BOOK 38 of 2020 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent

BOOK REVIEW
I think we always know we are in for a great read when this author brings a new book out.
Oh but she is a clever little bunny so she is....
Such a huge character driven novel...
Three brothers, different in every way.
Sibling rivalry a plenty, each one competing for attention.
So many issues between them and I couldn't help wondering how much of those issues came from their mother and the relationship they each had with her.
One woman's shame of her family growing up....
I couldn't help thinking if she had the courage to sort out her issues, would her boys lives have been very different.
We are told at the beginning that there are three brothers, two of them attending the funeral of the other.
The story is divided into three sections, one section for each brother Will, Brian and Luke. As I learned about each brother, I wondered throughout which one of them meets their demise. Which one had so much hatred in them that warranted killing his sibling.
What struck me was how much they each betrayed each other constantly. There was no loyalty whatsoever between them.
I felt an array of emotions whilst reading.
Anger at the cruelty towards a sibling, disappointment that a mother wasn't able to confront her family history which in turn could have saved her boys and sadness that it all ended the way it did.
A dark, chilling read for sure but one you will be absorbed in quite quickly.
Huge praise to Liz for the characters she created. How she does it, I've no idea.
To come up with such crazy, egotistical gems still baffles me.
Well worth your time...

Thank you kindly to author Liz Nugent and her publisher Penguin Ireland for my copy of this book. Much appreciated.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I was gripped straight away by the characters it is a real page turner, I loved the twists along the way and the ending.

Three brothers are at the funeral. One lies in the coffin.

Will, Brian and Luke grow up competing for their mother's unequal love. As men, the competition continues - for status, money, fame, women ...

They each betray each other, over and over, until one of them is dead.

But which brother killed him?

Creepy, compelling and totally addictive!!!

The book is the tale of three brothers and their families through growing up with their actress mother and grounded father to the present day and what they have become.

The story begins with two of the three brothers attending the funeral of the other but we don’t find out which of the brothers has died until the closing chapters of the book. The book is then split into three and we get an account of varying events in the brothers’ lives from each of their points of view.

I am not really sure how I feel about this book. I don’t think it really falls under the category ‘psychological thriller’ though but in a strange way I kind of enjoyed it.

I felt it was a little slow in starting and very jumpy re the timelines but I guess that is part of the appeal of the book to some.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

A very different story told by 3 brothers points of view rewinding back through their lives from being children up to adulthood and all the trials & tribulations that occur. Really enjoyed it.

What a disfunction family! They make most families look like saints.

"Al three the Drumm brothers were at the funeral, although one of us was in the coffin"

What a way to start a book and only at the end we find out who it was.

It is the story of William, Luke and Brian Drumm. Three brothers with very different personalities. We follow their lives from childhood to adulthood. We meet their overbearing mother and their father that they lost to cancer at a relatively young age. We live their roller coaster lifes with them until its end at a graveside.

Most of the characters are not very likeable which is kind of refreshing. The book is written out of all 3's viewpoints which make for interesting reading. A very well crafted book that I can highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Will, Brian, Luke. Three very different brothers. Three very different lives.

Our Little Cruelties opens with the three brothers a funeral, two in attendance, one in a coffin.

As the novel begins, it is clear that we need to go back in time to determine the events that bought them to the funeral.

Each brother has their own section of this novel to narrate, starting off with William, the eldest. This is followed by Luke, the youngest and finally we hear from Brian the middle child.

All three brothers have successful lives on the outside, but each of them has their fair share of problems and secrets.

A messy childhood and resentments carried through life shape each brother into who they are, ans ultimately determine their fate.

Most of this novels characters are extremely unlikeable, but this is part of this novel's brilliance, that you still care what happens to them, even though they are deplorable.

I can't say too much more as I don't want to give anything away, but this is another brilliant novel by Liz Nugent and I can't wait to read the next.

A real page turner and I couldn't wait to get to the end to see how it would turn out. The relationships with the brothers, the betrayals made this a really compelling read. A fabulous ending although shocking.

I was so pleased to receive an arc of this, I love Liz Nugent, she writes such narcissistic, messed up characters and this didn't disappoint. A story of an incredibly dysfunctional family told from the POV of three brothers, none of whom are in any way likeable, though I did feel for the youngest Luke, he was the only one with any redeeming qualities. The mother is a narcissistic, sociopathic nightmare and the apples didn't fall far from the tree. I was horribly fascinated all the way through by the cold, selfish manipulations and betrayals exhibited by the family, even though the jumping back and forth in time could be a little confusing, I liked the way it showed each incident through the eyes of all three brothers, each with their own particular brand of selfishness. A shocking at times but compelling 4 stars. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley galley for the advance copy.

I actually really struggled to get on with this book. I think the overall plot was good but it just wasn't for me.

William, Brian and Luke are brothers, sons of a quiet man and a flamboyant showband singer. As they grow up they compete for their mother's love and, as adults, they want to be successful. However at every turn they betray the ones they love until one of them is dead. Is history repeating itself?
I'm glad I've stuck with Nugent as a writer because this novel is definitely a return to form. At the start of the book we know that one brother is dead and one of the others killed him and the book leads up to this. I liked the structure which allowed each brother to tell his own story and the way it jumped between past and present made this even better. There were several scenarios explored from different perspectives and all three are unreliable witnesses. When the death came at the end it was almost disappointing but overall the story is nicely done!

