This was my first book by this author and I was hooked from the start. I love how the lives of three very different women intertwined and they grew to become friends and learned secrets about each other that no one else knew. The story was told from each of the three lives of the women and there were many twists and turns throughout that made the plot of the book very enjoyable. All of the women had children that went to school at a prestigious academy where secrets and lies were the root of all problems for all the women. Throughout the roller coaster of events, the women learn more about themselves and their families than ever before. A must read!

Thank you to Caitlin Weaver, Storm Publishing, and Net Galley for the early release of “Things We Never Say”. I recently discovered Caitlin Weaver’s books this year when she debuted her novel “Such A Good Family”. I look forward to reading her future work. Her books are always filled with mystery, distinctive plots, and well written relatable characters.

If you find yourself reaching for a book that includes family drama, marital issues, affluent families, and scandal then this book is for you.

Three women Anna, Rhea, and Maggie get paired up to organize a gala at their children’s elite private school. These women on the surface seem to have not much in common with one another but as friendships grow deeper and information comes to light they realize that they all aren’t very different from one another and they all have something to hide. They are then quick to learn that one can only hide behind a facade for so long.

This book releases at the end of September so definitely add it to your fall tbr!

What a brilliant read! I think this is the first Caitlin Weaver book I’ve read, but the writing is so good that I’ll be looking out for more of her work. This is a story that makes you think – about our lives, our friends, who you can trust and who you can’t. I loved all the 3 main characters and felt their stress and emotion throughout. A fabulous ending too! It’s not a thriller (which I was hoping for), but an emotional and riveting drama about families, play acting and secrets. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

Well done, Caitlin Weaver!
Anna, Rhea, and Maggie are unlikely friends, brought together but a hidden scandal. It's not an idea that's never been done before, but man does Weaver hit it out of the park. The characters are so well written that you forget at times that they are just characters in a book. I couldn't put this book down, and I was so disappointed when it was done. I didn't want the book to end. I will be looking for more books from Ms. Weaver.

Author Caitlin Weaver does it again with this book!
I love how she develops her characters so well you can feel their raw emotions come through the page. This story is about 3 women who, behind closed doors, look like they have perfect lives. All three women get to know each other very well while working on their children’s fancy private school’s gala. Things are definitely not what they seems and scandalous secrets come out that can tear their families apart. This book is well written and kept me hooked from page one!

Thanks to Storm publishing and Netgalley for this eArc!

I really enjoyed Caitlin’s writing style. It kept me engaged the whole time I was reading it. I liked the short chapters from each of the different characters POV as it really helped to understand what was going on with each of them.

💭I also really enjoyed the dynamic between Anna, Maggie and Rhea. Three totally different women coming together and forming an incredible bond made for a great read. They also seemed super normal, like women you would know instead of being a little far fetched.

💭The reason it was an average read for me was everything just seems a little obvious (minus Maggie’s husband). I was waiting for an explosive twist that linked them all together somehow but it never came (which it probably wasn’t going to considering it’s not a thriller🙃).

This was a fantastic story of deception, control, power and wealth – but most of all, a powerful story of friendship.

In the early part of the book, I did struggle to get into this – I kept thinking that it reminded me a lot of Big Little Lies and I think I put up a bit of a block because I was worried it was just going to be a bit of a rip off. But it definitely wasn’t! It didn’t take much time before I was hooked by the story – both the central plot and the separate storylines of each of the 3 main women – and it very much developed into a unique and gripping tale.

Three women are thrown together against their will when they’re asked to lead a donation drive for the very expensive private school their children attend. Anna – the bullying headmaster’s wife, who is terrified of him and has no choice but to do what he tells her; Rhea – the seemingly perfect rich housewife, who comes from a humble background that she’s terrified of returning to; and Maggie – the down-to-earth therapist who only volunteers because she needs to make up the mandatory volunteer hours for being part of the PTA.

At first, they have no intention of spending any more time together than necessary. But then Anna finds something she shouldn’t in her husband’s office and slowly they uncover a scandalous secret at the school – whilst gradually opening up to each other about their own challenges they’re coping with at home.

Although it took me a bit of time to warm up to them all, I loved the three main women and felt their stories were told very powerfully. I was really invested in them and wanted everything to work out well for them – especially Anna whose storyline was so heartbreaking. Their emotions and growing friendship were written so well. Once I got into it, I just couldn’t stop reading ‘just one more chapter’ before it was all finished!

This book is so good that I read it in 24 hou4s... 3 x compelling female leads, a hideous villain and some incredible back stories...

My rating would actually be 4.5 but you can't give half stars!

Anna, Rhea, and Maggie unexpectedly joined together to expose secrets about their children’s school and in the process worked through their own hidden struggles. I absolutely loved the character growth that all three main characters showed through this book! It was a suspenseful story that I found myself quickly reading.

Things We Never Say

My first book by Caitlin Weaver did not disappoint!

As a parent that couldn’t handle the surface level of our local Parent Teacher Organization, I cannot help but think there must be so many things never said just below the surface! “Things We Never Say” is like being a fly on the wall in the home of the elite, the untouchable, and the peculiar!

As a believer in friendship, especially finding true friendship in the most unlikely of people, this book spoke to me! I could feel the stress and emotions as if I were in the company of these women, like I was part of their group!

An easy read, quick to turn page after page, I became invested immediately and stayed that way to the end!

It really makes you wonder, what is being left unsaid around you in your daily life - at work, at school, on the playground?

Enjoy!

The story was great. Definitely a page-turner. I even wish it was longer. I can't wait for a sequel.

