A decently written apocalyptic story, with plenty of tension and suspense throughout.

Mim's husband Ben works for Geotech, mining precious resources. It's a risky job for more reasons than one.
In society now, people are encouraged to report any breaches in protocol. The new government is all seeing and all knowing, particularly since the introduction of micro chips so it seems there is nowhere to hide.

But when Mim realizes there's something suspicious about Ben's vanishing, she is determined to escape. With help from loyal friends, her and her two children - Essie and Sam - are tested to their limits, and Mim finds a determination to protect and survive that makes her a true heroine.

What an adventure this book is but all of a sudden it was finished. I mean you would have thought that there would be a slow but awesome ending. No. Like someone reviewed, it does quickly end like there was a rush to finish and I was left reeling! That's it? That's the ending? Bit disappointed to be honest. What happened with Nick? Not much emotion after what happens with Ben.

If you want a bit of dystopia then this is good for that genre.

Set in the future, but not too far off the way things are going! Mim is married to Ben and they have 2 kids (spoilt brats really. It seems that none of this particular family were very pleasant. All is fine until Ben suddenly disappears. She decides to try and find him which entails keeping below the radar of “The Department”. Loved the first few chapters but definitely not the interminable boat voyage. It lost its sharpness and descended into a different type of story with a less than satisfactory ending. Quite a few loose ends, unless a sequel is intended? Loved the idea and it would have been a terrific book if only the dystopian element had been continued. There was a strong claustrophobic feel what with the rules not to mention the boat journey. It would make quite a good film!

We live in very weird and strange times, every time you open the news, there is another variant of the Covid virus, and the world seems upside down. So this book fits in perfectly, and everything in it seems possible! Recommended for anyone who likes to read some entertaining fiction! Or is it fiction.....

Who doesn't love a widget?
This was unfortunately the book that made me realise 'you don't have to accept EVERY widget you get sent from a publisher!'
I have so many mixed feelings with this one.
The writing was fantastic, but the timeline was just too confusing and not seamless at all, which I find very difficult to enjoy a book if this is not done well.
Interesting characters and an intriguing premise, but the ending made me feel somewhat disappointed and underwhelmed.

I could not really make my mind up about this book while I was reading. The dystopian theme really didn’t grab my attention and the long winded descriptions of the scenery and references to Mim’s past almost made me put it down.
But the thriller lover in me really needed to know how the story ends and what has happened to Ben.
The road trip and boat journey felt very long winded with convoluted descriptions of the sailing which I found quite boring. I was expecting an breathtaking ending, but just like that it was all over in a few pages and a big let down.
So not one for me, but I’m sure it would suit other readers.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for letting me review this book.

My thanks to HarperCollins Fiction for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Mother Fault’ by Kate Mildenhall in exchange for an honest review.

Set in the near future, Mim and her two children, Essie and Sam, live in suburban Australia. Her husband, Ben, is a mining engineer working for GeoTech in Indonesia. In this society due to terrorism and the chaos generated by climate change, the government (One Department for One Nation) have instigated strict controls including people having chips inserted in their hands. These do mundane functions such as cashless payments and opening locks but also provide geolocation data.

Then Ben mysteriously disappears, and representatives of the Department turn up with paperwork to sign and to collect Mim’s and the children’s passports. Mim realises that she and her children are in danger and so they set off to find Ben. With the Department trying to track them she is risking a great deal - perhaps even their lives.

It certainly was an interesting premise including a dystopian future that was all too plausible. The writing was good though the pacing rather odd. Yet the biggest problem I had was its characters, especially Mim.

I just found her impossible to relate to. Aside from her mad dash across the country with Essie and Sam in tow, she seemed so oblivious to the danger that she not only puts them in but others along the way. It really felt like it was all about her. Then there’s her behaviour with Nick, the boat captain, even if he was an former beau. It just felt inappropriate - plus her kids were there! It made me question why she was even trying to find Ben.

The road trip and boat journey were both long and I was beginning to wonder if this was going to end on a cliffhanger with a second book to continue the quest for Ben. It didn’t and suddenly it was all over and I was like… what happened?

