Enjoyed the first few chapters but my interest so diminished the story didn't seem to be going anywhere

Very exciting read, keeps you in the edge of your seat. It does feel a bit like a mission impossible spy type plot, but with a family focused edge. Every mother knows they would do the same in this situation- you’d do anything to protect your family.

Absolutely brilliant, a dystopian society where the Department knows and sees all. I was completely sucked in, combine that with a racing pulse and sweaty palms with that final chapter and you have a book that cries out to be a film. A definite keeper!

Such a different story in a slightly futuristic world, full of drama yet still leaving you on a bed of questions at the end....

The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall is set in a dystopian Australia in the near future where people are micro-chipped and those deemed anti-social by The Department (basically the same as Orwell's Big Brother) are shipped out to housing estates that are basically internment camps. Climate change has wreaked havoc and anyone resisting The Department is dealt with quickly and brutally.
Reluctant housewife Mim Elliott, who would really prefer to have a career, leads a quiet suburban life in Australia while her husband Ben is working on a joint Australian/Chinese project in Indonesia. Mim is told by The Department that Ben has gone missing, not trusting them when they seem reluctant,then actively hostile, towards answering her questions she decides to go,with the children, to Indonesia to find him.
Most of the book is the story of that journey,and the effect it has on Mim,her family and friends. While the book is a thriller much of it is about relationships, family dynamics and the complexities of life under pressure ,not least in a close family unit. The plot is actually very simple, Ms Mildenhall's strength is in bringing her characters alive and making their travails in a situation that most thriller writers would have covered in a couple of chapters interesting , engrossing and the central part of the book as the characters' various behaviours, flaws, quirks, moods,history ,tenacity and even hormones have a bearing on their fortunes along the way..
The book wasn't what I expected it to be from the synopsis but it's a superb piece of writing and I finished it feeling as if I knew the characters.

Set in a near future Australia, extrapolating current technology, The Mother Fault warns of a dystopian world resulting from a government taking incremental control ostensibly for the public good. The Department has provided a chip to keep the population ‘safe’, a chip that is convenient for travel, for banking, for anything that requires id. It makes life so much easier, why would anyone not want to have it fitted? And it tracks you so it will keep you safe!

Mim, the mother of the title, has been informed her husband Ben has gone missing. No one seems to know where Ben is, not even The Department, which suggests to Mim that something is badly wrong. The Department is keen to "take care" of her and her family - cue family on the run.

History confirms governments can and do behave in a similar way to The Department when citizens can be persuaded it's in their interest. The Mother Fault is a warning to be aware of the malignant possibilities of a multitude of current technologies and corporate practices which means there's a fair amount of time given to making the connections, particularly in the earlier pages. It's worth doing but slows things down some!

I can understand why the "mature content" is there but I would not have chosen to start the book if I'd known - be aware! 4/5 as a story but 3/5 because of unexpected "mature content".

Set in Australia in a big brother type future, A father goes missing and his wife and children go looking him while trying to not be found.
I found the book quite thrilling but a bit strange in places, but so pleased I finished it,
Thank you netgalley

The Mother Fault is set in the near future ,a world of "Big Brother" everyone is chipped so their movements are tracked, if "The Department" deem it they can be sent to Best Life a controlled gated accomodation.What a dreadful way to live !!! Set in Australia our heroine Mim defies the odds and takes her children on a boat to Indonesia to find her missing husband.I thought the book was very well written and gripping ,a story of a woman's fierce determination and love for her husband and children .Many thanks to the Publishers theAuthor and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review .

A well crafted dystopian thriller that is all too chilling in our Climate change world. The premise is set out very well with a Big Brother type state where everyone is microchipped. The geology aspect is also very well explained. The pace picks up when Mum takes her children and goes on the run leaving a trail of destruction behind. And I found myself turning the pages all too fast.. Mim may not be altogether likeable but her mother love can not be faulted and this comes over really well. The ending is left somewhat in the air and is rather rushed, but we can either wait for a sequel or make our own minds up as to what happens next! I enjoyed the book very much, although I normally steer away from books set in the future, especially a future that is all too believable. Thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an unbiased review.

‘The Mother Fault’ is set in the near future, a time where planet earth has reached near destruction and new regime called ‘The Department’ is now in control. I rarely read science fiction and less so, climate change fiction with a strong dystopian view. This book is probably the reason why as Mildenhall paints a truly terrifying future in Australia where all aspects of human life are monitored. Species of plants and animals are extinct – partly due to climate change and partly due to being hunted down by this mysterious ‘The Department’ in order to allow for crop growth and building etc.
Mildenhall has invested heavily in the idea of “big brother” watching and humans are monitored by a small electronic tag that is inserted into their wrist. There are also monitoring systems in all buildings etc. She paints a truly uncomfortable picture of the future and uses the idea of children growing up and assuming that their world is normal brilliantly with Essie making frequent references to the mistakes of her parents generation.
At the heart of this world, we have the Elliott family. The father, Ben is an engineering and is working for mining company in the Indonesia region. Mother Miriam (Mim) and the two children Essie and Sam, live back in Melbourne. All is well, until one day when Mim is informed that Ben has gone missing while on site at the mine. ‘The Department’ provide this information to Mim and she instantly becomes suspicious. Later in the novel, we learn about her brother Michael and his addiction. This sideline provides some explanation for her suspicions but initially, the reader is given little reason for her reaction
, other than to assume that she is scared. Mim decides that the only way to find out what has happened – and indeed to find Ben is to travel to Indo. However, as the all powerful ‘Department’ have taken the family passports, she will have to sneak out of the country. And so begins a multiday journey as Mim and the children begin a race against time to escape from Australia and find Ben.
I really enjoyed the premise for the story and there is plenty of tension and excitement along the way. However, I struggled to gain any liking for the character of Mim as I could not understand her reasoning for leaving. Even when she was constantly presented with the dangers and risks of running (such as as the danger to her mother and to Heidi), she kept running, yet her initial basis for going seemed flimsy.
However, I’m willing to overlook a weak character for the sake of an exciting thriller with an unusual premise and one that will encourage me to try a different genre.
Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for preoving me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

Definitely lots of twists and turns. Initially I found it quite hard to get into but from quarter of the way through I was hooked!

