The premise of Our Little Cruelties is intriguing, but for me it didn’t quite deliver. I always find it difficult to relate to books where most (if not all) of the characters are unpleasant. This was especially true for the first 1/3 of the book which seemed to be a collection of past events in random order that just reinforced my impression that the narrator was an incredibly unpleasant and selfish man. The kernel of mystery dropped at the beginning didn’t provide enough suspense to make me curious about what had happened. I enjoyed the rest of the book more, but was disappointed by the resolution.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of Little Cruelties.

Unfortunately I had to put this one down. The concept sounded interesting to me but once I got to about 10% and was still just not feeling it I had to call it quits.

Very unique storyline. A little sadistic mystery and nothing better than a dysfunctional family. Seriously great book but then again all Liz Nugent books are. Highly recommend.

This is family saga told over several decades in alternating chapters by each person’s perspective. I really enjoy these types of books because it’s interesting to see how different people view the same event. This is also a fairly gut-punch book with triggers. These folks put the fun in dysfunction (not)! I almost hate to say this because A Little Life is one of my all-time favorite books, but this book brought back some of the same feeling when I read that book. Liz Nugent usually writes novels that are categorized as thrillers, so I would not go into this novel thinking that it is suspenseful or you might be disappointed. I really enjoyed this one and thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

Talk about a dysfunctional family! Three brothers a year apart born to a mother who is often neglectful, selfish, and favors one over the others. Even as children they are not close but more like rivals for their parents' affection. And "little cruelties" is an understatement; as they grow they are constantly belittling each other and even as they attempt to support each other, they end up betraying the ones they love the most. The book opens with one of their funerals but we don't know which one. The rest of it goes back and forth in time from each of their perspectives as we witness their rivalries, battles with mental health, even as they know they should band together as brothers. I have the utmost respect for Nugent as I have loved her other books and this one is multi-layered and sometimes painful to read as we witness their unraveling instead of bonding together as family. It's intense in the very best way though and will resonate with me for a long time.

This was the twisty-est, chilling, effed, sadastic, suspenseful thriller I have read for awhile and I loved it. It starts out with a cliffhanger that is in the premise too. Three brothers attend a funeral. One is in the coffin. This story continues with each brother of POV and perspective of growing up and competing for the attention of their selfish mother. As each becomes an adult successes and failures in relationships is part of the chaos and issue. Willian is the oldest and filmmaker and divorced. Brian is the middle brother and manager to the youngest Luke, who is a sensitive but successful musician. The big question is: who killed who and why?

The whole story is chilling AF and so many dirty secrets come out, as well as one brother who has been coping with a long history of depression and mental illness. This book was nasty in a good way and I need a copy to own when it is published because it was that good. If you question which thriller to read or disappointed by predictable ones, you will love enjoy this one.

Thanks to Netgalley, Liz Nugent and Gallery Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I wish this publisher would auto-approve me because I have enjoyed several books coming out of here.

Originally published as "Little Cruelties" but final working title is "Our Little Cruelties".

Available: 11/10/20

“The Drumms sounded like characters from a Greek tragedy or the shoddiest soap opera there ever was”.

In much the same way that I loved Joyce Carol Oats book, “Night, Sleep, Death, and The Stars”....
I loved this novel > marveling the storytelling > marveling the characters....
contemplating....difficulties....struggles...worries...moral values...human flaws and decency....and life experiences.

I read a little each morning ....pausing to look out the window savoring each page - appreciating Liz Nugent’s talents.

Liz Nugent is a highly favorite ‘ psychological-domestic-suspense’ writer for me.
I’ve read all her books: “Unraveling Oliver”, “Lying In Wait”, “Skin Deep”, and now “Little Cruelties”. Each one is insightful; taking us into the minds of her characters....with a compelling ‘who/why/dunnit’ thread running throughout.

I wasn’t only interested in the suspense mystery thriller - ( I never figured out the perfect ending).....I was equally interested in the characters unconscious thoughts/feelings and behavioral projections. ....enjoying the entire journey.

