Although this book is called One Little Mistake,the main character Vicky Seagrave actually makes more than one mistake during this thought provoking story.

Vicky should be happy,she has three perfect children,a loving successful husband,great friends and a job that she loves but that is not enough for Vicky Seagrave...

When she risks everything she holds dear on a whim,there is only one person she trusts enough to turn to,her best friend Amber Collins

But Vicky is about to learn that one mistake is all that it takes to cause her happy like to collapse faster than a tower of playing cards.

The story is set in two alternating time frames 1992 and 2010.The story of the friendship between Vicky and Amber is the focus of the chapters set in 2010.The 1992 chapters tell the sad story of ten year old Katya who has just been placed with foster parents following the death of her mother.How and why the two times frames are connected is slowly revealed along with a number of unexpected twists as the story unfolds.Almost all of the adults in this story are unlikable,selfish and manipulative and at times really quite stupid especially Vicky who I quite cheerfully felt like reaching into my kindle and slapping round the face a number of times,she was really so selfish and frustrating.

To be honest it has taken me a number of weeks of dipping in and out to finish this book,I wasn't completely hooked in by the story and felt that it dragged at times especially during the chapters that focused on the holiday.I did enjoy the final confrontation which was quite exciting and intense and it made a refreshing change that the ending wasn't all sunshine and flowers and happily ever after.

The story was well written,the characters were realistic and I did enjoy some parts of the book.I would happily read more books by this author in the future

Unfortunately this one just didn't work for me. I found the dual narrative distracting and the second voice didn't seem as polished or engaging as the first, which pulled me out of the story. It's a shame because the story is compelling and if this had been written with a single narrator I would probably have continued all the way through, as it was I DNFed this one at 32%.

4 stars from me for One Little Mistake by Emma Curtis, an original and well written tale of friendship, deceit, jealousy and one little mistake compounded by well-meaning lies....or were they?

If you ever need an example of how a little lie grows into something terrifying - this is the book!

A nice, middle-class mother, a teacher, leaves her baby alone in the house for a short period, and sets in motion a catastrophic series of events. This story has everything: neglect, secrets and lies, historic child abuse (not graphic), extortion and suicide.

The characters in this book are refreshingly normal: a sleep deprived mother at her wits end; an envious best friend who seizes the opportunity to get what she wants. Don't get me wrong. I didn't always like Vicky, nor do I condone what she did in more than one circumstance, but I can understand why.

This was an interesting book. I don't believe that this is a book you can sit on the fence with. You are either going to like it, or hate it. I am firmly in the like camp. And yes, I will be looking for more by this author.

Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Transworld Digital via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of One Little Mistake by Emma Curtis for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book as an arc.
This book has all the right ingredients for a good psychological thriller. Vicky and Amber are best friends, bringing up their families and socialising together. However, there are secrets, lies, jealousies and insecurities which threaten to tear the friendship apart. The past and present of both the women are connected in ways that are not immediately apparent, and a shocking backstory slowly emerges as we read the book. None of the characters are particularly likeable which makes them all the more realistic. A really good read, I enjoyed this book.

The blurb on this book sounded right up my street and I was looking forward to reading this book, however I kind of struggled with it. It wasn't a book that I wanted to keep picking up and it took me a while to finish it. Not sure exactly why this was. One of the things I struggled with was the hopping back and forward between two timelines. Usually I would never have a problem with this but I found it a bit confusing at times. I also want keen on the way the story went from first person singular to third person regularly and found myself having to think about who the author was referring to. It was however a very good story line and because of this I was determined to finish it.

A riveting study about how mistakes can grow and multiply. Vicky has a perfect life on the surface, loving husband, three healthy children and a best friend she can totally rely on. However her own childhood has already laid the roots for trouble in her life and when she commits a split second lapse of judgement it will spiral out of control and bring down the façade of her perfect existence.
This is a really engrossing read and there's so many situations that many readers will relate to and cringe at. That awkward moment when guests outstay their welcome? How do you politely say no when a friend asks to borrow money? Vicky is a difficult character to like at times and I swung between feeling sorry for her and wanting to slap her, hard. The 1970's story is intertwined well with the present day and even at the end of the book I was still left feeling unsure of what was real and what was unreliable narrator. Altogether a cracking good read.

