This book is very dark. It will make you feel uncomfortable.
This was written so well and the translation was very good.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher 4th Estate in exchange for an honest review.

Occasionally you read a book that will haunt you forever. This is one of those books.

This Little Family is not really the book I expected going in and I think the blurb is actually fairly misleading. This is not really a psychological thriller or horror, except in the sense of it being a real-life horror. This is the story of Marie, a poor woman who is raped by her boss and then through a series of circumstances, forced to give birth to the child. She then goes through some of the worst postpartum depression I've ever read about, all depicted and described in heart-breaking detail.

This is not the kind of book someone 'enjoys' but I absolutely could not put it down. The writing is superb and there is a kind of car-crash fascination with the constant barrage of bad luck and psychological trauma Marie goes through. I kept reading hoping something would work out better for her, knowing from the prologue that it wouldn't. At the same time, this book is incredibly honest and sensitive in the way it portrays Marie (in my opinion at least). Nothing is gratuitous or unnecessary, and it all feels like a very real portrayal of someone's pain.

If you're looking for a reading experience that might profoundly change you as a person or a deep exploration of a truly awful situation, then this is the book for you. If you want a typical thriller with twists and turns and psychological tension, then ignore the marketing. Thankfully this book ended up appealing to me anyway, far more than most thrillers can, but I do wonder how many people will be mislead and unfairly rate the book due to the poor choice of marketing. It really does deserve better

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

I really struggled to rate this book. The storyline is so well written but the subject matter is so abhorrent I felt physically sick while reading. This book was so believable and so frustrating as a conversation between Marie and Laurent or Marie and any other character in the book at an early stage could have prevented everything from happening.

Seeing inside a woman's head as we did with Marie during and after her rape was uncomfortable reading, and knowing that this is something very real for women all over the world made it even more uncomfortable to read. Experiencing her thoughts as she tried to come to terms with such a brutal sexual assault had me wanting to wrap my arms around her and help her. The last paragraph broke my heart.

This book was so well written however had I known going into it the full extent of the subject matter I'm not sure I would have ever picked it up. So please do your research into trigger warnings.

Beautiful writing. I was hooked!
A perfect read for the summer holidays.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance copy of this book in exchange for my feedback.

Tense, atmospheric and deeply psychological, I found this unflinching and graphic narrative cut right to the bone. It's a dark journey through the final months, moments and thoughts of a woman broken beyond repair. Tough to read at times because of the subject matter, but deftly written and very well translated.

This was a thrilling read, and the first one I've read by this author. There is a few topics that might be upsetting to other readers, so I think they might need to be warned beforehand. The book was well written and thrilling regardless.

Dark. Twisted. Shocking. Harrowing. Disturbing. Brutal. All of these are words that can easily be applied to this book, along with many others. It is most certainly a challenging read, and one that will not be for everyone. Indeed, there were times where I felt like I couldn't continue reading, but the depiction of a woman's slow descent into madness and paranoia was too captivating to abandon.

It is a strange book, as I can't entirely say I enjoyed it. The writing style was quite detached, especially when you consider that it is written from Marie's POV. As such, it made it hard to empathise with her, even though you do of course acknowledge the pain and trauma that she has been through. Reading about Marie's gradually declining state of mind was at times incredibly difficult, and you can see in painfully slow motion how her mental state deteriorates until she is left feeling like there is only one option of how to resolve her situation.

As I said, it's definitely a challenging book, and not one that I would want to say I enjoyed. However, it is a captivating and thought provoking look at how an event such as what happened to Marie can irreparably damage a person and their mental state, and lead them to do something completely unimaginable. However, there is a lot of challenging content covered in this book, and so I imagine a lot of people would prefer to pick something less confronting.

Disclaimer - I was fortunate enough to be provided with an advance reading copy of this book by NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own.

Loved this one! So easy to read and lots of twists and turns along the way. Definitely a quick read and one I recommend.

This was a gripping story which was difficult, yet compelling to read.

The book opens with a family, Marie, her husband Laurent and their baby Thomas dead at the dinner table. The reader is intrigued, wondering how this horrific event has come about.

The couple are happy, both enjoying their career and each other and decide to try for a baby. However, when Marie is brutally raped by the CEO of her company, her life changes forever.

Much of the book considers how Marie is feeling carrying the child of her rapist and her relationship with her son Thomas and her husband. Laurent is oblivious to the problem and is besotted with his new son.

I can only describe this book as dark, disturbing and thought-provoking. The difficult scenes are graphic and intense.

I think Ines Bayard has done a great job of portraying the character of Marie.

It's hard to rate this book, as the premise is so awful but it's well written. I think this read would be a significant trigger for those who have experienced rape.

Many thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This Little Family was a difficult, dark read. It was brutal, harrowing and extremely heart-wrenching but enthralling, addictive and compelling at the same time. Inès Bayard deals with the very challenging topic of rape very well and it is a well written book telling the story of a rape victim in great detail. The story of her journey is enthralling but I did find it difficult to read some parts particularly those parts where she has violent thoughts towards her innocent child.

This is not a book for the faint-hearted!

Firstly, this book needs to come with several trigger warnings – so please read the blurb above before you venture into this book as it’s harrowing and heart-breaking.

This Little Family is the incredible debut novel from author Ines Bayard, translated from French and is about the devastating aftermath of a violent and brutal rape.

Marie is happily married to Laurent and live in a Paris apartment. She loves her job, her family, her husband and is living the perfect life when she suffers an unspeakable act of violence at the hands of her boss.

