What a powerful and of it's time book. How do we parent in the digital age.?
Toxicity and social media create a malestrom that's hid from siblings and parents.
Good grades and teachers comments is only part of the picture.
What happens when a teenager takes her own life as a direct result of bullying and harassment by groups of boys at school.
Pictures shared with a wider audience. Never being able to get away from it.
Secrets and deciet by the young males involved also makes you think what they are pressurised into.
If you wouldn't want it done to your sister or mum it's wrong don't do it to someone else's sister, daughter.

Review of advanced copy received from Netgalley

Such A Nice Boy is a psychological thriller that tackles many disturbing topics such as suicide, bullying, masculine toxicity etc

Maisie falls victim to bullying and ends her young life due to the humiliation of her semi naked photos being posted in 'Boys Only' groupchats.

Amanda is the mother of one of the young boys accused of the bullying Maisie. Whilst dealing with her own guilt relating to an incident that happened in her teenage years she has to put the past behind her and help her son do the right thing.


This is a must read for anyone who is parenting in a world so driven by phones/internet/diappearing message etc. It really hits home as to how much is readily available for kids to access and the devastating consequences that can come with this.

I will be recommending this book to everyone I know and I am excited to see what Rebecca Spargo has up her sleeve for her next book 📚

Thank to Netgalley & Hera Books for the ARC .

4.5 ⭐ rounded up!

An extremely timely and important story that handles its subjects without feeling forced or preachy. We follow the point of view character, Amanda, as she finds out her neighbour's daughter has committed suicide as a result of online bullying from fellow students. She wrestles with her own beliefs, a trauma from her teens involving the death of her best friend, and accepting that her son, Nathan, might have been involved.

I thought the story was incredibly realistic and relatable. My son is not even two years old, but as a parent, this is the kind of thing I feel anxious about dealing with in the future. It explores the effect that misogynistic male influencers are having on young men, and how Nathan wants to fit in with his friends.

The story is interspersed with Amanda's past, where she loses her best friend. Amanda comments to Nathan that she's glad she didn't grow up with smartphones or social media and I'm the same - born in the late 80s, I only saw the beginnings of Facebook around the time I finished school, and was many years in the workforce before smartphones became available. Like her, I certainly couldn't have coped! And today, with her kids, she's just trying to do her best with the tools and knowledge she has. It was just another thing that made her so relatable.

I particularly want to praise how realistically the family dynamics were portrayed, as well as the lovely female friendships Amanda has as an adult (well, outside the school parent groups). I will definitely look out for more books by Rebecca Spargo in future.

Thank you Canelo for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Such a Nice Boy — Rebecca Spargo

What an incredibly well-written debut, with such a powerful and thought-provoking message at its heart (publish date 8th October 2026).

Such a Nice Boy follows Amanda at two very different points in her life — as a teenager, and years later as a mother. As the two timelines unfold, we begin to understand how the experiences and choices of Amanda’s past have shaped the woman and mother she has become, and how the two parts of her story eventually collide in a way that forces her to confront some incredibly difficult questions.

As a mum to both a boy and a girl, this story felt particularly relevant to me personally. I could really feel Amanda’s pain, fear and doubt as a mum, and I found myself constantly wondering what I would do if I were faced with the same situation. Honestly, I think I would have reacted in much the same way as Amanda, which made her journey all the more emotional for me. I was also really satisfied with how she ultimately handled everything — it felt believable, considered and true to her character.

Alongside the present-day storyline, we also see Amanda carrying the guilt surrounding the death of a friend from her teenage years. That loss, and the questions she has carried with her ever since, become increasingly intertwined with what is happening in her life as a mother. I really enjoyed how these two threads connected, showing how something that happened many years ago can continue to shape you, influence your decisions and affect the way you see situations in the present.

There are some really difficult themes explored throughout the book, but Rebecca handles them with so much care. It left me thinking about motherhood, friendship, guilt, the things we carry from our past and, perhaps most importantly, how complicated it can be to know what the “right” thing to do is when the stakes are incredibly high.

For a debut novel, I was so impressed. Rebecca Spargo has created a story that is emotional, compelling and genuinely thought-provoking, and I can absolutely see myself picking up whatever she writes next.

I can’t wait to read more from her!


Huge thank you to NetGalley and Canelo for trusting me with the ARC for this amazing book.

