#OurLittleCruelties #NetGalley
More like a family drama, less like a psychological thriller.
Will, Brian and Luke grow up competing for their mother's unequal love. As men, the competition continues - for status, money, fame, women. One brother died? Who killed him?
Well, its not a psychological thriller, its not a thriller even. It's a family drama in which the three brothers hate one another. I was not thrilled at all. I didn't understand why the publisher put it in the category of mystery and thrillers?
Narration of the story was not clear. Story was moving in zigzag manner, sometimes forward then backward then again forward. Told from three POV's of three brothers and last POV is of Daisy.
Characters are all boring. I didn't feel connected with them. As i said earlier that it's a family drama not a thriller.
This author's earlier books were ok but this one was below average.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin UK for giving me an advanced copy of this book.

Sadly this story did not grip me enough to leave a full review. Interesting but there’s better on the market.

A story of three brothers, their lives and the impact they had on each others lives. For me it wasn't the thrilling read I was expecting from Liz after thoroughly enjoying her other books. A light read.

We start Our Little Cruelties at a funeral, but we don't find out who's funeral until near the very end of the book!
Will, Brian & Luke Drumm, brothers who grow up constantly competing for their Mothers love. Their Mother, famous in her own right, adored by the public but a very different woman behind closed doors. The competition between her sons continues as they carve out lives of their own competing for money, fame, women......

Brian an agent, Will a film producer and Luke a troubled rock star. They could have had so much, they could have had it all.
Liz Nugent depicts this family saga from three perspectives and in non-chronoligical order, but don't let that put you off! It really is a superb piece of work. The majority of the main characters are utterly despicable, but that just leaves you wanting more, rooting for those that deserve a chance and waiting, wishing, hoping that the parasites get their comeuppance.
This book was full of drama, fast-paced and gritty. I absolutely loved it!

Oh my lord. Anyone who has siblings will recognise the little digs and petty behaviour in this book but the Drumm brothers take it to a whole new level. The book ricochets between time and characters but never loses that relentless march towards it's grim conclusion. We know one of the brothers is dead, but which one? I promise you you'll wish it was all of them at certain points in this book. This is my book of 2020 and it's January!

Oops she’s done it again. Liz Nugent is a master at grabbing her readers by the face with an excellent opening and has once again done so with #ourlittlecruelities.
“All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral, although one of us was in a coffin” See what I mean?
With her latest book we get more throughly unlikable characters, more dysfunctional families causing each other heartache and pain, more juicy questions like who and how and why, and most definitely more frantic flicking of pages to try and find the answers to these questions as quickly as possible.
Another great book by one of Ireland’s most popular authors. Read it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Liz Nugent and Penguin Random House for giving me the opportunity to read & review this title.

I love Liz Nugent's writing, and she just gets better with every book. Her books take the psychology of the damaged to whole new levels, whilst remaining in the realms of the plausible - which makes every story more devastating. Utterly gripping with characters that linger long after the last page. I'll be recommending this throroughly to everyone!

In the famous words of Phillip Larkin, ‘they fuck you up your Mum and Dad’. Reading this book was a very interesting experience and patience definitely paid off. Had I given in to my impulses and thrown the book down in frustration during the first part, I would have missed out on a great read. The story of three brothers over their lifetimes is compelling, interesting and a great study in how mental health difficulties can be passed on from one generation to the next.

The structure of the novel is what I had difficulty with at first. The first section was narrated by the eldest brother, Will. Written in short chapters, slipping between decades, we see aspects of his childhood through to the present day where he is a successful movie producer. He meets his wife Kate through his brother Brian,when she’s brought to a family dinner. They have a little girl called Daisy, but Will is much more focused on work than he is his family. We get the sense that Kate is a long suffering woman who gets more support from Brian, who is now Daisy godfather. Brian is there for the birthdays and school concerts and has a great rapport with her Uncle. Will is dismissive of Brian and his lack of ambition. He is also dismissive of Luke, despite Luke’s success as a pop star in his late teens. He is close to his Mum and through flashbacks we see she favours him, quite openly.

