The book's main characters are three brothers, who each tell their own story of events that have happened during their lives from being children up to the present day. It starts in the present where one of the brothers is dead but which one? It is a compelling read, not about brotherly love but about hatred, revenge, and betrayal I enjoyed the different aspects of the book and can highly recommend.

Full disclosure: Liz Nugent is one of my favourite authors. All her books are very different, with one thing in common - they are brilliant! Our Little Cruelties is no exception - clever, well written and dark, with realistic and multifaceted characters. The plot is based on the story of one family, which is told from different points of view. Although many of the events are described several times by various people, the book is never boring or repetitive, which is a credit to the author's brilliant writing. There are many themes and layers that continually tease and surprise the reader. I thoroughly enjoyed Our Little Cruelties and happily recommend it.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House UK for the ARC.

This is a good read - just not as good (in my opinion) as others that I've read by this excellent author.

It's a decent, easy to read family drama / thriller - but, be prepared, there's not a lot to like within this family. It's focused on the relationship of 3 brothers, not close and one has died. The story then takes us on a journey from each perspective, told in the past and present. This makes for a confusing read at times and I did find it hard going and overly detailed.

So, in summary, if you're interested in the shenanigans of an Irish dysfunctional family, this is the one for you!

For me, a 3* good read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview in exchange for this honest review.

It's addictive. You just can't stop reading. A textbook example of a narcissistic parent and the effect she has on her three sons.
There's one big hook: the book opens at the funeral of one of the three brothers. Right to the end, you don't know which will be the dead brother, although I would cheerfully have finished all three of them off at various points myself. It works brilliantly as a hook to keep you invested in the story, and the pace of the telling also keeps you reading . One of the brothers is in films and is working direct from Weinstein's play book. Another's in the shadows and making the best of it. The last is a troubled boy with his mother's singing talent and a strange religious obsession. The text weaves in and out of chronological time and from each brother's perspective. What might have been repetitious backstory was always intriguing for what each brother noticed or failed to notice about the others' experiences of key events, from a star turn by the mother at the Pope's visit to Phoenix Park, to younger brother's debut turn at a big rock venue. Some lovely touches, particularly on class sensitivities in Irish society, in what was sometimes rather two-dimensional characterisation. The snobby Mum's relatives who sold bleach and toilet paper at the market, much to her shame, had the ring of truth to it. The five bedroom house, big enough for her ego, but not big enough to allow the boys to have parties in. Mum had the use of three bedrooms: one for her wardrobe, another for her piano, the third for sleeping. Leaving only two to be shared between three boys.
A damn good read, but not an author I would go to for lipsmackingly evocative or envy-inducing writing.  Thanks to Penguin Random House UK and Netgalley for the chance to taste the book pre-publication.

Liz Nugent has done it again! This is the fourth book I've read by Liz and they keep getting better. She has written a page-turner filled with devious and broken characters that we hate to love – but love anyway! A compelling read with all the clever twists. I loved every page. Her best book so far! I highly recommend.

Oh my word, what a book. Three brothers, a horribly dysfunctional family, A showbiz mother and a downtrodden father. None of this should make for an electrifying read but -oh boy- yes it did. The book is told from the three brothers viewpoint, the story veers from present to past, but we know from the outset that one will die. Brilliantly plotted and written, I was transfixed. I loved it. Highly recommended.

This novel opens at a funeral. One brother is in the coffin, and the other two brothers are there, but we don't know which brother is where. I was expecting a true thriller with this novel, but it is actually a story of a dysfunctional family. The reader's sympathies move to and fro depending on who is narrating at any point, and it is really interesting to hear all their points of views. It is not a crime novel in the true sense of the word, and I found it all the more engaging and absorbing because of this. Highly recommended.

Liz Nugent has done it again! She has created a cast of extremely unlikeable people in a dysfunctional Irish family. The ending gave me shivers.
The story is based on a family of 3 boys with a showbiz mother and long suffering father. The mother could be based on a number of Irish showbiz "stars". The boys bicker and compete throughout their childhood and carry this behaviour through to adult life inflicting misery on those unfortunate enough to get involved with them. I would love to see this made into a movie and am busy casting the characters in my head.
I was given a copy of Our Little Cruelties by NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

