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4/5 🌟

Totally binge listening to Sally Hepworth's books!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⚑️
Another mother-in-law story (the second one I've read in a matter of months). This one is a who-dunnit told from the perspective of the victim and her daughter-in-law, and as the story unfolds, you see that things are not what you might think in the beginning.

Home tonight after a week visiting family. I bought my first ceramic piece from an art gallery, spent lots of time with my gorgeous nieces & nephews, had lots of lunches out, drank too much wine & ate too much choc but could‘ve had more baths than I did. Ha! Over 1/2 way through this book & not sure how it‘s going to end but I like it so far. Made the 5.5 hr bus ride go faster as did watching my racehorse nearly win his 3rd race in a row online!

I really enjoy Sally Hepworth novels. Even though they're marketed as thrillers, I find them to be more suspenseful contemporary fiction. Hepworth always delves into complicated relationships & has a way of making the characters relatable without losing momentum. This book focuses on the relationship between Lucy & her MIL Diana. It shows the way intentions can be misconstrued & break a family. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ @TheAromaofBooks this is my #bookspin square 19.

This story is told from 2 POVs and alternating between past and present. Loads of family drama and even more secrets. Last few pages were a little off and seemed a little rushed but an overall good read.

What a book! 😍 I loved getting to know each character and their development. I also really enjoy books that are written in multiple characters points of view. Getting to see all sides really made it easy to feel compassion for them all. The whole time I was listening to this book I was picturing Diana (the mother in law) like Madeleine Stowe in Revenge. ❀

I can see why this was on @thegreensofa #newyearwhodis list! πŸ“šπŸ˜πŸ˜ @monalysha

Assisted suicide- should this be a legal way to go about ending your life?
This is just one of the many things brought up in β€œThe Mother-In-Law” and personally I believe it should be.
This book had plenty of twists and turns, but by the end I was able to guess the truth of it all.
It was easy to fall in love with Tom and Lucy, and while you wanted to dislike Diana, you couldn‘t help but love her too.
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This book was our Book Club pick. It was a good story with lots of family drama. Every character had some issue. The story was told in alternating chapters by the daughter-in-law who so wanted to be accepted by her mother-in-law and her mother-in-law who just didn‘t think she was good enough for her son. In the end it seemed like they both came to understand and even love one another. But unfortunately it was too late.

I wouldn't have marketed this book as a Thriller. I didn't find anything about this book thrilling. I thought it would have been better marked as a contemporary fiction. It pays homage to mother in laws and daughters in laws. I've been blessed with having an amazing mother in law, but I did like the story of the relationship between the two and their differences. 3/5 stars

This book gets some good reviews on Litsy. May have to stack it. Personally I dearly loved my MIL and miss her so much. She lived to 92 years of age ❀️
#inlaws #conflictedworlds @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

When Lucy meets her mother-in-law, Diana, she‘s expecting an instant connection. Instead, she finds a cold woman completely uninterested in doting on her. I love that Diana is not painted as a one-dimensional villain. Women are so much more complicated than that. We‘re able to understand her actions by seeing her past and her POV. So many misunderstandings happen, but that‘s life. The book left me wanting to read more from this author. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I can‘t believe it‘s almost July. #BookSpinBingo

#TheMotherInLaw #SallyHepworth #BookSpinBingo

This book is a family drama about family relationships. When Diana is found dead, the death is pronounced a suicide but the autopsy proves it was murder. Lucy has not always gotten along with her mother-in-law so the story is told with Diana and Lucy‘s POV switching from the past to the present throughout the book. The family has deep secrets and they need to find out who benefits from Diana‘s death.

1. Into the Drowning Deep; Scales of Gold; Reading People
2. Tagged book
3. Mrs Weasley (from Harry Potter)
#WeekendReads
@rachelsbrittain

This was an interesting read... kept me interested the whole time. Definitely had some moments that I am still pondering πŸ€”

Did you know that when you‘re behind on book club books (for work), you can listen at 1.5x and get it done in a day? I recommend headphones for waiting in the UPS Store line. I expected more of a thriller, but instead it‘s more of a curious family drama that kept me guessing. I enjoyed it and think there will be good discussion. #bookspinbingo #nobingoyet #wintergames2020 #teamreadnosedreindeer +16pts

This was not what I was expecting- it is a thriller but one that is squarely in the domestic drama category. Told from the points of view of the titular MIL and her DIL, it eschews easy labels of heroes& villains. By the conclusion I had compassion for both the MC & I thought the ending was well done - happy but realistic-there was no easy reset.

I‘m probably making it sound better than it is! A quick read & the engaging POVs made up for a lot!

2020 read great book πŸ“šπŸ€©

This audio called out to me, 30 seconds after I posted my #WeeklyForecast (where this book was NOT mentioned)

My mystery of the month

There‘s really only two pieces of wisdom worth leaving behind. I worked hard for everything I ever cared about. And nothing I ever cared about cost a single cent.

#bookreport #katies_always_booked
🎧 Next Year In Havana
🎧 The Mother-In-Law
πŸ“– Before She Was Helen
πŸ“– Superfudge (read aloud with the kids)

#currentlyreading
πŸ“– Less
🎧 Then She Was Gone

#weeklyforcast
🎧 Bear Town

I wish I‘d brought a book along. Then I could have held it up, and they‘d have left me alone.

