There are so many things to say about this book. When I first finished it, I was disappointed and confused in the outcome, but then sat for over an hour picking the narrative apart and rethinking it in pieces until I began to see so much more. I am utterly overwhelmed. In fact, I have not stopped thinking about this novel since I finished it around twelve hours ago. It is sitting hard, like a lump in my chest. It is highly impactful, immobilizing, terrifying, and poignant. There is so much to consider and analyze.

In college, I read "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I was instantly transported to that experience upon reading Little Bandaged Days. The novel is a gripping account of postpartum depression and psychosis in the scope of modern day life. It is based lightly on the author's actual experience and it reads immensely authentically. I struggle to say everything I want to about this book without creating spoilers, so let me just say that this book could also be used as a college read for analysis. It is brilliantly crafted with a protagonist whose every action has meaning and even though you follow the read thinking you're understanding what is going on and all the pieces are falling together, you are left at the end questioning EVERYTHING you knew. It's an amazing read. But it is so incredibly painful.

The trauma gripped me hard. The pace moved from something I could handle and evaluate to something that tore the breath from me and left my heart beating anxiously with worry and concern. I am still not over that feeling.

I am a mother of two young children. I can identify with much of the early thoughts and feelings that the protagonist voices. (I don't recall her being named anywhere in the narrative, but the synopsis identifies her as Erika.) I know what it is like to become overwhelmed by the responsibilities of motherhood and the loss of self that comes along with that responsibility. I am all too keen on the feelings of absolute love and devotion for your children alongside an internal desire to have a moment of peace, a bit of time alone. Due to circumstances of my own life, I also understand her feelings of loneliness and solitude.

There are a lot of things to question about the construction of this novel and the individual characters within it, but I have to assert that I feel this is all purposeful. It makes sense looking backwards. It also does not make sense. Because that's how mental illness is.

I will need to read this again. I have no doubt. It bruised my motherly heart and tore me in pieces at times, but I need to relive it to see it deeper. Just writing through this has made me appreciate it even more.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. *

A mother newly located to Switzerland with her two young children and husband struggles to cope with being home alone with the children while her husband pours all his effort into work instead of home life.
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This book I think is technically a thriller but to me it read more of a psychological adult fiction. Parts of it are thrilling but for the bulk of the book there is no mystery surrounding what’s happening to this family. It was very much unsettling in the topics covered and the mannerisms of the main character. I was enthralled through most of the book until about the last 15% or so. The ending wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for but I can see why the author ended the story the way she did. I did feel like there were some questions left answered but in writing like this one that I believe is meant to be a little more artistic while some details are consciously left to be deciphered by the reader.
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Definitely worth a read but if you’re feeling a little depressed, sad, or out of it I would maybe put this one on hold for now.
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Like this book but the subject was a little sensitive for me. Like how the store deveiop. Thanks for thé Arc

I’m not sure what I expected from this story. I think I was intrigued because it takes place in Geneva and I’m a sucker for books set in other countries. However, this book was kind of a mess. I didn’t enjoy the writing style or the story. It was confusing and hard to read. I didn’t see a purpose in this. I would have DNF’d this book but I wanted to try and give it a fair chance for my review purposes.

Erika moves with her husband and two young children from the United States to Europe. Her husband gets a high income job which will allow her to be a stay-at-home mom.

She hadn't realized that with her husband gone so much traveling for his job, she would be absolutely responsible for everything. Not knowing the language yet is another barrier to making friends, allowing her children to make friends. Eventually the loneliness and isolation starts inching her away from a normal life.

She starts behaving in erratic ways ... hoarding rotten food, bleach-cleaning their apartment among others. The children become quiet and withdrawn. She stops sleeping and finds unusual ways to fill her nights. Her mind seems to be crossing the line into madness.

This debut novel is dark, depressing, and daunting. The characters were deftly defined .. although there seems to be a disconnect between Erika and her husband. He starts working earlier each morning and then later at night. Then he starts the traveling and is away sometimes for a week at a time. When he returns home he doesn't seem to be concerned about her or the children.

