One of the things that drew me to this book was the blurb - unfortunately I was not gripped until the ending. I found the story telling a bit long winded and repetitive and a little confusing with the way in which it jumped back and forth within the timelines of each character.

My interest in this book stemmed from the arrest of an au pair after the death of the child in her care. But this didn't occur until quite near the end.

Some of the characters background was interesting to read about - like Alena's past childhood but I felt that Lou and Geraldine added nothing to the story.
Although the death of Julian was an awful incident, it didn't really touch on this much. I can see why it may have some comparisons to Lianne Moriarty's Big Little Lies, but only because this author was trying to build up each leading lady in the book. Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for my copy of the ebook in return for my honest review.

I struggle to get into this one, I tried a few times but found myself not be able to connect with the characters. I will return to this because I like the premise of the story of an hour I’ll just take a pause.

Unfortunately I found the blurb to be much more gripping and interesting than the book and I struggled to get through it.
I was initially interested given the topic of the death of a child and the arrest of his au pair, but although the story is told through 6 female characters, I found most of them to be superfluous and none of them were particularly likeable.
I found it interesting to read about Alena's past and her childhood but I don't feel that Lou or Geraldine added much to the story and it was much longer than it needed to be.
Although the death of Julian was awful, even he came across as whiny and spoilt and I didn't feel much sympathy for his mother or sister (Nathalie and her going on and on about silks)
My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for my eARC in return for my honest review.

I found I enjoyed this book very much, even if a bit slow in parts. It tells the story of different characters centred around the death of a child that one of the US Au Pairs is looking after in France. Set after the terrorist attacks, there is good insight into how people must have felt when venturing out again. It is interesting to see how Au Pairs are treated by different families and we also read about the French teacher who teaches them basic French to do their job. She has her own trials and tribulations.
Overall I enjoyed it.

Unfortunately struggled with this and DNF. Thank you for the opportunity to read. I just couldn’t get into the story.

Not a book that would normally appeal to me but I became absobed by it and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The lives if 6 women initially seperate but become entwined together.
I read it really quickly. Highly recommeded.

Thank you for net galley and the publisher for this advance arc . This is an easy to read, beautiful story with vivid imagery and a well constructed plot and I would highly recommend .

This opens like a thriller in that we know something terrible has happened, but in reality it’s a slow burn reveal of relationships between those who look after children in a Parisian suburb. I really enjoyed it - the characters are nicely drawn, the relationships really interesting and the slow reveal of how the tragedy came to pass is well done.

This book starts with the arrest of an au pair after the death of one of the children she was looking after. I thought it would have a bit of a suspense/who done it theme but that was not the case.

It looked back at the run up to his death and various, mostly female, characters and it felt very character focused.

Sadly for me I didn’t feel to connected to any of the characters and at times it went on for several pages but not much happened.

I think this would suit fans of character driven type books.

Thank you to #NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I usually enjoy books with a French setting; The caretakers is an exception. I’ve tried to get into this story a few times since I downloaded and I’ve struggled to engage with either the characters or plot. The premise sounds intriguing. The delivery is extraordinarily dull with flat characters and very little sense of time and place. Exceptionally, I’ve been unable to finish this book and I’ve given up.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily.
I was attracted to this book by the subject matter - the death of a child and the arrest of the au pair - in the setting of Paris. It took me a long time to read the first 10% as it seemed to be filled with selfish female characters who care little for each other, their families or the children in their care. There seemed to be no commitment to their role (although I understand this can be driven by the families' treatment of the person who has arrived to provide childcare in exchange for board and lodging whilst learning the culture and language of their chosen 'home') or friendships among the group. I disliked the content and characters so much I stopped reading at 10%.

I started this book with enthusiasm and indeed I did enjoy the beginning but then my interest waned.
I found that I did not really relate to the characters and found it quite a slow burn. Despite the good descriptive writing I found myself skimming pages.

I didn’t like this book very much so I gave up very quickly. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I started this book with high hopes as the first few chapters had me gripped. Unfortunately the longer the book went on the more my interest waned and I found myself skim reading just to get to the end. The bit i enjoyed the most about the book was the insight into how French culture differs from English/American cultures and how difficult it appeared to be accepted into the French culture. I don't think I found any of the characters particularly likable which is why I might have struggled a bit to connect to this book.

