Sarah Vaughan is clearly never afraid to tackle difficult subjects--and there's much to like in this thoughtful, richly characterized novel. The pacing is a trifle uneven...but the reader who persists will be rewarded by a story which will linger for days after the read.

I thought this book would be faster paced than it was so I was disappointed and even though I know it’s an edge case to actually hurt your baby but I wonder what messages this sends to women with postpartum depression. I know it talks about the proper ways to handle it but there is such a stigma as is. Otherwise, fairly interesting.

This book didn't really work for me. I found it hard to get into and hard to stay interested. There was also a plot twist that I found unbelievable and unnecessary. And ultimately, this is miscategorized as a mystery/thrillery; it's more of a straight drama.

I really liked the author’s previous book ‘Anatomy of a Scandal’ so I was thrilled to receive this advance review copy. It’s been on my ‘To Read List’ for months.

The story will resonate with many mothers, but not being a parent didn’t prevent me from relating to the book. In fact, the opposite was true as I wondered if I possessed the selflessness needed to raise children.

In Little Disasters, Jess has always been proud of her mothering skills. She loves all three of her children, but her newest baby has been challenging. She’s tired and frustrated and she’s going out of her mind. She doesn’t recognize herself and I felt much sympathy for her.

Credit the author for tackling an unpopular subject with tact and fairness. Child welfare conjures up strong emotions and ‘Little Disasters’ gives a voice without judgement. It’s quietly powerful and pulled on my heart in its wake.

Thank you to Atria Books, Sarah Vaughn, and Netgalley for my electronic copy!

Liz is a doctor working on the night her best friend brings in her baby Betsey. Betsey has head injury. The book skips back and forth between past and present..

Liz is an hospital physician working one night when her best friend, Jess, brings her daughter, Betsey, in due a head injury. Liz is required by law to contact social services for an injuries to a child. The questions that need to be answered are: What happened to Betsey? Is this really a case of just a simple bump on the head or is something more sinister going on?
I enjoyed this book for the most part. The chapters skip back and forth between past and present and also between narrators. The story moved along at a pace that kept me interested in what would happen next. My only complaint is the truth of it all seems to just be shoved into the last couple chapters, and doesn't really get the focus it should.
I received an ARC of LIttle Disasters from netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Sarah Vaughan, and it's left me keen to read more of her work!

It was a gripping psychological drama that focuses on the complexities of motherhood, friendship, lies and guilt.

It was a wonderfully written novel, and had unexpected twists that kept drawing me in, having me needing to know more.

Thank you so much to Simon and Schuster as well as Netgally for providing me a with a copy of this E book to review.

Thank you to Netgalley for the preview of this book. It was a great family drama & the plot was really fast moving & credible Having read previous books by this author I had high expectations & I was not let down Vaughan is a talented writer who has the ability to draw you in & make you forget what is happening around you. An excellent and gripping read

Little Disasters was a compulsively readable book that I thoroughly enjoyed! It tells the story of Jess, a mother of three who brings her youngest to the hospital. The story she gives her friend and pediatrician, Liz, doesn’t seem to match the injury the baby has, so naturally suspicion starts to mount. What comes next is a roller coaster of a read in which events unfold that tell the story of a frazzled mother and secrets are unearthed that throw the lives of these people into chaos. The events in the novel felt as though they could happen to anyone. All the characters felt real and flawed, making them relatable to the reader. You definitely do not need to be a parent to enjoy this book. In fact, I think readers of all kinds will enjoy Little Disasters when it is published on August 18th.

This was a very good family drama. The characters were believable in their personalities and actions. I had my suspicions early on about what had really happened to Betsey but I definitely didn't see the final conclusion to the incident. Liz's struggle with the situation was very real and her own emotions about her mother and childhood added a good subplot. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Omg this was so good!! I won't write my full review until a few days before official pub date

Thank you to the writer, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Thank you to netgalley.com for the opportunity to read this ARC. This is a mystery/thriller story of motherhood, marriage, friends (or are they?) and complex family relationships. It is very relatable. Striving for perfection because that is what you think is demanded of you without looking at what it is doing to you or the people around you. Friends who have drifted apart after the babyhood stages of their children don’t see what is right in front of them. A mother accused, a baby who has suffered a terrible injury, police officers just looking for a suspect and a husband who loves his wife, but makes no effort to know her.

Jess is a hot mess after the birth of her third child. The obvious signs of postpartum depression are ignored by everyone around her. She is lost, but determined to keep up the facade. Liz, a pediatrician, works crazy hours, but her career is in the hands of misogynistic department head. Mel is struggling with her own marriage and Charlotte can see no further than her own needs.

I wanted to step into this story and hug Liz, Jess and Mel. Charlotte would be more likely to get a good slap. As a mom, it is so relatable. The book is told from several viewpoints which makes it more compelling. It is a page turner, and while a hospital figures prominently, it did keep me engaged during the health Pandemic the world is experiencing. The only place the book fails is as it concludes. It felt too easy and too pretty. I gave the book a 4, but it’s closer to a 3.5.