So an annoying protagonist, two sulky and spoiled kids, and a short, abrupt ending that left me confused just trumped the intriguing premise and Kate Mildenhall’s writing. I also felt that the dystopian elements were rather underdeveloped.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Really enjoyed this book, makes you think will something like this happen in the future, great story of how a mother will protect her children and the lengths she will go to to do it.

A thrilling good novel about a mother protecting her children. I could put myself in her position and rally resonate with the characters! Highly recommended

Similar to many other readers, I found this hard to assess. I liked the sure way the author played with grammar, language and not letting you know who was speaking every single time. This was refreshing and gave it a reality. However, it also made the central character very annoying on numerous occasions. I'm the first one to applaud realness and believable reactions and yes, motherhood and how it makes you do, say, think, feel crazy things when it comes to your children. But Mim, the mother in this case, is all over the place.
Figuratively and literally by the end.
I can see the character mix of young, curious and spirited Mim who has evolved into over-protective, careful, maternal Mim, but the trouble is they keep flipping back and forth in the most unbelievable way in the present.
And the way she behaves on the boat to her first summer fling, who is risking his whole way of life to help her, is astonishing. This woman seems to have no grasp of gratitude, or teaching her kids about consequences of actions. But she's very quick to blame others for their faults.
I wasn't bored with any of the story though and actually enjoyed the drudge of the car trip, that's what endless miles of country can feel like; the boat journey and its descriptions of cramped life on board. Then, the accident. All pepped up by the fear of being found by the all-seeing Department.
The dystopian angle, getting evermore believable in today's world, was depressingly suffocating and suitably menacing. Fitting the well-delineated family dynamics into this world showed how members of just one family can react so differently to life under 'big brother' and ecological disaster: older brother Steve winning top prize for most overbearing and unlikeable; a widowed mother trying to love everyone and keep the peace; the tragic younger brother, probably the best soul of them all; and Mim who thinks she's doing okay but wreaking havoc of varying proportions whenever she makes a decision.
Postnatal depression after Essie, her daughter, is hinted at and behavioural issues with Sam, her youngest, but these are never explored or explained fully. Maybe Mim would've been more likeable if we'd had all the details.
The final section of the story is wrapped up fairly fast and could've done with a little more time taken to increase the tension.
So it's a 3.5 as I liked the writing and the Aussie vernacular transported me to the southern hemisphere with ease. I just wish I empathized more with the protagonist.

I’m not averse to a dystopian storyline but this one didn’t seem to interest me. I didn’t like Mim or Essie so I probably never committed to the book and for me the ending whilst unexpected was a bit sudden.

This was a great read with an unusual ending. The story was certainly thought provoking, with well defined characters and scenery which made it all believable. It was full of horrific actions throughout and it is certainly frightening to think that this could happen in the future. The idea of The Department ruling a single country but yet being able to reach out so far outside of that country as well.
I do not like anything that I would call sci-fi but this was just an amazing read.

Thanks to netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Fast forward into the future when everyone is chipped and tracked by the government. Mim’s husband Ben disappears whilst working away and no one seems to know where he is, even though he is chipped it’s appears he can’t be tracked. The Department question Mim and take her passport threatening to take her children in BestLife care. She decides that she must try and find Ben so she goes on the run with her children, she gets their chips removed to try and stop the Department from finding her. Can she save her family and find Ben or is she putting all their lives at risk.

When I read this type of book I always think “will this be like the Hunger Games”, this was not and it turned into a fantastic, thrilling read . What a breath of fresh air, exciting and it grabbed me from the first page. This story was very well written and I liked the characters. At times it made me go cold as I felt this is what the world could be like in the future. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins UK for the ARC.

I'm afraid, for only the second time in the course of reviewing 400+ books, I could not finish this one. I realise it is set in a completely dystopian world, but the plotting was non-sensical to me. I think the worst part was the frequency of "bad language" within non-meaningful dialogue; perhaps this is meant to give an atmosphere of desperation, but surely there are many more words/ phrases which could do the same with a little more literary merit?

I'm sure there was a lot of research and work inherent in the book, but I didn't find it a good read at all. Obviously not my cup of tea.