Luke, by contrast, really gets the brunt of their mother’s moods. He is the youngest, the weakest but soon finds success as a pop star. However, in the later fragments of his life he has times of struggle, where his mental health is poor and he turns to drink or experiments with drugs. He is an unusual child with a religious fixation to the extent where the family priest thinks he has a vocation! The other boys use his goodness against him, it gets them extra food and attention. There are moments where it seems his life is on track and he could be happy, but others where I wondered if he was just not meant for this world.

Finally, there’s Brian the middle brother. If Will is his Mum’s favourite and Luke is doted on by his Dad, it leaves nobody for Brian. He does seem fatally dragged between the two of them. Will is very dismissive of him, even though Brian does so much for his niece. He’s not grateful that Brian stands in for him or that he looks after Luke when his mental health deteriorates. In fact their relationship becomes so destructive that other family members get caught in the crossfire.

The genius of this book is its structure. During the first part, narrated by Will, I was ready to put the book down. I couldn’t stand him. He was arrogant, self-centred and treats women appallingly. If the whole book had been his viewpoint I might have thrown it out of the window. Just when I was at the point of giving up, I saw Luke’s name across the next section and it was such a relief. As the tale goes back and forth in time and perspective we see a tiny bit more of the whole. At a Bob Dylan concert at a local castle, Will ends up in a fight and is taken to hospital with Dad and Luke following behind.
Mum is left behind at the castle and doesn’t arrive at the hospital till late. However, through Luke’s story we learn that something terrible happened to her, something that explains so much about how she behaves. When we finally get Brian’s section we see what a lifetime of being in the middle feels like. Overlooked, unconsidered and brushed aside. We find out things we already suspected and other things that surprise and enlighten us. Every single strand of this novel teaches us that we are only ever a small part of the picture and we must step back to see the whole.


This brings me to the second line of Larkin’s poem, which is the best; ‘they do not mean to but they do’. There are parts of this novel, particularly the way Dad behaves, where genuine mistakes are made and misunderstandings occur in the same way they do with any family. However there are other situations where the damage seems deliberate, especially in their mother’s attitude to Luke, Will’s intervention in Luke’s relationship, and in the treatment of Will’s daughter Daisy towards the end of the novel. These acts are more than little cruelties. They are deliberately causing lifelong psychological disturbance. This is a complex and interesting novel that moves from one narrow perspective to give us all the pieces of the emotional jigsaw puzzle that makes up this family.

Three brothers, which one is in the coffin? The reader doesn't find out until the end. The book is told from the perspective of the three brothers, none of which are particularly likeable. Thoroughly enjoyed.

I loved the opening to this book - "All three of the Drumm brothers were at the funeral, although one of us was in a coffin." Our Little Cruelties tells the story of the Drumm family and is rich with character, dark family dynamics and suspense. An enjoyable read.

Liz Nugent is incredible at getting into your head. The whole time that I was reading Our Little Cruelties, no matter what I was doing when I wasn't actively reading, I was thinking about the Drumm Brothers.

The story begins at the funeral of one of the three brothers. We know immediately that this is not a very happy family, and judging by the false sounding condolences, that they aren't particularly well liked. We also know that the man they are mourning died under very suspicious and violent circumstances.

The book goes from this ominous beginning (which is more or less also how the story ends) back in time as it is narrated in turn by each of the three brothers. The story is not told in chronological order but back in forth as each subsequent narrator either fills in the gaps, clarifies something that another brother has said or completely contradicts it. You are never entirely sure who is telling the truth, if the narrators are lying, don't remember correctly because of illness, addiction or another trauma, or because they have convinced themselves that something is true. The rivalry between the brothers comes from a deeply troubled mother who explicitly had favourites, even making this clear by endangering one child in other to protect another, and is made no easier by a mostly kind but distant and distracted father who has his own trouble with his much younger wife.

