A thriller that will have you guessing till the end and a ending you could not predict, this has all the things I look for in a thriller and the twists are well you will see in this might read (honestly you must)
The story of Mia, Lilly and Grace but not nessasary in that order there are others and all relatable even if you don't like them they still exist in life as well as fiction just the three good the key.. Lilly is taken ill and the family's future will change yet the secrets of the past will dictate as they can in life but I hope not in this way. I think the best way to have a thriller or any book grab you is when it runs true to the way life can run yet you pray never for you. There is the failed relationship the sinking feeling when the money doesn't match the bills a feature in a increasing volume for writers now I feel but this is the under current here rather than the focus of the tale.
I really loved this book and yes it held my attention and I didn't want to put it down but now I've finished i have no choice unless I read it again...... I will let you know later.!!!

I am afraid this book was just not for me. I found it a slog to read and skimmed some of it to get to the end which was very rushed and quite a damp squib. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it

An original novel about memories and secrets with an unexpected ending. It follows a family as they try to unravel events.

I was absolutely delighted to be awarded the opportunity to read "Beneath the Surface" by Fiona Neill. This is the second book that I have read by this brilliant author, having previously read 'The Good Girl'. Both are superb five-star reads.

This novel had me totally gripped from the moment I turned the first page. I loved the characters, who all had their own issues and challenges. This story wasn't particularly fast-paced or shocking, but instead, it was an intense and emotional look at a divergent family. All of the characters, so well drawn by Fiona Neill, had an important part to play in the story and none of them seemed inconsequential or unnecessary.

I adored reading "Beneath the Surface" whilst simultaneously pondering the alternative ways different folk deal with the problems that life continually throws at them.

I can't wait to see what Fiona Neill will deliver next!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Penguin UK - Michael Joseph via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

After a chaotic childhood, Grace Vermuyden is determined her own daughters will fulfil the dreams denied to her. Lilly is everyone's golden girl, the popular, clever daughter she never had to worry about. So when she mysteriously collapses in class, Grace's carefully ordered world begins to unravel. Dark rumours swirl around their tight-knit community as everyone comes up with their own theories about what happened. Consumed with paranoia, and faced with increasing evidence that Lilly has been leading a secret life, Grace starts to search for clues.

I loved reading this, it is so unique and exciting to read. I am hesitant to call this a thriller, there are thrilling aspects and as the book progresses it becomes more and more of a thriller. However this is definitely more of a family drama, an excellent, intriguing family drama mind you. I very quickly connected with the characters, which always helps but helps even more so in this read. Then we follow the mystery of Lilly, what could have happened to her, is there really something mysterious going on or is there an easier answer?

This plot is gripping and I loved how Neill progresses events. This probably would have been a 5 star had the ending not been so rushed. It seemed like Neill needed to quickly wrap things up and I do not think the end was given the time it deserved or enough of an application.

I have briefly touched on the characters already but I must stress that I adored getting to know them and following them throughout their turbulent time. They are so interesting to follow as well as being a very ordinary family so it was very easy to relate to them. They all have their secrets and I adored discovering what they were. Mia has to be mentioned, she is such a unique character and brings a very different vibe to the read as well as providing an interesting insight and some hilarious moments too.

This is a family drama but what a drama it is ! This is enticing, intriguing, mysterious and a bit thrilling all in one. The Vermuyden's are a fascinating bunch and I urge you to discover what is beneath the surface.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK for an advance copy.

17 year old Lilly has been uprooted from her home in central Cambridge to a damp, poorly built new estate at the northern edge. Her father Patrick has allowed his debts to get out of control. Meanwhile her mother Grace is hyper-controlling and pushing Lilly towards academic success. The last member of the family is quirky, eccentric, 10 year old Mia, with pet eel Elvis. Lilly has an unexplained seizure at school and family tensions and secrets bubble to the surface.

An interesting story of family dynamics, teenage life, and the effect of the past on the present.

Grace and Patrick seem to have a happy family life bringing up 2 Daughters Lily and Mia. Lilly is the intelligent one whilst Mia lives in her own dream world. Grace did not have the perfect childhood growing up so she is adamant her children will have the perfect childhood.

