Read The Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan in less than 24 hours because I HAD to know the truth! Highly recommend to thriller fans. Will be purchasing for the library's collection.

I’m judging a 2020 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory
glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got this book from the perspective pile into the read further pile.
Beautiful writing. Beautiful cover

I loved de Vigan’s last novel, Based on a True Story (spoiler discussion), because of its slow burn, high level of emotional tension, and just the right amount of weirdness to be intriguing. Unfortunately, The Loyalties was just too odd for me and I didn’t really get the point. The premise is super vague and I’m glad the publisher used restraint because I was definitely surprised when the big secret was revealed. It’s not what you think it would be and it was an intriguing premise for a book. However, I don’t feel like the author really did anything with this intriguing premise. It felt like a set-up (and it was a good set-up!) to a bigger story that never happened. It’s been compared to The Dinner and I can see why, but The Dinner is a far more fleshed out and complete novel.

Family secrets and conspiracies abound in this novel! It lagged at times for me, but was an overall enjoyable read.

The Loyalties, translated from the original French, is a story of broken people who are so wrapped up in their own problems that they aren't able to see the problems of others, and it's a heart-wrenching story. Each character attempts to protect the others, but all to disastrous ends as they are ensnared in secrets.

Based on reviews, it seems that stories with a strong moralistic underpinning are common to Delphine de Vigan's work, and so in perfect fairness to the book (which by all accounts has been receiving mostly rave reviews) I should absolutely have done my homework more before delving in.

Chilling read a true page turner.A group of damaged people a story thatI read late into the night.Wanting to see where the story would lead the fate of the characters.#netgalley #littlebrown

This is a short and enjoyable read that explores the carelessness and indifference when two boys are getting drunk each day, along with the secrets each boy is living with at home. The author explores the depths we go to in order to protect those that we love.

I really wanted to like this book, I just couldn't get into it. I was highly intrigued by the synopsis, unfortunatly there just wasn't enough depth to the stories to enjoy it. Things seemed jumbled and overlapping without any actual payoff. For me, the only redeaming quality was the author's descriptive writing at the beginning...

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮. 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙜𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩. 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩. 𝘼 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙, 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪.

The Loyalties is about abuse by others and the self, it is an interesting story where what we have suffered through colors how we see the rest of the world. It is also about willful blindness and keen observation, depending on the character. When school teacher Hélene begins to see alarming similarities between herself and student Théo, she is on a mission to save him from brutal hands. But how do you know if what you suspect is true? What happens when your intentions put your job at risk, when accusations are hard to prove? Some adults are checked out and others, like Hélene, may be seeing the cracks but be missing the bigger picture.

Théo and Mathis are tight friends, ‘always huddled together’ and to their teacher they seem to form a single entity. In Théo, Mathis was saved from a friendless sea, and he would do anything to protect him. They are lucky to have such an intense bond, a nameless mutual recognition that no one can invade. The things they are getting up to are taking their toll, and Mathis isn’t having fun anymore, in fact he is scared of the games they play. The product of parents whose divorce is both hostile and indifferent, compartmentalizing his world is draining Théo, but he has no one to turn to. Something is deeply wrong, even Mathis sees it. Théo is dealing with problems no twelve-year-old should, problems that are wildly different than his teacher Hélene imagines but one thing is right, he is in danger.

Cécile, Mathis’s mother, has her eyes on the boys. She doesn’t trust Théo, won’t let him drag her son down to wherever it is he is going, even if she can’t name what it is he is guilty of. When her husband isn’t dismissing her concerns, blaming it on her overactive imagination, she is dealing with her own past wounds. Then she uncovers a secret her husband has been keeping and her world unravels but… deep down, she was waiting for the bottom to drop, much like it did in her childhood.

Everything is crumbling and we witness the slow unraveling. Childhood isn’t always the stuff of heartwarming memories, some children deal with physical, emotional trauma and it isn’t Théo and Mathis alone that are learning how to cope. The fragile world of adolescence and adulthood collide, but will Hélene’s good intentions, intuition be enough to save Théo? Who will save the grown ups?

Reading this story I think about all the children juggling their parents, married or divorced, because it’s sometimes about pretending everything is normal, learning what to hide even from your friends or worse, from yourself. Family dynamics can really do a number on us, warping our realities until we feel like split beings- sometimes oblivion feels like safety. Sometimes you have to demand someone stops the ride and lets you out. A thought provoking read. If you haven’t read French novelist Delphine de Vigan before, I also recommend Nothing Holds Back The Night, gorgeously captivating. I am going to write a long overdue review for the book I read years ago.

Publication Date: July 21, 2020

Little, Brown and Company

A very unique novella, unlike others I have read, this tale centers mainly around 2 teen boys, their drinking and angst while weaving in a teacher and others around them and how they all interact. This was very hard hitting, emotional and fast moving. I kept going quickly to see how things transpired, and was left sorely disappointed at the abrupt - literally - ending. Lost a star just for that. But, the "loyalties" aspect left me thinking long after I finished.
Thankful for the ARC!

Dark and bleak story about people I didn't really care for in the least. I didn't relate to or feel sympathy for any of these characters, so found it hard to stay engaged.

The Loyalties
A Novel
by Delphine de Vigan
Little, Brown and Company
You Like Them You Are Auto-Approved
General Fiction (Adult)
Pub Date 21 Jul 2020 | Archive Date 21 Jul 2020

I was drawn to this book because of the cover. It was indeed a bleak and dark psychological thriller. It was not the book for me. Thanks to Net Galley and Little, Brown and Company for the ARC.
3 star.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author Delphine de Vigan for providing me with an ARC of The Loyalties!

I was drawn to this novel by the cover. A dark and gripping psychological thriller, I was left thinking about this one for days after I finished it. I really found myself wanting to know what happened next. I feel like the ending came upon me very quickly and I was left with a lot of loose ends.

Thank you again to those named above for the chance to read and review this ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

Originally published in France in 2018 and soon to be available on the North American market, Delphine de Vigan gives us two adults and two children that are trapped in their knowledge of devastating secrets. For the schoolteacher, Helene, she knows that something is not right with her students Theo and precariously oversteps her own professional boundaries. For Theo, he knows that his parents use him as a pawn and he does not want to expose any more truths in their war. Mathis joins his friend in drinking antics but might be overlooking his own wellbeing. Finally, Cecile, Mathis's mother discovers that her husband is leading a double life on the internet.

This was a fairly bleak book and as I closed its final pages, I am still experiencing a very mixed reaction three days after finishing it. That's okay. After all, some books are meant to twist us in knots. Certainly, all four characters are bound by their need to maintain secrecy because they believe it will stop others from suffering. I was left with a lot of unanswered questions and boy did that ending leave me feeling angsty.







Goodreads review 08/06/20
Expected publication date 21/07/20

Really enjoyed this psychological thriller, and anxiously turned the pages, as I wanted to know how it all turned out, for these damaged people. The prose are concise, and the story is totally compelling, however I feel like the end arrived, and wrapped up to quickly. It just ended. I would love to have had each story tied up, but on the other hand, life isn’t neat and tidy. A great, swift read for sure!