What a great read - had me gripped from the start - a story that is every mother's nightmare - couldn't put this one down

When Marissa arrives to pick up her son Milo from a playdate, her worst nightmare has happened when not only is Milo not there, but the lady that answers the door has never heard or Milo or Marissa. The ensuing hunt for Milo takes several twists and turns and explores a rollercoaster of emotions for both Marissa and those around her. A great plot with lots of surprises and great characters. The twist at the end is difficult to see coming. Well written and well executed book

A gripping domestic thriller, this held me from the first page. Every parents worst nightmare- coming to collect your child from a play date to find out that play date didn’t exist and nobody knows where your child is. Frightening and full of twists and turns, this is a confident book that grips you from the start.

A well-paced thriller with an opening premise that immediately captures you — a mother turning up to collect her young son from a play date, only to discover that she’s been given the wrong address, the parents of the child she thought he was with had no idea a play date has been planned, and nobody knows where her little boy is. It then goes into slightly more familiar domestic thriller territory, with strained marriages and lots of people acting suspiciously, so as the reader it’s great fun trying to figure out what happened and who is to blame.

I do think the blurb is a bit misleading, as it talks about four guilty women and says only one of them could have taken Milo, implying they are all suspects - but actually the book is all about different kinds of guilt, and the women at its centre are dealing with guilt around motherhood, relationships and regrettable decisions, rather than all being potentially guilty of kidnap.

What a fantastic read. So many twists right up to the end. I just could not put it down until I finished it. Great characters.

A young child goes missing – the ultimate nightmare for any parent under the sun.

Marissa was so happy to have managed to arrange a playdate for her son Milo but when the time came to pick him up, reality hit hard: a fake address and no Milo. This is the starting point of this fast-paced psychological thriller, which is so much more than just a very well written crime story. As the title suggests, Mara invites us to reflect about who is at fault and raises some poignant questions about our deep-rooted feelings relating to guilt, blame and trust: Who do we trust to look after our children and how do we know we can trust them? Who is at fault when things go wrong and how do we deal with the feelings of guilt when the rest of the world seems to be telling us that we haven’t been quite good enough? What does it really mean to mother a child and how is it possible to live with the enormous weight of that responsibility.

In order to function as individuals and as a society, we need to be able to have trust in each other and the systems that we have created. For Marissa this cord gets broken and she learns very quickly how important it is to be able to rely on friends when you are at your most vulnerable. In her desperate situation, Marissa finds out swiftly who her friends are who she can truly rely on. The emerging friendship between her and Jenny, the mother of Jacob who was supposed to be Milo’s playdate and Esther, resident at the address where Marissa’s frantic search for her son starts, add another dimension to the story and help Marissa to rebuild her belief in human compassion and shared accountability.

This story with its many unexpected twists and turns got me hooked and I found it hard to put it down. The reader is lead down many a cul de sac and as quickly as old avenues of investigation close down new ones open up. A compelling read with an unexpected ending.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Transworld Publishers/Penguin Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have read many psychological thrillers but this was something else. Many books say they have unpredictable twists but very few deliver on that promise. This one does. It all starts when Marissa Irvine goes to collect her kid Milo from a playdate. But at that address, no one knows the kid or the family that was supposed to live there. What follows is 7 days of police search for the four-year-old boy, quite quickly it becomes obvious that he was taken by the nanny of the kid he was meant to play with. But the question is why? Why would a young woman kidnap a little boy? The plot was quite watertight and when the twist arrived, it made sense. The characters were interesting and everyone was a bit suspicious, But to understand this crime, we need to know the motive and I can't say much more without spoiling the book. If you like psychological thrillers, not scary ones but well thought out, this book is for you. Highly recommended, I would give it a 4.5 if I could.

I really enjoyed this book. Marissa arrives at the address she was given to pick her son up from a play date, only to find that he isn't there, and she has never seen the woman who answers the door before. This is the start of a week long nightmare, especially when it becomes clear that the child has been taken by another family's nanny who could be involved in child trafficking. There are some great characters in this book and the plot is pacy and tense. I certainly couldn't guess the denouement and it kept me on the edge of my seat to the end. Thanks to NetGalley
Copied to Goodreads.

I absolutely loved this book! The plot was very well written, and even threw in a few surprises. Although I’m not keen on books that flick back and forth, this was worked into the story exceptionally well. I loved Marissa and Jenny, and could put myself in Jenny’s place throughout: I didn’t guess the twists, and was late to work as I had to finish the book. This is the first book I’ve read by Andrea Mara; I hope there are more.

I enjoyed reading this, and although the storyline was a little unbelievable, it did keep me interested to the end. It was a bit of a familiar storyline, but with some twists in there. It was well written, and keeps you hooked.

The story begins as Marissa Irvine waits for the front door she’s just knocked on to be opened for her to collect her 4-year old son, Milo, from his classmate’s house. Except the woman who answers the door is neither the mother of her son’s friend, nor a nanny. In fact, she’s never even heard of Milo, Jacob (his classmate), nor Jacob’s mother, Jenny. OK, easily fixed – the arrangement had been made via text messages, so Marissa calls the number to get the right address. Except the number is not recognised. Thick and fast Marissa contacts anyone she can think of who might know where Milo is, with the help of Esther (the woman who actually lives at the house in question) to no avail. Even though I knew the premise of the story, I still shared the rapidly increasing panic that Marissa feels as each avenue to hope becomes a dead end.

Both Marissa and Jenny employ nannies/childminders, as it seems do most of the families in the upper middle class suburb of Dublin where they live, and as their nannies soon come under suspicion, both Marissa and Jenny suffer the bitchiness of other mothers and online trolls.

The story unfolds with many twists and turns, but the final twist comes as a complete surprise – or it did to me, anyway.

