with a child. Perhaps Thornton’s intention was to remind us that our younger selves never really leave us and make appearances in certain circumstances but Sarah never really showed me a more mature version of herself. I know she was struggling with a huge amount of guilt and self-doubt but even these vulnerabilities weren’t executed quite well enough for me to warm to her sadly.

The most terrifying thing about The Fallout was the viciousness that seemed rife inside these women’s tiny privileged world. It felt like everyone was walking on eggshells all the time. No one was really saying what they wanted to, which meant that there wasn’t a single voice that could be relied on. Even the snippets from witnesses to the accident seemed very tentative and I quickly began to believe that I’d never find out the truth of what really happened.

It’s definitely more of a domestic drama than a thriller, although you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a thriller from the synopsis. It doesn’t have the twists or the pace and there was never any real threat. I’d have liked some small reveals throughout the book rather than a gentle explanation at the end, as I spent a lot of the time feeling quite frustrated that I wasn’t finding anything out.

Overall, I was quite underwhelmed. I was expecting something a little more dramatic than simply friends falling out over a mistake that I’m not entirely sure would happen in real life. It was a little glimpse into a horrifying world that I know exists but there was just nowhere near enough intrigue for me.

Just finished this, my 1st book by this author.
Sarah and Liza are at the local fitness centre when Lima’s son Jack had a fall. This story follows these two characters, their families and the fallout from this accident.
I found it to be a little annoying at times with at least one glaring inconsistency for example Sarah pops round to Lisa’s and Liza takes the opportunity to have a shower, while she’s doing this Sarah sneaks a look at her phone, says something to the physio ( who’s with Jack) but the author has written Liza replies followed by Sarah then hearing the shower turned off!
I found I didn’t entirely engage with any of the characters or how things followed with regard to Jack’s treatment given that this book was set in London with the NHS not America and private healthcare. (Just my personal thoughts).
I did however find that the WhatsApp messages between different groups of school parents to be entirely believable.
I would like to thank for the opportunity to read and review

Really enjoyed this, could relate to the playground mum stuff.
I really felt for the 2 main characters Sarah and Liza. Both had their troubles and were dealing with their past. Unfortunately Sarah gets the wrong end of the stick. A face from the past shows up, Ella, distracting Sarah and lizas son gets hurt. Ella has her own troubles, that's why she suddenly went off the radar a few years before.
Would recommend.
Thanks to netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book wasn’t for me I found it very long drawn out and couldn’t connect to the characters and couldn’t finish it.

There seemed to be a lot of tangled webs in this book. It is a story to make you think about friendships and how easily they can be spoiled and lost and yet how important they are. Also, love and why it shouldn’t be given up on lightly. You’ll read about guilt, remorse - In fact, most human emotions are demonstrated in this book and certainly give food for thought. Worth reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A pulsating, engaging novel that throbs with tension.

Motherhood, particularly its darker aspects, seems to be a theme de jour in contemporary thrillers at the moment. What marks this out as a superior example of this type is Rebecca Thornton's engaging writing-style, wonderful characterisation and tautly written narrative. I can honestly say that I have never encountered so many characters in one novel that have provoked such a visceral response in me. This is the power of the story - the usual tropes of secrets and lies and the normally outsized consequences, but, and its a big but, with a character-driven impetus that seems to lift effortlessly from the page. The plot is driven by the fallout from the accident of a child and the lies told in its aftermath, but it is also a powerful tale about the social construction of motherhood in the age of social media -the unstinting, unforgiving judgement of women by women, relentlessly pursued by tropes of the ideal mother in the age of the internet. "The Fallout" can alternatively be described as "The Fall-short" - the acidic judgement of the competence of mothers by mothers, and thus a powerful anti-feminist ode to 21st century motherhood.

#TheFallout.

4.5 Stars

Summary:
When Sarah forgets to check on her best friend’s little boy, distraction turns to disaster. And she’s faced with a dilemma.

Tell the truth, lose a friend.
Tell a lie, keep her close.

In a split second, Sarah seals her fate. But accidents have aftershocks, and lies have consequences.
And when it’s someone else’s child, the rumours are quick to multiply.

Everyone’s talking about what happened. And sooner or later, the truth will have to come spilling out…