I almost put this book down after the first few pages but I felt I should persevere, and I have to say it had me racing through it. The whole concept of the government controlling citizens to the extent of having them chipped and monitored is terrifying. I wasn't at first sure why Mim took her children on the run, but it was obvious she was terrified they'd be taken away and sent to one of the facilities. A mad dash of thousands of miles, on the spur of the moment, but on the other hand carefully thought out. Some things seemed a bit too easily put in place, all very convenient. There were some areas mentioned, such as Mim's post natal depression that were either more integral to the story than was evident, or didn't need to be there. The ending was shocking, but much of the book I just wasn't sure about why I was reading it. #netgalley #themotherfault

This book wasn't for me. Although the plot of the book is that Mim doesn't know what has happened to her husband, I felt that I had no idea of the plot even getting half way through. I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy it, but between the plot and jumping timelines I lost interest.

Although I was looking forward to this book a lot, I just couldn't finish it. I can see what the author wants to do but for me it was just an incomprehensible jumble of people and events.

Thanks to Netgalley for this digital review copy.

A futuristic tale set in a future ravaged by climate change. Mim needs to find her AWOL husband before her children are taken away. I found Mim quite unlike-able so struggled to engage with the plot.

This is a very disturbing book. if, as I do, you see our world careering towards one very similar to that painted in this book.

Putting that to one side, any author that has to rely on expletives to try to make a statement loses a lot of points with me and this book lost a lot of points as it uses 138 versions of the "F word"; never mind the other expletives.

As a story, it holds together well enough and so is worth a read if you have nothing else on your reading list. This is the first book I have read from this author and will also be the last.

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book especially as I tend not to read dystopian titles but this sounded like it also had a thriller type storyline, so I thought I’d enjoy it.

Set in Australia in the future where the effects of climate change have dramatically changed the landscape and the ever present, all seeing “The Department” controls its citizens.

Desperate to locate her missing husband, Mim sets out on a quest to find him. The journey over land and sea is very well written, especially the sea voyage with its immensely descriptive texts. One of the scenes that stuck with me was when they were sailing into land and had to navigate over the sunken buildings – I found this a very stark picture of the horrors of global warming.

I enjoyed this book, the storyline had a good balance of thriller and dystopia with enough of each to keep me engaged throughout.

Many thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the review copy.

The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall is a gut-wrenching rollercoaster of a book! Set in Australia in the near future where everyone is chipped and the Department controls everything, Mim Elliott is notified that her husband who is working on a mining project in Indonesia is missing. Without much of a plan, Mim takes their children and sets off to find him.

Mildenhall creates such a fearsome regime that Mim is driven to take risks she would never have imagined in order to preserve her family. This lady story is so immersive and compelling that I didn't notice the time passing as I read it.

The Mother Fault is a beautifully written literary thriller set in the near future – and at its core, it’s a novel about motherhood and what it is to be a mother in any time or place: how you’d do anything for your children no matter what. Mim is mother to two young children aged eleven and six and a husband who has mysteriously disappeared from an Indonesian mine site. It appears that no one knows where Ben is, but everyone wants to find him – especially The Department. And they should know exactly where he is given the all-seeing government body has fitted the entire population with a universal tracking chip to keep them ‘safe’. But suddenly Ben can’t be tracked. And Mim is questioned, made to surrender her passport and threatened with the unthinkable – her two children being taken into care at the notorious BestLife.

Faced with an increasingly hostile, implacable bureaucracy hellbent on tracking them down, Mim enlists the help of some of her most trusted friends in order to throw them off the scent while trying to get safe passage to Indonesia to find her husband. She will do anything to keep her children safe, even if it means risking all of their lives on a treacherous journey to find out the answers. This is a compulsive, disturbing and really rather terrifying dystopian thriller traversing the stark backroads of the Australian outback and on to a terrifying sea voyage where Mim is forced to shake off who she was – mother, daughter, wife, sister – and become the woman she needs to be to save her family and herself. Set in an eerily recognisable future world where climate change, surveillance and political control all feature heavily, The Mother Fault is a novel for our times.

In suburban Australia, Mim and her two children live as quietly as they can. Around them, a near-future world is descending into chaos: government officials have taken absolute control, but not everybody wants to obey the rules. When Mim’s husband Ben mysteriously disappears, Mim realises that she and her children are in great danger. Together, they must set off on the journey of a lifetime to find Ben. The government are trying to track them down, but Mim will do anything to keep her family safe – even if it means risking all their lives.
A very different genre from my normal read but I did enjoy it even though I dipped into it over the space of a week. A well written book with well portrayed characters although I couldn't relate to Mim & I felt the tension didn’t fully deliver & some of the events were too drawn out for instance the cross country trek & the boat journey. Not a book I'd keep on the shelf
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

The Mother Fault has a strong premise backed with literary writing, but the plot fizzles out.