I admit to figuring out one aspect-part of the ending ....but not until about 95%...so does it even count?.... Haha!
The 2nd’ ending-part (the ‘thinkers’ -most intriguing ending), was so gut truthful....that I felt full & satisfied. Sad.... but it was cohesive to the tribe at large.

Thoughts running through me since reading “Little Cruelties”:
.....Sadness contributes to our lives. None of us escape sadness....
.....We can’t choose to control what other people choose to think…or actions they choose to manifest.
.....We can’t make everyone happy…
.....Most of us can’t pick our parents or our siblings.
.....Self-defeating behaviors .... problems at home, with work, substance abuse, emotional and physical abuse, fighting, tempers, sex, eating, trust issues, cheating, withdrawals, mental illness, .... do not naturally lead to personal integrity, feelings of strength, self-respect, confidence, hopefulness, and pride....
SO WHAT HAPPENS INSTEAD?....
Ha.....it’s this chaos we try to make sense of while examining the characters coping mechanisms, their communication skills or lack there of, and their behaviors.

This is a wonderful literary mystery suspense novel with shifting dynamics and tensions between three brothers, William, Brian, and Luke....[The Drumm Brothers], including the family they came from - Mum and Dad, other friends, employees, wives, girlfriends, an aunt, a daughter....
how one recovers, if he does,
how they handle adult success and failure, if they do...
and...
how they deal with secrets, lies, and betrayal.

I have concerns that this story may not be flashy enough for some readers.....but the world Liz Nugent created - several worlds - engaged all my senses...
allowing me to feel as if I was a part of this network-
a family....reflecting....chewing the meat off their bones every inch of the way.

A few excerpts:
Brian asked Susan if she thought of him as a penny-pincher.
“God Yes!”
“What?”
“You make Ebenezer Scrooge look good, Brian. You are a skinflint”.
“That’s ridiculous! I don’t splash money around like Will, but he loves flashing the cash. He thinks it makes him look like a big man”.
“Yeah? Well in terms of generosity, you look like a small man”.

Luke:
“I had everything I could possibly want: fame and fortune, TV appearances, adoring fans, more money than I could spend, world travel, sex on tap, antipsychotic medication, and an on-call psychiatrist for when things got bad. But that spring, everything was good. I felt strong and stable, and everyone said I was at the top of my game. Though, everyone always says that when I was at the bottom too. There weren’t many people I could rely on to tell me the truth”.

"William, was 25 years of age, when their child was born, ( his mum helped out financially), but times were tough for newlyweds with a baby.
However the plan was for William and Susan to live happily ever after"

“William, Brian, and Luke: three boys, born a year apart, trained from birth by their wily mother to compete for her attention. They play games, as brothers do… Yet even after the Drumms escape into the world beyond their windows, those games— those little cruelties— grow more sinister, more merciless, and more dangerous. And with their lives entwined like the strands of a noose, only two of the brothers will survive”.

“All three Drumm Brothers were at the funeral, although one of us was in a coffin”.
“Three is an odd number, so there had always been two against one, although we all switched sides regularly. Nobody would ever have described us as close”.

Terrific!!!

Thank You Gallery-Scout Press, Netgalley, and the wonderful Liz Nugent.

I love Liz Nugent so I was very excited to read this one - Lying in Wait was one of my favorites of that year, and Unraveling Oliver was fantastic. This one is good, but in my opinion doesn’t live up to those. Bummer.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Three brothers are raised by a narcissistic mother. They become adults with challenges and a lack of boundaries in their relationships.

All I can say is I am glad I am not a member of the Drumm family! Each sibling and their story is messier than the next and will have the reader both horrified and entertained. I love how Nugent gave each of the three brothers a section of the book. It was so interesting to read incidents from each of their points of view. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author Liz Nugent for providing me with an ARC of Little Cruelties!