I wish there had been more about their relationship, about her feelings about her mother, some kind of back-story on these people. There seems to be a suggestion that the children were physically abused, but that was never made clear. When the conclusion arrives, I had more questions than answers. It was a kind of murky read for me.

Many thanks to the author / The Overlook Press / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological fiction / thriller. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Happy Pub Day!!! 📚✍️ Thank you to @netgalley for the ARC!

Little Bandaged Days, the debut novel from author Kyra Wilder, is the story of a family that moved to Switzerland, including the protagonist, Erika’s experience as an isolated stay-at-home mother to two children. The narrative exemplifies the internal dialogue of a mother pushing through doing her best not to fall apart, while her emotional needs are increasingly repressed. Erika’s husband, M (initials are used for characters) is devoted to his career and only makes brief appearances during the novel, not doing more than simply “bringing home the bacon.” The author appears to have made the character M incredibly invisible to illustrate the stark absence of a husband and father figure, while the protagonist is left navigating the horror of the internal pressure of parenthood and untreated mental illness.

Another aspect of the narrative calls attention to Erika curating the appearance of a having it all together, performing accordingly as a mother, a life tied up in a nice little bow. The author added a dose of humor by illuminating the internal dialogue of perfectionism in motherhood even while at the supermarket—-“We all, each one of us specifically, needed the best berries with which to feed our very special children.” The avocados, however, are too ripe. “We recoiled.”

Don’t get this book in search of an atmospheric journey through Switzerland, or a fast paced psychological thriller, nor is it a novel with a heart thumping plot twist. Read this story if you enjoy heartbreaking dialogue and like to admire brilliant, talented prose examining internal thoughts. Little Bandaged Days is steady storytelling leaning heavily on foreshadowing, affirming that all human beings need connection and that the illusion of a perfect life can be incredibly destructive to our well being. Wilder is a writer to watch.

3.5 stars

This is one of those books that I finished and thought to myself, “What did I just read?”

I enjoyed it for the most part. A mother moves to Geneva with her husband and two young children and finds herself trying to make the best of the situation. She seems quite optimistic in the beginning, and often has to remind herself how perfect every individual new aspect of their lives is. But as time goes by and her husband is more and more absent, the struggles of motherhood and being alone start to weigh heavily on her.

It was towards the end of the book that I grew confused, though. I couldn’t tell if the woman was having a breakdown or if she was imagining certain things happening around her. It was clear she wasn’t doing well and it was affecting her ability to take care of her children and her home, but I was left with more questions than answers as I finished the story.

For me, this was just an ok read, but I think others might enjoy it more than I did.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3929817907

I know what the author was doing here. The book was written in such a passive and mundane way for most of it that I just kept zoning out. I get it. That is the point. In here is a woman slowly going crazy from isolation. She sits alone inter apartment with two small children in a country in which she can't speak the language while her husband works and often doesn't even come home. She didn't have an identity and she didn't give her family names. I could not connect with characters who are only identified by one initial.

Again, I get it. The feeling I got reading the novel was similar to the boredom, frustration, and loneliness that the main character must have been feeling. But it made me apathetic in the end. I enjoyed the journal entries and the insight they gave. There was a brief sense of tension as the story progressed. I liked what this book tried to do. I just couldn't get behind how it did it.

Great read! Looking forward to reading more by this author! I highly recommend this book and author to all!

Erika didn't realize just how lonely it would be to move to Geneva and stay ar home all the time with her two small children. She doesn't know anyone, her husband is gone all the time, and things feel like they are closing in. Most of this novel is Erika's internal monologue, which makes perfect sense but which is also very scary as you move with her into a deeper morass of mental illness. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This won't be for everyone and it isn't always easy to read but it's beautifully written.

2.5 ⭐️‘s
An American couple heads to Switzerland where M (yes, only initials were used in the book and we don’t even have an initial for the wife?) has just gotten his dream job. With two young children (B & E) and a husband that’s never home, our main character (the wife), slowly starts to spiral out of control mentally . This book is a disturbing read and leaves way too much to the readers imagination. What exactly happened? What’s real and what’s not? While I have to say it was well written, it left way too many questions at the end with no hope on the horizon. Quite a depressing read!