When Lily collapses at school, Grace realises that she knew nothing about lily having a boyfriend who she had been spending a lot of time with secretly behind their backs. What else has she been keeping secret? The gossips are our in full force speculating on what Lily has done or taken to cause a fit, worried that it might be contagious!!

Loved the way the characters were depicted making them feel very real. The whole family had their own secrets which they were careful not to reveal. It was like watching a house of cards collapse, 1 wrong move and the whole family structure collapses.

A must read family drama that had a surprising ending.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

This is the first Fiona Neill book I have read and, while it was an interesting look at a dysfunctional family, I didn't really feel I knew the characters by the end or really cared much about them.
Thank you to netgalley and Penguin UK for an advance copy of this book

This is a story of a very dysfunctional family. I thought the ending was too abrupt leaving many loose ends. Quite disappointing

This could have been so much more. The ending was way too abrupt - too many loose ends. I would have liked more introspection. None of the adults were likeable. I think we're set up to believe that Grace had done something terrible, which didn't turn out that way. I liked the daughters, although I thought a bit too much time was given to Mia. I got bored of all the Anglo Saxon stuff, and I didn't like her keeping an eel captive. There was too much also about the water / dykes / fens. An okay read, but it could have been so much better. With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A story about a dysfunctional family with a paranoid hyper mom Grace, a meek debt ridden father Patrick, daughters Lily and Mia. A routine life till Lily was struck down by an episode of fits in class. She survived, and stress was found to be the cause of the brain short-circuiting. Mia on the other hand had her own theories. The whole story was to see how this family functioned and to find out the reason of the fits

My first book by Fiona Neill, I liked the book in most parts. The reasons and secrets in that family made me doubly curious to get to the end. The mystery was present at every corner, Mia and her theories enhanced it. An archeological dig and discovery of graves caused her to link the events in the most interesting manner. At some points, I believed it too.

The rest of the characters peeked in all the chapters, but it felt they needed to be given more substance. They felt ghostly, I wanted more of an interesting backstory. Past always has an effect on the present and the future, this book brought it to light in a subtle way.

The whole book got a special oomph due to Mia. She was one of the most interesting characters I have read in recent times. Her analysis and arguments were so logical that they bordered on illogical. She was different from any child I have known. All my love for this book was for Mia.

Overall, the book captured me, and I had a fun evening with it.

Descriptive Fenland setting. A family of four with secrets. Those secrets will be exposed. Will their exposure lead t happiness or sadness for the family? Very involving and unexpected developments in the story.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very well written and the story was full of intrigue. The strength of this story lies in the way the author tackles the hidden depths that we all find ourselves in at times when trying to cope with all that life throws at us. Additionally this is done across age barriers from mother to daughter (s) and this is what I found particularly well done. I would recommend this story to older teen girls too.

This is the kind of book I enjoy the most, great characters, plenty of intrigue and suspense and compelling writing. I enjoyed her novel The Betrayals so was looking forward to reading more. I enjoyed The Betrayals a tiny bit more but still had a great time with this. I was caught in the story from the dramatic opening and the book held my attention to the final page. I thought the characters were fantastic, so well written and believable. They are not perfect people, but flawed, fragile and very real. The Vermuyden’s are very dysfunctional and I have a soft spot for dysfunctional people. There are some humorous moments in the book which I couldn’t decide were intentional or a complete accident. This book is an intense look at how easily a family can be blown apart.

I loved the story but not the ending. The book ended very abruptly and I felt that it needed one or two extra chapters to pull everything together.
My favourite character was Mia, I loved how she viewed the world and everyone around her. My least favourite character was Patrick, he was a bit spineless and kept a lot of stuff away from Grace. This book was full of secrets with Grace concentrating so hard on Lilly that she totally forgot about Mia. I loved the writing style but would have loved to find out what happened to everyone at the end.

