*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review*

A great thriller - I would recommend it!

Thank you Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the eARC of Without Saying Goodbye! All opinions in this review are my own.

Without Saying Goodbye was an interesting read. It took me awhile to understand who each character was and how they were connected. Once I got that down, I couldn't put this book down! Although I don't really consider it a thriller, it does get very tense at the end. I liked that it was set in Wales.

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Once again, we have a book marketed as a thriller that is absolutely not a thriller. This is straight-up women’s fiction. No thrills involved. Expectations can make an enormous impact on a reader’s enjoyment of a book, so adjust accordingly.

The story follows three generations of women, all at different and difficult cruxes in their lives. Content addresses self-esteem, motherhood, aging, loneliness, and the importance of female relationships. This aspect of the story is beautifully told, eloquently written, and powerful.

As for the rest: the big reveal wasn’t a surprise at all. In fact, the author gives it away (inadvertently?) early on if you’re paying attention. And, if you’re an avid thriller reader, you’ll see it coming even if you’re not paying attention.

The storyline is predictable, and pacing is a (very) slow burn.

It’s actually sad that the writing attempted to curve this into a thriller, and that marketing didn’t push this as the emotionally profound story it is.

*I received a free eARC from Sourcebooks Landmark, via NetGalley.*

This was a slower paced book but it kept you engaged. I enjoyed the MC and learning their backstories. I enjoyed the setting and the people they met along the way.

This one surpassed my expectations! I enjoyed the mash-up of many genres here and the unpredictability of it all. I didn't know what was coming next; I love that! This was another emotional journey of motherhood. Overall, very well written.

Lily and Cerys are both mothers who are leaving their pasts behind. They both cross paths and plot out a way to escape, each with secrets they have yet to share. And in their wake is an angry husband, but mothers will do what they have to to protect their children.

This book was emotional, being a mother myself. A cry for help and reaching out for those who hear our call. Thats what the two main characters are for each other. Cerys is overwhelmed and just wants out and Lily wants to escape the abuse she faces from her husband, with her son Sammy.

This story really build on empathy and what some face behind quite doors. Their is a lot of tension that the book builds as well, and made it such a unique read for me.

If you like characters who are driven than this book is definitely one to pick up!

Without saying goodbye

I think you would like this if you have had this life experience. The FMC Lily left an abusive relationship with her child and is trying to stand on her own the book expresses all her fears and worries very raw.
I’ve never been in that type of situation so it’s a bit hard to connect but I still enjoyed the story. The story is told very nicely and you will definitely feel all the emotions for both Lily & Cerys.

It’s a very deep story about two women who meet under unusual circumstances. Two mothers at different stages of their life.

This is more of a drama than a thriller.

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc

Without Saying Goodbye is a book that will stick with you long after you turn the last page. It is emotional, chilling and devastating to a certain point. Two women leave their respective lives behind because they can't take it anymore. Cerys wants to die. She even tries to die several times but the universe has other plans for her. Lily has a four year old son that she is trying to protect from his deranged father. She doesn't know what she's doing and she knows everything is messed up but she will protect her boy at any cost. The two women cross paths and form a bond but both hold secrets that could be dangerous if not shared with the other.
I wasn't prepared for how much I would feel reading this. It definitely makes you think. This is one those books that sucker punches you when you least expect it. A book that is raw and complex but one you really need to read.

I really wanted,to love this book but I think the story just got a little long for me.

Positives…I loved the relationships between Cerys and Lily and Cerys and Dilys. Strong women taking care of each other.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for the free book.
This is a powerful book about what mothers will do for their kids, what comes after big life changes, and the power of friendship. I liked how this book juxtaposed a mother trying to survive with her young child with a woman who is unsure of anything after all of her children are gone. This book is packed full of emotions. I felt so much for Lily and her situation. She wanted to be a good mother but didn't know how this would look and then came Cerys. I so enjoyed seeing this relationship grow slowly - it's one that needed a foundation of trust and honestly - and the author paced this so well. I also adored Dilys. What wisdom she had. She gave such a balance to the ender part of life, and I liked how these different age-stages were represented among these women. This is a story I'll be thinking about for a while.