I loved this book! Couldn’t put it down. The characters are very relatable and real. I started to really care about their storylines. The story was interesting without being far fetched. I look forward to reading more from this author.

A good domestic drama. I liked all 3 women and found they had a believable mix of strengths and flaws. Really enjoyed the story, and read it quickly.
I know this is an ARC, but I must say I've never had an ARC with quite so many mistakes - I hope there's lot of editing to be done; wrong spellings, words missing/extra words added to sentences, many sentences structurally off and make no sense. Once these are fixed though, it'll be brilliant.

Great story on the surface, but lacked depth and felt rushed, like the author wrote on deadline without true passion for the story. The ending wrapped up perfectly, however, and I could see it being a Lifetime movie.

I loved everything about this one! The POVs of the 3 main characters kept me hooked, and I read this in one day. I’m excited to read more from this new-to-me author, and I hope this book finds a deserving large audience.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Things We Never Say by Caitlin Weaver is a compelling read that I both enjoyed and personally struggled to finish. With a trio of complex, relatable female characters, the story dives into the secrets that lie beneath the surface of their seemingly perfect lives. However, while it’s marketed as a thriller, it leans more into women’s fiction, leaving me with mixed feelings by the end.

Here are some of my thoughts...

What I Loved:

💖 Quick Hook & Relatable Characters: From the start, the story pulls you in with a quick hook and easily relatable characters. The three FMCs each have distinct voices, making them easy to connect with and also distinguish. Never once did they feel like they blended together, which is what sometimes occurs with many rotating POV's.

💖 "Every Family Has Its Dirty Little Secrets" Vibe: I appreciated the way the book explored the idea that every home and family has its dirty little secrets, secrets that change us, shape us, and redefine us. This theme was woven beautifully into the story, offering a nuanced look at domestic life, motherhood, marriage, and female friendships.

💖 Complex Characters: The story does a good job of making you care about each of the three women, despite their varying degrees of secrets and complicated relationships with their husbands. You become invested in their lives, rooting for them even when their decisions are questionable.

What kept this from being a 5 star read:

😞 Misleading Genre:Let me begin by saying... while decent, this book was NOT a thriller. The suspense and tension you’d expect from a thriller just weren’t there, which made the pacing feel somewhat off... despite the story being interesting in its own way. I would have personally marketed it as Women's Fiction, and delved deeper into the nuances of the underlying themes of the story (motherhood, marriage, etc).

😞 Slow Burn: The book is definitely a slow burn, which isn’t inherently bad, but it sometimes left me impatient. Just when I was expecting the plot to hit its climax, the story wrapped up, leaving me wanting more in terms of plot development and resolution.

😞 Predictable Ending: The predictability of the plot was another downside. While the characters were compelling, the twists and turns were not as surprising as I’d hoped, and the author TOLD us all of the answers to all of the character's secrets at 50% of the book... which dulled the impact of the story’s conclusion.

😞 Unrealistic Character Reactions: For a story that hinges so much on female friendships, it was frustrating that neither Rhea or Maggie seemed concerned when Anna suddenly "disappeared" towards the last 1/4 of the book. Given that Anna displayed clear signs of being a victim of domestic violence, it felt unrealistic that Maggie, a relationship psychiatrist with a PhD, didn't pick up on these signals. This oversight made the characters’ actions feel less believable, especially given Maggie's job and the relationship Weaver wanted us to know they had.

Overall, Things We Never Say is an enjoyable read with strong character development and a compelling exploration of the secrets we keep. However, the misaligned genre, slow pacing, and predictable plot detracted from what could have been a more thrilling and impactful story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Caitlin Weaver for the ARC copy to review!

I received an ARC of this book from Storm Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for my honest feedback. I loved this book! The characters were very well fleshed out and believable. I loved the mentions of random items to make everything even more realistic - Rothy's, oat milk, Minecraft. Just current things that get the reader feeling more in touch with the characters. I enjoyed the alternating POV chapters and was always eager to read the next one from each character. I do feel that it could perhaps have been condensed a bit; it is quite a long book, and the climax is not till very close to the end. But I was still looking forward to picking it up again each time I put it down.

This is more of domestic drama/suspense than thriller, and TW for domestic violence and teen pregnancy.

I am thankful to have gotten the eARC for free from Netgalley and Storm Publishing so I can leave my voluntary review.

I’ll Admit that this took me a bit to get through but I’m not sure why. I think the beginning grabbed me but I have trouble with the flow and kept putting it down for other books until I got to the 50% mark.

However once I got to that mark I flew through the second half of the book as I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. There really wasn’t any surprise moments as everything was fairly predictable but it didn’t detract from the enjoyability of the book.

I liked reading the 3 different perspectives and it really showed how from the outside you can have a very different perspective if someone’s life than reality. I think one thing that made it good is that it didn’t seem like fiction. It was all very realistic situations that played out.

I will give a trigger warning for DV.

This title comes out on September 27,2024 and will be on kindle unlimited so get it on your TBR so you don’t forget!

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my copy of Things We Never Say by Caitlin Weaver.
3 mothers agree to form a committee to raise funds for their children’s school.
3 perfect women with their perfect lives. But are they, is anyone?
When their lives start to unravel will they be there for each other?
A great read that I devoured. I couldn’t put it down.

Gosh where do I start. The character development was phenomenal and really made you think you were living and experiencing the emotions with Anna, Rhea, and Maggie. I have felt some of the very emotions and life turmoil they went through in the book. There were enough twists and turns to keep me engaged and not wanting to put the book down!! Great job with the writing Caitlin, I thoroughly enjoyed and can’t wait for your next book!!