I wasn’t sure what to make of this book at the beginning but by the end I was hooked. I couldn’t turn the pages quick enough. I had a feeling what the relationship would be for Jemima but the book just drew you in. You really feel for Robyn and Kit and the impossible situation everyone is in where they’re all trying to protect each other but not really protecting anyone. An excellent read

I found this book description intriguing but found it a bit slow & felt it could have been better. I did enjoy it though

A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME
by

MARIANNE HOLMES

Robyn was a carefree and rather naive child who enjoys playing by the river under the watchful eye of her brother Kit. Her mother had open doors for abused women, stepping over the mark at times, perhaps due to events in her past and Matthew, the man of the house, is a gentle caring man, but Robyn desperately wanted to find her real father. A mysterious man targeted her secretly when out playing brought their childhood to a disruptive finale.
Now Robyn and Kit have come back to what was their home many years ago. The atmosphere in the town is not welcoming and Kit is only there to please Robyn who appears to be obsessed with the past and solving what really happened. Her behaviour is very haphazard and vaguely irritating and Kit appears just to drift along with her and her neurosis. It is all very vague and short on gripping.
There are many strands to this novel but they do not always tie up. Inside this excellent idea there is a nugget of a really good thriller but I felt the writer could not decide the direction she wanted the story to take. The result is a cocktail of conversations of events that do not always connect, can be repeated and occasionally are not relevant to the main theme.
The final chapter clarifies many of the readers’ questions but is a little contrived.
As a debut novel this writer shows great promise. There are lots of fine scenes in this novel but it is a bit disjointed and lacks flow as the tale flirts all around the place. The links between the disparate threads could have been stronger. Some sharp pruning and editing, sticking to the original main theme of what brought them to this place would have given this book more bite.

Intriguing and a very enjoyable mystery read, keeps you guessing until the end. I recommended this debut novel, a very interesting & well written book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It is, I believe, reviewers' etiquette to begin any comments with a focus on the positives; here goes. Holmes captures some tangible moments and her use of sensory language paints scenes that the reader can almost taste, including water "curdled with yellow from the car's headlights", the "skin under Matthew's right eye pulsing as if there is a miniature heart under it" and pleasing "fat juice drops of rain" that "start to beat a tattoo on the roof".

Unfortunately, I found little else praiseworthy.

Returning to a small town they've fled as children hoping to uncover the reasons behind their mother's disappearance, Robyn and Kit encounter an unlikely (and increasingly laughable) number of familiar faces-"You're Dany Mace?"; regular clumsy 'clues' implying previous violence- "I pull my waistband away from my scar", cringeworthy summaries of their present state of mind-"We both know about betrayal-we're both guilty of it too" and glaringly unsophisticated attempts to capture characters' speech patterns-"They're mine, and I'm gonna have 'em."

Suffice to say, I only wish A Little Bird (had) Told Me" NOT to read this book. You have been forewarned.

The discription seemed very interesting, though after starting it, it was too slow and dint keep my interest; didn’t finish.

I thought this was a great holiday read! Intriguing enough to keep me wanting to read more, but not too heavy going.
I will look out for further books from this author

I neither loved or hated this book therefore award three stars. The story didn’t really grab me and I found the denouement a little contrived and unbelievable. I won’t be posting a review on social media as I feel it would be unfair to the author and to the many people who may not share my view.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you were one half evil, would you want to know about the other half?

A beautifully laid out mystery taking place during the summers of 1976 and 1988 with varied pace and vivid imagery, it was only the knowledge that the baby would be awake soon that had me putting this novel down; I could have easily devoured it in one sitting.

A Little Bird Told Me centres around siblings Robyn and Kit, their encounter with a sinister stranger in 1976 and their prodigal return to put things right in 1988. That there was much intrigue was clear from the first chapter, and so I was hooked from the word go. Holmes’ ability to conjure up the heat and hues of the mid-70s using succinct descriptions made it easy to picture the scenes playing out before me, and she does not rely on continual cliffhangers to keep the reader engaged.

The relationship between Robyn and her older brother is strong, realistic and serves to explain why so many secrets were kept from her - he had always known the truth would be more harmful to her than the lie, and so we are taken along on the, often frustrating, journey of a 9-year-old slowly realising the truth of her beginnings.

Whilst I found this an enjoyable read with a twist I did not see coming - a rarity for someone as used to the well-worn tropes of mystery/thrillers - I did at times get frustrated with the pacing and how far into the novel we had to delve for any hint of the truth. I could have used a few more breadcrumbs along the way. I also feel the sense of Robyn as a town pariah upon her return in 1988 was never fully explained - as a child, she could not have been held responsible for anything that took place in the summer of 1976, surely?

As a page turner, this delivered beautifully and I would highly recommend for anyone who is more patient when it comes to finding out twists than I am!