This story wasn't what I thought it would be. It wasn't much of a thriller, but more of a contemporary fiction. It did have some twists but it seemed to make the story flow more

Readers of suspense and thriller novels who enjoy those that feature female protagonists and lots of twists will want to give this title a look. The plot, characters and setting will all draw the reader in.

Two women meet seemingly at random. Both have had children. While Cerys no longer has any to care for, Lily has a four year old…and a violent husband. These three go to live with a widow in Wales where Cerys acts as her housekeeper. What happens from here will keep readers riveted until the final twist.

Recommended to those who enjoy domestic suspense. There are secrets, complex pasts and a need to survive in these pages. Publishers Weekly gave this title a starred review, always a good sign. PW says that it is this author’s best work yet.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this title. All opinions are my own.

3.5 rounded down

This is a very slow, slow burn. I would say this book is contemporary/drama not a thriller.

Cerys and Lily are both mothers, and both leave their lives with kept secrets. These two women will do whatever it takes to protect their own.

I love the people that Cerys and Lily meet along the way. And the backstory on both of them. This is a story about motherhood, family and struggles between them. No crazy plot twists. I was expecting a little more from this book, and the fact that it was categorized as a thriller, when it wasn’t, sort of set me back.


Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for a DRC. Without Saying Goodbye is available now.

Cerys is a mom, so much so she’s made it her whole identity. But now that her children are off to their own lives she’s left uncertain of what to do now. Feeling distraught and useless she leaves her life behind. Lily feels like she doesn’t know how to be a good mother. But what she does know is her child deserves more than the life they have right now, so she packs them up and slips away in the night.

The two run into each other unexpectedly, striking a bond and changing the course of their lives. Because mothers will do whatever it takes to protect their children, no matter the cost.

I want to start off by saying I went into this with an open mind and I’m glad I did. The back cover promises an “emotional, gripping thriller” but I don’t believe that does this touching story justice. If you go in hoping for a thriller you’ll probably be disappointed. In my opinion this book is better described an emotional, suspenseful women’s fiction.

This was just such a heartwarming story, focusing on the dynamics of mother/daughter relationships. And I am a complete sucker for found family which this story did so well, it made my heart swell.

There were some tough subjects (abuse, depression) throughout the story but I thought they were handled well and with care. I appreciated the candid and non judgmental way the author wrote about them.

Even though the pace is a little slower, the short chapters and multiple POV made this a quick read. This was my first by this author and it intrigued me enough to add her debut to my TBR!

Thank you Source Book and Netgalley for my review copies in exchange for an honest review!

Two very different women take the drastic decision to leave their entire lives behind without a word to the people they know. Our first main character is the kind of tragic, brave heroine readers are used to cheering for. Twenty-two year-old Lily takes the courageous step of packing up four year-old Sammy and running away from her abusive husband, despite the crippling insecurity he’s instilled in her. She has no idea what she’s doing, as a person or as a mother. She only knows that her husband will kill her if she doesn’t get away, and that she couldn’t possibly leave their innocent child in his sadistic clutches.

Middle-aged Cerys has a more unusual story. A dark depression has taken over her life, causing her to drive away one night from her husband and mostly grown children. At a remote location, she sets her car on fire then waits for death to claim her:

QUOTE
She’d considered staying in the car and going up with it, rather than sitting here watching, but she was a coward and afraid of the pain. Afraid she might not stay the course, might get out–screaming and horribly burned–to die in agony on this cold hillside. No, that wasn’t for her. Far better to end it like this and let the cold take her down slowly. A farmer’s daughter like her knew that was a kinder death. She just hoped it would drown the blackness out as she went under. She didn’t want that to follow her down. It had kept her in its clutches long enough now.
END QUOTE

When she wakes the next morning to find that the weather has unexpectedly warmed and that she isn’t dead after all, she begins a meandering journey that leads her to the seaside area where Lily has reached the end of her own rope. Instinctively helping with Sammy, Cerys provides a comforting, nurturing presence to a Lily whose own mother was only ever neglectful at best. The two women strike up a quick bond, with Cerys finding her depression abruptly held at bay, if not altogether lifted, by her renewed sense of purpose in helping out a young woman who’s clearly overwhelmed and in need of her advice and support.

