The unsolvable disappearance of Laika- no CCTV, no witnesses and no evidence.
The characters in and surrounding Laikas family are so well written they step off the page and into your imagination. Each relationship is given just the right amount of background to make the character an integral part of the story without giving too much away and the interactions at the dinner party and subsequent flashbacks to the past are well woven.
A slow burner but with clever reveals.

Thank you for sharing this copy with me, it was such a fantastic book to read and one that I have thought about frequently since. The development of the characters is fantastic, feels natural, unforced and believeable. The way in which the story builds from varying perspectives based around one night is handled really well and gives a really interesting context to the book. I would definitely recommend this.

So I was invited to read this and was in-between books so thought I'd give it a go. And,wow. This book had me gripped. It was nothing like I expected, the blurb gives nothing away. You're taken on a journey told from different, intriguing characters,told over different time periods. The author drip feeds you information which keeps you guessing and keeps you turning the pages. I engulfed this book and will be recommending it to others. I'm looking forward to what this author writes next.

A mix of psychological family drama and mystery Things Don't Break On Their Own is beautifully done and a bit of a page turner.

A missing sister and a life spent searching intermingles with a multi layered look at an odd and toxic family dynamic. What I liked about it was it doesn't follow the path of least resistance but rather entangles the reader in the various characters lives that are lived in contrast,the good and the bad.

Overall a great read.

Sorry not my type of book it seemed to go and on and not much happening I found the characters quite complicated as didn’t know who was the man and who was the woman their names should have been more accurate with gender as thought Robyn was a man.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC

What a lovely but disturbing story. I really enjoyed reading it, and had trouble putting it down. The plot was very well constructed and well written. The disturbing bits involved the two main male characters, especially the father, although it was paramount to the storyline line that he was a serial child abuser. Will certainly read more from this author.

I found myself drawn to the mysterious and emotional world of Things Don't Break on Their Own. This novel explores themes of mystery, family, and sisters, With its complex characters and intricate plot it's a must read debut. I will certainly be looking out for more by this Author.

This book was beautifully written but I have no idea what category I would put it into!

I had thought the book was a thriller but I didn’t get that vibe from it at all. There were a few times where I thought of just giving up, leaving it until later to finish as I wasn’t gripped.

However, the story gripped something in me and, even though it wasn’t thrilling or exciting, I found myself wanting to know what happened.

If you don’t mind reading novels that don’t hook you and make you need to read on to solve a mystery, this one is actually good.

A very enjoyable vacation read over the summer. The story starts off in the dinner party scenario, and then moves back and forth in time and told from various perspectives. Oftentimes bleak and heartbreaking, it's well written and a good page turner. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced digital copy.

This was a really clever story about a woman who is dealing with the trauma of her sister going missing when she was a teenager and how that has impacted her and those around her during her life.

I really enjoyed the way the author used the readers perspective to change the dynamic of the conversation, you start out thinking one character is saying something shocking but when the rest of the conversation is revealed you come to understand the context and it makes much more sense but was a very clever way of making you apricate that you need to know more than one perspective to get the whole picture.

My only criticism is with the blurbing of this book, going in I expected a really atmospheric dinner party with shocking twists but that is not what this book was at all, in fact the dinner party its self was probably only mentioned across 20 pages in total.

“Things don’t break on their own” is the story of how a dinner conversation among friends triggers a re-evaluation of how Willa remembers the disappearance of Laika, her 13 year old girl sister.

Sadly I DNF this book, and it is sad because I really wanted to like it. It has several really interesting elements: firstly, how fickle memories are and how things that at one point are remembered as one thing, end up not being that at all. Second, I like how the main characters have a sweet romance that transforms into friendship through the years. Both of them being women is so important as I think more queer stories are needed in literature. Third, I like how the story is told by different characters’ point of view. I really enjoy stories told by different people across different years and this book has that element too.

What I didn’t like and what led me to not finish this book is the pace of the story. In my opinion was too slow and too descriptive of details. For example, several paragraphs were dedicated to explain the process of how a vase is made from scratch (sculpting, putting it in the furnace, cooling it down, etc.). While the process might be interesting for some, I would have liked either a stronger connection to the story or a shorter explanation.