Liz Nugent’s latest offering might just be her best yet! It opens by introducing 2 brothers who are at the funeral of their third brother and hint that one of the surviving brothers is responsible for his death. None of the brothers are named at this point so you don’t even know who has died up until the final pages. The main story takes the form of a dysfunctional family drama which slowing unwinds and is told in present and past tenses alternating between the perspectives of the 3 brothers and the twists come via the multitude of ways they betray each other for their own self-serving purposes throughout their entire lives. All the characters are incredibly well fleshed out as we follow them from childhood to present day and all are thoroughly unlikable (something Liz Nugent does so well) but the thing that sets this book apart from her others is that every single thing in this book, every betrayal, every twist and turn of the story and every decision her characters make is entirely believable and plausible. The story unwinds slowly but gathers pace towards the second half and the events surround the death of the unnamed brother are revealed at the end. The plot also focuses on topical issues of the moment like the #MeToo movement, addiction and mental health which helps ground this book in reality. I did feel the first half was very slow and the jumping between a multitude of timelines and different brothers perspectives was hard to keep track of at times but if that kind of thing doesn’t bother you then this is a well-plotted and tightly woven dysfunctional family drama and a cracking read and would make a fantastic movie!

I am a huge Liz Nugent fan. Five stars all the way. I was delighted to receive an advance copy of Our Little Cruelties via email. This book however, while good, did not live up to my expectations (think I am on my own here). I struggled through it a little at times and wasn't drawn to pick it back up - at times it seemed just like a bit of a chore..

However, I absolutely loved the author's portrayal of the characters in all their horribleness. It was also good to hear about their mother's own background and how the boys turned out they way they did. I actually felt the most compassion for Luke, he was so badly treated by his mother. The background storyline for me was lacking. This book can get very dark at times but all in all a good read. . 3.5 stars rounded up to four!

What a book ! Fabulous and addictive from the very start ,storylines were amazing and in the day of celebrity so relevant . Relationships were fascinating between this very dysfunctional family.

When I read a Liz Nugent book I am always amazed and troubled in equal measures. She writes these wicked, dark, utterly horrible characters, with little if any redeeming characteristics, and you would think this would make the stories unreadable. But the opposite happens. The reader is compelled to keep turning the pages, to find out what happens to these characters we love to hate, in this case, Will, Brian and Luke. Our Little Cruelties is a clever twist on the whodunnit, in this case, not knowing which of the three brothers, Will, Brian or Luke is dead. A compelling analysis of betrayal, sibling rivalry and unequal love. Another cracker from Liz Nugent.

I thought my family was dysfunctional until I read this

I liked the format of it being told from each brothers perspective
Intrigued how the three of the interpreted the things that happened differently
I think this is a well written book with intriguing characters
that make you want to continue reading just to see what happens.

Thank you netgalley, Liz Nugent and Penguin books for allowing me to read and this book.

Our Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent is a brilliantly crafted novel about dysfunctional family relationships. It’s a psychological drama of epic proportions!

There are three brothers with three points of view, some before and some after the murder of one of them. These characters are so beautifully developed through their stories, from childhood through adulthood, that it’s easy to understand why they act the way they do. They are complex and flawed and so very human.

The themes are many: competition for love and acceptance, the influence of social media on our lives and relationships, the desire for fame and fortune – and they all suffer from these maladies.

The story is intricate. It’s like a labyrinth that turns this way and that, until you reach the centre and the shocking truth awaits. And that ending! Perfect!

This is the first book by Ms. Nugent that I have read. I loved it so much I just bought her other three books too.

#netgalley #ourlittlecruelties #liznugent #penguinbooks

Good story line about an Irish family that is rather dysfunctional. The story is about three brothers and their interactions with each other and their nearest and dearest. Told from each brothers perspective it is an engaging read but my interest dipped slightly in the middle only to be fully engaged again for the final third.

The Drumm family are dysfunctional, disturbed and deceptive to the core. William, Brian and Luke
all have their own secrets and these mysteries and lies snake through the family, creating this wickedly dark tale. Three brothers, three points of view and a plot which weaves back and forth through their respective lives in order to bring us to the tense and unexpected conclusion.
Liz Nugent just gets better and better. She has established herself early on as a master storyteller; her psychological thrillers keep the reader hooked from the beginning and this one is no exception.
In fact, I can easily say this is the best one yet, and that is high praise.
The characters are strong, not necessarily likeable but definitely enthralling - you get caught up in one storyline and don't want it to end only to move on to the next brother and be instantly drawn in to his version. The staggered story line works really well: it's a testament to Nugent's ability to write that she can jump decades in a matter of paragraphs and not confuse the reader. It adds to the drama as we are drip fed the story and learn about it in pieces, which we then have to put together to try and guess the bigger picture. When you think you have figured out what's going on, *boom* another revelation. Clever, sharp and deservedly Five stars.