In a dystopian future, set in Australia, Mim's husband goes missing. The Department can't tell Mim what he's done or when he'll be back. Fearful that she and her children might be taken into a 'BestLife' estate, she gets their chips cut out and goes on the run. The destination, finding Ben - last seen in Indonesia.

I was intrigued by this dystopian world and wanted to know more. Unfortunately, this isn't the first near-future novel I've read this year where the main character is plunged into a world of confusion and has to go on a long trek, picking up little bits of info along the way. For once I'd love to spend time with a character who actually has some insights! Of course, that could be a me problem rather than a book problem.

But it's hard to keep going when you're with a character who never has a full view of the world. It was never even certain for me what would have happened to Mim if she'd stayed put - perhaps she would never have known what happened her husband, but other people might have been better off. We don't even know for sure how bad the 'BestLife' estates were. I can imagine, based from other media (eg Russell T Davies' Years and Years show), but not so much from the book specifically. I wanted more detail than handwaving. Otherwise you're just left with a long journey.

The writing is very good, I just wasn't blown away by the plot.

An adventure story that kept me on the edge of my seat! Mim and her children, Essie and Sam, are visited by the Department and told her husband, Ben, has disappeared. For their safety their passports are taken and they are told to stay at home. Despite being chipped so the Department knows where they are at all times, Mim flees across Australia to her family home and from there she risks everything to travel to Indonesia to find her husband.. A compulsive, exciting read that is not far-fetched!
Many thanks to Netgalley/Kate Mildenhall/HarperCollins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for this book

A futuristic loo into what the future could hold for us

A gps tracker in all of us, but rolled out as non threatening until it becomes normal, an interesting storyline that could happen but hopefully won’t

When Ben goes missing his family have their passports taken from them and told not to leave home or the consequences could be dire for the family

And so begins the journey by the family to find Ben the husband and dad , was expecting a bit more and though I was satisfied I felt it was missing something, though I did read to the end to find out what happened

This book has me torn.

I couldn’t put it down, BUT, the concept got lost and in my opinion was wrapped up in the last 5% of the book.

Life in Australia is rather futuristic in this novel, chips in hands, location always known, controlling organisations removing non-concordent residents from the streets.

All is good in Mim’s life until her husband goes missing. He works for ‘the department’ and now the department are coming for her and the kids, she has to run and find her husband to find answers and keep her kids safe.

A great concept but I felt this was lost 50-80% through the book. There is definite adventure of Mim and her kids travelling and remaining hidden and the struggle of managing hers and her children’s emotions. She sources help from friends along the way but I didn’t feel there was any explanation why she and the children were not safe.

She also seeks help from a random journalist and I have no idea where her trust for this character came from.

Overall I enjoyed it but as I said above I think the original premise could have been explored further to add increased thrill and tension to the story.

Australia of the future is ruled by The Department, the all-seeing, all-knowing government. The Department controls all aspects of life and monitors citizens through chip implants. People struggling with addiction, debt, or mental health problems are put in Bestlife mini towns, never to leave. Mim has never questioned this. Like the rest of the country, she has sleepwalked into this life of complete control until her husband goes missing while working abroad. Instead of looking for her husband, The Department make Mim sign non-disclosure forms, confiscate her passports and threaten to remove her children from her if she disobeys them. With no friends or choice, Mim takes her children on the run, searching for her husband and the reason for his mysterious disappearance.
The Mother Fault is the story of a woman who takes her children on the run to escape from a controlling government when her husband goes missing in China. Mim must juggle her role as a mother with her wifely fear for her husband, and the whole situation is made worse because she is estranged from her family, so she has no one she can turn to.
Mildenhall gradually reveals The Department’s level of control during the first couple of chapters as Mim struggles to come to terms with Ben’s unexplained absence. The slow but steady reveal builds tension because it is plausible, particularly with today’s political dissatisfaction. People wanted a different type of politics, and One Department for One Nation stepped in to provide it. Amid mess shootings, bank hacks, bio-threats, and a changing climate, every rule brought in made sense to the populace. They didn’t realise they had entered a Big Brother State until it was too late. The first third of the book was gripping and tense, but unfortunately, this element doesn’t last very long.
The second section follows Mim’s escape from Australia by travelling across-country and then over the sea. Mim reflects on her life and the beauty of her new freedom, and the change of pace shifts the story. It becomes one of survival against the elements as they must contend with a sudden storm on the crossing and the incapacitation of their captain. The sci-fi element takes a back seat to survival but doesn’t quite live up to the established tension.
Also, we are led to believe that without the implants and ID cards, Australians can’t do anything. However, once on the run, Mim has very little trouble getting hold of or using cash instead of her bank card. Whenever she does meet someone in authority who could have her arrested, she tells a lie about where her card is and escapes.
As I don’t deal in spoilers, I won’t give away much of the ending except to say I felt it was rushed. After the fantastic start and the lengthy middle, the conclusion was over so quickly you could miss it. Even though I empathised with some elements of her situation, I found Mim unrelatable, and the ending didn’t change that. I was disappointed because my curiosity about how it would end carried me through the middle section, and I didn’t feel my patience was rewarded.
Although I found the story confused at times, is it dystopian sci-fi or survival, and inconsistent with the purported danger and Mim’s behaviour, the bits I enjoyed were beautifully written, meaning I would read other work from Mildenhall.