I greatly enjoyed this book, but thought it was a bit long for the plot. Also I think a little sexual tension between the characters would have spiced things up a bit

This is an intense read! I'm not a mother but I can't imagine hurting a child or anyone that would.
There are a lot of twists that I didn't see coming and made me think. This was a definite good read.

Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan tells the story of four mothers that meet through a first time parenting class years ago. In present day, the four have remained friends for the most part as they travel through motherhood together. Liz, a pediatrics doctor, is at the hospital one night when her closest friend out of the group, Jess, brings in her 10 month old baby due to her constant crying. Liz discovers that Jess' daughter, Betsey, has an injury to her head which they discover is actually a skull fracture.

The hospital has an obligation to get social services and the police involved since the story that Jess has told Liz and the hospital do not match to the injury caused to the baby. Jess continuously proves over and over that she will do whatever it takes to get close to her baby and goes to dramatic lengths while she is in the care of the hospital.

Overall, I thought the story had a good plot, but thought it was drug out. I was also largely distracted when the story line would jump back in time. The present story is told in 2018 and sometimes the story would go back to 2016, 2013, 1980's, etc. I never thought there was a streamlined time period which was difficult to follow.

I found that I was never fully invested in the plot or with the characters. It was well written, but I never felt that strong pull to them like I do with other mystery/thriller novels. The "big reveal" was rather anticlimactic as well. I didn't figure it out beforehand, but it still wasn't this huge reveal that I feel like typically happens in thriller novels.

Overall, didn't hate the book, just thought it was a decent read.

When one of Liz's three friends shows up in the pediatric emergency room, with her daughter Betsey, Liz is forced to look at her friend in a new way. Betsey has a scull fracture, but her mother, Jess' story doesn't fit with the injury. Keep reading to find out the whole story.
This is a small peek into what can happen to both mother and child.

I enjoyed this book although I felt it a little dragged out for the story told and for that it lost a star. The characters were great, the story line kept me guessing and when the truth came to light I loved the plot twists. As a mother this story tugged on my heart strings throughout. Postpartum depression is so scary and so hard to self recognize that played a role in this story, but at opposite ends is how far do you go to protect your family? This story pulled you in multiple directions and kept me reading.

Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan is a story about motherhood and shares the joys of parenting in contrast with the less talked about subject of post-partum depression. The story begins when Betsy, the baby daughter of Jess, is brought to the hospital for a well-check. Liz, a friend and pediatric doctor, discovers that Betsy is not just I’ll, but suffering from a severe skull fracture. Unable to accurately recall how her baby might have suffered such an injury, Liz is forced to rely on her medical instincts and sadly, suspects that her friend is hiding something. Could Jess really be responsible for Betsy’s injuries? Meanwhile, Jess’s husband is feeling the guilt of being an absent father and beginS to suspect that Jess has been suffering alone in silence.. Faced with her friend’s situation, Liz reflects on her own childhood and later discovers her childhood memories mean much more than originally thought. She confronts her own mother and receives a deathbed confession that never seemed possible.

This book is about motherhood at every stage and a reminder that while people may appear to “have it all”, you never know how deeply they may be suffering. As a mother, daughter, and friend, I would definitely recommend reading this book. Now, more than ever, this book is a reminder check on friends, family members and reach out for help if you’re feeling down.

Of course emergency room doctor Liz Trenchard is concerned when one of her friends comes into the hospital with her infant. That concern quickly increases when she realizes the extent of little Betsey's injuries and how much time has passed since what Jess describes as a minor fall. Liz follows protocol, transferring the infant into the care of another doctor and alerting the proper authorities, even though she is sure that Jess would never have have hurt her own child. They've known each other for years and Jess has always been the most careful and attentive mother in their group of friends. Liz can't believe that Jess would hurt her own baby, but everything about the situation raises red flags.

At times, this one was difficult to read, partially because the details that describe Betsey's injuries are so perfectly descriptive that I could feel them. One sentence in particular is going to stick with me for a long time. The plot moves between the morning of the accident, the present, and the early days of Liz and Jess's friendship. There are dates at the beginning of each chapter, but they're so close together that I found myself trying to figure out from context when in the sequence of events I was reading about. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, especially kids and husbands. I love domestic thrillers that involve families and this one kept me turning pages to find out what had happened.

Heartbreaking, heart wrenching, heartfelt and beautiful writing makes this novel stay with you long after the last page. The themes of motherhood, expectations, despair and loyalty impact a group of women who met in a childbirth class for first time parents who continue their friendships long after the births of their children. The story is told from several POV’s and starts with a child taken to the emergency room. . Was it an accident or abuse. We watch Jess the baby’s mother struggle, Liz, the doctor who doubts her friend, and the husbands who mostly have no idea what is happening. Although I don’t have a child, I could feel the pain and anguish as if I knew the struggles of motherhood, a testament to the superb writing and plotting. Although it’s marketed as a thriller, it’s a drama with twists you don’t see coming and you are completely invested in the women and the outcome. Excellent.