This was the first book I have read by Liz Nugent and I thoroughly enjoyed it. What made me give it five stars was the ending. I never expected what happened and I had to read the ending a few times to make sure I had read it right. Throughout the story I became very invested in the characters lives and was shocked by how it all turned out. All the characters were believable and you could easily imagine the emotions they were going through. Hopefully a sequel will happen so I can see how Daisy gets on in the future.

Meet the Drumms, a highly dysfunctional family. A family where each member has their own secrets and demons.
Liz Nugent is wonderful, as usual, at giving us main characters that are totally unlikable. I spent the entire book trying to decide who I disliked the most, it changed from chapter to chapter.
Highly recommend Our Little Cruelties

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the chance to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. I have been trying to read it since the start of April and kept going in and out of trying to read it to give up a few pages in.

I personally did not like the constant whining of the brothers, the situation between them all was so confusing and tiring to read, it honestly drove me insane at the time.

I've read other books by Liz Nugent like 'Skin Deep' and have enjoyed them enough, I was hoping to be able to dive right in and get absorbed into her writing but I can't and I don't want to put further pressure on myself to try to finish the book when reading for me is to be able to do so for enjoyment.

William, Brian and Luke Drumm, three brothers who have been rivals - often bitter - since early childhood, attend a funeral. One of them is in the coffin - but which one?

Melissa (or Moll) their mother dotes on William, the oldest, but is mean and cruel to Luke the youngest and ambivalent towards the middle son Brian. Dad seems to treat them all the same, but it’s Melissa who rules the roost. Now in her sixties, she was once a famous Showband singer and is the epitome of narcissism. All the boys make their careers in show business one way or another, where the rivalry continues. Luke, a faded pop-star, an alcoholic and drug abuser, is managed by Brian, a real money grabber if ever there was one, whilst William – a womaniser - has made his name as a film producer.

The four main characters are truly horrible people - possibly the most selfish, self-pitying, whingers and whiners I’ve come across in one novel, but that’s what works. Liz nugent has a remarkable talent for crafting characters who make you squirm, but you still want to read about them.

A hugely enjoyable read from one of our best authors.

My thanks to Netgalley for an ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. Liz Nugent is a consistently brilliant author, an auto-must, so I was excited to read this.
This follows three dysfunctional brothers. The prologue opens with a funeral of one brother, as the two stand and watch, a silent animosity between the two. But which brother is dead? And how did he die?...
The first third of the book is narrated from the POV of William, the older brother. William is mummy’s favourite, a film producer, and despite being married with a daughter, he’s also slightly seedy who takes advantage of his position to lure young women. The second third is narrated by Luke, the youngest. Luke becomes a pop star who goes off the rails and has mental health problems. The third part is narrated by Brian, the middle brother. Career-wise he’s not as established as his brother, something he harbours resentment for, and is extremely uptight financially.
All three brothers have their fair share of problems and are equally unlikeable, yet the writing pulls you in and the last third of the book is where the secrets comes together into a messy knot of tense revelations and heated confrontations. The story is non-linear, the narrative zipping backwards and forwards in time however that didn’t slow the reading down. The characters are well-fleshed and despite being horrible I did come to feel empathy for them.
Like her previous books this is a psychological suspense that is a slow-burning, character-driven read. This is less on the thriller side, and beers more towards being literary, as it traces the psyche and journey of each brother. Nonetheless I highly enjoyed this warped story of toxic brothers, harbouring deep resentment, jealousy and rivalry. 5/5

I liked the three different voices but didn’t particularly like the characters, but I don’t think that’s important. Memory is a strange thing and one person’s perspective can be so different to other people’s and likewise motivations are different and of course knowledge is key - a theme that’s explored in this book thoroughly.

Goodness. What a ride.

This book made me feel everything. From disgust, to sympathy and understanding for characters who really didn't seem redeemable.

I only had two criticisms for this book - the first is that I don't think it suits being marketed as a mystery or thriller, given that the death it revolves around in the beginning is not necessarily the central plot. The second is that the Talaya chapter and the final chapter from Daisy weren't necessarily needed. I don't feel that they did much for the story, and it might have read better without them.

I stayed up past midnight last night reading this (on a work night!) because I wanted to know more of the brothers. This book was like being a fly on the wall in one of the world's most dysfunctional families. The secrets, the differing treatment of the brothers. Seeing how their unresolved trauma brought them to their current days gave me flashes of Cat's Eye, by Margaret Atwood.

Nugent has a knack for unapologetic story telling. I'm looking forward to more.

3 brothers from Ireland look back on their lives.

An unpleasant tale of unpleasant characters who mistreat each other and those around them apparently at every opportunity. Lies, deceit, cupidity and betrayal with nary a hint of guilt or repentance. Each testimony is self-serving and rather banal and dull. The petty incidences of sibling rivalry are used to justify greed and selfishness.

Despite its many references to the #MeToo movement, female characters are not portrayed well in this narrative, being portrayed as unfaithful, opportunistic and predatory.

Structurally, the story splits into 3 narratives with pointless leaps around the chronology, anecdotes with no discernible link following each other. There is some interest in seeing different interpretations of the same events but ultimately unpleasant characters make for an unpleasant read.

I loved this twisted Irish family Saga. Talk about a dysfunctional family! Three brother so close in age but miles apart in character. Some dark humour in amongst the stories of mental illness, inappropriate behaviour, lies, disloyalties and deceit. The story is told in sections by each brother but which one is the one in the coffin in the opening scene. I loved the story of how we got to that day. A really gripping read. Highly recommended.