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A review by abookishpenguin
Little Rumours by Bryony Pearce
5.0
Kelly is an outcast. A secret prevents her from becoming close with those in the town she has moved to. Her son, Joe, has made friends easily.
Areema moved there recently to support her husband and look after her mother in law. Three years, and still no friends. Just whispers. Her daughter Mia has no such trouble.
Naoimi has lived in the town all her life. She believes in her picture-perfect life. Her son, Leon, is happy with his two best friends: Joe and Mia.
Until one of the children doesn't come home.
This was intense. This was the sort of book that needed to be read in one sitting. It was so so difficult to tear myself away from this to do boring things like work and eat. While I guessed the perpetrator fairly early on, I still as desperately invested in the characters as their worlds turned upside down. And there were still plenty of surprises left in store that created a really rich, thrilling story.
The three main characters all had their own demons to face, before the child went missing. I found Naomi grated a little at first, but as her personal circumstances were revealed I did start to feel sorry for her. Aleema and Kelly were both fantastically strong, deep characters. I really appreciate the diversity of the cast used. Placing Aleema in a predominantly white area allowed the author to explore wider themes including racism.
Similarly, a lot of the other themes explored in this story were heavy: child loss, S.A., emotional abuse. It's certainly not an easy book and I got quite emotional at points, but everything is handled with sensitivity. Nothing felt gratuitous about this story either - everything that happened did forward the story. It's a testament to the research that can go in to a book to creatvsuch a believable, relatable story and cast of characters.
I don't want to say too much more because I really think you should read this if you like thrillers, but I will say this had quite the satisfying ending. Often I find the ending can tip a 4 star book to a 5 star book if it's good enough and, had I not already loved this one, this ending would have done that.
Areema moved there recently to support her husband and look after her mother in law. Three years, and still no friends. Just whispers. Her daughter Mia has no such trouble.
Naoimi has lived in the town all her life. She believes in her picture-perfect life. Her son, Leon, is happy with his two best friends: Joe and Mia.
Until one of the children doesn't come home.
This was intense. This was the sort of book that needed to be read in one sitting. It was so so difficult to tear myself away from this to do boring things like work and eat. While I guessed the perpetrator fairly early on, I still as desperately invested in the characters as their worlds turned upside down. And there were still plenty of surprises left in store that created a really rich, thrilling story.
The three main characters all had their own demons to face, before the child went missing. I found Naomi grated a little at first, but as her personal circumstances were revealed I did start to feel sorry for her. Aleema and Kelly were both fantastically strong, deep characters. I really appreciate the diversity of the cast used. Placing Aleema in a predominantly white area allowed the author to explore wider themes including racism.
Similarly, a lot of the other themes explored in this story were heavy: child loss, S.A., emotional abuse. It's certainly not an easy book and I got quite emotional at points, but everything is handled with sensitivity. Nothing felt gratuitous about this story either - everything that happened did forward the story. It's a testament to the research that can go in to a book to creatvsuch a believable, relatable story and cast of characters.
I don't want to say too much more because I really think you should read this if you like thrillers, but I will say this had quite the satisfying ending. Often I find the ending can tip a 4 star book to a 5 star book if it's good enough and, had I not already loved this one, this ending would have done that.