A smashing read.

This was an excellent book full of twists and turns right to the very end. What appears to be a child abduction case quickly unravels into so much more. We were captivated with an original and engaging plot and very believable characters who’s flaws and insecurities bubble to the surface when faced with a traumatic situation. All is certainly not what it seems. Highly recommended.

What a book!!!!

Release date 23nd July 2021

Marissa goes to collect her son Milo up from his play date, only to arrive at the house to find an old lady there and no children. As she begins to panic it syncs in rather quickly that Milo has been taken, but by who and why? Jenny the mother of Jacob the family who were assumed to have Milo finds herself inserting herself into the investigation. Espically as if becomes clear who took Milo. But the one question is why? Why take Milo?

I loved this book and wo hands down state its the best book I've read this year so far. I know I wi likely say that again next month but this book I couldn't put it dow. I honestly thought I had a vague idea why but even when the biggest clue was dropped I didn't even pick up on it.

There are an array of characters in this book but we mainly go between Marissa and Jenny. Marissa is your obvious panicked mother she doesn't know where her child is and is kicking herself for not following up more before letting her son go on his first ay date. Esther theady whose house she ends up at is by far my favourite character within the book and yet her role is under rated.

Jenny is a strange one. There's something not quite right with her but I just don't know what. She almost throws herself into the dead the dead centre of the drama its almost as if she wants it all to be about her because I think maybe that's why she did of it could if just been pure guilt.

When it came to working out who took Milo every single person was a suspect, so when the grand reveal comes its more shocking than I had expected. I honestly know if psychology thrillers are your thing this book was written for you was if scary no, no but it had me doubting my own thoughts regarding the case.

I honestly could sit and write you a whole essay about why I loved this book but I will stop hear before I give the entire book away if I write any more. What I wi say is expect the unexpected and tubule still be shocked. 5 stars

Thanks to netgalley the author and publishers for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my fair and honest review.

This was my first book by Mara and certainly won’t be my last!

A fast paced psychological thriller that has you gripped from the start. There were so many twists and turns that you were kept guessing as to who actually took the child in question. I like a book where I am wrong with my prediction and I was definitely wrong with this one!!

I was delighted to happen upon ‘All her Fault’ as a book suggestion, as I enjoy domestic thrillers set in Ireland, and I could not believe that Andrea Mara has published previous novels. I will definitely be searching these out as ‘All her Fault’ has whetted my appetite into her reading! The start of the novel is one of those heart-hitting moments that every fellow parent will recognise: momentarily, your child is not where you expect them to be and deep relief floods through you once you spot them once more .Except that in main character Marissa Irvine’s case, things are much, much worse: she has arranged a playdate for her little boy, Milo, but when she arrives to collect him as arranged, Milo has disappeared and a whole neighbourhood full of secrets pulls together in a nightmarish scenario for Marissa. And what happens next is impossible to imagine, even for the most imaginative or experienced thriller reader….Absolutely superb, and I am grateful to NetGalley and to the publishers for providing me with a free ARC in return for this honest and unbiased review.

What a thrilling book. I couldn't put it down and read well into the night and woke in the early hours to finish it. No spoilers but WOW! So many characters with secrets.

Oh … my … goodness, what a book! It’s one of those thrillers that has your mind in a whirl and your stomach in a knot. It’s just not possible to put it down till you know the conclusion. The writing is exceptional - so descriptive and ‘real’ that, for a while, you ARE that particular character. This is the story of every woman’s nightmares, and the twists and turns almost made me dizzy. The ending??? I never would have believed it! A BRILLIANT read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

This is an excellent read! Characters are very well drawn, complete with backstories, and the plot twists and turns. Because it involves a child, it really tugs at the heartstrings. Time after time, I thought I could see what the ending would be, but every time I was wrong. The final twist was quite a shock! I highly recommend this book, I couldn’t put it down!

I enjoyed this book and read it quickly, but I found at the end it got a little too convoluted for me.

It took me a little while to get through this book. I started it, and stopped, and restarted it. It wasn't easy to stay interested because the pacing is languid. There are too many players in the mix and too many perspectives.
It would've been a lot easier to read in a single sitting if the POV of Carrie's mother and Jenny were shortened a lot more. They didn't really provide much of anything to the overall story except a couple of plot points. In fact, it made it exceptionally confusing to remember who was who from chapter to chapter.

Some jarring editing issues are simple mistakes but stand out nonetheless. In cases of words such as 'something' or 'anything', they've been written as 'somethinK' and 'anythinK'.
A couple of highlights that I made were concerning things being missed in the editing process, but I am aware that even if a copy-editor has made a suggestion, the author doesn't have to accept it. I don't know if it's happened here, but to outline awkwardness, one of the locations I have highlighted is:

° The message from Irene says "the media going 2 b" instead of "the media ARE going 2 b"
There are also issues of not separating speakers in a conversation with line breaks in some places.

Overall, I would have enjoyed it more if the chapters were not as verbose; I wasn't interested in the relationship between Richie and Jenny because it brought nothing to the table concerning the kidnapping, With Irene, I can understand her chapters are required a bit, and I'm glad that her page time was utilized to outline why Carrie is the way she is. Irene's narcissism and neglect contributed to Carrie's personality, and not the silly idea of 'bad genetics.'

I'm giving the book a 3 out of 5. Aside from the grammar and formatting issues, I just found it really difficult to keep up with. It was overly wordy, drawn-out, and the twist, in the end, was unusual but felt rushed, especially so since everything else took so long to unfold.

Thank you, Netgalley and Andrea Mara, for giving me the chance to read and review this book ahead of publication.
If you're interested in reading other reviews and finding something new to read, you can do so at eternityfae.com