Three and a half star rating
Everyone should have a best friend - shouldn't they? Someone to watch your back, to always be on your side. Vicky and Amber were best friends weren't they? Both women had envious lifestyles, wanting for nothing or so it seemed to outsiders. Vicky made a few errors of judgment (and she is a teacher no less!), which then got out of hand. This is told from various points of view and timescales. I found Vicky irritating and smug and felt absolutely no sympathy for her at all. Actually hardly any of the characters come out of this well. Selfish and obnoxious doesn't even begin to describe them. So the moral of this tale is perfectly clear - if you have a secret, be very careful who you tell, probably best and safer to keep it to yourself! This is a great debut from a new author and I shall look forward to reading her next book.

This was an enjoyable and easy to read book; set in two time periods so it flits from one to the next. This was a great hook as you find yourself trying to work out a connection if any.

The characters are pretty unlikeable or some are dull however this detracts nothing from the story and in fact it works really well.

My only gripe was the start of the book - the reality/likelihood of a mother doing that, and also the 'burglar' - really? Who was he and why was he there?!

Overall recommended & I will read more from the author.

One little mistake starts out as a good read that draws you in slowly, teases you with where it is going and then makes you walk around the house reading it! Excellent characters you can visualise and a fantastic storyline! Loved early second of it and I urge you to read it!

A very good read! I enjoyed the way that the story jumped between the present and the past but I didn't click as to why this was happening until around 75% into it. This made for great reading with lots of different characters who I connected with, I found myself alternating between sympathy and dislike for the main characters. The story often hints at many dark episodes in the main characters life and on occasions I totally related to her. 5 stars from me 👍⭐️

A well written, thought provoking psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns. Told in multiple time lines and voices, the intricacies of the plot unfold effortlessly, creating a riveting page-turner from start to finish. This is undoubtedly a debut novel destined to go far.

Very gripping - fans of the genre will love this one.

One Little Mistake is somewhat of a misnomer of a title....it's fair to say that our 'heroine' Vicky is the queen of bad decisions! She has a seemingly perfect life, three beautiful children and a devoted husband but this book opens with her 'almost' cheating on her husband. She then follows this up with a snap decision to leave her young baby alone while she nips out to view a house that has caught her eye. When this leads to disaster she trusts her friend Amber to help her....another mistake.

This is one of those books where it's hard to root for the main character as she's frankly a bit of an idiot. Sorry, maybe I should be thinking you need to walk in anothers shoes before judging their decisions blah blah but she's an idiot. Pure and simple. Her friend Amber, despite her actions is a far more sympathetic character. What is quite refreshing about this book is that there are none of the usual caricatures. One of the criticisms that can be leveled at a lot of psychological thrillers is that the men are often just a conduit to the story, rarely likeable and often very one dimensional. Not so in this book. Tom and Robert (Vicky and Ambers respective husbands) are well written, and you have a sense of what their characters are feeling so any decisions they make don't seem out of the blue or just to push the story along.

Every so often I get psychological thriller fatigue, I read so many of them as they are my favourite genre that I walk around expecting to find out my best friend of 30 years is actually the murderer of my pet hamster when I was 9 (she was there that night...), so sometimes after 3 or 4 in a row I get a bit jaded. I was in that place when I started to read this but within a few pages that feeling got slapped right down. This is a genuinely thrilling thriller, an enjoyable read from start to finish. There are a few twists and turns but not so many that it becomes a headache to read. For a debut novel this is an outstanding start and I look forward to more from this author.

Thanks to Netgalley, publisher and author for this copy for an honest review.

I received an ARC of this book from the publishers via net galley in return for an honest review - thank you.

The book is told in two time lines and focussing on three characters. In the present there are the two adult friends; Vicky and Amber. Back in 1992, Katya is the little orphaned girl who has experienced things no child should have, and whose most treasured possession is a book of fairy tales the original, gruesome form.

The premise of the book is that one little mistake can reverberate and intensify and come back to haunt you in ways you never thought possible. It seems that it is Vicky's mistake at the start of the book that sets in motion her downfall that is the catalyst for all that follows. Amber is there to help her cover up what happened, but as events and the subsequent lies snowball, Vicky begins to see her life unravel.

At the heart of the book is the dynamic of the close female friendship between Amber and Vicky and all the emotions they experience. There is a powerful bond between them, but this is tempered by jealousy and doubt. It is the most significant relationship in the book, and never black and white. Even as the pair grow to distrust one another, there is still the powerful urge to protect and the hope that the friendship might last the distance.

Katya's role in the story and the connection to Vicky and Amber wasn't difficult to guess at, but the shocking events revealed towards the end really did make me gasp out loud. Her story is upsetting and painful to read.