This was a very thought provoking story that entwined a murder of a young girl 25 years ago with the suicide in the current time of another young girl. The story unites the two periods very well and emphasises on the emotional strain that the first murder left on Amanda, Nathans mother. Nathan has been accused of bullying and other serious offences that led to Maisie committing suicide.
The stress that Amanda and Toby's marriage go through has been so well expressed and all the way through I had to keep asking myself what would I have done had it been my son.
I felt that Amanda was a typical mother and torn between hr emotions of how to deal with her son. I found the ending just perfect.

*4.5 stars *

It’s 2022, and Amanda’s 15 year old son, Nathan, is part of a group accused of sexual bullying - that’s bad enough in itself, but the victim, Maisie, took her own life because of it. Amanda is devastated, she wants Nathan to face the consequences, but he’s still her son, so she wants to protect him at the same time.

Memories come flooding back from 1997, to a holiday in Ibiza that Amanda took with her friends. She’s always felt guilt about the fact that one of those friends never returned from that holiday. Could she have done more? Now she’s asking herself that very same question!

Nathan has always been “such a nice boy “ and Amanda begins to contemplate where she and husband Toby went wrong. However, as she becomes more aware of things she had no knowledge of, such as hidden apps, private group chats, disappearing messages, and also bringing toxic masculinity very much to the fore, she realises what a minefield the Internet really is, and how impossible it is to know what your teens are up to.

Powerful, eye opening, extremely disturbing, and ultimately thought provoking. Much as I was horrified, I couldn’t put it down. It sends a very powerful and important message, and it’s something that every parent should read.

An extremely insightful book that every parent needs to read. This book is written from the point of view of a Mum whose teenage son has been involved in cyber bullying that lead to the suicide of another young person. This really resonated with me as I have teenage children and I was the same age as the main character meaning I could completely relate. I loved that it went back in time to the late 90s and a girls holiday, I could totally put myself in her shoes and I loved that aspect.

This book tackles a serious subject that 100% needs exploring and raising awareness of.

As the grandmother of a 17 year old boy and 15 year old girl whose phones rarely leave their hands, I found this book a difficult and somewhat frightening read. Despite that the subject matter was so well handled I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and will recommend it to my book club.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Such a Nice Boy follows Amanda as she delves into the life of her teenage son after a horrible incident at his school.
I enjoyed reading the story and found myself wanting to read more. The sense of dread builds early as you, the reader, seem more aware than Amanda of how naive she possibly is.
I liked the duel aspect, though admittedly wasn’t sure about why it was there, but the story does tie it all together.
It is an interesting commentary on toxic masculinity and the impact on children/teenagers growing up within a social media age. I am not a parent, but this book highlights many issues that must be concerning for parents currently and I do wonder how many will read this book and instantly want to check their children’s phones.

Such a Nice Boy is a powerful, urgent, and messy look at contemporary societal flaws. It doesn't offer easy answers, making it the absolute perfect selection for book clubs looking to spark intense, passionate discussions. Fans of Adolescence or The Slap will find themselves totally gripped.

I dont think i am going to be able to put in to words and do this book the justice i feel it truly deserves through review!!

WOW. is that enough??

I seen a "bookstagramer" on Instagram review this book and knew straight away i wanted to read it, and my delight when i came across it on Netgalley and was kindly accepted to read this ARC.

As a mother of a son who just started high school this summer, i read this at a time where i genuinely think it couldn't have resonated more with me.

A thought provoking thriller read which covers many topics within the dual timed story line between mother and son, there is some really difficult topics including suicide, toxic masculinity, murder, drugs, sexual assault - a hard read at times, but one i simply could not put down,

For me personally, it was also an education throughout - a book that will stay with me forever!!

It has also helped spark some healthy conversations between me and my son as he begins his secondary school journey in a world of social media and pressures we simply did not experience in the same way when we were teenagers growing up!!