Consumed by fear, revulsion, angry, shame, guilt and disgust she is unable to tell anyone about her attack and so begins the slow, painful and ultimately destructive path for her and her “little family”

This is a book that will haunt you for weeks after you have finished it. It’s brutal, raw, emotional, powerful, disturbing and utterly horrifying.

If you enjoy dark literature – then I would recommend this book. It managed to get under my skin within the first few chapters and despite reading several books since this will stay in my mind for a long time.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book was SO SAD, SO MORBID but oh so gut wrenchingly REAL.
I HAVE NEVER READ ANYTHING LIKE THIS.

It gave me the GOOSEBUMPS while still making me pensively SAD.

Its a short read but one which will take you on a rollercoaster ride which you will NEVER FORGET.

Its not an easy one as it talks vehemently of TRAUMA, RAPE, CHILD ABUSE, DEPRESSION.

Its still a BRILLIANTLY SAD BOOK, a SAD BOOK I COULDN'T STOP READING.
I don't want to make you sad but I would like you to read this book, its DIFFERENT.

Thankyou #NetGalley and Fourth Estate for sending me an e ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Fourth Estate, and the author Inès Bayard.
This book was very difficult to read, almost traumatic. The author vividly and palpably communicates Marie's sense of despair and helplessness, and you feel utterly hopeless. I have to agree with the other reviewers that this book is incredibly dark, it will make you feel incredibly uncomfortable, but it is visceral and unlike anything else I've read before.
Harrowing, raw, and haunting, and will stay with you long after you've finished it. 4 stars.

What a great read. But wow it’s so dark and I can’t quite believe what I read. It was very well written. Great plot which is so believable but scary at the same point.

Oh my god I’m speechless...!

This is one of the best books I’ve read, it’s so dark and disturbing....! I loved it 😂 I know I’m a sick puppy !!

Brilliant honestly, I felt so sorry for Marie and it was truly awful watching her decline into the madness; yet fascinating all the same. Loved the story and could see how this could happen in real life, so tragic and awful but I seriously loved it....Lullaby was the same genre and I loved that too, what a fantastic read on a dark night!!!

5 stars all the way

Although I am a big thriller reader, I found this novel to be too unflinchingly graphic for my taste. It seemed a little unnecessary and impeded my enjoyment of an otherwise intriguing plot

This was a very dark, disturbing read and oh so believable. Whilst I predicted the ending, it was still a very tense and fast paced thriller. The ordeal was extremely uncomfortable to read and I felt the trauma throughout.
I did feel frustrated at her silence but understood the reasons for her silence, and how many people feel unable to speak out after an assault.
Her declining mental health was incredibly difficult to read and was very well written.

Laurent and Marie appear to be the perfect couple, both with successful careers and living in a stylish apartment in Paris.

Marie is brutally raped by her boss and this traumatic event leads to her breakdown. When she finds out she’s pregnant, she becomes convinced the baby isn’t her husband’s and that it’s evil.

No one seems to notice Marie’s decline, and those that do seem to ignore her behaviour. She doesn’t reach out to anyone for support, despite a loving husband, family and friends.
It’s really sad and I felt so sorry for her.
Despite this, I couldn’t really relate to or warm to her character, something was missing.

I did find a lot of the descriptions a bit too graphic and I’m not sure it was quite necessary.
What Marie went through was horrendous but it seemed that any subsequent event involving any body part had to be described in gory detail. I think this would be off putting for a lot of people, particularly if you’re squeamish.

The story opens with the end, and then you find out what led to the tragic event. I did think that the part at the very end was predictable, but still sad.

I read this on my Kindle so not sure how long the book was but it seemed like quite a short story. It didn’t take long to read and despite the bleak and depressing subject, I still wanted to find out what was going to happen.

It’s an interesting idea for a novel and a good debut. Unfortunately, I think the very frequent disgusting descriptions and disconnect from the characters let it down a bit.

3.5 stars rounded down to 3.

Thanks to NetGalley and Fourth Estate for providing me with a copy for review.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me at all.

I enjoy hard topics and think its necessary for books to cover them...but I just didn't connect with Marie at all. I was so detached from everything that was happening, although I acknowledged it was absolutely awful...

I think the main problem was it was wrote in third person....that's fairly unusual for these kind of books and I like things that don't follow the usual themes.
.however it didn't work here at all. This needed to be hard hitting and we needed to really see Marie and not be removed from anything she was feeling. The third person aspect allowed us to do this, be removed from her...which made the book a struggle and the emotional impact less....I struggled with all of her decisions and I think that was mainly to do with the third person and also, how the book started.

When someone has done something that awful...does it matter what lead her there? I think the book suffered by using this method...a linear approach would have worked much better...getting us to see and like and empathise with Marie and see the horror she went through and the point leading up to her then doing that...rather than knowing that's what she was going to do all along....it puts a different empathise on it and every interaction with Marie is tainted by that knowledge.

I think there were some clever themes and ideas here and the author is clearly talented but unfortunately the above issues affected my take on the story too much for me to enjoy the book at all.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This was one of the most sad and disturbing books I have ever read. Would I recommend it to anyone not sure.
I felt sorry for the whole family. Marie and Laurent were happy until one evening after work Marie was attacked and left pregnant.
Who was the father Marie never knew, but life was unbearable for her. She disliked her son Thomas and tried to think of ways to get rid of her family. One day she did, that was the story.