I couldn't get enough of The Happy Family, loved the characterisation, writing, and just everything about it.

Happy Family: The gripping Richard and Judy Book Club Not a Happy Family: The gripping Richard and Judy Book Club

Anuj, the youngest, is the golden boy. His quiet confidence and easy-going nature however, mask other insecurities that rise to the surface. Good thing is that it was easy to read, but a bad thing is that it was too repetitive, so many things that were already said were mentioned again and again... The blurb tells you everything you need to know about the plot, anything I would add would definitely be counted as spoilers which I avoid, and it really does cover the key points and had me intrigued to read at any rate.The Joshi family must delve into the past and examine long-buried secrets if they are truly to help each other and heal as a family. But Cheri is used to chaos in her life, as she has reinvented herself more times than she can count, from the suburban adolescent to the multiple-pierced, blue-haired teenager, from the slightly radical Yale student to the tough-as-nails cop entangled in a relationship with her partner. Part of her restlessness seems innate to her, but she'll admit some of her transformations have simply been ways of angering her adoptive parents—her well-meaning but emotionally distant father and her smothering, insecure mother. She's never really understood why her parents treated her the way they always have, but while she's tried to shrug it off for most of her life, they've affected her more than she cares to admit.

The Happy Family by Jackie Kabler | Waterstones

Throughout the story, THE HAPPY FAMILY is, of course, anything but. But the mystery, the suspense, the tension...oh, it was a car crash moment. We simply couldn't look away. We were baited in the beginning then slowly drawn in and by this stage were well and truly hooked as we witness Beth's slow decline into self doubt and self destruction. The character development is spot on. It reminded me of a Tarryn Fisher novel in this regards, and the slow burn. With this being said, there were other players involved, so don't narrow your focus too much. You never know who could be out to get jerks like this. The must-have family handbook - accessible, equipping and game-changing' – Anna Mathur, author of Mind Over MotherNot a Happy Family is a dysfunctional family whodunit mystery. I'm really digging these plots right now. No, this story isn't very original and reminds me of the movie "Knives Out", but I'm still entertained from start to finish.

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena | Goodreads Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena | Goodreads

There is no padding, no faffy repetition and no added words to make it longer and the adrenaline and almost fainting with palps whilst there is kept to a minimum and it whizzes on getting more and more exciting as it goes However, ( regardless of religion challenges), the beginning of their marriage was with love and lust for each other....until Cici is rushed to the hospital where their first baby dies - and she has an emergency hysterectomy. Every mom wants to create and nurture a happy family. But if your own childhood wasn't so sunny, how do you know what that looks like? And even if you had a blissful upbringing, it's not always easy to define what, exactly, made your family life joyful. Was it the silly games you played on road trips, or the freedom you had to roam in and out of your neighbors' yards? Was it that you had good fortune never to experience a major tragedy, or was it that you had a close-knit clan that pulled together to support one another no matter what? Most of all, how can you make sure that the family you have now will be happy for the long haul? My first cousin was adopted. She is the oldest child of 4 kids. She grew up in Piedmont, Calif. - A Jewish family. Shelley and I are the same age and have been close since little kids with many crazy adventure stories. I know about some of the suffering she went through being the only child - adopted -in my aunt and uncles family ---

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Certain values fall into place naturally; if you're married, you and your husband probably committed to each other in the first place because of values that both of you share. However, Haltzman insists on not simply letting your values evolve on their own, but rather deliberately shaping and naming your core principles. "Defining your values together cannot only reinforce a lot of the qualities that brought you together, but it can also help steer you in times when you feel conflicted," he says. Knowing that you prioritize new experiences, for example, you might decide to pull the kids out of school for a special family trip, while another family who values education over everything else would never consider scheduling a vacation during the school year. 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.