Wow this book had me gripped for the 1st page, I would say this book is a mixture between an episode of Black Mirror and Big Brother as it is set in the near future where everyone is chipped so there movements are tracked.

This book is set in Australia , I have recommend this book to my friend that Lives in Australia as I know he will like its he loves books like this and its set in Australia too.

The Main Character Mim beats the odds and takes her children via boat to search for her missing husband in Indonesia.

This is the 1st Book I have read by the author and won't be the last.

With thanks to Netgalley & Harper Collins Uk for the ARC of this book in exchange for this honest review.

The Mother Fault was an ok read for me and I found myself putting it down more than I was picking it up. I think I was struggling to understand what was going on with The Department and what had happened with her brother Michael and what her husband was actually doing in Indonesia. I don't feel like these questions were really answered thoroughly enough.

I also didn't understand Mim's decisions to go on the run with her children and put everyone's lives at risk all for finding her husband rather than sitting tight and waiting to see what would happen. She ended up ruining quite a few lives all for nothing in the end. It all felt really pointless.

This is a new author to me and I enjoyed this story

A fast paced dystopian thriller it is set in Australia.

I think it is well written, and good mystery thriller that will have you turning the pages. it will keep you wondering what's going happen till the last page.

A fast paced dystopian thriller that I read in one sitting! Tense story set in Australia where citizens are chipped from birth for their own safety. Mim's husband Ben goes missing whilst working overseas and Mim and her children Essie and Sam, embark on a crazy and dangerous journey to find him

A well written book. Set in Australia and a dystopian future which seems a bit too real at the moment! Really enjoyed this book

Brilliant book well worth a read. I loved the way the story is so relatable to society today in the current pandemic. Poor Mim struggles to keep her kids safe while searching for her husband missing in Indonesia. I would love to know more about his disappearance and what happens next for them all. Reunited with her lost love adds a bit of extra spice to this story.

This novel is set Australia in the future where the impact of climate change has been brutal as is the political control of ‘One Party for One Nation’ via such actions as chipping people and with Omni the ever watching eye. Think Third Reich and you’re not far wrong especially as The Best Life camps have one way in and none out. When Miriam (Mim) Elliot gets a phone call to say her husband Ben is missing from The Golden Arc mine in Indonesia what follows is a tense race against authority and time to save herself, her children Essie, 11, and Sam, 6 and to try to get to Ben.

There are parts of the book that are really good. The smothering control of the one party state is grim, scary and devastating in its impact and loss of personal freedom as people are constantly surveilled. The insidious threat of Best Life is chilling and unsettling. The excellent dystopian climate change descriptions via the wildlife and the landscape are a stark apocalyptic warning and really stand out. In terms of characters those that seem to be the best fleshed out are the children, they feel so real and easy to picture. This could be deliberate on the part of the author given the title of the book. Mim’s strong minded actions seem impetuous but her desire to protect her children in a world which lacks personal freedom maybe understandable. The ending is really good with excitement, tension and plenty of suspense and leaves you wondering which I like as it fits with the world as Mim knows it.

My reservations of the book lie in the sections where the characters are on a boat from Darwin to Indonesia as they are drawn out and I lose some interest and some of Mims actions here make little sense when you reflect on why she is making the dangerous trip.

Overall though, this is a chilling glimpse into an all too believable future in terms of climate change. I like the strength of Mim’s protective maternal instincts and I enjoyed most of her story.

With thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins, Harper Fiction for the widget for an honest review.

If you take some of the world's most worrisome directions and crank them up to eleven you'll get this. Well, Actually it's more like turning it up to ten and half I guess. A world with closed borders and environmental misteps which is painfully recognisable anyway. Want to reach a little? Curated media? Not that bit a stretch. Chips in hands? Without going too tinfoil hat let's not pretend it's a million miles from our mobile phones, loyalty cards, and other Big Data things. Which is how we end up with a nice sanitized dystopian world. These are things that potentially could be fine, but a little oversight and generally paying attention may go a long way to stopping the worst aspects coming true.

But all of that is just background. It's what allows us to abstract the more human plots from being too painfully human. Because deep down this is a book about survival. Often the selfish, thoughtless desire for survival. We're all guilty of it. Even in the chivalry of the Titanic I bet it was "My wife and children before your wife and children" There's nothing wrong about caring most about those closest to you. Which is what so many characters in this book do. See, I told you it was very human.