A disturbing story of a group of au pairs (caretakers) charged with caring for French children in a Paris suburb. The parents for various reasons prefer to pay a young adult to take the responsibility for childcare whilst on many occasions making her life unhappy and for some of the young girls, unbearable. A series of chapters relay the back story of the au pairs reasons for leaving the stability and family (or lack of it) in their home country , whilst allowing the reader insight into the cruelty and dysfunctional lives of the families they now work for. The early chapters briefly outline the fatal accident of a young child with an ongoing investigation of the circumstances. The excellent premise of the story was to some extent let down by a series of disjointed chapters, too many characters with meandering disjointed history that failed to grab the attention , and a lack of direction in delivery of any conclusion. Disappointed in that a good storyline became diluted in the telling, taking too long to hold attention of the reader intent on wanting answers to the mystery of the dead child. Many thanks to author publisher and NetGalley for ARC.

Very much a character driven book. The drama is revealed at the start so don’t look for lots of tension because there is none. The depth of information of so many characters didn’t always add much and although I loved reading the book I did find quite a lot of stereotypes. The style read like a book that had been translated into English and I was hoping the author was French so the shallow French women in the book wouldn’t be as embarrassing as they seemed.

Set in Paris and its affluent suburbs with a back drop of the terrorist attacks of 2015 is an unusual mystery involving Au Pairs mainly from USA. The book starts with a fatal accident at the Chauvet residence and the storyline is then pulled together through various threads. We get to know Au Pairs from various households and discover some of their secrets and failings as well as those of their hosts before the truth behind the accident is discovered.
Very well written on a slow burn I found the premise quite absorbing. I did find the ending a little abrupt but maybe the author is leaving room to continue.

A story set in the world of au pairs, in the lavish lifestyles of rich families in the Paris suburbs. Centring on a tragedy and the events leading up to and the cause, of the targedy. The strength of the book is/are the characters and how their lives intertwine with one another. These characters are given their own sub-story in the book, within their household so you get to know them well and their thoughts, struggles and secrets within that house. These families, and thus their stories, are connected/intertwined with one another, by the group of au pairs that work for them.

I enjoyed reading this book more than I thought I would. I was drawn in to the world of several strong characters in the story. I thought how the stories were knitted together through the au-pairs working for the families, worked well to enhance the flow of the story. I felt that there was a lot going on and it was sometimes confusing to keep up with everything and everyone, but the book was beautifully written and describes in detail and informs the reader well, of the life of au pairs, their role and expected/assumed responsibilities within the Parisian families.

The Caretakers is an engaging book set in the world of au pairs in Paris suburbs. It sets the story in the recent months after a major terrorist attack when the world has been visibly shaken.

The caretakers of the book’s title refers to the au pairs hired by rich families to look after their children. The narrative is quite damning of the parents and implies that they don’t take care of their children.

The story centres on the tragic death of one of those children and the causes that lead up to it. It tells the tales of a number of intertwined lives, with narrators swapping in and out. All of them are living lives at odds with the image they are outwardly projecting.

Every now and again I come across a book that leaves me a little unsure. The Caretakers is one such book. It is a mystery of sorts, but the mystery is more a way to a means. By this, I mean that the mystery gave the author a chance to create storylines around her characters so that the focus was more on the characters than the mystery.

The story focus on Au {[airs who live and work in France, they are The Caretakers. The caretakers of the children, the house and the secrets. The author takes various characters and gives each of them a story, about the family they work for, where they have come from and also their thoughts and opinions. This means there is a lot of back and forth between characters and also timelines. I did find this easy enough to follow and keep up with who was who.

While there are several sub-stories in this book they do eventually intertwine, some more than others. The au-pairs of foreigners to France and so they are alone, it is natural that they navigate towards one another and this is done via a French Speaking school for au-pairs and also when they meet up socially. They form tentative bonds and some friendships are more of a way of feeling not so alone in a foreign country.

The time of the story when the girls are working is around the time of the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo, the author uses this to add a touch of friction, and unease and it gives a chance for opinions to surface from differing perpsectives. It was a way of discovering more about living in France and being French, very interesting.

THis is very much a character-driven story, at times I did actually forget that there was a mystery that started my journey with this book. This is a book where I kind of want to say not huge amounts happened, but actually, there was. It has a subtle dramatic feel and for me, I got a sense of nervousness, trepidation at living in a new country, trying to start a new chapter in life, or just trying to prove people wrong. There are several different voices in this book and each one brings their own story, thoughts, personality, history, hopes for the future or just to escape something from their past.

This is a slow burner, but it was also very captivating. There was something about this book that didn't allow me to put it to one side. As I mentioned earlier, it is a subtle book because it isn't always immediately obvious where the author is going as she flits from character and time.

This was a really interesting read, it is one for those who like character-driven novels, contemporary and literary fiction. I would happily recommend this one as it did keep me hooked.