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.

This was a slow burn book.
This book was about 2 sisters and 1 disappeared.
The story began to unfold with individual perspectives written in the book.
Halfway through is when we discover what actually happened and this was found out by the surviving sister but from a readers perspective it wasn't very credible.
Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin General Uk-Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Businesses.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. It’s a story of two halves, told over two timelines. Jam packed, gripping and emotional

Things Don't Break On Their Own by Sarah Easter Collins

I had really high hopes for this book, as I usually really enjoy thriller/mystery books centered around one night and was looking forward to seeing how the dinner party setting would play into the story. Although I did find this an overall enjoyable read, there were a few issues that I felt I couldn't overlook and led to me only rating this a somewhat average 3 out of 5 stars.

Firstly, I did really enjoy the characters and how they were portrayed. I loved getting to know Willa and Robyn especially, and felt immense joy at the inclusion of queer characters, which is not very common in thriller novels. I liked learning about their past and watching them grow from teenagers into the adult women we meet at the dinner party. However, I did find that some of the flashbacks which showed us past events were confusing and I found myself getting lost at certain parts wondering what was happening and why we'd suddenly switched to the past, or vice versa. The scenes set in the past sometimes comes across as long streams of memory/backstory/consciousness which is sometimes pertinent to the plot and sometimes just feels like random added detail. These scenes then abruptly switch back into showing us the scene of the dinner party, and it almost felt like two separate stories that someone was trying to mesh together but that didn't really fit.

Furthermore, we are told different parts of the story through different POV's (mainly Robyn and Willa, but also Claudette towards the end). This is usually something I really enjoy in thriller books as it offers a wider perspective on events and allows us to get an insight into each characters personal thoughts/feelings. The multi POV in this book, however, meant that we saw the dinner party conversations/events through multiple different perspectives and this led to certain scenes feeling repetitive. For example, the argument between Claudette and Jamie is shown to us through Willa's eyes, Robyn's eyes and Claudette's eyes, which means the conversation gets repeated multiple times with very little difference other than offering us the different character's reactions to these events. I think the multi POV worked very well in scenes set in the past, but did not work as well during the dinner party scenes. The multi POV would have been better utilised if the story was set over more than one evening, as this would have lessened the repetitive feel to the dinner party conversations.

I did really enjoy the authors almost lyrical writing. She is brilliant at descriptive writing and manages to paint a picture in your mind that is so vivid you feel like you are experiencing it with your own eyes. My favourite example of this is when the author describes Robyn's house in such a detailed way that I could almost imagine myself walking through the house alongside Willa. The author also does an amazing job at sensitively touching on issues such as domestic abuse and showing the awful effects this has on the victims, showing how the abuse Willa's family experienced has haunted them their whole life. This also gave the reminder, to me at least, that you never know what goes on behind closed doors, and I think that idea became more and more important to the plot as we went on. I also liked how the author explored complex human emotions (such as grief, love, guilt, hate and many more) and also explored human interaction/relationships in a really interesting way. I really liked the way Willa and Jamie's relationship was explored and picked apart by the author as she slowly revealed the issues and lies surrounding them. I felt terribly sorry for Willa during this point, and feel like the author did a great job at showing the subtle control, abuse and fear that both Willa's Dad and Jamie subjected her to. I also liked how Willa's relationship with her family was explored and how she, as the "golden child" held a lot of shame and guilt for being the only one to escape the abuse. The conversation Liv starts about memory, and the memories both Willa and Claudette tell, was also very interesting and a fun addition to the otherwise dry dinner party scene.

I rated this 3 out of 5 stars. Although I enjoyed reading this book and loved the author's choice of underlying topics and themes throughout, there were just a few too many issues that meant I couldn't rate this any higher.. It is a real shame that the flashbacks and multi POV ruined this for me, as otherwise I think this plot (surrounding Laika's disappearance) was really gripping and would have made for a great story! I loved the scenes set in the past but felt that those set in the future, in particular during the dinner party, were disappointing and not as enjoyable compared to the rest of the book. Thank you to Netgalley and Sarah Easter Collins for the ARC.

Wow loved this book from the first page to the last. Was one of those that had me gripped throughout. Would highly recommend this book. Many thanks to both the author and net galley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed are my own.

Amazing book!
I was thoroughly engaged throughout this book and I didn't want to put it down! The author captured my attention from the get go! Five stars from me :)

This is a beautiful, character led story. A present day dinner party brings up a past trauma in 3 women’s lives and forces them to remember and confront the past. I was hooked from the beginning, and enjoyed the interaction between the different points of view enormously.