When Mim's husband vanishes the overbearing Department come visiting, setting off a chain of events that show a mother's urge to protect her children and to survive. How far will she go? Well, in a literal sense? Quite a distance. In a figurative one? Well, the same really. It creates a strange bond with the reader. I never found her especially likeable, but I did find her quite sympathetic. She's not unpleasant, but she was always a bit too numb for my taste. I could root for her without too much investment. It's a clever way to show the slightly numb zombie society she has accepted. There are other characters with more going for them, even her kids who both bring different and interesting aspects to the story. There are details to their characters that make them real and more engaging than their mother. Mim drives the story, but the kids carry it.

And so, the plot! A missing person in this strange overbearing world? Of course we want more. There is lots of mystery to it all. An enjoyable sense of otherness, that something is not quite right. And that mystery does play out throughout the book. The normality of so much that happens means the question marks linger. It would be easy to throw in a far-fetched twist for a few cheap thrills, but that often signals the outcome or becomes huge red herring, but here everything is measured. That keeps options open, and it means there is always an air of uncertainty.

For a book set in an alternative reality, it's the realism that really makes it work. it's those familiar concepts and people that make it worth reading. Which isn't to undervalue the differences. They allow important concepts to be handled in a nuanced way. Yes, this is a book with multiple messages, but it's not preachy or one dimensional. They create a nice sense of escapism and distance to keep this from becoming heavy and preachy.

The Mother Fault takes us into a dystopian future that feels all too potentially real - Set in Australia, where the country is run by The Department, everyone has a microchip under their skin and is glued to a screen. And if you step out of line, you might find yourself forced to live in the eerie BestLife community.
Against this backdrop, we meet Mim. Her husband Ben is working overseas on a mysterious and important project for the Department. Until he suddenly goes missing and Mim is unable to contact him. Desperate to find him and to protect her and her children Essie and Sam, she goes on the run from the Department and won’t stop until she gets answers.
Through most of the story we follow Mim, Essie and Sam on their quest to find Ben and steer clear of the Department. Through flashbacks to Mim’s youth we find out about what drives her and the struggles she has faced. I enjoyed the adventure she went on and intrigue around what had happened to Ben - however some parts felt like they dragged on a little and then the ending felt a little rushed in comparison. But overall this was an enjoyable read with strong characters.

THE MOTHER FAULT is a mystery thriller that kept me on my seat. Often I found myself picturing a movie and I could not for a second guess what the outcome will be. I wanted her to just hide from the government and start living a quiet life with the kids somewhere secluded, find love again with her friend. In the same time, I admired her desire to fight for her husband and children, protect her family with a blind trust, not for a second doubting her other half.

Characters are masterfully created, flawed but with a strength they never knew existed. They all have their moments to shine and show what they are really made of. As for Mim, she just shows what we all knew already. You do whatever it takes to protect the ones you love.

The storyline is great and filled with twists and turns meant to keep you on edge.

It is definitely a book I highly recommend as a 2021 read

A really good read, set in Australia, in a near future dystopian society. Mim, a mother of two children, finds out that her husband is missing and sets off with the children to find him having to avoid detection by the 'Department'. A gripping mystery that I found hard to put down, wanting to know where the search takes Mim and her need to keep her children safe.
Highly recommended.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy of The Mother Fault. This is a dystopian novel with a thrilling plot including well thought out detail and believable multi dimensional characters It really had me on tenterhooks towards the end which came too soon for my liking.

A great near future mystery/ thriller, depicting the story of a courageous woman willing to risk it all for the sake of keeping her family united. An engaging read!

Fantastic book, loved every minute of it. Kept me up until the early hours wanting to know what would happen next.