This book was a joy to read. A refreshing and honest insight into the struggles of bringing up children/teenagers with problems and differences. The teenager in the story is experiencing pseudo seizures and the younger sister, appears to be ‘different’ to her classmates.
The angst experienced by the mother for her children was palpable and I felt for her in, every page that I turned.
She too has her own mental anguish from childhood and maybe this contributes to her anxiety to get it right as a mother.
Throughout the book there was humour in one liners and these made me smile.
I was particularly moved by the ending of the book. It was beautifully written and drew the story to its conclusion. It left me imagining what might come next and with a tear in my eyes. Beautiful story.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. Not the usual type of book for me but once started I found it compelling. The story is of a disjointed family whose characters are not really easy to take to. Husband/ father Patrick has recently lost several hours in his teaching job and is heavily in debt to his brother for builders bills and owes vast amounts on credit cards. Wife/mother Grace a part time reporter on the local newsheet appears to be somewhat neurotic and knows nothing of the huge debts the family have. They have two daughters Lilly and Mia. Lilly is a very educated 17 year old heading for a great future when an illness hits her. This causes her mother to become paranoid about her health which drives a huge wedge between them. Mia is 10 years old and is mildly autistic. She is my favourite character creating several amusing scenarios. For me she made the story. I was very disappointed when I got to the last page as the story seemed incomplete. I was left high and dry at the abrupt ending which left so many loose ends. My thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This book is a completely different genre to the other Fiona Neill book I’ve read, so it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

Grace had a very haphazard upbringing, so she wants more stability for her daughters, Lilly and Mia. Unfortunately, this also means that she’s a bit of a pushy, helicopter mother. The family – including dad, Patrick – had to move to a cheaper property and ended up in a new-build built on fenland, so they always have damp and dust in the property, and this adds to Grace’s stress.

Mia, the younger daughter, is quite eccentric and a bit precocious, but Lilly is top of the class for everything. One day, Lilly collapses in class and everything starts to twist and turn.

A great read if you like dark, but true-to-life, mysteries with some humour provided by Mia!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK/Michael Joseph for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

Patrick and Grace Vermuyden and their two daughters, Lilly (18) and Mia (10) are the central characters in this novel. Grace (whose own mother was a disaster) is determined to be a good mother and is fixated on Lilly the golden child, destined for Cambridge University. She is a helicopter parent. Unfortunately this means that Mia is somewhat over-shadowed (perhaps even neglected): an odd child with undiagnosed symptoms that manifests itself in challenging behaviour at home and at school – perhaps a ‘problem’ child. Weirdly she is fixated on Elvis an eel that she found and keeps in a bucket in her bedroom.

Elvis the eel and the many descriptions of the dyke, and the canals and the flat landscape feature heavily. To be fair, they are needed to develop the plot, but really! I found them boring and the eel revolting.

Besieged with debts and domestic and marital problems things start to unravel when Lilly has a seizure at school which leads to hospitalisation and Grace’s determination to uncover what had been happening in Lilly’s life. Mia is virtually ignored – even though she holds the key to Lilly’s secrets.

What hateful people the adults are. Lilly is somewhat one-dimensional but perhaps that is a fair assessment as she has been subject to so much stress by her mother. Mia, however, is a delight. Odd, but a delight and her observations were at times very funny.

The ending was a bit of a surprise, but not a shock upon reflection. I was startled by the suddenness of the last paragraph (and in fact turned the page to see if there was any more to come) but my last thought was ‘all a bit late now’.

Having said all that, the prose itself was nicely written and somewhat lyrical in relation to the landscape, but unfortunately I didn’t care about that. Worth a read, just, I think.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

After her troubled childhood, Grace Vermuyden wants a better life for her two girls Lily and Mia. Lily is a top student, expecting to go to Cambridge next year and Mia is a troubled child and always getting up to mischief. Her husband Patrick is in debt but hasn’t told his wife how much. Grace pushes her daughter Lily to do her very, very best at school. So much, that Lily has a fit at school. Her teacher must perform CPR to save her life. She survives and spends time in hospital. While her mother searches for clues to what causes her fit. Even hacking her phone to see what she has posted on her social media page. Whilst this occurs another child falls ill and rumours spread that it has something to do with The Fens or the wind turbines that surround he local area.
The rest of the story surrounds Mia her relationship with her family and her only friend Tas, a traveller for the local Traveller site and the disappearance of a ring from the local Archaeological site.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for a copy of this book. This is the second book of Fiona Neill and I am afraid that this book is not for me. I found this slow, especially about the first 30% of the book I couldn’t figure out what was going on. The only character I liked was Mia and her eccentricity and the what can I say about the ending. It was very flat and the whole story left me with unanswered questions.