For a debut novel Marianne Holmes had set herself a very high standard to keep hitting but I feel (I know from one book) that she has a talent that will keep her publishers busy and rewarded for a long time. Plus her readers/fans on tender hooks for years to come
This is a story about Robyn (little bird) and her brother Christopher (Kit) who return to their childhood home in 1988 to find the truth of the awful events that took place in the Heatwave of 1976. The chairs alternate between the two years and the suspense build with each chapter and you will not want to put this book down. Kit wants to protect his younger sister who just wants the truth and the home town folk don't seem over I to see them again apart from Eva their Mums best friend but s she is pregnant surprised to see her even if well I let you read about that rather than spoil the story but this is not a big part but there is so much here that it needs to be read in order like all good novels. The bad guys are nasty the hero and her brother are characters you want to succeed and will love and grow to understand more and more. The years may change people but the truth remains all the same.
I'm grateful to Agora Books and NetGalley for this copy and hope you get this amazing book and enjoy it as much as I have our more even. Don't let the price fool you this is a top read and I'm sure you will have to pay a lot more for her next books.

Such a protracted and muddled telling of a story, that was not an enjoyable read. I persevered with completing reading, but it felt like an onerous task.

A very well written story, however I found it really frustrating. The story is told in present day with flashbacks to things that happened in the past. You are never quite told all the details which is obviously to keep you guessing, but I just found it confusing. I could never quite tell who was who and if I was supposed to know something that we hadn't yet been told. I spent a lot of time going back to re-read chapters in case I'd missed something.
In the end the finale was a bit of an anticlimax. Bit disappointed by this read.

This novel drew me in from start to finish. The sense of intrigue and evil wound it's way throughout, culminating in a finale that tied in the events in a sad albeit satisfactory manner. I would love to read a sequel, as I feel several of the characters have untold stories to tell.
A fantastic debut novel!
Many Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to read this in advance of publication.

This was a beautifully written book with a great premise of a story. I love the way the authoress writes, and the story itself, I mean what actually happened (the mysterious events with mysterious background), was a very intriguing and exciting idea.
The actual execution is not so perfect, though. For the first couple of chapters, I was very interested in finding out what was happening, what is it all about, but with time I started to get bored because everything was going so slowly. I like the atmosphere of suspense, and it was nicely created, but I felt like I knew too little and too much at the same time. The reveal of the 'big things', of the actual happenings, is dragged out until like 60-70% in the novel, and by the half it felt very tiring, because I still didn't know what exactly we are dealing with. On the other hand, I figured out the very basics of it, the nature of what happened very early, and way long before the protagonist, Robyn did. So though it is a very well thought-out mystery, at the end of the day what happened to me was that I was getting tired of Robyn finding out about things I (and everyone else in the book) already knew, while I was frustrated for the majority of the book about not getting enough clues about things that I felt like would matter more and would be more interesting. So even though the information and clues were gradually unfolded, I felt like I only got to know everything in the last chapters.
I think this was because of the main character, Robyn. She was so clueless that it was crazy annoying! I get that she is a child (on one timeline in the story), and even on the other timeline she's only a young adult, but she simply can't add two plus two together. I like that we see the happenings through a child's eyes, this is a very interesting perspective, but many times I felt like her character's behavior is a little forced. She's not simply naive, innocent and confused, but seems like outright dumb, even for a 9 year-old. I don't dare to say the that she was a badly written character, because I'm not completely sure a child couldn't turn out this way, living the way she did, not being told about anything at all that's even a bit complicated. She was an annoying person nonetheless, though.
The last 30% saved this book for me. Though the proportions (of where/when in the novel the story is told) are a bit off, this is a very good story and a great mystery in the background. I guessed the major plot twist at the end (I basically guessed everything), but it was far from being obvious, and it didn't take away much from the enjoyment. It was a clever plot twist, and looking back, I see how cleverly the hints were hidden. I'm sure many, or probably the majority of the readers will not see everything coming. I'm just not easy to surprise. :)
The very ending (I'm thinking of the last page) left me a bit unfinished, I'm really keen to find out what happens next, and unfortunately, we don't find out about it, we only get to know everything that happened in the past.
All in all, I would say this is a good first novel based on a great idea. I'm not sure this book is for everyone, but I would read another book by this author, because I feel like she would write amazing novels, given the chance of publishing more.

Absolutely loved this book. Unfortunately, I did have to put it down several times. This book keeps you guessing until the end. This book was not like any other story I have read before and the premise was very different. What I thought to be the truth was so far from it. Loved the characters and the fact that they were young when most of the incident took place and it is now them looking back as young adults. I also loved that it was the young adults that solved the mystery instead of the police. I would still love to know more of what happened to Wendy and Carol, along with Mickey. It was unclear if what happened to Mickey was a result of Ray. This is definitely a book I would recommend to my friends and family. Very quick read.

Couldn't put it down! A great concept, intriguing characters, kept me guessing! I loved it! I have already recommended it to friends!

