Little Bandaged Days was a quirky read, a lot of which worked really well for me but a lot of which just did not.

It is basically one mother's descent into depression and madness although I'm not sure madness is the right word- it has a lyrical cadence to the prose which is very compelling, I was struck by the way the author uses language and nuance to get across that seemingly straightforward events were actually more sinister. In that, it was truly excellent and it has put Kyra Wilder firmly on my radar for future novels.

However overall I found the story lacking and often somewhat irritating. The main protagonist refers to her children and husband by a single letter, presumably the first letter of their actual name although this is never confirmed. B and E therefore never became real to me, as young humans, people in their own right. This, for me personally, made the emotion of it one step removed, rather than damaged this mother came across as selfish. The ending didn't really connect to the central theme that well it kind of just rambled around full circle and I felt like there was no real meaning in any of it.

That, of course, is all subjective- there's a lot to love here, not least the genuine writing talent on display, something that seems lacking in a lot of the churned out stuff these days like suddenly good writing isn't the first thing you need. Little Bandaged Days may not have 100% hit the mark for me story wise but I do think this is an author to watch

Little Bandaged Days was a depressing and annoying read for me. It appealed originally as I love books set in different countries, I knew the subject matter involved depression, and a descent into madness by a mother uprooted by her husbands job to another country, spending days and nights alone with her young daughter and infant son. I suffered from PND and wondered if it would be identifiable for me.

The book annoyed me on many levels. The protagonist calls her children B and E, and her husband M - why I have no idea but it grated on me throughout. The descriptions of the minutes of her day, day in day out are annoying and repetitive. The book for me never really went anywhere and I ended up skim reading it midway to near the end. The ending was more of the same. It didn’t hold my attention and left me feeling depressed and agitated. Not my kind of book at all. Maybe one for the alternative readers!!.

This is absolutely exquisite. It's so beautifully written it sounds like poetry.
We get so into this character's mind that it's as if we are descending into madness with her. It all sounds real and possible, and even… logical, for lack of a better word. As things progress we are so immersed that we start thinking like her, seeing the world as she does, being scared as she is.
We also can experience part of what the children are living and it's absolutely claustrophobic. All I wanted was for the husband to wake up and see reality, to do something, to help somehow…

A highly recommended novel but one that will certainly not be for everyone.

I'd like to thank Netgally and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love stories with characters that descent into madness so I was really excited to start Little Bandaged Days, unfortunately I read around 10% and then I’ve had to put it down.
I can’t deal with initials instead of names, name the character Bea instead of B please! It comes across as lazy writing and has instantly turned me away.

This is a very powerful, quite scary novel which sucked me in from the beginning and did not let go. The description of the tortuous thoughts and actions of the woman as she descended into madness was exquisite - you can see her trapped thoughts as she struggles to keep her sanity, at odds with her bizarre actions. This continues in the hospital scenes where she is desperate to appear normal. Her husband was hardly ever at home, but why did he not notice her deterioration on his brief visits? The crisis comes at the end and they move to a new apartment, but is this the truth or does she get carried off to an institution?