Well that didn‘t go as expected.

The character development was much different than I predicted going in but that also allowed this one to expand a bit beyond a run-of-the-mill thriller.

This was SOOOO MUCH FUN! loved the narration and all of the twists and turns. Not your typical mystery and I ❀️how original this is!!!!! #audiobook

I'm not sure I like the blurb for #TheMotherInLaw - it feels like it's trying to sensationalize an extremely moving story about the power of bitterness and the effects it has on families. I am a Diana, not a Lucy, and I felt #seen by her struggles as a #singlemother. I also understand how difficult it can be to love someone who is endlessly practical, doling out the right kinds of #toughlove. #booknerdreads

Her mother-in-law kept her at an arm‘s length. She is cold to Lucy, when Lucy only wants a mother. Her own mother died when she was very young. But then the MIL ends up dead and everything Lucy thought about her turns out to be wrong.

Lunchtime reading with my Kindle and a #rumrunner πŸ₯°πŸŒ΄

A diverting domestic drama/whodunnit which occupied my early lockdown mind for a couple of days. It‘s well paced and uses multiple narrators, and interwoven past/present framing to work the slow reveal relatively effectively. I picked the ending a bit in advance, but I won‘t hold that against Hepworth. If you fancy a Liane Moriarty style romp, this ought to do the trick.

I got through this book real quickly, I thought the writing itself was excellent. I liked how it was writing from all the characters. I felt slightly disappointed by the ending but did enjoy the book overall.

It‘s been awhile since I‘ve sat down and read a thriller in a day! The tension is stable, slowly building towards the reveal, instead of twisting all over the place. I appreciated that this was more than a thriller: it‘s a book about families and how we love them. Thoughtful and suspenseful. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #netgalley

The two main characters in this story, Lucy and Diana, tell their sides of past events in alternating chapters while Lucy also covers the current state of affairs. The beauty of this is we get both sides and how each of them felt, what they were thinking which gives a depth to the relationship between them. It made me think about how we never really know each other, what is going on for them or how they are feeling. Awesome, intriguing read.

It‘s a family drama, it‘s a mystery, and it‘s a lesson that communication and honesty is so important, with underlying themes of women‘s health and class privilege to make it a compelling and well rounded novel. Great narration! Highly recommended
Also loved the Australian setting and accent of the narrator.
Highly recommended.

A slow burn family drama mystery. It was a really good quick read. I read the last quarter of it morning, with a big mug of coffee and the windows wide open. Perfect way to start the weekend! 😊

Penguin has his favourite blanky. I have a new book. What more could one need for a perfect Friday evening?! πŸ₯°πŸ§πŸ“š

I am having a good time on my Kindle. This is almost as much fun as an in-store book browse. I have downloaded 17 book samples, and snuck an Amazon Gift Card into the grocery cart so I could purchase some of them.πŸ™„
This tagged book was one that I could not bypass. I was captured from the first page. It‘s known as a β€œdomestic thriller.” I‘ve never heard of that descriptive phrasing for books or genre.πŸ‘‡πŸ½

This book about dysfunctional relationships within a small family and a resulting murder is highly entertaining. I especially enjoyed the varying perspectives between the daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, the development and differing expectations of the characters, and the idea that our actions often come across differently than we intended when not supported by our words.

34-2020 ⭐️⭐️.5
Wasn't a bad read BUT this has been done before and was executed far better, and it was pretty easy to work out who did it.

This "brilliantly crafted story" is NOT THAT I COULD TELL author Jessica Strawser's pick for #read99women: http://www.greermacallister.com/blog/2020/3/1/read99women-jessica-strawser

I‘m always terrible at trying to guess the endings of mysteries and thrillers- but I was able to narrow this one down pretty quickly. I still enjoyed this book and recommended it to a friend who enjoys this genre.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

I devoured this book in a day. Excellent story with complex characters. I really enjoyed the character of the mother in law
Although a mystery this is also a story about words and their intent - how we can mean something good and it comes out the wrong way.

I really enjoyed hearing from both the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law in this book. It was so interesting to hear both sides of the story. The ending was surprising and I loved it. Luckily I am blessed with an amazing mother-in-law! 4⭐️ #2020book11

This lacked the compelling urgency I love in a thriller but was still enjoyable. A domestic mystery, this was packed with complicated, dysfunctional relationships, multi-layered characters and a β€˜who done it‘ mystery. A reminder that the things we don‘t say often say more than we think. Compulsively addicting, this immediately drew me in and engaged me right to the end.

I've read her other books and enjoyed them, and this book was no different. I actually think it might be my favorite! The story was really interesting, and you weren't sure who you were rooting for - the mother in law, or the daughter in law. Both were narrating the book and they told the events from both of their POV. I did not see the ending coming - this was so good!!

Had a rough week took a break from reading. My father in law passed away couldn‘t concentrate. Going to try reading this book again, need an escape from my emotions. The title is a little disturbing at a time like this, but everyone says it‘s great. So I shall try and read the night away. Next few days will be rather hard for my family and husband.
The best escape is pouring your soul into a book while forgetting reality.