Set in Australia ,this is the story of Mim and her children. They live in a town and you gather from the story that Mim is a stay at home mother, and her husband works away. In the time in which this is set, almost everyone has a chip.This is used for everything, from paying for goods and services to identification. It also means that some one in the government "department " knows where you are. So at the beginning of the story Mim's husband , Ben, has disappeared in Indonesia. Mim is visted by officials who are going to take care of everything . However, her brother had previously been helped in a government institution and that did not havea happy ending.
Mim sets off on an illegal roadtrip with the children, to find her husband . This part of the book could have dragged, but it was well written, the author writes about the threats the family face and the consequences of all seeing officials and the effect on citizens lives is quite scary . The interaction between people is affected ,with suspicion and lying becoming an everyday part of life. Fortunately,Mim is helped by friends, but itis frightening that they cannot exchange too much information for the protection of all .
This book had me gripped, though I was also horrified that life could become like this,it would not take much. ... Written from Mim's standpoint as a mother, you understand her need to protect her children and her hope that she is making the right decisions. It is a book that Iwill be thinking about for a while .
Thank you to NetGalley,the publisherand author for an interesting read .

Dystopian thriller set in a near future Australia, where climate change has accelerated and the country (or is it the world?) is run by an unelected and unaccountable organisation called "The Department". Freedoms have been eroded and citizens are micro-chipped and monitored, all for their safety and convenience of course... because they are used to prove ID, open doors and pay for things.

In this situation we have a normal family - mum, dad, two kids - until dad (Ben), working away on a project in Indonesia, goes missing. Mum (Mim, short for Miriam) receives a visit from The Department who confiscate her passport and instruct them to stay put. Naturally she doesn't, and the rest of the story involves a long trip.

The book is as much about family dynamics as it about the situation. Mim makes some silly choices and is prone to panic and flight with little forethought of what to do or where to go. She wants to protect her kids at all costs but does some unreasonable things that put them in danger (presumably this is why the book is called The Mother Fault). There are lots of flashbacks and her family and early life are explored in detail. The kids - Essie and Sam - are very well portrayed, although possibly Sam seems a bit mature for a 6 year old.

I enjoyed the book, the premise was great but the main character irritated me, and would irritate anyone who likes to think through the consequences of their actions. The ending left several loose ends but was largely positive.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

In the future, set in Australia, where the government known as the department are able to track and watch your every move, Mim’s husband goes missing from his site in Indonesia.
Mim decide to uproot her family and their lives in order to find her husband Ben.
She enlist the help of an old boyfriend Nick who is able to help. I found The Mother Fault slightly confusing, I don’t think it’s clear exactly what Ben does and why Mim would choose to run especially with the risks involved.
There is also a lot of emotional back story which is difficult to invest in and there are many loose ends that are not resolved by the end.

I read this book with a feeling of fascinated horror. Mim is a mother of two children and her husband works for ‘The Department’. He is often working overseas with something to do with the mines – he is expected home imminently. Then there is some disturbing news, there has been an explosion and he is missing. How can this be? Has he been blown to bits? Surely, they can find him because everyone has been chipped by the Department – she recalls her babies being chipped in their hands as soon as they were born. So where is he?

The Department controls everything, everywhere just not the USA. They have housing for people that do not conform, like Mim’s brother who had been an addict. People often disappear from these housing estates.

Mim receives help from the Department to help her cope until her husband is found.

This dystopian tale is brilliant. Correction this frightening dystopian tale is brilliant. It has intrigue, murder, conspiracy, familial love, lust and survival and the brilliant characters of the two children. Sadly Mim sometimes just makes the wrong choice. Sorry, you will need to read it to find out more.

Read it you should, it is extremely well written, with themes that will make you think and make you uncomfortable; but enjoy it, I think, is a certainty.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

This is certainly an eerie book! The Australian government calling itself the ‘Department’ has taken control of every aspect of people’s lives. The agency controlling it all is called BestLife. Mim and her children Essie and Sam are, like almost everyone, monitored by an inserted chip. All activity is monitored by drones. When her husband Ben disappears on a work visit to an island in Indonesia.,that too is connected to government control. Mim decides to rescue her husband with the help of a former boyfriend who owns a boat. Much of the book is a detailed description of every action taken on board the boat including mending the breakdown of the engine and putting up the sails. This is a book that conjures up another world and demands much imagination. It is not a riveting tale by any manner of means.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it kept me gripped and wondering how (or if) it would all work out.
The dystopian world it is set in is all too believable and you can see clearly how it could actually happen. I was fascinated by the ways the Department kept control and thought that this element was very well written. This is one book that you will keep reading late into the night.
My only disappointment was with the ending as I prefer to have all ends neatly tied and not leave me with questions.