I have recommended this book already to so many people in my work and social circle and will continue to do so - ive not felt a book in that way for some time and i am genuinely so pleased i came across it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hera Books for the ARC and Rebecca Spargo; take a bow!!!

there is so much i want and need to say about this book. its definitely one to read side by side with someone or others because trying to type the conversations and words in my head right now feel like i would forever do it a injustice. its one of those where you just want to almost speed talk to get it both out your system but also importance of talking it through.
Rebecca covers an apt and extremely vital story. and its not really a fictional story at all. because horrifically this is happening. and no rarely either. this is no shade either but i do think lots of parents wont comprehend where life is for young people. in part i think this is because you shouldn't ever have to, nor think it possible. ive spoken to many parents that are shocked and horrified by examples ive given. and they cant possibly take it on so just dont believe whats happening is happening to young and old. social media is literally killing our children. and come to think of it adults too.
when you ave minds that are so underdeveloped, needing influence more and more you get a whole mashup of children doing things you couldn't even think possible.and laid out in front of them if this wasn't our world i think they wouldn't think it possible either. the algorithms are out to get us all. and the web isn't just a dark web kind of place to avoid some closed off areas. no, no this is happening on every site and time they go online.
and you could or might think to blame parents. surely they end to step up. but ohhhhhh its so different to the past. its so much harder to control and or supervise.
in this book we take in the full conclusion of what happens when it does all go tragically wrong.
when Amanda learns that one of their neighbours is dead by suicide she is shocked and horrified of course. what could lead a young girl think this was their final straw. well, worse to come is when she sees its partly to do with what her son and another group put this poor girl through.
how as a parent she then has to work through the hectic forest of emotions is really well written. its a bit like the stages of grief when you lose someone. and in a way she has. because shes lost a version of kids, of her son. and the harsh light on what these boys did to that girl, what others are doing all over the country is tragic and horrifying to come to terms with.
all the while my heart broke for the family of the young girl. we are focused on Amanda and rightly so given the perspective of the story. but all the while Amanda is thinking one thing. that poor family of the dead girl must be in their own pit of hell.
can parents today ever truly know what their kids are absorbing? i think the very real answer is NO WAY. its got to be up to the providers now. but when half of them are pushing these dangerous content sites, when they are pushing for money and or clicks themselves it becomes even more sinister in what comes from that. and what comes is nothing good. nothing good and all things bad.
what we also have is the seamless parallel of what Amanda herself went through in her younger years. in the time she lived in, this was pretty major. and maybe the equivalent side by side of what her son was doing. but whilst taken drugs and losing lives is horrific. its nothing on what kids are doing now. for gods sake Ket is being used like its icing sugar nowadays as a given sometimes at parties and festivals.
we are in times of torment and trouble on the internet and with patriarchal and misogynistic views never seeming more sinister than they are now.
sadly these hidden kids online are not so hidden when the results are catastrophic. and whether it ends in death or just mentally doomed humans its all seeming pretty gloomy out there.
this is an incredible and thoughtful, though provoking book. i couldn't put it down. i needed to know how this family and the other would end up. it cant be a happy ending. but what can be left of the destruction of a young girls life? and now of these young boys and their families too?
its a hard read. and so should it be. Rebecca isn't hiding whats happening. and in some ways she couldn't even begin to cover the shadow that stands over social media. so she does such a great job of capturing the story she is telling. i got so emotional and emotionally involved in this book. there was those stomach and chest clenching moments and some unshed tears too.
Amanda was a brilliantly written character to follow with this. this is actually the first book ive seen cover this in this way. and im both shocked and kind of appalled that still is the case. but there we are again, knowing exactly why sadly, that its not made more of a point on.

This thought-provoking thriller explores toxic masculinity, social media and motherhood.

Amanda's world implodes when her teenage son is accused of sexually bullying a girl who subsequently kills herself. There is a dual timeline back in the nineties when Amanda is young, involving another death - the themes are dark but sensitively handled. Whose fault is it? What would you do if it was your son?

I also loved the writing as much as the structure and plot: "the first prickles of sweat made themselves felt in my armpits" 😍

I am not a parent but found it fascinating the type of challenges today's teenagers and parents are facing (I'm in my 40s and have a sister in her early twenties).

Thanks to @netgalley for my second ever ARC (Advanced Review Copy) 💚

📅 Publication date 8th October 2026

Such a Nice Boy by Rebecca Spargo
Publication date: 8th October 2026

As a mother of two children, this book shook me, turned me upside down and spat me out. When I finished it, I just sat there for a while. What a book. So cleverly written, unsettling and thought-provoking.

I should mention that this book contains some difficult themes, including suicide, sexual assault, murder, misogynistic behaviour, drugs and bullying. These aren’t easy subjects, but they are important ones, and Rebecca Spargo handles them in a way that leaves you thinking long after you’ve turned the final page.

At its heart, Such a Nice Boy carries a powerful message — one that I think we all need reminding of.

It made me ask myself a really uncomfortable question: how well do we actually know our teenage children?