'Don’t cry, I think, watching as she swallows hard. Crying is for bigger things than this.'

Growing up with secrets doesn’t make for any easy life, it is 1976 and Robin likes to go swimming, trail after her brother Kit, and dodge encounters with the bully Debbie and her ‘gonks’. At home, the atmosphere is heavy with the weeping of women whom her mother often tries to save from themselves, or abusive spouses. Then there is the mysterious cowboy, who like a shadow is hanging around her, offering her little presents that he says really belong to her to begin with. They are magic things, for protection. What does she need protection from, though? Her nights are spent restless with bad dreams, could they be memories?

To settle her fears, her mother always tells Robin her favorite story, about how they made their home here, ‘blown into town on a storm.’ That storm isn’t the baddest they’ll encounter. Her mother is meddling in a marriage, and the townspeople are saying terrible things about her. She is far too young to really know which way is up, angry that her mother is taking Robyn’s pitiful savings to help a grown woman, Sharon Mace and her little boy, Danny. No one is as irate though as Sharon’s husband. There isn’t much the police can do, this is the 70’s, and a wife belongs at home with her man!

What would Robin know of fathers caring enough to hunt down their wife and children, her own doesn’t even have a role in her life, is nothing but a wisp of smoke, not even a memory. Even if it’s in violence, Danny is lucky his dad cares at all. All of her inquiries into who her own might be are met with outlandish stories, ‘he is a Russian spy’, or a ‘great explorer’. Even his name is fluid, Roger today, Roberto tomorrow. She, her mother and Kit have Mathew though, the only true father they’ve ever known after ‘crashing into his life with the storm’.

Robin keeps the cowboy a secret, until her mother sees the ‘gifts’ and acts funny about it.

Jump to the future, 12 years later Robin and Kit are back in town, their old house a standing reminder of their haunting past. In retracing the steps of their old life, will she uncover the truths her mother could never divulge? The locals aren’t happy about their return, but she can’t run forever. The not knowing is killing Robyn, and she doesn’t want Kit to know the risks she has taken to find out what really happened. Maybe Eve knows something, their mother’s friend? So much has changed in their absence, and so little. Young Robyn is blinded by her naiveté, as all children are, in the early years taking what they are told for fact, no reason to doubt the parent who loves them. Robyn in the 80’s is lost, damaged and depserate for closure. The back and forth between then and now worked for the most part, but Robyn was more solid in her youth to me, more of a ghost of her former self (maybe that’s done on purpose) in the later years.

Where is their mother? Why was she so passionate about helping others, at the risk of her own little family? The one person who may know the truth is the one man they need to stay away from, the one who promised to hunt them down with the ominous threat ‘Family is blood and pain’ swearing he will teach Robyn and Kit his meaning. Does she really want the truth?

My issue is, with all the secrecy of the past, shouldn’t their mother lay low rather than bring attention to herself in such a small town? Ok, nature will out- it’s her way to save others, still one must ask, ‘why at great risk to herself and her children?’ Maybe I would have cared more about Kit and Robyn in their later years if we had a bit more filler about what they were up to after tragedy struck. Luckily I cared about Robyn as a little girl, if not as much when she was grown up because she wasn’t as real to me, so I wanted to keep reading for little Robyn’s sake. The ending was solid, one I didn’t quite predict. I admit it’s hard to be kept in the dark as a reader about some things, so I can see how it could frustrate others.When we meet Robyn in the 80’s the pace slows a bit, and I found myself looking forward to the past more. It takes a bit of a dark turn at the end. With that said, it is a good debut novel, and I look forward to Holmes future stories.

Publication Date: September 13, 2018

Agora Books

Holmes’ debut novel tells the story of two summers from the perspective of Robyn. In the first, 1976, she’s a child and in the second, twelve years later, a young adult. From the outset, there’s a wonderful sense of mystery, and the threads are woven beautifully through the two timelines before being pulled together like magic at the end.

While reading, I was plagued with questions: Where is Robyn’s mother? What happened to the man in the cowboy hat? Why have Robyn and her brother Kit come home after so many years? What exactly happened that summer to drive them away? Holmes strikes a fine balance with all of these mini mysteries, giving away enough to keep the reader interested but holding enough back to maintain suspense.

The writing here is lyrical and deeply rooted in the senses. The characterisation is strong, and I enjoyed the sense of small-town claustrophobia that pervades. The mystery at the heart of the novel kept me turning the pages and led to a most satisfactory ending.

2.75 stars

"A Little Bird Told Me" had a really interesting premise but the execution didn't really impress me. The characters in this novel all make awful decisions and are then surprised when everything falls apart. There is no real resolution to the story and the ending was just weird. The only reason I'm rating it this high is that I really wanted to know how it ended and it managed to hold my interest, but the ending itself was really disappointing.

A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME was difficult for me to get into and I was hoping for more, but it did have a surprising twist at the end that could rival Clare Mackintosh which makes me curious about the author’s future works.