I have been noticing a buzz around this title, so I figured I would request it! I was NOT disappointed!! If you enjoy dark psychological reads, this one is for you. Following all three brothers kept me on my toes and completely enveloped in the story. I loved the different perspectives, and the author made it easy to follow the timeline changes throughout. You will hate to love these despicable characters, and won’t be able to put this novel down. An incredibly enjoyable read!

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

If you are in the mood for a story about three brothers who grew up to be the best of friends, this isn't the tale for you. However, if you are in the mood for three brothers who between them are selfish, cunning, cheap, mentally ill, nasty, manipulative, and at times downright evil, Little Cruelties is the book for you.
When we first meet the Drumm brothers, William, Brian, and Luke, it is on a somber day. They are attending a funeral, two of them vertical and one horizontal. How did they get to this dark place? Well sit back and buckle up because this is going to be a wild ride.
The story is told from each of the brothers' perspectives at various times of their lives. It isn't told in a linear order, but rather shifts from seemingly random events that shaped each of their lives. William, the oldest tells his tale first and it isn't until Brian takes over that you realize we will see some of the same events again, told from a very different point of view. I loved the snapshots of their lives as much as I loathed most of the choices these brothers made. I would be remiss to not mention their mother, Melissa, the woman who started it all.
I would love to be able to talk about every rotten thing these characters did, but I fear I would give away a major plot point. I was yelling at these characters so often as I was reading, and none of my comments were flattering. I can't say it ended the way I wished, but that is because I had my fingers crossed hoping my guess about who was in the coffin would come true. That didn't happen and honestly, my ending would not have served the story well. If you are looking for a book with characters that you most certainly will love to hate, this is the book.

Luke is a little watery and Moll is basically unbearable, but everyone else here is just fantastic. There's a reason I look forward to Liz Nugent books.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love love loved this one, but man, was it dark! Three brothers compete with and backstab one another throughout the entirety of their lives, and now two brothers are attending the third’s funeral...but we don’t know which brother or how he died. This book took the perspective of all three brothers and jumped back and forth in time frequently, but it wasn’t hard to follow. The brothers are very different: Will, the successful movie producer with sociopathic tendencies and no conscience, Brian, the low-key schoolteacher always willing to help someone out, and Luke, the fallen former pop star who uses substances to deal with his problems. The people in this book were ALL horrible human beings...but I really loved reading about them! Don’t pick this one up if you are looking for something light and uplifting, do pick it up if you love dark psychological thrillers and reading about the secrets families hide. 4.5 stars!

Liz Nugent has mastered the craft of creating despictable characters. Little Cruelties follows the Drumm family and their three sons. They are hateful, mean spirited and totally disloyal. And it is amazing how each has their own story to tell in their own voice.
Keep writing Liz. I will read anything that you publish.

4.5 stars

This book has some of the most despicable characters that I've ever seen and that is a compliment. I loved every minute that I spent reading this book and Liz Nugent does a wonderful job at bringing the characters to life.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I first started reading this. It was a bit slow to start for me but once I got into the flow of it, I did not want to put it down. The first half of the book, I found it amusing what the characters did to dig themselves into deeper holes. After that, I was amazed that it didn't all fall apart so much sooner. The revelations in the end tied everything together and I felt the broken down, defeated family might be able to begin to rebuild some semblance of a family.

The bloody Drumm brothers horrified and disturbed the hell of me more than Grimm brothers:
This is truly delicious, mind blowing, detailed, conflict, brain cell punching, twisty, nerve bending, fantastic masterpiece!

Three flawed, dirty, irritating brothers with dark secrets, both of them are ready to stab the other behind, reveal the dirty skeletons they hid in the closets for centuries.
Now three of them at the funeral and one of them is already in the coffin. Who is in the coffin? Who is responsible of the murder?

Do you want to hear the events from their perspectives throughout the years: You gotta get ready to have a time travel from 70’s to present time. But keep your attention and focus clear and intact because you’re going back and forth between different time zones and read the same events from three different perspectives and you may need to stay objective about the characters’ behaviors and natures.