Love this book, Australia as you've never known it ruled by the department, so when Mim is told Ben her husband has gone missing she needs to work out what's best for her plus the children Essie and Sam.
The department send round two of their people to "help" and advice which includes warning her to stay at home sign some forms hopefully without her reading them and surrender their Passports. So just the normal run of the mill stuff in a dictatorial regime. Ben worked at a project in Indonesia mining for gold so was away a lot of the time but had been expected home in a few days time, this allows Mim the luxury to decide to delay telling anyone apart from Raquel a independent journalist not from Australia obviously who happened to ring her soon after hearing of Bens disappearance. The timing is incredible but it seems well i better let you read that for yourself hate spoilers.
This thriller is the story of protecting her Children and hence keeping them away from the arms of the department who will try to take them as security, they don't know if Mim is in on anything and they want Ben back. So as they make a run for it the suspense builds and the odd twist takes you in new directions, with surprising choices
I really enjoyed this book loved it even and I hope you do as well, i high recommend it

Mim and her family live in a future version of the world, being based in Australia, where Big Brother is alive and kicking. Husband Ben, who is working in Indonesia, is reported missing, No one can give her any answers, in fact the authorities are more obstructive that accommodating, so she sets off, with her 2 children in tow to find him.

I really wanted to read this book, as I liked the premise. The description of the way they lived, being microchipped and using that chip to do everything was intriguing and plausible. However, I couldn’t take to Mim, and felt that there were more questions than answers in the narrative. For me, the boat journey was interesting but felt that on arrival, everything happened too quickly without enough explanation. That said, I did have to read it all once I’d started it as I did want to know how it finished. Probably just not the book for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I found this to be rather like a modern take on Aldous Huxley's Brave New World but set in Australia. However, this shows the hideous possibility of how things might work out in a totalitarian state if technology continues to spy on us all. A good page turning novel but a disappointing abrupt end.

Mim gets concerned when she hasn’t heard from her husband-working in Indonesia on a government project- in a few days. The Mother Fault is set sometime in a future where the government (the department) can closely monitor everyone via their implanted chips, so she knows her options are limited.
With her passport confiscated and bank accounts suspended and burdened by her guilt at failure as daughter and mother, she follows her instincts and sets off on a precarious journey with her two children to find him.
The Mother Fault is a strong, well written piece of fiction and almost impossible to put down. Despite the holes and the coincidences, it is chilling in its probability. Mim’s singlemindedness in her goals (and her patience with two children from hell) makes it a page-turner. You feel the sweat trickle down her back when the police ask for her papers.
Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended.

I very nearly didn’t continue with this book as I found the beginning a little too bogged down with the futuristic Australia and its Big Brother syndrome. However, once the actual story finally got going I couldn’t put it down. It was gripping, frightening in its possibilities, very human and. thrilling!, Mim’s husband has disappeared, he works for ‘The Department’ in Indonesia. ! In these days everyone is microchipped and all laws must be obeyed! She has to find him at all costs and the ensuing tale is nail biting stuff! Well written and suitably scary for our future!

New, almost apocalyptic world. People have chips, they are controlled everywhere, you have to obey the government or...
Mim's husband dissapears while working some geo research in Indonesia and for Mim and her children the nightmare begins.
Is it possible to escape from Big brother eyes of government and protect the children?

Such a thrilling novel! And almost sad as we nowadays live so different lives than previous years.

Unputdownable!

The society depicted here strikes me as being unlikely and the causes of it were not explained fully - why would climate change cause such an extreme right government/police state to form in liberal Australia? The mother's search for her husband seemed to be extremely foolish and dangerous, and indeed had dire consequences for her best friend Heidi, who tries to help her. The boat trip was tedious and the ending was unclear, open ended and begging for a sequel which I would not be interested in reading.

I could not put this tense, fast paced book down. It wasn't what I expected, as the Netgalley blurb recommended for fans of Jane Harper which made me think it would be a present day crime novel. Instead this is a dystopian thriller, set in Australia - which I guess is the reason for the Jane Harper reference - but I enjoyed it so much,

Mim lives in an Australia in a not too distant future. Climate change is ravaging the world, all citizens are chipped and a populist government has taken a tyrannical turn. Geologist Mim knows that things are wrong, but with two children, she is also not prepared to rock the boat, until her husband goes missing and she's suddenly on the government's radar. With her children in danger, Mim has to draw on unimaginable reserves as she battles her way across the continent and the ocean in search of answers.

The title refers to Mim's beloved geology, but also to the motherhood that defines her life. The utopian dream of shared parenting she and Ben planned soon disappeared in a blurry world of post natal depression and breastfeeding, The job - and the risks -Ben takes are unimaginable for Mim. She hates how her life has been reduced to housework and child rearing, but she will also risk everything - and everyone - to keep them safe.

Futuristic fiction it may be, but the Mother Fault feels all too timely as tech continues to develop at a pace, populism grips nature and climate change continues. Highly recommended.

I had great hopes for this story but I got bored to be honest. A woman’s husband is missing, the company who employ him want to find him and his wife goes on the run to find him. It’s a world where corporations own you and one heavy with surveillance and dread. Maybe not so far in the future?