From the part I read, the only trigger warning is mentions of domestic abuse.

I think this book can be a great read for people that enjoy a slow burn and want to take their time savoring details.

Thank you NetGalley, Sarah Easter Collins, and Kayla Fuller from Penguin General UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Things Don’t Break On Their Own will be published in 20 June 2024.

I adored this book, Sarah Collins is a masterful story teller and the story and characters weaved in this book are gripping. Would thoroughly recommend

This is an emotional rollercoaster of a read that is both horrifying and beautiful all at once. It tore at my heartstrings as I started to comprehend the full horror of what had transpired so many years ago. I really enjoyed the ups and downs through this book.

When Willa’s younger sister Laika goes missing on her way to school it sparks a nationwide search and means Willa has to change schools to avoid press attention. It’s at this new school that she meets Robyn and so we have the story of the lives of these 3 young women.

This is a fascinating book that took me along many different paths. Totally absorbing.

Laika Martenwood goes missing. The story picks up 22 years later with his sister Willa, attending a dinner with a large group of friends. Their conversations revolve around false memories and strained relationships. Laika was 13 years old when she went missing. The tale reverts back to Willa and her dysfunctional parents and her relationship with Robyn, a school friend. The past hangs over every conversation and the story neatly knits past events with a satisfying ending.

Twenty five years ago Willa`s sister Laika followed her to school and disappeared on the way, everyone thinks she is dead but Willa thinks she is still alive.
The present is set at a dinner party of Robin`s who is a friend of Willa with Nate Willa`s brother and his French girlfriend who looks familiar to Willa.
The past brings up Willa and Nate`s dysfunctional family.
Some good twists to keep you reading.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review.

This is a debut novel?
I loved this book, a cleverly drawn portrait of relationships and perspectives. The story opens with a dinner party where the guests are all siblings and their partners, with the exception of Willa. Willa is both an ex and a close family friend. The dinner party is fraught with a strange tension, and the story cuts to backstories of three of the participants via memory flashbacks. The flashbacks inexorably draw the reader forward in time to the dinner party and we begin to understand the emotional undercurrents in the room. A mystery layer is added due to the disappearance of Willa's sister, Laika, when she was a young teen and how her disappearance has impacted Willa throughout her life.
I thought this was a strong story, well written and with a good flow. It kept me engrossed and I enjoyed the satisfying ending which lets the reader fill in the blanks. I can't wait to see what the author writes next.

A superb debut novel from an author to watch out for her future books. This was so captivating that at not time did I want to put it down. The characters are so well described that it was easy to relate to them all and what a diverse range of people they were!.The story was thought provoking as to how would I have felt knowing that I had lost a sister and how I would have reacted.
The story is a mystery concerning the missing sister and information was dribbled out at a perfect pace to keep the reader intrigued.
An easy read but very well written and certainly very interesting.

Interesting layers in this family drama make for an enjoyable read. The plot is a little stretched to make the story work but no cliches. Characters hold their own place with interesting dynamics.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

This is story about the Martenwood family. A dysfunctional family. The father is a self made man and has used his wealth to buy himself a rich man’s lifestyle. His family are treated as trophies, his perfect model wife, his golden daughter Willa and then there is Laika! Laika doesn’t conform to her fathers ideal of the perfect child and his answer is mental and physical abuse until one day Laika goes missing on her way to school. Told in dual timeline and from the perspective of Willa, Willa’s friend Robyn and Claudette (Cat’s brothers French girlfriend) this is a compelling and well written read.

Briefly, four couple meet at at Robyn and Cat’s home for a dinner party. All the couples are family or close friends and as the evening progressed the story around Laika’s disappearance is gradually revealed. We also learn more about Willa and Robyn’s friendship, and their families.

There are a number of issues raised by this book, not just the abuse Laika received but also a side story about a vulnerable elderly lady, acceptance of your sexuality and the importance of friends and family. I loved the metaphor between Kintsugi, the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together and the broken pieces of Willa’s life after loosing her much loved sister, that needed putting back together. This was an enthralling read with a few little twists and turns and one huge twist near the end. It wasn’t what I expected after reading the blurb I felt it was more literary than thriller but I was fine with that. I found it very entertaining.

4.5⭐️