Liz has the ability to write engaging books about characters who have no redeeming qualities. This one starts at a funeral of one of the 3 Drumm brothers and then delves into their individual pasts before revealing at the end which of them has actually died. At times I would start to feel sympathetic towards the characters and then bam! I would be given another reason to dislike them. I am a fan of Liz's previous work and was excited to read this. For me this is her best book yet.

I have read Liz Nugent before and find her highly entertaining and the storyline compulsive reading. ‘’Our Little Cruelties’ was no different and it was enjoyable and engaging if a little sad at times.

This is the story of three brothers, Will, Brian and Luke, and their relationships with their parents and girlfriends/wife. It is addictive reading and is told by each brother with timelines jumping around. Having said that it is easy to follow and adds to the intrigue.

I wasn’t keen on any of the characters but could see how the interrelationships left each of the characters hurt and angry with each other. the novel begins with a funeral where one brother is dead but, at that stage, it is not clear which brother or how it happened.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin Books UK, Penguin Ireland, and Liz Nugent for my ARC of Our Little Cruelties in return for my honest review.

Brilliant. Highly recommended.

Liz Nugent. This is the third book I’ve read by her and they never cease to be interesting and slyly seductive. They are subtle beasts that woo you without you even knowing it.

Our Little Cruelties is the story of three brothers Will, Brian and Luke, their relationship with their showbiz mother, and to a lesser extent their father.

The book opens with the three brothers at a funeral, only one of them is in the coffin, killed by the hands of his brother. We don’t know which brother is dead and obviously which brother committed the crime.

The book is then told in an unusual way. It is told from each of the three brothers perspectives with around a third of the book at a time given to each brother. The timeline jumps back and forward to various stages of their lives which sounds confusing but isn’t at all and works really well.

So from the spiel you would think this is straight forward whodunnit mystery. It’s not. Well at the end of the day it is but that’s just a footnote to the real story. The story of these three men, their relationship with each other and the relationship with their mother.

I will say this straight away. Not everyone will like this. All the characters here are fairly unlikeable. The mother is a narcissist, a “typical” image of a showbiz mum. (This being set in Ireland and me being Irish I immediately thought of one or two “celebs” who this character was based on. She may be purely in the authors imagination but that didn’t stop me visualising these famous women of a by gone era here).
The three brothers are also very unlikeable. Again with narcissistic traits, self absorbed, mean throughout their lives, emotionally devoid and devious. They insult each other, back stab each other, treat people around them like dirt etc. Ironically the one I had some empathy for was a drug addict alcoholic who suffered severely with mental illness.

So how come I’m giving this five stars then? Well, despite the cast of utterly unlikeable characters, who I had little or no empathy with whatsoever, I felt myself engrossed in this novel. Not in the usual way where I’m rooting for a character etc. Here you are seduced without even knowing it. You are reading from the outside looking in a bit. No empathy with the characters, no one really to root for, another shake of the head as someone does something horrible and yet you can’t take your eyes off it. You’ve bought into it without realizing it. You want to know what happens. You want to find out more about these horrible characters. You want to know about their childhood, their relationship with their parents and with each other.

I found it quite a cynical piece. I hope the author never reads this review but I did wonder was she in a bit of a bad place when she wrote this and poured it into all of her characters, such was the venom and vitriol( I mean that lightheartedly..... I think!!) Having said that there are some moments of humour that add some light to the dark.

Look this is just a brilliant bloody read. The characters, while not likeable are interesting. There’s a kind of desperation to them. The story is interesting. The subtle questions of nurture vs nature are interesting. It’s just a bloody great read.
The unusual format makes the book read shorter than it is and is part of the charm and subtle seductiveness of the book. A very risky technique to undertake and balance but the author has done it brilliantly here.

I haven’t read a Liz Nugent book I haven’t loved. I loved Our Little Cruelties. Get a copy. Dislike all the characters and have a great time doing it.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Books and Liz Nugent for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What intriguing characters we have in this story. All the plot lines (covering many years) are written from their own personal point of view. But what awful people they are! I was drawn into the story from the start. A funeral for a brother ....but which one.