There is something very comforting about the concept of breaking into pieces, fragments of the self, of things, of memories, and then finding ways, new ways and unique ways, to join those cracks and recreate as something, not quite new, but something built on the strength of those fragments that remained.

This is a story of heartbreak, loss and rebirth. It is hard to read the emerging details of Laika's childhood but her story compelled me to keep going and I couldn't put this down after the half way point, I just had to keep going.

There is a message here also, of the treatment of vulnerable elderly people by greedy relatives and those who should be caring for them but are utterly lacking. I felt that I was in that house with them during that time and I wanted to stay because there was acceptance and compassion there. It was a happy surprise to find out what became of the cats, really nice that was included.

It ends well, and is not just satisfying but gives a warm and heartfelt closure.

This gets five stars from me and joins a very small number of books that make it to my favourite books list. LOVED IT.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

Things Don't Break on Their Own is a mystery drama that is both heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time. Beautifully written and totally compulsive. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my early copy.

3.5 stars for this book. A thrilling read filled with lots of mysteries. It reminded me of the movie “ready or not” for some reason lol. But the book does deal with heavy subject matter so please look up the trigger warnings.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was a truly dark novel and unlike anything I was expecting from the synopsis. It was a hard read, with graphic depictions of domestic abuse and violence throughout, and was genuinely quite upsetting throughout the whole thing. Saying this, because I connected with the characters immediately, I felt so strongly about the events that occurred and truly felt myself falling into the story and trying to protect the characters from the world/people around them. I also felt that their relationships were detailed and well laid out, with the strong connections between them all further connecting me to the story.

However, there were some structural issues. It seemed to be paced a little oddly, with the ending feeling slightly rushed, and it was hard to depict when there were changes to the perspective timeline - I never really knew when starting a chapter if it was present-day or past. It was also unlike the synopsis, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but did alter the way I went into it and I do feel like a more accurate description would help this novel. I also think adding more time at the dinner party would’ve helped with this as well as ensured that the ending didn’t feel as rushed as it did.

Overall, I think Collins has a great, hard-hitting writing style which in turn created authentic characters that drew me to this novel. I would just caution those reading it to check the trigger warnings as this is emotionally distressing and hard to read.

TW: domestic abuse, violence, abduction/kidnap, death, sexism, child abuse (detailed)

Going into this book, I assumed the present day dinner party would hold more significance , but looking back I actually preferred the direction it went. Having the past blend and merge with the present added a layer of confusion and anticipation for what was to come. Overall, it was a brilliantly written book, especially in terms of the beautiful imagery woven into the story. It really pulled together and aligned well with the connotations behind the title and the significance of Kintsugi. Told through multiple POVs, it was only natural I found some perspectives more engaging and captivating than others - Laika's and Willa's were my personal favourites, and the pacing felt most stable and engaging in their chapters. The childhood trauma yet resilience among them both was touching to read. My only quip with the novel is, although I liked the back and forth flitting in the timeline, having to re-read the dinner conversation across for multiple pages just to capture a different POV did grow tiresome and could've been condensed.

I actually loved this. At first I thought it was going to be one of those mystery ones, where someone has an ulterior motive and it all turns out disappointing. But it wasn't the case - this was a proper story. And it did take me by surprise every step of the way. I loved it.

Laika Martenwood vanished without a trace on her way to school one morning. For her sister, Willa, life was never the same.
Willa sees Laika everywhere and believes that her sister is alive, somewhere. 

When a dinner party conversation about childhood memories gets underway a revelation from one of the guests forces Willa to rethink her past. And, the truth of what really happened to Laika begins to emerge bit by bit.

Not going to lie this was a very slow starter for me but at about 20% in it took a turn and started to get me interested in the story. I did like the dual timeline and I didn’t really expect the twist but it worked well. I liked the character and the concept but the only thing that disappointed me was the ending as it felt it ended quite abruptly. Overall a good book and worth the 4 stars I have rated it.

This was not what I expected from the synopsis but nonetheless it was an enjoyable, emotional read.

The dinner party in question is attended by 4 couples, some are also siblings, exes etc. but we soon learn Willa's childhood was marred by the disappearance of her sister Laika.

Throughout the dinner, and in Willa's and Robyn's backstory we learn about the secrets of Willa's childhood and what led to the disappearance or Laika but it's clear there is more to the story than meets the eye.