The Mother Fault is set in Australia in the not so distant future, where the government control everything. All residents in Australia including children are microchipped and monitored everyday single day around the clock. In this book we follow Mim as she struggles to keep her kids safe while at the same time is searching for her husband, Ben, who went missing while away for work.

I thought this was well-paced and well-paced. I found the story to be quite relatable, and at times it was scary, especially when it comes descriptions of what is possible in the near future. Now although I really enjoyed the story, I did feel like there were pieces of the story missing. I personally would have liked more details about Ben’s disappearance, as I felt we don’t really enough details in relation to why he disappeared. Also, the ending felt a little to rushed.

The characters were well developed and I really enjoyed following their stories. However, I can’t say that I could relate to any of them. Yes, I understand why Mim made some of the decisions she did, but at the same time I didn’t agree with some of the choices she made. Also, I found the children to be quite annoying especially Sam. Both children came across as quite spoilt but particularly Sam.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read and would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a compelling dystopian.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers HarperCollins, HarperFiction for a copy of my eARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Well, this book is a typical story line - family on the run - chased by a group of people. What makes this book different is the dystopian background in Australia.
The first few pages cover 'The Department' and you are left to ponder 'could it really happen here or has it already started?' My real life conclusion is possibly and definitely in that order.
The book never slows and has a number of tense moments for the family. As always with books you are provided with an extremely fortuitous key situation to move things along.
The two primary characters, Mim (aka Miriam) and Nick are easy to become involved with as you get to know them and how Mim develops as a person is perfectly credible.
So, how do you end a book like this? There were a number of possibilities but the one chosen just about makes sense given how Australia is. I'm not sure if dystopia is reflected worldwide or partially,
A good read and definitely enjoyable

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I requested this book, but when I began reading I realised it was very different to my usual reading genre.
Dystopian fiction is not really my thing, However, when you couple an unknown genre with a topic I love, which is motherhood, and family, and the lengths said mother would go to for hers, then you get a pretty good read.
If Dystopian is your thing, then give it a go!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Mim's husband is missing. No one knows where Ben is, but everyone wants to find him - especially Th e Department. And they should know, the all-seeing Government body has fitted the entire population with a universal tracking chip. Mim is questioned. made to surrender her passport and threatened with the unthinkable - her children being taken into care. Mim risks everything to go on the run to find her husband. - and a part of herself, long gone, that is brave enough to tackle the journey ahead.

Set in the near future, from Australia to Indonesia, this dystopian thriller is filled with twists and flashbacks. Everyone in Australia is monitored. People can be detained for six months without charge. When Min learns her husband, Ben is missing - something tells her to go on the run.

This is quite an uncomfortable book to read. Mim is quire an annoying character and her kids were spoiled and even more annoying. There is quite a lot of flashbacks which could be quite confusing. The pace is steady. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollins #HarperFiction and the author #KateMildenhall for my ARC of #TheMotherFault in exchange for an honest review.

Certainly this is riveting and well written set of tropes about missing husband in an increasingly restricted dystopian world. The children are respite but also source of increased tension since they don't know of or their father's Censure until they are on the run. The familiar tropes abound (including a persistent self righteous journalist) ... and that made it all a bit too easy ...I hope I have not given it all away .. a good and clever, impressively written work ... it will grab you!

An interesting look at how things may be in the not too distant future. I thought I was taking a risk reading this as I mostly avoid dystopian books but I have a sift spot for books set in Australia. In truth I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more focus on the dystopian. I realise Mim was the main character but I would have liked to know more about Ben and the background to his disappearance. The end felt a bit rushed whereas the section on the boat dragged a bit. I did enjoy reading The Mother Fault but it wasn’t what I had expected from the blurb.