Nugent writes despicable, unlikable characters that you can't look away from, and this is her best since the amazing and horrifying Lying in Wait. This book goes to some very dark places, not just because they are violent or morally wrong, but because they subvert the norms of acceptable family life. As with Lying in Wait, the mother is a terrifying figure, but in this case one we don't hear from directly, as much as we crave the truth about her mysterious upbringing, her now faded glory days, and the truth about her marriage. Similarly, we never really understand the father's part in all this, which I was at first disappointed by but I feel that this is ultimately fitting in a book where the three sons' lack of understanding of their family dynamic and inability or disinterest in empathising with each other's lives is so integral to the plot.

No one writes a domestic thriller like Liz Nugent, and this is her at her very best.

Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent is a mesmerizing read that will draw you in and leave you in shock as you become aware of the crazy stunts that each of the three brothers, Will, Brian and Luke are responsible for. The story opens with a funeral scene of one of the brothers but we are not aware which one; as the story unravels we witness numerous twists, revealed as each narrator tells their side of the story; bit by tragic bit all is revealed leaving the reader thankful that they are not involved in this extreme case of sibling rivalry!!

This is a story about three Irish brothers Brian Will and Luke all the sons of an self absorbed singer .It starts at the funeral of one of the brothers and we don't find out which one it is until the end .The story is told by all three brothers and jumps forward and backwards.The only likeable character was Luke all the rest were vile .I did enjoy the book though .Many thanks to the Publisher the Author and NetGalley for my review copy in return for an honest review .

What an amazingly good read we have here right from the first pages it draws you into a story of revenge, jealously and rivalry in a completely dysfunctional family and it’s unputdownable !!
It starts with a funeral, three brothers and one is dead but who and why. The story is set out in different timelines and from the perspective of each of the brothers and it’s so damn compulsive it hurts to have to put the kindle down when ordinary life gets in the way grrrrrrr.
The writing is brilliant and the characters are flawed and not always likeable at all but this just adds to the very real feel of this excellent read.
It’s a book that will have you hooked as you are drawn into the lives of these three brothers as little by little the whys and wherefores of what made them the way they is explained by each of the characters giving their take on what happened in a complex and compelling.
So what more can I say other than don’t miss this one is a winner and my thanks to the fabulous Liz Nugent for such a wonderful read.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK, Penguin Ireland for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Think I've discovered my book of the year so far!
The setting is Ireland. The book begins with a funeral. Inside the coffin is one of three brothers, but we're not told which one. So it begins...
The narrators, the Drumm brothers each tell their individual stories, one after the other and just when you want to read more of the story from that particular brother the narrative switches to one of the others and the story of what actually happens slowly emerges between the three accounts.
William, the elder of the three is the firstborn. His mother's favourite who can do no wrong. Good looking and charismatic but his attitude to women is appalling, especially beyond his teenage years. He's such a little shit that I wanted to punch his lights out more than once.
Next comes Brian the middle one, always in William's shadow. Parsimonious and usually looking out for his own interests but has a caring, nurturing side as long as there's something in it for him of course.
Luke is the youngest. The sensitive, talented one whose sensitivities often threaten to send him over the edge into insanity. He feels the least loved of the three by his once famous show singing mother.
This is a book that kept me reading until way past 2.a.m one night until I lost track of time but thought 'oh what to hell with it' and carried on reading...
A stunning read about the complexities of family dynamics, tensions and drama often brewing between the siblings in this book.
Each account we read brings us the readers more of the story and closer to the end where we discover which brother has reached his mortal end and why.
Was it the brother you expected or wanted it to be?
A book to compulsively carry on reading into the night until the concluding chapters reveal what really happened and why.
Excellent weaving by the writer of the tale of a family. Each member displaying their own little cruelties towards each other and anyone who comes into their sphere.
Thanks to the author and publisher for my gifted copy via NetGalley

In a lot of ways Liz Nugent's Our Little Cruelties is an epic family drama, jumping around in time and character, each new little gem of a chapter adding to the reader's experience of this trio of brothers. As ever with her characters none of them are flawless, all of them are divisive and she plays on your emotions pitch perfectly throughout.

