Loved this story!! I was super engaged from start to finish!

Nancy, recently bereaved, moves to a rural location to give her daughter, Lara, some fresh country air to help her asthma. Nancy is a caring and supportive mum, who is utterly distraught to discover that Lara is being bullied in the local primary school. The bully is the daughter of the most popular woman in the village (as we are shown through various WhatsApp group chats, as well as the narrative. The story features various villagers who are up to no good!

It feel to me like a thriller with a cosy feel - I cant think how else to describe it! It is very easy to read, and very hard to put down!!

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

I really enjoy a juicy domestic thriller and The playground by Michelle Frances lived up to all of my domestic thriller needs!
Rivalries, secrets and twists what more could you want in a book?

Wow what an incredible read 'The Playground' is. The premise is so simple and it works extremely well. Frances sets this in a small village where everyone knows everyone and by default, everyone's business. Throw in the perfect combination of characters and you have one exhilarating read.
I loved getting to know Nancy and Lara and I was rooting for them the whole way through. I also liked getting to know all the other characters and learning about their secrets and darkness. This village has a lot of secrets at its heart and it was fun to discover all of them. There was also a lot of danger within this book which made the read thrilling and gripping. I was rooted to this book and desperate to get to the end. My only negative is the ending is tied up very quickly - almost as an afterthought. I think this could have been even better if more time was dedicated to tying everything up.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy.

A really good read and I really couldn’t put the book down, I am looking forward to seeing what is next from this author

An engaging read that keeps you turning the pages to find out how life in the countryside is going to work out for Nancy and Lana

Playground politics turn deadly in this twisty thriller that holds a mirror up to the reader to ask just how far they'd go to protect the ones they love.

Immediately, Frances sets the stage with scenes of domestic bliss. Nancy introduces us to Willow Barn, her new home - and despite the initial appearance of privilege and perfect, it soon becomes clear that before this fresh start was a lot of pain and struggle for them both.

The story moves quickly, and after the scene is set we move swiftly on to show us the darker side of this beautiful village; the harsh cliques that turn on them instantly, the lies and betrayals that are happening behind closed doors. We move between Nancys perspective and the other residents in the village, seeing into their personal lives and their own dark secrets - letting us in on private talks and text chains to see what's really being said behind peoples backs. The village and it's residents felt unwelcoming, almost cult-like in their standards and unwritten social rules - in an only slightly darker parallel to the very real cut-throat areas of the world where people resort to all kinds of dirty tactics to ensure their kids get into the best schools, they have the best house, and their family remains powerful and privileged.

The intensity stayed at a steady simmer for a while, just waiting for something to boil over and change from petty playground squabbles to something much scarier; for a lot of this story, the story was subtle and quiet, whispers and sneaking around in the dark instead of anything explosive or sudden - but this kept me hooked, reading into every detail, every rivalry and relationship. It's clear everyone in this town had a secret that could destroy their community if it comes out - leaving the reader to wonder who the real bad guys are, who are the victims - or is nothing that simple?

I adore Frances and for most of this book, I was totally gripped - but for me, the several bouts of info-dumping and the finale weren't for me. This book goes from 100 - 1 really quickly, picking up the pace to a fever pitch before almost explaining away the end instead of letting it play out. For me, this left some of the most interest and disturbing twists a little flat and did leave me a little disappointed at the very end - but the story itself is a brilliantly devilish and dark story that is well worth a read.

A spectacularly sharp, suspenseful and sinister addition to Frances already impressive back cat

The Playground is a thriller about a widow and her daughter that move to a new area. The narrative is written from the perspectives of different mothers with excerpts from the mum's group chat. I thought this was really well done as it keeps you guessing and is definitely relatable with its playground drama!

I really enjoyed The Playground; it’s what the TV show Motherland would be like if it was darker and filled with truly detestable characters.

The epitome of a page-turner, The Playground is quick, fast-paced and easy to read, with short chapters that always invite you to read the next straight away. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down, and I absolutely had to know the conclusion to what became a very tangled web of lies, deceit and misplaced trust.

Each character has hidden facets and secrets, whether it be mundane or life-changing. Most are wholly unlikable, with even main protagonist Nancy forcing the reader to cast doubts over her behaviour. It’s an interesting exercise in flipping the narrative, making everyone appear to be the bad guy, with more revealed as the page count increases.

The ending of The Playground is an eye-opener, and one I didn’t expect, for several reasons. This would make a great book club read, thanks to its multi-layered story and thought-provoking conclusion, and it’s definitely one for fans of psychological thrillers and domestic dramas. Highly recommended.

This was the perfect psychological thriller! I've read a lot of throllers about the female group dynamic to the extent I'm generally bored of them but every once and a while, an absolute diamond comes aling and that is exactly what this book is! It stands head and shoulders above the others in thr genre and i stupidly started it at midnight when the insomnia kicked in and I could not stop reading it! It's 5 am. I really wasn't expecting to get so hooked lol

Anyways, the writing flows really naturally. The plot has a good pace, it all plays out in perfect time without anything feeling rushed or abruptly cut off. It's so cleverly written with multiple sub plots all converging at the exact same time, but with it all feeling incredibly natural. I didn't find any major plot holes or open endings. The ending was actually really satisfying, although also a bit heartbreaking. It's been so long since I've read a book that has such an amazing, unexpected and shocking ending. The twists and turns are really well planned out and so kucb isn't what it seems. It's also scarily accurate to the pettiness of mum life and group chat gossiping. This is the perfect quick summer read by the pool. I've already bought the entire back catalogue

I wasn't initially sure if I was going to enjoy The Playground. There's a bit of an info dump in the first few pages (Nancy wanted to move out of London. She thought it would be nice to live in the country. She bought a house on a lake.) which was a bit off putting, but I soon got into it.

As it turns out, life in the countryside isn't quite what Nancy expected, and when she and ten year old daughter Lara get off on the wrong foot with some of the local residents, it all turns into a bit of a nightmare. A toxic mix of resentment, jealousy and bad luck lead to some nasty bullying at school for Lara, orchestrated by mean girl Rosie, and Nancy being more or less ostracised by the other mothers. (Extracts from the "mums"' WhatsApp chats are a shining example of groupthink, few being willing to challenge the growing anti-Nancy mood.) Meanwhile there's all sorts of dodgy stuff going on in this village, including adultery, theft and a spare of dog poisonings. Clearly, it's not going to end well for somebody.

Not everything rang true - I'm not sure a kid in the last year of primary school would plausibly believe a classmate's threat to "kill her mum" if she didn't go along with what she wanted. And "Journalist" Erin is, judging by her stories here, a ridiculously bad writer (but maybe that's deliberate).

Overall this was a good read, even if the characters didn't always act in entirely believable ways. The bullying and victimisation was well described and I really felt the helplessness of the main characters when people and circumstances conspire against them. Nancy's desire to protect her child is entirely understandable, even if unwise at times.

Ultimately an enjoyable escapist read.

A rather good book. I was happy to keep turning the pages it kept me intrigued. Would recommend this to anyone
4****

Wow a rather disturbing book about bullying. Bullying among adults; bullying among children in school; violence between adults and kids. Also goes to show how the school doesn't do anything and believes the word of the "popular" kids.

This was an excellent book I couldn’t put it down once I stared. Nancy and her daughter Lara move to Ripton for a fresh start. They now have a great big house compared to their small London flat the air is cleaning which will help Lara’s asthma. But it isn’t the great start that Nancy was hoping for once Lara starts at her new school it all kicks off with the mothers and the children. This was a great book it shows what lengths parents will go to to protect their children. Would definitely recommend this book.