Things Don't Break On Their Own captured me from the off. For anyone who has been unfortunate enough to live in a dysfunctional family, I suspect you will recognise where the true terror can lie. For those lucky enough not to, enjoy a peek behind the window into Willa's life.

Willa's sister disappeared when she was just 13 and as the older sister Willa has never recovered. The story of what happened next covers her first serious relationship, her hopes and dreams and her longing to know what happened that day when Laika left for school but never arrived.

This book is a quiet, understated read at times, one however where the darkness is never far from the surface and the reality of life slips through in the odd unguarded sentence that peels back the surface, allowing the reader to see what is really happening.

One of my favourite reads of the year so far.

This was boring, sorry! I don’t think the marketing helps - this is not the mystery/thriller you’re expecting. It’s must more of a drama with abuse and random characters who add nothing to the plot.

Willa has never got over the disappearance of her thirteen year old sister Laika. She sees her likeness everywhere and believes that some day she will find her.
I book that I couldn’t put down and I story that had me enthralled from the start.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Willa’s life is never the same after her sister, Laika goes missing, and she searches for her in every crowd, often accosting lookalikes, never finding her. When Willa meets Robyn at boarding school, they both know they will be friends forever.

I loved this book. From the supper with friends at the start I was totally captivated and involved with the lives of the characters.

Told from various POV, with Bryce’s actions being a dark, uncomfortable undercurrent, the story played out compellingly and I was swept along in the search for Laika.

A sad, but also lovely ending, with just a hint of mystery!

An excellent debut, looking forward to what the author offers next.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin General UK.

This was very slice-of-life and dare I say extremely boring read. I just wasn’t a fan of the writing - it lacked depth and bite - and the characters were quite generic and typical white, middle-class. There’s nothing innovative or original happening here. Even the plot twist wasn’t surprising and has been done many times before (if you’re a suspense reader, you’ll pick it up). The way the story is written, it just wasn’t page turning nor was the prose insightful or profound. It was very and-this-happened-then-that-happened-and-remember-when-that-happened. If don’t mind slow burns with strong slice-of-life elements then you’ll enjoy, but it just didn’t do it for me.

Unfortunately this book didn't grab my attention. I was expecting something more commercial due to the books it was likened to in the description. It read as more literary.
I found the plot rather slow and the characters unrelatable.
It is well written. It just isn't for me.

I had high expectations, when a book is likened to notable deeper, unconventional thrillers including The Push, Notes On An Execution and Girl A then I hope and want to believe. Strange Sally Diamond was mentioned raising the stakes again.

Things Don’t Break On Their Own is a rather sprawling story spanning many years with quite a few main characters. There’s a missing sister, a violent early home life, lesbian relationships and more. It’s fairly bleak, very detailed, and it goes deep into the characters.

I found it slow, at this pace it felt long. I was expecting a thriller and it felt more like literary fiction. I wonder if the choppiness of Our Little Cruelties would have lifted it up for me. I think it would.

Sorry this say this really wasn’t one for me, despite some very vivid scenes and great character writing.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General UK.

This is an increasingly dark read about two sisters, one of who vanished over twenty years ago. Starting with a current day dinner party where the guests include Willa, the sister of the missing girl along with Robyn (who was Willa’s friend at boarding school) and Robyn’s family. Told mostly from the viewpoints of Willa and Robyn this builds a story of Willa’s difficult childhood and the further pain she suffered after her sister disappeared. I didn’t really feel Robyn’s sections added as much to this as Willa’s did and the dinner party sections only started making sense as the book progressed. This is an uncomfortable read in parts but gripping and it was interesting (if slightly far fetched) to discover what happened to the missing sister

Oh! I am absolutely speechless! What a beautiful and life affirming novel, I won’t forget this one in a hurry. With a dark undercurrent, but with real characters at its heart, this book will stay with you long after you finish it, I promise. If you read one book this year, make it this one! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

DNF. This book wasn’t for me and I struggled to get into it. I won’t be posting about it on my social media.

Thirteen year old Laika has disappeared and no one knows where she is. Twenty five years later her sister Willa is still traumatised by her mysterious disappearance. At a dinner party with friends and family things get a bit heated and secrets start to unravel.
I didn't enjoy this book mainly because it had a lot of violence in it, bad language and a same sex relationship that I didn't think developed the plot any further. If I had known this beforehand I wouldn't have started reading this book. An upsetting read.

While this book is very well written and the characters are fleshed out and felt relatable, it wasn't quite what it sold itself to be on the tin. While I was expecting a mystery/thriller with a dark twist, examining the way memories work and perhaps the dangers of false memories, what was delivered was more of a domestic drama about a dark past.

I thought most of the book would be centred around the dinner party and the discussions that happen around the table, whereas it's mostly told in flashbacks and switches between different character's POV. Though I often enjoy getting to see the story from different angles, at times in this book it felt a little repetitive and the timeline shifts could be a little confusing.

I wasn't quite prepared for the rather graphic nature in which all the abuse was portrayed. Not suggesting that it needs to be sugar coated and delicately put but its just rather unexpected from anything in the synopsis.

The ending felt rushed and unrealistic, it didn't seem to gel with the rest of the novel and was a bit too textbook perfect ending.

Overall, I'm glad I read it as an ARC, don't think I would buy a copy for a friend.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for access to an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3.1/5

I have mixed feelings about this debut novel from Sarah Easter Collins. I don't think her publisher's marketing team have done her any favours with the official synopsis they have created to accompany this book. My anticipation of the type of story I would be sitting down to read was very different from the one that the author has actually created. That isn't to say that her work isn't creditworthy and enjoyable - it certainly is - but the official blurb raises expectations in the mind of the would-be reader that may well lead to disappointment in some cases.

Sarah Easter Collins raises some really interesting ideas in this novel - especially around the concept of the reliability of memory. Unfortunately, in my view, it is revisited only intermittently rather than fully underpinning the narrative. Although positioned by the marketeers as a mystery suspense thriller, this really isn't. Yes, there is an element of mystery than runs throughout the story, but large portions of the book are really more of a slightly dark domestic drama with significant coming-of-age and self-discovery themes.

Sarah Easter Collins clearly has a talent for writing. The characterisation is credible and well-rounded, while her style is both fluent and intelligent. That said, considering the subject matter, I don't think she succeeds in evoking the reader's emotions as strongly as she could and perhaps should have. Nonetheless, I would certainly happily read more from this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this. A missing person story with a knowing twist or two with great story shared of the effects on people of hiding family behaviour and keeping secrets from each other
Great warm characters and an engaging read

Beautifully written mystery. It wasn't what I was expecting to be, but in a good way. Love the twists and turns the author put in.

Overall, the style of writing just wasn't for me. I found it hard to warm to the characters and found my mind wandering at times. I do like that it highlighted trauma and the effects of trauma and how it shapes our lives. I just felt like there was something missing for me,

This book made my head heart thinking about childhood memories and how they shape us. Yet I also thought it made the story quite clever in that it caused you to think about your own past history. It was a compelling story that was hard to leave behind.

A gripping read about Willa and how her life changed after her sister went missing….told from different perspectives, past and present and with such well written characters, I really enjoyed this book

Things Don't Break On Their Own is a captivating mystery that follows Willa, whose life was changed when her sister vanished without a trace on her way to school. The story unfolds through multiple timelines and perspectives gradually revealing the truth behind Laika's disappearance.
A thrilling read with really well-developed characters - a great debut!

This book gripped me from the off. Told in two parts, with two timelines, I was eager to know what had happened and how everything would be resolved. A new author for me, I am eager to see what else Sarah Easter Collins writes in the future.