As well as that the mystery element- just which one of them is in that coffin and how did his journey take him there - is intuitively embedded within the narrative, every reader will hope that it's not this brother but that one, yet whatever the outcome may be, you just know it's going to hurt. This is twice in a row now that this author has utterly traumatised me with an ending I simply can't let go of - for me that's the sign of a true genius with words, there is a power here that has a mesmerising affect on you as you read.

I won't give anything away, Our Little Cruelties is a novel you feel rather than read, live rather than observe and just solidifies my opinion that this kind of thing is the type of quality we should all hope for when we pick up a book. Watch out writers everywhere- Liz Nugent is coming for you all.

I am already highly anticipating what might come next - But for now Our Little Cruelties comes highly recommended from me.

I really enjoyed this book so much. It has a really great plot, superb main characters and I read it in one sitting. I would highly recommend this book.

I commenced reading ‘Our Little Cruelties’ by Liz Nugent last night, just before going to bed. This was most definitely a mistake, because several hours later, I was still reading away, excited to reach each new chapter.
The book has an intriguing opening chapter as two of the infamous Drumm brothers attend the funeral of their brother – the third Drumm sibling. We do not learn who has actually died, or whether his passing is an accident or not, until the end of the book. Within a few short paragraphs, Nugent has once again, set up a fantastic premise for her novel and caught my attention. The story features the three brothers, Will, the eldest and a filmmaker, Brian, the middle brother and agent and finally Luke the youngest and a musician. Not forgetting, their mother Melissa who is the root of many of their issues, and a thoroughly difficult character herself.
The story is told from the perspective of each of the brothers in turn, starting with Will, then Brian and finally Luke, before returning to Will and working through again. The story also jumps in time with each chapter from the present to the late 1970’s to the 1990’s and back again. This constant change in timeline, could easily become confusing and lead the reader to lose interest in the story, but this is not an issue in the hands of such a skilled author as Liz Nugent. The timeline helps the reader to gain an insight into the dynamics of the family and possibly to understand, how they came to be so incredibly dysfunctional. Also, the reader can review the tales that they are told and try to determine the veracity of each sibling’s story.

Nugent has created and crafted each character so carefully that you find yourself at times sympathising with them and understanding their viewpoint, while at the same time, wondering what on earth is wrong with them. The twists and turns are continuous in this novel and is the rare example of an actual “shocking twist”. Read this, love it!!

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of the eArc of this book from NetGalley and Penguin in return for an honest review.

"Our Little Cruelties" is the story of three brothers, Will, Brian and Luke. We know from the start of the book that one of them is dead - but which one, and who killed him? What follows is a complex and intricately plotted story, narrated by all three brothers, detailing not only who died and what happened, but also the much more intricate story of their relationships, both with each other and their wider families. 

I loved that each of the narrators tells a flawed version of the whole story - as each is telling their own version, their own personal biases and perspectives invariably shape the tale, so that the reader feels at once both included and voyeur, as we have access to truths that that particular narrator isn't privy to. 

The story is so well-written - it feels like a sweeping family saga, even though we are only dealing with three brothers, and we can't look away as the ramifications of certain actions unfold. 
Several times in the book, I gasped out loud, and parts of the story genuinely hurt me (don't worry, no spoilers!). It's hard for me sometimes to invest in an unlikeable character, and this story is full of them, but in this author's more than capable hands, the reader finds themselves drawn further in rather than pushed away or repulsed. The writing and the plotting is just brilliant, and I loved that this was so multi-layered - I'm certain I will be reading this again in the future, and even more certain that I will find further layers when I do. 

I will be recommending this one to anyone who'll listen. An absolute triumph of a novel - I will be thinking about this one for a long time. 

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

Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced reader's copy. Delighted to read this new offering from Liz Nugent. Tense and atmospheric. Loved how the story built into a tense conclusion.