There’s Been A Little Incident

Alice Ryan

I just loved this book! It’s a wonderful, warm, funny debut novel from a hugely talented author and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
A prefect book to recommend or to buy as a gift.
( Was lucky enough to meet the author at the opening of a book shop recently and she’s lovely in real life too! )

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author & the publisher for giving me the chance to read & review this book.

A brilliant novel that captured grief from different points of view and is warmly funny. The characters are all enjoyable and I enjoyed reading about all there antics. I laughed out loud and fully became one with this outstanding book.

Excellent read with a group of characters you will thoroughly enjoy.

I love books about people and their relationships and this is a great example-the mother/daughter experience is wonderfully captured.

Very enjoyable and easy read.

There's Been a Little Incident is a heartwarming debut from Irish author Alice Ryan which follows the entertaining Black family who are on the hunt for Molly Black who has recently disappeared.

Told from multiple POVs from various members of the family over several timelines this is a funny and uplifting book which doesn't shy away from sensitive topics such as alcoholism, grief and mental illness.

A meandering tale which shows how some family dynamics can often be chaotic perfection.

3.5 ⭐️/5
Quirky and well written, I struggled to get into it at first but persevered and really enjoyed it.

What a debut! I absolutely loved this book! Yes, there are a lot of characters to deal with but every one of them is essential to the story. There is laugh out loud humour and there is sadness. Each member of this extended family has close links with various other members but who is the nucleus of the family is impossible to say. They all have their part to play. The problems and experiences each member has seems to be resolved in some way by the end of the book, but not in a neat tied up fashion.
Can't wait to read more by this author.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Alice Ryan/Head of Zeus for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

A compelling, well written, and intriguing story that made me smile and turning pages.
I loved the style of writing and the well developed characters.
An excellent read, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I loved the beautiful writing style of this book that fully realises a large extended family and with a heartwarming message at the core. Following the whole family when Molly goes missing we see this story from multiple points of view and see how each person is affected by this shared experience.

I enjoyed that although there were a lot of heavy topics included in the book the tone was uplifting as well as poignant.

An amazing story and I could have read about this family following years of their lives.

I will definitely pick up future works from this author.

A witty family saga about a missing Irish woman and her eccentric family trying to look for her. Great for fans of Marian Keyes!

this follows the black family, a sprawling family in dublin, who are so involved in each other’s lives, with some members happier about this than others. it starts with a meeting about one of the nieces, molly, who hasn’t been heard from in a while, even though this is typical of her

a tiny spoiler! this all results in a group of them heading to thailand to try and bring molly home, getting into various shenanigans along the way

it’s such a wide group of characters from shy quiet anne to aloof aunt lady v to uncle john, leader. one of my favourites was bobby, a teacher who kept his family at arms length, and the ever present spirit of molly’s mum annabelle who has died before the book begins but who is felt so strongly throughout

there’s a lot of characters! a lot of names! but you get alternating perspectives, you get to see inside their heads, as well as greek chorus type chapters from the family as a whole that give you a good omniscient perspective to keep you right

another one that can be described as lovely and funny while covering grief and loneliness and all the ups and downs of family

There's Been a Little Incident is a wonderfully quirky and heartfelt story about family, love and becoming your authentic self.

Ostensibly a mystery, one girl Sheena is missing, and at the same time, Molly, has done what she always does when her emotions overwhelm her - she's run away.

Her eclectic and eccentric family gather together to make a plan to find her. Intel has it that she is in Bangkok so a swat team boards the plane to bring their beloved Molly home.

Along the way, we learn more about each member of this wonderfully wacky and warm family. Each is dealing with loss and grief and as they unite to show Molly how much she is loved, they all learn to love themselves, flaws and all.

Poignant and gloriously uplifting the message of this book can best be summed up with this quote: 'With a bit of luck, no matter how lost you get, it's possible to find yourself again'.

I grabbed this up, convinced I would love it. I myself come from a large, rather dysfunctional, Irish family from the Dublin suburbs. And yes, with our own stories of grief. You'd think I'd relate.

Sadly, no, not really. I felt the writing was choppy, the characters not quite grabbing me. Not sure if it was a question of pace or structure, but I found myself getting distracted, putting it down and forgetting to pick it up again, then forgetting who was who. Took me a while to get through it.

Now let me say, maybe it's me - and this time I'm not just being polite; maybe it really is me, not the book. Lots of readers have loved it. I just couldn't really get into it. And when you read a book in snatches like this, you don't see it at its best. My fault.

I'll give it three stars, not two, because the writing is very good in parts and some of the dialogue is excellent.

My thanks to the author and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

An unlikely tale of Molly and her family and the support they are all ready to offer any family member in need. With a large, confusing cast of characters I found myself drawing a family tree to keep track of them all. As the Marian Keyes genre tale unfolds I was slowly drawn in to their world. The plot bowled along at a great rate, a bit unbelievable but overall it was a good yarn.

Sadly I just couldn’t get into this. Perhaps it’s a slow burn but after one chapter I gave up which I think partly came from the characters being unremarkable and hard to relate to.

Found this book hard to get into. Lots of chaotic characters with random personal storylines apart from central storyline. One I got a grasp of who was who I did enjoy this book

Sadly not for me. I tried but didn't get too far as it comes across too chaotic for too long - thats just my own personal taste & possibly to do with life circs at time of reading, too much going on in my head already to make room for or sense of this plot.

Great read, really compelling.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this title in exchange for my feedback.

Packed with humour and emotion this is a fab book about a big family, and how family is always there for you.
Molly has run away from life since her parents died, but her extended family has always been there for her. In There's boon a little incident, Alice Ryan draws a great cast of characters with loving humour, avoiding stereotypes and always giving a little twist to what you would expect.
The family needs to track Mollie down and bring her back to them - and we follow various members of the family as they do this.
The quest to find Mollie ends up helping everyone find a little more about themselves, and brings the family closer together. A great read.

This felt like such a unique and refreshing read! I went in expecting a bit of a mystery, detective novel where a family goes to find one of their own, but There's Been a Little Incident ended up being so much more than that. Through attempting to track down Molly after her latest disappearance act, we get to experience each family member's lives, their own troubles as well as memories of Molly and her mother and the family dynamic as a whole, and I really enjoyed it. I normally get overwhelmed with books that have a lot of principal characters, but I loved how each of their stories seamlessly weaved together and getting to see times in which they come together as a family. I don't really think the drug dealer storyline was, but that's just because I was enjoying the rest of the story so much!

One of the most unusual books I have read in a long while. Lovely story of a big Irish family who comes together when any of them has a crisis. Story features Molly who is a very lovable character with issues. I definitely think this would make a very colourful film.