A curious mixture of desperation and neediness causes the women to not only agree to stick with one another for the short term but to avoid talking about pasts that are clearly uncomfortable subjects for them both. Cerys, who is both more experienced and fighting an existential crisis instead of one of basic survival, has more time to reflect on whether she’s doing the right thing:

QUOTE
She did wonder sometimes, because she wasn’t stupid, whether she was wrong to entirely trust Lily. She knew nothing about her and that was a risk. These things happened–people were conned and taken in. And the people that happened to believed they couldn’t possibly be mistaken about the person they had placed so much faith in, just like she felt about Lily.

So was she wrong? She felt right down deep inside that she wasn’t. That Lily was a lost, damaged child who wouldn’t have been that way had she had her as a mother. But she was no fool, and damaged people could be dangerous. And she wasn’t stupid enough to think that damage could just be loved away.
END QUOTE

The women help each other stay incognito in a remote Welsh town, even as the police and press are made aware of their individual disappearances. Cerys’ family is wracked with grief, but Lily’s husband is filled with a far more violent emotion. Will the women’s efforts to keep Lily and Sammy safe from him ultimately end in success, or will a night of blood and terror put an end to more than one person’s dreams, if not a life entire?

Without Saying Goodbye is a very thoughtful look at the different stages of a woman’s life. It emphasizes the importance of having positive maternal figures to help nurture and care for not only the next generations but the ones that came before. As a celebration of women’s friendships and bonds, this novel encourages women to reach out and ask for help, urging them to not feel ashamed of being unhappy, much less imperfect.

This book also does something fairly rare in fiction, never mind the crime genre, by examining the hormonal effects of menopause on mental health. Cerys isn’t just sad about being an empty nester: she’s also trying to cope with a perfect storm of physical and emotional fluctuations. Her journey of self-discovery, long deferred, also takes into account her own failures to create an identity for herself outside of being a mother.

Laura Jarratt is never preachy as she writes even-handedly about our very human protagonists coming to terms with their own flaws in order to rise stronger as individuals, mothers and friends in this sensitive, yet highly absorbing thriller. This level of reflection raises this novel over its peers, making it worth a hundred volumes on self-help or mothering, in addition to being a very entertaining story.

(¯´•..•ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ sᴀʏɪɴɢ ɢᴏᴏᴅʙʏᴇ•..•´¯)

ʙʏ ʟᴀᴜʀᴀ ᴊᴀʀʀᴀᴛᴛ

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Cerys and Lily, are both mothers, who slip away from their lives, and thrust into each other’s paths, they work together. Cerys’ now a single mother with nothing to live for, but she comes across Lily having a breakdown, she finds a purpose again, and helps her.

This was such a beautiful story, and I’m so glad I was able to read this. I enjoyed the mix of suspense, and heartwarming story of two mothers just trying to survive.

Three women, all strangers, encounter one another at the most difficult times in their lives. Each one senses that there is more to each others stories, but gives each other the space, time and trust to talk about what ended up bringing them together on their own terms. What develops is this incredibly strong relationship that brings one peace, and allows another to find safety, and another to find joy again.

