The chapters are short and sweet, making it easy to pause if you need to...but propelling you to continue. The night ends early, with everyone leaving a bit disgruntled. Ahhh, dinners with family, am I right? When the storyline was recircling, many times I felt that the text was repetitive and drawn out, like the author had a word count to meet.

In Transylvania, Count Dracula laments about his loneliness with his three bat servants. He receives a phone call from Emma Wishbone who has mistakenly called him instead of a monster costume store. She talks to him briefly before accidentally dropping her cell phone down a storm drain. Emma is depressed as family tensions build up - her own bookstore is in dire financial straits, her son Max is a victim of bullying due to his awkward and stereotypical mannerisms, her daughter Fay is a narcissistic teenager, and her husband Frank is overworked and sleep-deprived, neglecting her. Dracula decides to make Emma his new bride and persuades Baba Yaga to curse her and turn her into a real vampire so she will stay with him. The patriarch of the Merton family, Fred, seems to take great pleasure in making his three adult children, Catherine, Dan and Jenna, miserable. It's like he is actively trying to make their lives more difficult. Three traumatized children: one of them or all may have inherited the genes of their father, suffering from same psychopathic tendencies to commit such a brutal crime! Baba Yaga charges her amulet but is accosted by the Wishbones, however she sends them to Egypt. Cheyenne tries to help, but after rescuing Baba Yaga from falling to her death the two become friends. Baba Yaga explains that Dracula intended for her to curse only Emma, but the entire family's unhappiness caused them all to change - only the entire family being happy will break the curse.In all honesty to start with Beth's relationships all seem a bit to perfect even with her ex husband and his girlfriend. So the fall out during the book is great to read. Take every conceivable part of what makes a great psychological thriller, add every ingredient from a family drama and mix it up with a classic whodunit and you either get a disaster OR you get this The Happy Family was published in the UK by One More Chapter in June 2021. I received an advance copy via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Good thing about this book is that it is easy to read, so we all finished the book faster then we planned, excluding one girl who DNFed it. We don't get much information on Anuj and Deepak, but they are still an important element of this family dynamic. Anuj has always been considered the easy-going, "chill" child in the family, but he struggles with internal pressures of his own and goes to school at a distance to become his own person. Deepak may be an excellent psychiatrist, but has he failed to see the mental health challenges within his own family? We also get a chapter from Zach, Suhani's husband, regarding his love for her and frustration with the barrier she implements between them within the marriage. I thought all three chapters were a great addition, but would have enjoyed seeing even more perspective from the men in this story.

From the very first chapter I was hooked into this story. Lapena wastes no time jumping into the nitty-gritty and it kept me guessing until the very end. Now available from Pamela Dorman Books. I thank my local library for providing me with a copy through the drive-up window. 🤣 But Beth has a secret. A deep dark secret which haunts her still. In her thoughts and in her nightmares. And Beth believes it is only a matter of time before her past catches up to her and her secret shame is revealed for all to see. The not-so-happy-family here are the Mertons. Fred was a total jerk to everyone, but mostly to his children. Sheila, his wife, is a cold and distant mother, and failed to protect the children from their father. Allan Ahlberg, a former teacher, postman, plumber's mate and grave digger, is in the super-league of children's writers. He has published over 100 children's books and, with his late wife Janet, created such award winning picture books as EACH PEACH PEAR PLUM and THE JOLLY POSTMAN - both winners of the Kate Greenaway Medal. He has also written prize-winning poetry and fiction and lives in Bath.

While Beth did some horrible things as a teen, you connect with her because of what she’s going through. It was uncomfortable to have these emotions because of the outcomes of her emotions, but it does make you think about why people act out. Everyone has their own personal battles. This book makes you examine those.

On the upside? Lapena always keeps her character list short, which I honestly appreciate. Too many thrillers and suspense novels get cluttered with a bunch of people who either don't matter, aren't interesting, or seem to exist only to serve as potential suspects. This tightly-knit family provided just enough options without a bunch of filler. Over the story, we gradually find out about Beth’s past, informing us of why she is so paranoid in the present. To be honest, I was not that surprised by the revelations, having guessed, to a degree, what had happened. With this in mind, I thought the story just took far longer than necessary. Elements of the story were too obvious for my liking and I felt frustrated by Beth’s acceptance of everything around her. It slowed the pace of the plot and I found there were many moments where I thought the narrative was tedious and predictable. This was reinforced by the fact that I had sadly guessed how the story would conclude and I thought it took too many chapters to get to this point. But are those kids only the ones to inherit the will, or are there other people who could be suspect of this killings? This story is one where you want to yell at the main character most of the story. But at the end of it all, you end up having sympathy for her and love her. This is such a well written story that has twists around every corner. At the end it is a story of acceptance and redemption.Short, snappy chapters kept this moving along at a brisk pace! You never knew when another revelation might be dropped in a casual conversation so it was important to pay attention to ALL of the secrets and lies being exposed! Janet and Allan Ahlberg's Happy Families series is full of wonderful and funny books, perfect for children learning to read. This new, bigger, edition means that even younger children can enjoy the stories. Look out for Mr Biff the Boxer, too! The main character is Beth who’s mother walked out on her and her dad at 10. What unfolds is a story of a heinous childhood act, and an unraveling present. You know when Beths mother suddenly appears that something is amok, but how long will it go on before Beth figures it out. The killer will not be the only cold-blooded character that you will encounter. Many of the suspects are unlikable, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story.

The must-have family handbook - accessible, equipping and game-changing' – Anna Mathur, author of Mind Over Mother I have now read all six of Shari Lapena’s novels, and have found them all to be entertaining! If you enjoy domestic suspense and haven’t yet read this author-it’s time to change that!

Catherine Tate as Baba Yaga, Dracula's former captive witch. She is responsible for turning the Wishbone family into monsters. Shortly after Alice arrives Beth begins drinking quite a bit and starts shutting out her friends and neighbors. Alice tries extra hard to be the supportive mother that Beth has always wanted but Beth begins a downward spiral which is affecting all her relationships especially with her own children and also imagines a man following her everywhere and feeling that someone is out to get, her although soon after an unforseen and unbelievable event occurs that shatters Beth world where she may lose her job and also the custody of her children unless she can discover what is causing her life to rapidly fall apart. I don’t mean to dismiss bullying as a serious issue or to play down the horrid nature of what Beth did when she was aged 13. My point is that the author’s hints create certain expectations of ‘a big reveal’ that never actually materialises.