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.

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

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****

Jumping up and down to read one of my must read authors Michelle did not disappoint. As Nancy moved to the countryside to start over with her daughter there are some clashes. This really gets down into how much are you willing to do for you child and what lengths will you go. Excellent read.

Incredibly well written, well paced and the sort of book you just can’t put down. I thoroughly enjoyed the development of all of the characters and their intertwined stories.

Highly recommended.

This book is perfect for all readers enjoying schools ground politics related stories, as well as rich parents behaving badly. Very well written and absolutely recommended!

Can't go wrong with a Michelle Frances novel, even if you have no children and haven't experienced school gate antics.
You'll even find yourself investing in the horrid characters, as well as championing the good guys.
I'm just pleased school was nothing like this when I went!
Another enjoyable read from MF.

I absolutely loved this book! So true to life and very relatable if you’ve ever had children at primary school and been subjected to the mummy mafia! It’s got everything you need for a great read-unlikable and untrustworthy characters, a mysterious past with flashbacks and a humdinger of a twist! I raced through The Playground in a day unable to put it down. Gripping and additive-it felt like I was listening to some salacious gossip in the playground myself at times, unable to tear myself away but feeling very uncomfortable! What a great read to be able to bring out such strong emotions in me!

I really enjoyed this book, as a school playground mum I can relate to the story. Maybe not so much the darker parts! Brilliant characters and villains, and a twist in the middle! I read this quickly because I needed to KNOW

#ThePlayground #NetGalley
A fun read. 4.5 ⭐
Looking to escape her old life, Nancy and her ten-year-old daughter Lara move to Ripton. A quiet, picturesque village in the rolling Derbyshire countryside, it seems like the perfect place to settle down. But when Nancy reaches the school gates, she learns that beneath the quaint village atmosphere is a minefield. And after her daughter clashes with her school friends, Nancy quickly finds herself outside the whispering circle of parents. As much as Nancy finds the playground politics absurd, they soon become impossible to ignore when Lara is accused of hurting another girl. Desperate to clear Lara's name, Nancy is about to learn just what lengths a parent will go to for their child
I loved her previous one called The Boyfriend so I had huge expectations from this one and I'm happy to say that I'm not disappointed with it.
Characters were awesome. The final twist was a killer.
Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for giving me an advance copy of this book.