Like I say, this was not what I expected. I thought there would be more of the storyline focused on the dinner party but this actually plays only a minor role in the story. The main story is told via backstory about how Willa and Robyn met and how the disappearance of Laika affected everyone involved

I'm not sure the ending will be delivered without some questions from the reader but it was satisfying and a solid debut novel

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business, Viking for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I enjoy reading and this one was no exception. It was a fast paced psychological thriller with a unique storyline that kept my attention. I would recommend this book

This was not what I was expecting from this book. I thought it would I be completely centred around a dinner party table with the mystery and secrets all coming out over the course of the evening.
This book isn't like that while the main event happens at a dinner party most of the story is told over multi person pov in the 3rd person spanning time lines going from the present and to various points in the past. The layout of the book is very good and adds to a sense of mystery and develops the characters well. I really liked how we heard about the same event in the same way but from the characters different perspectives this is a very cleaver way of writing from the writer as one of the main topics at the dinner party is about how we remember things and how we in fact don't all remember the same things the same way. So while it wasn't what I thought it was still a good way to present the plot in fact it properly worked better with some aspects of the story and gave it a chance to be a bit deeper and broader in terms of plot.

Furthermore the title matches very well with some the themes and symbolism throughout the book I can certainly see what the author was going for, with references to kintsugi and the strength of a once broken thing. It gives an uplifting element to quite a dark book in places.
I found this really smart and well written.

This was a book of two halves for me with some very enjoyable parts and some pretty drawn out and tedious parts. At no point though did I think about not finishing the book so it did hold my interest however I found that this book had a slow start and I did at times feel I could have been reading two separate books this was mainly within the first half of the novel as it proceeded it flowed and matched up better.


The first half of the book mostly flits between the perspective of Willa and her friend Robyn spanning over the past and present reflecting on their friendship and the disappearance of Willa's younger sister.

I found the Robyn sections boring and they didn't fit in the book for me they almost made it like a completely different type of book. I found it didn't add to the story.

I loved the Willa parts hearing all about her childhood, the lead up to and the aftermath of her sister going missing, here the writer really shows what a good writer she could be with more focus on the main plot lines, I found these parts engaging and they kept me reading. She takes great care in showing the horrors of domestic violence she highlights all the nuance of it and does so in way that is relatable and true to life.

The second half of the book is more so from the perspective of one of the guests at the dinner party. I much preferred the second half where the story got into fruition and accelerated into its climax. This part had a Gone Girl feel which I really liked.

There are some red herrings with regard what happened to Laika (Willa's sister) of which I found so obvious to add any merit and they lacked what was needed to add depth to the mystery. They just too in your face one in particular regarding the guest made me chuckle it was that blatant in trying to miss direct the reader. There was real lack of style and flair in terms of the writing with these which was a shame as the writer showed real class in the other areas of her writing. Perhaps a few more books and she will have mastered it all. I will would certainly read more of her work in the future, there is real promise for her work.

I worked out the "twist" very early on I kept reading as what I wanted to know how it played out. While it was okay it was very far fetched however I did like ending.

For a quite a gritty novel the ending is a bit happy ever after but as said I worked for me.

It was an interesting read, however, I didn't feel that the summary reflected the actual plot of the story, but despite that it was good read and I would recommend it.

Perfect reading for fans of Erin Kelly and Lisa Jewell

Thanks for the ARC it was the first read of 2024 and it was good start to this years reading and reviewing

This was a book of two halves for me with some very enjoyable parts and some pretty drawn out and tedious parts. At no point though did I think about not finishing the book so it did hold my interest. The premise of the book has been well documented in other reviews so I wont repeat it here. I think the author did a good job at conveying Willa's continued distress over her sister's disappearance and also the way that significant people in her life reacted to her distress and how this shaped relationships throughout her life. There are some red herrings with regard what happened to Laika (Willa's sister) which I enjoyed as they sent me in the wrong direction a few times. The last part of the book when things were pieced together and the reader got some answers held a few twists/shocks and it was this part that moved my rating from a 3 star to a 4 star. The book is tod from various POVs and timelines which I found a little disjointed at times but ultimately this was a well written and enjoyable book.

Willa’s sister Laika vanished one day when she was 13. This has haunted Willa’s life for years, setting up a website devoted to her and the desire to find her. Then one day, as a grownup, Willa goes to a dinner party and they all start talking about earliest memories and false memories.
The first half of the book mostly flits between the perspective of Willa and friend Robyn. The second half of the book is more so from the perspective of one of the guests at the dinner party. I much preferred the second half where the story got into fruition and accelerated into its climax. The first half of the book set up the background, but in the second half I loved the story from the dinner guest. The two half’s did tie together nicely though and it gave a nice insight into the going on of people’s minds and their thought processes