This family seems like consisted of talented celebrities: Mother Melissa is show band singer. (she’s combination of the meanest and narcissistic characters Jessica Lange played at AHS) The elder boy Will is filmmaker, little brother Luke is rock star and Brian is talent manager(he represents his own brother). They’ve been meeting traditional Sunday brunches and sarcastically criticize each other’s lives including their professions, private lives embellished with condescending comments. Especially beef between Brian and Will turn into pissing contest at each time they open their mouths.

I know especially two of them are true dirty rotten scumbags: yes Will and Brian: I’m talking about you. It’s so hard to restrain yourself not to visualize kicking their asses and spitting on their faces. They were disgraceful brothers and the little brother (their ages were so close to each other but they were still ruthless SOBs- yes, Melissa you earned that insult at the most chapters, especially because of your shitty treatment to your little boy-) Luke who is literally fighting with depression, mental illness and burden of her mother’s verbal and mental abuse. He is the only emotional one of the trio. He is broken, sensitive, he seems like he may crumble into the pieces, suffering from eternal pain.

I don’t want to give more spoilers but I have to admit at too many parts of the book this family became more horrifying than the Succession’s The Roys, Haunting of Hill House’s The Crains family, Empire’s the Lyons. Oh boy, what am I talking about? They’re worse than Shameless’ Gallaghers, GOT’s Lannisters and the Sopranos! Especially Will and Brian did so many merciless, despicable, unbelievably jaw dropping things to his brothers. Will is true evil and Brian is sneaky, calculating Mr. Scrouge and distorted Robin Hood( stealing from rich giving to himself!) and poor Luke was just trying to fight with the demons, using different methods: religion, music, alcohol, drugs, more dysfunctional romantic involvements. WHO NEEDS ENEMIES WHEN YOU ALREADY HAVE A FAMILY LIKE THAT!

Till the last pages, the tension grows on you, tightens your throat and more dirty, disgusting secrets come out. Three brothers finally come clean at the end but when there is too much mess to be cleaned.
The ending was well-played and jaw dropping! So I’m shutting my mouth. This book already took its place at the top ten thrillers of 2020 I truly adored. It was published as “Our Little Cruelties” and it is republishing as “Little Cruelties”.

Overall: Impeccable character development, gripping, exciting, unputdownable story-telling, shocking, twisty revelations and ticking bomb, high tension story-building with perfect ending. Five gazillion stars well deserved and all the previous works of the author are already added to TBR monster.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books, Gallery/Scout Press for sharing this incredible ARC with me in exchange of my honest review.

No matter what is going wrong in your life, at least you are not a member of the Drumm family. Three selfish, self-pitying sons of a poisonous mother and a weak father abuse, cheat, and misuse one another for decades. The book begins with a funeral, which all three brothers attend - one in the coffin. Then the book flashes back and forth across the brothers' lives, developing the suggestion that one or both of the survivors may have had a hand in their brother's demise.

I admire the narrative skill that it took to craft this book, as it jumps time periods and POVs and interweaves multiple perspectives on events but remains logical and readable. The characters are thoroughly unpleasant, but they are distinct and sharply drawn. The details of place and time seem spot-on. Readers who enjoy an intricately constructed world and do not mind a book full of odious characters may enjoy "Little Cruelties," also published under the name "Our Little Cruelties."

For me, however, the effect of almost four-hundred pages of three people giving their side of the same events is similar to listening to three kids incessantly blaming one another. It becomes unsympathetic and dull. The revelations gained through each perspective were unsurprising. Even the core of the suspense - which brother is dead? which brother(s) killed him? - may be predictable for frequent thriller readers.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for the honest review.

What a wonderfully written, cleverly woven story about brothers William, Brian, and Luke. Both heartbreaking and engrossing. We are taken through their lives, from the perspective of each brother, culminating in a tragedy of their own making.
What is done to us in childhood shapes who we are as adults. Secrets hidden and things left unsaid make for vastly different perceptions and life paths.