Disappointed. This story started off great! It’s intriguing and the plot is really good. The tension between the characters and the buildup to the climax has you on edge and then we get to the ending and it is just so humdrum . It’s almost like the author ran out of creative juices and just decided to end the story. This could have been a phenomenal story, but it just didn’t happen.

Good grief, one set of neighbors is absolutely vile!
Two couples, two sons, one is gone and the parents want just compensation.
The ending was eye opening and it made me cringe. I’d change it if I could since I felt very sorry for the survivor son, being left with those vipers.

When grief turns to murder, keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. The storyline didn't feel fully developed by the time the climax came and quickly went. The ending seemed extremely rushed as if the author had to wrap everything up as their deadline was quickly approaching. The ending left an unsatisfying taste in my mouth. I overall, this book was a quick read. Thanks netgalley for preview.

Barbara Abel's novel is a significant thriller that caught me by surprise. Two couples with two young boys living in attached houses began in a steady and exciting narrative. BA blew my mind when she switched things up and created a novel I wasn't expecting!

Milo and Maxime are the young boys who live next door to each other and spend all their time together with their parents. No one is perfect, and the couples are from slightly different backgrounds but over the years, they blend into one large happy family.

Writing about any part of the plot would be a spoiler, so just let me recommend that you read this gripping novel when it is published on May 16.

Talk about suspense! I was intrigued by the synopsis of this one and could t wait to dive it. The book started out with a bang and then went back to build up to the initial event. The tension and suspense was fantastic- and while I suspected I knew how it would end, it was so well written I didn’t mind!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I inhaled this book. It was intense, fast paced, full of twists &kept me guessing. I enjoyed this and definitely recommend. I can’t wait for this to be made into a 🍿 movie!
This book is Slated to publish 5/16/23

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Via for the opportunity to read this mostly engrossing book. Up until the very end I was loving the story, but the ending was not what I expected. Tiphaine and Sylvain got away with murder and the book ended so abruptly. It was great, very descriptive and moved a good pace, but the ending ruined it for me, I doubt I would recommend it unless the ending was changed. There should also be a proofreader before publishing as there were numerous grammatical errors.

Thank you HarperVia and NetGalley for the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

The intensity of this book was phenomenal. The book centers on two married couples that live next door to each other and become an incredibly close knit set of friends. As in there are few boundaries between the four of them and it feels like fate when both couples have baby boys around the same time. So their sons become the best of friends as well. They share nightly drinks, laughs, dinners and always get along.

When the boys are school aged Maxime ends up getting sick and staying home from school. Tragedy ensues - the little boy falls out of an open window. Suddenly that same tight knit friendship turns to anger, jealousy, mistrust, fear, revenge and confusion.

This book is being made into a movie and it has a ton of potential in terms of film. The book was originally written in French and while it is excellently translated it has some choppier moments that are most likely a language barrier issue. The lengths these characters go to is nothing short of amazing (both good and bad)- definitely a book not check out.

Nothing like a fucked up book about being a mother to make you question how far would you go to be a mom? How far would you go to make sure justice was served in your own eyes? So many trigger warnings here and at times the book read “old” to me, like the author was writing for an older audience then myself. Either way, I did enjoy it!

Thank you NetGalley, Barbara Abel, and HarperVia for letting me read a translated copy of this book.

I chose to request Mothers' Instinct after learning of its origin and that it will soon be a movie starring Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway.

Two couples become neighbors. They both have sons months apart from each other. The boys grow up as best friends. One dies because of accident. What then ensues is one heck of a roller coaster ride.

I ended up reading this book in one sitting. The chapters are very short, which made it feel like the pages were just flying by until the end. I took a star off of the rating because I didn't feel some parts were realistic enough and the ending felt rushed.

This book was a slow burn, but I liked it until the end.I like this book, but it was kind of slow. I think it either could have been shorter or had more twists. The end could have improved as well.

Two families that become neighbors and then best friends and then parents around the same time. One loses their son and the mom thinks the neighbor is to blame. The neighbor thinks the that she’s threatening her son. The dads confide in each other one drunk night and one’s fate for his family lies in the others hands.

The twists and turns are amazing and I can definitely see why this is being made into a movie! Which I will definitely be seeing!

This book was bananas.

I read it in one sitting. The writer did a great job building the tension, throwing in a couple red herrings and then the story took a turn I didn’t see coming.

I see that this has been made into a movie and I predict the internet will have loads to say about the ending.

Robert Frost said it best “Good fences make good neighbors.”

I was very interested to read this since it will be a movie starring Jessica Chasten and Anne Hathaway.
David and Laetitia Brunelle and Sylvain and Tiphaine Geniot are next door neighbors. They hit it off early being close to the same age and both had boys within a few months. The boys were good friends as were the parents. They considering putting a shortcut between their yards because they spent so much time together.

Things began to change when one of the boys got sick and things took a very strange twist. Surprises until the last page. Go into reading this blind to get the most enjoyment from this thriller. This has very short chapters, which I like for some reason. Great read and will make an interesting movie. "Thank you Net Galley and Barbara Abel.

What do you you do when a neighbor loses a child in a tragic manner that you witnessed? Could you have intervened? How do you help your own child deal with the loss of his best friend? Who is to blame if anyone?

Thank so much to HarperVia and NetGalley. This was a book I was excited to read and I wasn't disappointed. It did take awhile to get to the ending which was over quickly, but a lot of this domestic thriller was unpredictable. I had never heard of this author before and I hope there's more by her.

I can see why this is going to be a movie! WOW! What a ride that read was! The suspense and mystery kept me reading into the night and wee morning hours. I will def be buying this book when it releases. One of the best psychological thrillers I've read ... probably ever! I highly recommend this book!

Excellent book! Couldn’t put it down and read it in less than 24 hours. I can easily see how this book will make an excellent movie when it releases later this year. I love how this book spanned all the perspectives and really kept you guessing up until the end. The story is a classic domestic thriller that holds so much suspense while you try to figure out what the heck is really going on. Definitely a must read, especially in anticipation for the movie!

Quite a good book. Kept my interest and I kept wondering how the ending would happen. Well- I sure didn’t think it would end up this way. WOW!

A solid 4.5 stars. This books tells the story of a once beautiful friendship between two families after it begins to erode due to a tragic accident. The tension is palpable as guilt, suspicion, and accusations pit the couples against one another. This book is a true page turner: It kept me guessing, kept me at the edge of my seat, and blew me away with an ending that was truly twisted!

ARC was provided by HarperVia via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.