Since I began reading The Mother Fault I knew it would be hard to review as I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. However, I didn't want to stop reading it and couldn't wait to find out what happened so I guess that answers my own question.

I think for me the problem was that I really didn't like the protagonist Mim. I understood her motivations; finding her husband and protecting her family but I didn't like her. It was only the former understanding that made me continue reading.

I found the combative nature of Mim and Essie's relationship intriguing and often it was this that pushed me onwards in the book. I did feel at times though that Essie was portrayed as either much younger or much older than she her 11 years.

The dystopian element of the book wasn't really fully developed enough for me initially. In fact, I think it was only in the final third of the book that I began to feel there was really any danger.

The Mother Fault was tense and readable but I am not sure how memorable it is for me.

Not the usual type of book I read but having said that I enjoyed it.
Australia is living under a dystopian-type regime and ‘The Department” knows everyone’s movements thanks to tracking chips implanted at birth. Disobey the rules at your peril or find yourself in a form of internment camp. A few people have resisted and are yet to be chipped but they need to keep below the radar to survive.
Mim receives word that her husband Ben has mysteriously disappeared while working at a mine in Indonesia. The Department tells her that she and her family must stay at home while his disappearance is investigated and is forced to sign a contact agreeing to this and surrender their passports.
However, Mim has other plans and sets off with her children to find her husband. Due to her disobedience she soon finds her bank accounts frozen and starts receiving threatening phone calls telling her to go home.
An old school friend agrees to take the family on a dangerous sea voyage to try to find Ben and the reader is left wondering whether or not their old close friendship will be rekindled during the voyage.
I felt the end was a bit rushed as all of a sudden Mim is helped to locate Ben, he appears then is gone again. All this in the space of a few pages.
The book was well written and the storyline flowed quite smoothly until the last part. Throughout I wondered why a mother would drag her young kids along on such a dangerous mission given the circumstances of their restricted lives. I was surprised at how much danger she put them in.

This is a dystopian thriller set in a climate-changed Australia in the near future. The state is powerful and unforgiving, watching everyone minutely with the prospect of punishment for those who deviate or ignore the will of the state. State power is this story's compelling theme. It's a plausible scenario, given the amount of environmental devastation. Mim wants to find her missing husband, which puts her in conflict with the state, and therefore in danger.

The descriptions are good, and you can imagine this world. The story is relentless, reflecting the ups and downs of Mim's quest with her children. There is plenty of action and twists. If you enjoy dystopian fiction, this is worth a read.

I received a copy of this book from Harper Fiction via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

In a dystopian future not so far ahead of ours, several of the things we are being warned about have happened- climate change, animal extinction, depletion of energy resources. In Australia, society was beginning to break down, so freedoms have been surrendered to the government in return for a sense of security, another issue that has echoes of our pandemic present. The country is now run like a police state, with tracking of the people, rewards for anyone reporting rule breaking and suspicious behaviour and detention areas known as BestLife centres. Mim and her two children live within the law despite her reservations, until her husband Ben, working for a Chinese company mining gold in Indonesia, “disappears.” She determines to find him- a mission that will take all her strength and ingenuity, and that will put her family, friends and everything she holds dear at risk. This is a tense and thrilling novel set in a chillingly believable near future. Mim is a flawed but brave and resourceful female lead character, and although she puts others in danger in order to protect her husband and children, it isn’t hard to understand and empathise with her motives. You will be rooting for her. The other characters are well drawn, and the portrayal of both the disturbing new world and the contrasting scenes at sea at the mercy of nature are convincing and absorbing. Highly recommended.

A difficult one to class, it takes place in a future Australia where the government has chipped everyone.
Mims husband works in Indonesia where he goes missing, the government can`t find him so visit Mim taking her and her children`s passport and says to stay at home or her children will get taken from her, so of course she decides to leave home to find her husband while removing the families chips so they can`t get found.
She meets an old boyfriend who has a boat and helps them get to Indonesia.
A lot of information on sailing which got boring for me, I didn`t want to know every pull on the ropes.
Loved Helen but the other characters were a bit boring, and irritating.
The end came so quick and disappointing for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC