“Things Don’t Break On Their Own” by Sarah Easter Collins is one twisty, well-written, character-driven thriller! There are many characters and various timeframes, so it seemed like actual work for me to keep everyone straight at first. But trust me, this one is worth the effort!

The three main characters are Willa, Cat, and Robyn. Years ago, Robyn and Willa were best friends (and more) but now Robyn is married to Cat. Cat and Robyn have a 5-year old daughter and twin boys, so their life is very full! But they have a dinner party where multiple new characters enter the story.

Willa has had a crazy life since Robyn last saw her…mostly because Willa’s sister Laika disappeared on the way to school, and hasn’t been seen since. For years, Willa has been searching, and on several occasions has seen a woman she is SURE is Laika, and has gone so far as to travel halfway around the world to find out if it is her. Willa brings her fiance Jamie to the party, and he isn’t quite what Robyn expected, and she notes that “In the cluttered space of our Victorian kitchen he looks too large, too tall, like some luxury cruise liner jammed into a narrow Venetian canal…”

Robyn and Cat both invite their brothers: Robyn’s brother Michael brings his girlfriend Liv, a psychologist whose speciality is the study of memories, and Cat’s brother Nate brings his French-speaking girlfriend Claudette. Willa, as always looking to find Laika, is wound up by thinking she is among the guests and also by the discussion of childhood memories, which hits way too close to home…

Multiple points of view can be challenging, but are essential as we learn about Willa from Robyn’s POV, and about Willa’s family dynamics from her own POV, and finally we get Laika’s POV which tells us about what really happened on her way to school over 25 years earlier.

The memories from childhood slowly give clues to some of the family dynamics in Willa and Laika’s home: “…as children, we honestly believed our mother was the clumsiest person on earth. She always told us she couldn’t walk through a doorway without accidentally banging into it. Bruises bloomed like flowers on her arms. Silly me, she’d say, when we pulled up the long sleeves she always wore…” That gave me chills, as it was the kind of passage that makes the reader go “Oh…”

It’s kind of bonkers, but in a good way. Very well written, with excellent character development. As noted above, it is WELL worth the effort to follow the shifts in time and POV. Can’t say more without spoiling it, but it kept me up and interested nearly all night (until I finished, at which point I felt I should go back and read it again with the information I had learned). I haven’t re-read it yet, but it is definitely going with me on vacation. With thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley, who provided a copy in exchange for my honest review. Five stars, and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Collins.

I couldn’t stop reading this book. It kept me interested and wondering from the beginning through the end. There were many plot twists, so it was not a typical story. Very well written!

Willa and her sister Laika grow up in a wealthy household along with their businessman father and beautiful stay at home mother. One day Laika leaves for school and is never seen again. Did she run away or was she abducted and possibly murdered?

Willa has never given up looking for her sister. As time goes on, the likelihood of finding her dwindles but Willa persists. Years later, at a dinner party with an old school friend, a new guest brings back memories.

Excellent cast of characters with just enough suspense. The bond between sisters, parents who are not always who you think they are and the need to live your own life are all well explored.

This is a complex thriller told over many decades. The focus on how all memories are fallible and our recollections of events can differ, which everyone being affected by their past, provides an interesting throughline, as a sister tries to come to terms with the mysterious disappearance of her thirteen-year-old sister and her best friend tries to protect her, neither of them really knowing the whole truth.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital arc and the opportunity to read and review this title.

Things Don't Break on Their Own is the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a young teen girl, Laika, and the effects of her disappearance on her sister, Willa. Twenty five years after the disappearance, most people think Laika is dead. Willa feels with all her being that Laika is alive. She has not given up on finding her sister and will not until she is found- living or otherwise.
The book was listed in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category. I would classify this a mystery. There isn't blood and gore that comes with a many suspense/thriller books. There is emotional trauma and the unknown.

A dinner party for a group of friends and siblings is a seemingly perfect way to enjoy the evening. Unfortunately that is not the case. As the story unfolds we learn that the group consists of ex-lovers, siblings and new loves. Is it possible to remain friends with an old lover when you have a great marriage and family of your own? This seems to be the biggest issue Robyn faces in her life... until the party begins and more secrets are revealed. It seems Robyn's old love, Willa, has a tragic past. One where she is tormented with the loss of her sister. Is this the reason Robyn can't give up Willa's friendship? She can't stand the thought of Willa suffering more emotional grief? Is it worth keeping a friend if you lose your current wife and children? The novel continues with flashbacks giving different perspectives on past events. We learn of the past through the memories of Robyn, Willa and Laika. As the dinner party continues, new topics are explored and with each we get a flashback of a past event. All of the flashbacks give us the complete story and bring us to the present dinner party. Some of the characters and events seem unnecessary to the main storyline and slow the action down, but I suppose they are to give more character details for the reader to fully understand the trauma that Willa has been through. Will there ever be any closure for the disappearance of Laika? Maybe. Okay yes there is, even if it does feel a little far fetched... but hope and perseverance anything is possible.

This has everything that I was looking for in a psychological thriller element. The characters were everything that I was hoping for and thought the overall feel worked. It was tense and had me on the edge of my seat. The characters were everything that I was looking for and glad I got to read this. Sarah Easter Collins has a great writing style and I look forward to more.

Things Don't Break on Their Own by Sarah Easter Collins is a gripping and emotionally charged novel. The book is about a heart wrenching mystery with themes of love, loss, and the unbreakable bond between sisters. The story is both haunting and deeply moving, with a plot that keeps you guessing until the very end. The writing is beautifully crafted, drawing you into the world of the characters and making you feel their pain and their hope.

The reader is introduced to most of the story charachters at the very beginning of the book via a dinner party. I initially did not understand how this dinner party could possibly foray intofocusibg on a missing child. I soon got my answer when differnt POV's and different timeline did some flip flopping.
For me, the first 40% of the book was not as enjoyable as the last 60%. The turning point came for me during a re-telling of the dinner party,when the author does a supurb job of painting a scene of tension; with many characters utilizing non -verbal communication to relay confusion and frustration.
Overall,this novel is about famil dysfunction, a missing child, relationships and how our life experiences not only shape our futures but impacts and influences other: hopefully for the better !
Thanks to Netgalley and Crown publishing for sharing this ARC .

Thanks to NetGallery for an advanced copy of this book.

4 stars. Definitely kept my interest and was a good read. I can't say that there was any great mystery, but an overall good story and a bit of irony at the conclusion.

Things Don't Break on Their Own is a literary fiction centered around a dinner party and a missing person. Although the synopsis and the key components of the stories make it seem like this is a suspense/thriller/mystery novel, I wouldn't necessarily classify it as such. Instead, this was a character-driven story that explores the relationships between various characters with a deeper dive into the past and present of the three main characters: Robyn, Willa, and Laika.

Here's the the spoiler-free review:
Willa, a 37-year-old woman, has been searching for her missing sister for the past two decades. The story is set at a dinner party where Willa's past resurfaces based on the discussions around the dinner table and through flashbacks from Robyn's (the dinner host), Willa's, and Laika's (the missing sister) POV.

Here's the slightly spoiler-y review:

The story starts with a dinner party hosted by Robyn and Cat, where we meet the following cast of characters:

Robyn - the host of the dinner party, Cat's wife, Willa's best friend, and Michael's sister.
Cat - Robyn's wife and Nate's sister. Cat and Robyn also have a 5-year-old called Sophie and two twin boys.
Willa - Robyn's best friend from high school and Jamie's fiancé. Willa's younger sister, Laika, went missing over 20 years ago and she's never stopped searching for her.
Jamie - Willa's fiancé.
Michael - Robyn's brother and Liv's boyfriend
Liv - Michael's girlfriend and a psychologist who specializes in the study of memories
Nate - Cat's brother and Claudette's boyfriend
Claudette - Nate's French girlfriend

Although this seems like a fairly large cast of characters (and admittedly, a bit hard to keep track of at first) the three main characters are Robyn, Willa, and Laika (although one could argue that Willa is still the central character of the story). The other characters are secondary but do play a role in getting to know the main characters better.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought because loved how well fleshed-out the characters were. We learn more about Willa through Robyn's lens, we get a better understanding of Willa and her familial relationships through her own POV, and everything comes together with Laika's POV as we learn about what really happened nearly 25 years ago.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing. I really connected with the characters and felt like I was right there with them every step of the way.

It took a long time for me to get into this book. The beginning was very slow and I had a hard time with how much animal abuse was spoken about. There were also characters that loved animals and treated them well, but there were a few things that were a bit too much for me.

It was about 58% (really, I asked Alexa to do the math) of the way in that I actually began to enjoy the story. Even then, it wasn't like I was really into it and couldn't stop reading, I more so just wanted to be done.

The ending was a bit too unrealistic for me; I guess overall my feeling is "meh".

This book seemed right up my alley but this was one I just couldn’t get into. I thought it was slow and found the multiple perspectives confusing and hard to follow as the voices were similar. I wanted to love it but unfortunately this was a miss for me.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Crown Publishers for this digital ARC. Things Don’t Break on Their Own is an emotionally raw mystery surrounding the breaking of familial bonds and how the outwardly erode the bonds of all other relationships.

Engaging and immersive. A recommended purchase for collections where heavier WF and thrillers are popular.

I really enjoyed this book. I was drawn in by the characters and the suspense created by the author. Just enough was given to keep me guessing.

This is a slow-burn kind of story about a teenager who disappears and how it affects her sister, her sister’s once-girlfriend, and her mother and father. Bit by bit, the story unfolds from various perspectives, but it isn’t until 2/3 through the book that we learn of the teenager’s “fate” (which is pretty implausible) and how the sister discovers the truth (which is very implausible). Though I enjoyed the main characters’ development and dive into feelings, other characters felt cliché and convenient.

I received an ARC of this title through the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Two sisters, Willa & Laika, grow up in a home with an abusive father. Laika disappears early in the book and most of the story revolves around Willa and Robin who meet in school and form a lifelong bond and how Willa and her mother deal with the loss of Laika. I found the story of Robin and Willa somewhat tedious. There was a lot of detail about their early relationship that seemed unnecessary. I enjoyed learning what happened to Laika but I found the coincidence of Claudette (aka Laika) dating Robin's wife Cat's brother rather difficult to buy. That they along with Willa are all present at the same dinner was a little too precious for me. The story was well written but overly long and drawn out.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this digital ARC.

I loved this book. I related to this book. The author was able to weave an interesting story around themes of abuse, family secrets, trauma, and love. When Willa’s 13 year old sister, Laika, disappears, her life is forever changed. Laika’s body is never found and through the years, Willa thinks she sees Laika everywhere, to the point Willa is perceived as a little unhinged.

I appreciated the subtle ways (and some not so subtle ways) the author dealt with abuse, lgbt issues, and trauma. The story was interesting, and I was invested in Willa, Robyn, and Cat. I also adored Freida.

A well-written, engaging novel. I couldn’t wait to finish it, but I also didn’t want it to end.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Things Don't Break on Their Own.

When a book is called literary, I know what it means: great writing, but no suspense or drama. No offense.

I love mysteries and thrillers, it's pretty much the only genres I read, but this was neither a mystery or a thriller.

The premise does sound thrilling, but the narrative is nothing more than flashbacks about Willa and Robyn's relationship in boarding school, the domestic violence permeating Willa's family life, when Willa met Jamie, etc etc.

The narrative was mostly filler and Laika's disappearance/reappearance only takes up a quarter of the novel, at best.

The writing is good (like I said, literary) but the story tedious, plodding and the characters unlikable, not detestable, mostly one dimensional.

Let me put it this way, I wouldn't want to have dinner with most of them. Maybe Nate.

But the real kicker, the one that made me stop reading immediately was how Laika finds her way back to Willa and her family.

What are the odds she ends up with Nate?

I don't like when coincidences or deus ex machina or any corny/lame literary device are used to resolve a plot hole(s).

This was an interesting book. I don’t know why we had to have some of it from Robyn’s perspective because her “voice” was pretty similar to Willa’s and that was a little confusing early on. I didn’t feel like she added a lot of insight to the main plot since she didn’t know what the house Willa grew up in was a lot.

I felt like someone should have said something about the enormous coincidence of “Claudette” dating Robyn’s partner’s brother and thus reuniting with her sister. I also thought the part about Willa impulsively going to Thailand was out of character and didn’t serve the plot since everyone quickly believed “Claudette” when all was revealed.

I did think they hinted at the dad being involved in human trafficking and thought it was odd they didn’t explore that more.

Solid book but a little uneven and at time felt like it was written for young readers which made some of the scenes at boarding school jarring.