This is a book with a lot more nuance and depth than I had expected. The plot is a real page turner, but Emma Curtis has also managed to subtly weave a lot of issues into the pages; the pressure a new mother can feel, child neglect and the pressure women put themselves under to give the impression of a perfect life for example.

The pressure that has been building throughout the book explodes in the final chapters and no-one escapes unscathed. It is perhaps a little too neat an ending for what has gone before, but this is a book that will linger in the back of your mind long after it has been put back on the shelf.

I am not sure about this one. I felt the pace was very slow throughout though it did pick up at times. Normally I would terminate if a book does not hook me by 30% but I persevered with this one and unfortunately it did not pay off. I also do not really enjoy books with 2 timelines when it takes a while to work out the connection. Many thanks to the author and publisher for an ARC.

I'm sure you've all heard the saying 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer', well that is certainly the case in Emma Curtis' One Little Mistake featuring young mum Vicky and her friend Amber who met at Ante-Natal classes. Neither women seem to be particularly happy with their lot despite both having loving husbands, beautiful children, good jobs and everything to lose.

From the outset we see Vicky making some poorly conceived decisions that results in what could have turned out much worse than the incident that did occur. Fortunately for Vicky she's able to turn to Amber for support and to unburden herself so that she's not dealing with the consequences alone but it's fair to say that this might be another poor lack of judgement on her part.

Both characters were flawed and unlikeable which is pretty rare for me to say about central characters in a book as I can normally find some redeeming qualities in one or the other but in this story I didn't really like either of them. I felt that Vicky was reckless and weak and really couldn't understand why she did some of the things she did, especially where her baby was concerned, and as for Amber I'll just say that I'm glad that I don't know anyone like her... well I don't think I do!

Running parallel to the current day, there is a separate thread set in 1992 featuring a desperately unhappy young child Katya who has been placed into care. At the outset it's not clear who this child is, and how this storyline has any relevance to the main one playing out but as more and more snippets are revealed it all becomes much clearer as to the connection until the story reaches its dramatic conclusion.

There are certainly plenty of talking points throughout this novel which is why I think One Little Mistake would be perfect for a book group as the topics featured would certainly lead to some lively discussions. It almost feels wrong to to say I enjoyed reading One Little Mistake considering a toxic friendship and revenge are at the heart of it but I definitely found it to be a compelling, thought provoking read. An excellent start from Emma Curtis and I look forward to reading more books by her in the future.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Life "happened" in the midst of reading this book - so it took me a little longer to read than I usually would with a book of this quality. The story is well written, none of the adult characters is purely "good" or "bad" & the plot is believable.

I found "One Little Mistake" to be quite gut wrenching at times. Although I have never made the choices or been in the situations Vicky leads herself into - Emma Curtis writes her characters in a way that made me really feel for them. It wasn't possible for me to stand in judgement over them - I really understood what had taken them to that point.

The idea that one little mistake is all that stands between happiness and disaster is compellingly awful - but as a novel, "One Little Mistake" is a compelling success. I look forward to reading more from this author.

A fantastic book that will make you look at your friends in a different light, can you really trust a friend ?
This story follows Vicky in the lead up to her 'one little mistake' and the aftermath. One little mistake can eat you up inside and make you question your every move. Vickys friend Amber helps Vicky but is Amber all she seems ?
I loved this book, it had me gripped and guessing all the way through, it had the perfect ending which left no stone unturned.

The Blurb :
Vicky Seagrave is blessed: three beautiful children, a successful, doting husband, great friends and a job she loves. She should be perfectly happy.
When she risks everything she holds dear on a whim, there's only person she trusts enough to turn to.
But Vicky is about to learn that one mistake is all it takes; that if you're careless with those you love, you don't deserve to keep them . . .


My Thoughts :
I really liked the cover of this book, it just stands out and kind of says read me!. We meet Vicky Seagrave, who seems to have the perfect life, perfect husband and 3 wonderful children. All it takes is one little mistake and her life is turned upside down. She can only confide in her best friend Amber. The story jumps between 1992 and 2010, with 2 different stories that seem unrelated, they make sence in the end.
At times I was a little confused with the jumping around, but I did enjoy it alot and found it difficult to put down at times. Emma Curtis has taken her time weaving the story together and she does make the charactors likeable. This was my first read by the author, and it wont be the last. I am really looking forward to seeing what she has to offer next.