We can know their favourite foods, their friends, their routines, their personalities and the child we believe we’ve raised. But do we really know what they see online, what conversations they’re having, what pressures they’re experiencing, or what influences they may be exposed to when we’re not there?

Our children and young adults possess skills and knowledge around social media that many of us, as parents, simply don’t have. Trying to protect them, and others, in a world where information and communication are so readily available is becoming increasingly difficult.

Most importantly, we have to create a safe space for our children to talk to us. We need to encourage openness, listen without immediately judging and make sure they know they can come to us with their concerns. And this isn’t just about peer pressure. It’s also about recognising what happens to those on the receiving end — the children who may be bullied, manipulated, pressured or subjected to misogynistic behaviour.

This is what makes Such a Nice Boy such an important conversation-starting book for older teenagers and parents. It doesn’t simply ask us to look at what happens in the present; it makes us think about the implications our choices, behaviour and influences can have on someone’s life — not just now, but potentially for years and even decades into the future.

The story follows what initially appears to be a completely normal family. Both parents work, and their children seem well-balanced, kind and happy. Amanda, the mother, is the main breadwinner, and I found myself wondering whether this dynamic has an impact on the family home and relationships.

Amanda is also carrying something from her own past. An incident that happened when she was in her late teens, during a girls’ holiday, has stayed with her for 25 years — and it inevitably influences the way she parents.

The book is dark and, at times, frightening, but not in the traditional thriller sense. Instead, it’s the kind of fear that creeps under your skin because what you’re reading feels horribly possible.

It is completely addictive and so carefully written that, before you know it, it’s midnight and you’re still telling yourself, just one more chapter.

I could genuinely see this book having a place in sixth-form libraries. Not because it is an easy read — quite the opposite — but because it could open up important conversations about drugs, bullying, social media, sexual assault, toxic masculinity and misogynistic behaviour, while exploring the consequences that can follow our actions.

For me, this isn’t simply a story about one family or one teenage boy. It’s a book that makes you question how well you know the young people you love, what influences them when you’re not watching, and whether we’re doing enough to make sure they feel able to talk to us.

This is a book that will stay with me.

Powerful. Uncomfortable. Thought-provoking. And, ultimately, incredibly important.

As a mother and as a secondary school teacher this was a read that packed several emotional punches. I couldn't put it down.

Told in a dual timeline this book centres on 2022 and 1997. In the present Amanda's teenage son is accused of something terrible that happens to a pupil in his school. In the past Amanda is a teen on a girls' holiday in Ibiza and one of her friends does not return home. She has lived with the guilt ever since.

I loved this book - such current themes. The exploration of how families deal with life-changing events and how hiding secrets impacts others is hard hitting and executed well.

As a debut novel this is definitely 5 stars for me. I read it in a matter of days. If you liked 'Adolescence' you will love this.

Food for thought.

Wow what a read I could not put this book down - essentially two stories in one -mistakes made by a mother in her past life that have never left her conscious intertwined with the current happenings involving her son and his friends that lead to a young girl taking her own life . Powerful , relevant and shocking - every parent should read it !!! Praise for tackling such hard raw subject matter

Such a Nice Boy by Rebecca Spargo takes one of every parent’s worst nightmares and spells it out on the page. What happens when the child you love, the child you think you know, is accused of something terrible?

There’s no need for constant twists or over-the-top drama with this plot line; instead, the tension builds slowly, and that somehow makes it even more unsettling and you’re left sitting with that horrible question alongside his mother: what if he really did it? The idea of the “nice boy from a good family” is explored really well in this book too. It made me think about how easily we can make excuses for people when they don’t fit the version of the “bad person” we have in our heads.

There’s a lot here to get stuck into, particularly around parental loyalty, denial, responsibility and how well we can ever really know the people closest to us. It was a book that I found impossible to put down. As a secondary school teacher it gave me so much more empathy towards the kids I teach and the world that is omnipresent on their screens. It also makes me so grateful that I hadn't a phone during my formative teenage years, I don't think I'd have survived it if I can be perfectly honest, and I honestly don't think we as teachers/parents give enough acknowledgement to how difficult their lives are because of their phones.

If you enjoy books like We Need to Talk About Kevin or Nineteen Minutes, and if you enjoyed the TV show Adolescence, I think this one is well worth picking up. It's a book that should be handed to every parent and every educator - our eyes need opening! Definitely one that will stay in my head for a while.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.