Lily has never had a loving and caring mother figure in her life, which leaves her vulnerable to fall prey to the wrong kind of person. In the middle of the night she takes her child and leaves her life behind for the safety of her and her child. Cerys is in the darkest place, her children have grown and left the home and her marriage seems to be slipping away, she has built her identity around being a wife and mother, and now she doesn't know her purpose anymore in this world. The two women encounter each other, as if fate knew they needed each other. Lily to help her feel safe again and learn how to mother her child and Cerys to find her purpose, her what's next. And fate intervenes again to introduce them to Dylis. Dylis is an elderly woman who needs help around the house and on her sheep farm, as she recovers from a broken leg. Dylis provides a safe place for both women to stay and forms a sweet relationship with Lily's child.

This book had a thriller aspect as Lily's husband is not going to give up her and their child so easily, and in the end Cerys is forced to fight to protect those most important to her.

But more than a thriller, it was an incredible story about found family. Family doesn't always have to be one you are born into, marry into, or give birth too. Family can be found in many places and when least expected. Cerys became a mother figure to Lily, who so desperately needed that in her life, and Dylis became that to Cerys, who was still mourning the loss of her own mother. And Cerys, Lily and little Sammy all gave Dylis a family she'd never had.

I loved Cerys character and her story as well. Cerys was in her 50's and not only entering menopause, but also having to face the "loss" of her family as she knew it. These are huge transitions in a person's life that don't get recognized or talked about enough. This caused severe depression in Cerys, depression that she didn't understand until she met Dylis.

This book was an emotional read, even if you have never been in these women's circumstances there were aspects of their stories that you could relate to. I was definitely invested in this book and these women, hoping that Cerys and Lily would find their happily ever afters.

This is an emotional read that is equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming. The story revolves around two women from very different backgrounds who find each other as they both try to escape their current lives. The bond that they form during their journey is inspiring and makes you think about the family you choose to build.

I highly recommend this book if you like to read books with strong character development, books that examine relationships, and have strong themes surrounding building your own family through choices.

Thank you @bookmarked and @netgalley for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

At the beginning of the story, we meet Cerys, a middle-aged wife and empty nester who has decided to disappear from her loved ones’ lives. When things do not go as planned, she wanders off to the coastal town of Beaumaris, Wales where she meets Lily and her four-year old son, Sammy. Cerys’ motherly instincts lead her to help Lily and abandon her initial plans, and they end up agreeing to stay together and trust each other, no questions asked. When Lily’s past comes knocking at her door, secrets are revealed, and they now must protect their loved ones at whatever cost.

My Thoughts:

I LOVED this book. It is a gripping and emotional story of two women at distinct stages of life struggling to find their value and purpose in the world. Lily is a twenty-two-year-old escaping from an abusive relationship that has mined her confidence and broken her spirit. All she is sure of is that she loves her child and would protect him from anything. However, years of neglect and abuse have left her overwhelmed and paralyzed.

Cerys is a fifty-three-year-old mother of three who dedicated her entire life to her family. When her children leave home, she feels she has lost her purpose in life. Moreover, all she gets from her marriage is indifference. Meeting Lily provides Cerys with an “adopted daughter” to care for. For Lily, Cerys is the mother she wished she had, a role model to satiate her desperate need for guidance.

The author did a phenomenal job of introducing us to these characters and letting us know their feelings and motivations early on. Lily kept surprising me along the way, while Cerys resonated deeply with me. Her reflections on motherhood, second chances, and coming back to your origins were especially beautiful and many a time drew tears from me. There is also Cerys’ employer, Dilys, a woman in her eighties whose practical approach to life gives Cerys clarity and guidance.

The pacing felt perfect for the story. While there are moments of beauty and happiness, there is also the tension of knowing that eventually Cerys’ and Lily’s past (hers especially) will catch up with them. The story never stalls and kept me engaged from start to finish. The author touches on themes of mental health, abusive relationships, loss, grief, middle-age, shame, and acceptance.

I could go on and on describing all the things I loved about this book, but I will not spoil it for you. This is a five-star book for me, that will live in my forever-shelves.

If you are a fan of themes of found family, motherhood, and second chances paired with suspense and a little romance, this book is for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a free digital copy to review this book.