The Happy Family Review | Jackie Kabler

The synopsis felt this could be a cliché read, following the pattern of a lot of psychological thrillers. Although in places it was predictable, I enjoyed this: it kept me gripped and threw enough curveballs that it didn’t fall into the typical patterns. Here’s my review on The Happy Family.

Publisher: HarperCollins UK / One More Chapter | Date: 2021 | Genre: Thriller

Plot: A mother who disappeared…
When Beth was 10 years old, her beautiful, wild mother Alice walked out and never came back. Beth’s life since hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but now she is happy and settled, with a successful career, a loving family and a beautiful home.

An unexpected visitor…
Then one day there’s a knock at the door. Alice has returned. Overjoyed to have the chance to rebuild their relationship, Beth invites her mother to move in.

A life that comes crashing down…
At first, everything seems wonderful. But then Beth’s friends begin to drift away, strange things start to happen at home, and rumours begin to circle about her past. As the mysterious events around Beth become darker and more dangerous, she is forced to question everything. Is somebody in her life trying to destroy her happiness? And how far will they go?

I received She Who Became The Sun from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Happy Family Review

A past secret that could ruin you. A missing person suddenly coming back into your life. And your hard-won life starting to unravel before your eyes. It’s not a new story. But The Happy Family had interesting characters that you could root for and a few surprises along the way.

Characters

We follow Beth, a single mother of two with a history she tries not to dwell on. Her mother left when she was ten, and Beth has a secret… the kind of dark cliché secret hyped up to the point where the reveal makes you go ‘oh’ rather than ‘oh!’.

Beth is likeable enough. She cares for her friends and will do anything for her children. She’s nice. Nothing too fiery or untoward about Beth. As protagonists go, she’s okay. She’s naïve, and both too trusting and ready to accept the worst about people at the same time.

Her blind acceptance of other characters was a little irritating, especially when she cuts herself off from her friends and doesn’t think to question things. Her saving grace is her development, and I like how she handles both herself and events towards the end.

There’s a lot of secondary characters: Beth’s children, her ex, her friends, and those returning from her past. You never get to know them (which works with the story), but they deserve a better friend in Beth.

I need to know if she knows, or I’m going to drive myself mad. I need to find out, somehow, and I need to do it fast, because I can’t go on like this. I can’t.

The Happy Family by Jackie Kabler

Plot

As mentioned, the plot borders on cliché. We’ve seen a lot of these stories with the past coming back to haunt characters. It’s been done. It did, however, take a direction I wasn’t expecting and avoided some of the pitfalls I was anticipating.

The final third of the book was a lot stronger – due to the plot veering away from predictability. It threw in a few twists and upped the stakes. It stopped the book from falling flat, and gave me that moment of realising I didn’t want to put it down.

Writing

The writing is solid. It doesn’t make your heart race, but it presents a well-crafted story that keeps the reader engaged throughout. The pacing is slow and the middle of the book felt it was going through the motions. The characters needed more depth (and less naivety) to really jump off the page. Both of these elements, however, helped support the type of story it was: you didn’t know the characters to be able to trust them. It worked.

Final Thoughts

The Happy Family is a tricky review. For the majority of the book, I thought it was cliché and predictable. Until I realised I was gripped and hadn’t foreseen a lot of the twists. It was also a fairly quick read which helped it hold my attention. I recommend this!

Are you into thrillers that keep you guessing? Is this your sort of book?

You may also like:

• Book Review: The Girl You Gave Away by Jess Ryder
• Book Review: Someone Like Me by M.R Carey

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