I was initially interested in this book just based on the blurb and was excited to dive right in. What I found though when I finished this book was, while a masterpiece in terms of the writing and tackling of the subject matter, a book that made me so uncomfortable that I found it more disturbing instead of enjoyable. The idea of how isolation can lead to madness coupled by trying to manage two kids alone is a good subject to try to tackle but this book went a bit far the decent into madness. I found myself very anxious reading this and would only recommend to a reader that can emotionally handle difficult reads that maybe triggers.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the chance to review this book.

This one was a bit too dark for my taste. I didn’t like the characters being referred to by initials. That was too strange. Overall it was hard to finish.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my review.

Little Bandaged Days puts you inside the troubled mind of Erika as she slowly descends into madness. Believe me, it is not a place you’ll want to stay.

Erika and her husband have moved to Geneva for his new job. He finds them an apartment and basically abandons them, working long days and traveling for weeks at a time. Erika, who does not speak the language, has only her two small children for companionship. Her isolation and her loneliness slowly take over and lead her a very disturbing conclusion.

This dark novel is basically a long running soliloquy and it is painful to read. Kyra Wilder uses the initials M, E and B for Erika’s husband and children. That technique removes their personalities and makes you focus on the deterioration of Erika’s mind. People who are real to her may or not exist. Erika’s thoughts are not grounded in reality. It is clear that Erika was once or will be in an asylum. I wish there had been more of an explanation. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, The Overlook Press and Kyra Wilder for this ARC.

I was excited after reading the description of this book. However, I got so annoyed with it. I believe it was the whole initials thing. It drove me a little nuts. The writing was decent, but I just didn't connect to the characters. Sorry, but this was a miss for me.

This book has potential, but it as a completed ready to publish book, just did not work for me. I like that the author took on tough subjects, but more is needed then that. I read dark, harder fiction, but this I just could not take in. It was not the book for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Kyra Wilder for a copy of this book.

I received an ARC of Little Bandaged Days in exchange for an honest review. Even though this book dealt with the tough subject of mental health well being, I really tried to like it. Erika has moved to a foreign country, where she doesn't know the language, doesn't know anyone, has two very young children and her husband works and travel a lot. And by a lot I mean he's hardly in the book. It was hard to believe that he did not see her downward spiral. She also referred to her husband and children by their first initial, M, B and E. Not sure why they couldn't be referred to by their names. I also think the book would have been better with the husband's point of view and even her mother's. She would FaceTime with her mother at the beginning of the story and then when technical problems developed they just stopped communicating. The mental health decline was described very well, I just have a hard time believing how clueless the husband was.

*potential spoilers*

I have lots of mixed feelings about this book. I loved the prose, the premise, and the visualization of a woman's descent into madness. However, I found that the story just didn't go anywhere - the sections in the institute/prison, (it's purposely not fully clear), gave the promise of a twist or turn which never came. There were elements and sections (i.e. Nell - was she also Nell? The passage with the green dresses, the jealously about Aurelie building?) which I wanted to be explained further.

The ending felt unresolved which I didn't particularly like - this may be purposeful to increase the reader's discomfort, and if it was it worked!

Thank you to ABRAMS and NetGalley for a copy of the ARC in return for my honest review.

I didn't know what I was getting into with this book. I was expecting some sort of domestic thriller, maybe because I have a bad habit of skimming the cover copy to see if anything catches my eye. A young mother moves to Geneva with her husband and two young children. Her husband is always working and she is left alone in their rented apartment with the little ones for days and weeks at a time, slowly unravelling. On the day they move in, the grey walls make her feel like they're protected inside an oyster shell. Not much later, "we could have been the pulpy carcasses of goats swallowed whole by a crocodile." If The Yellow Wallpaper had been the story of a stay at home mother, this would be it. If I have a complaint about this one (other than the fact that the narrator only refers to her children and husband by their first initials) it's that nothing much happens. A woman unravels at an increasing rate and the whole thing is described by some gorgeous prose...but that's it.

I'll be honest, the lack of quotation marks and referring to people by their intials made me top reading the book. It was physically difficult and tedious to read. The story had promise but wasn't worth the work.