Tiny White Lies – Fiona Palmer

A light, heart-warming easy read.  This is a novel to curl up with over a weekend and just sit back and relax.  Told through the eyes of two friends, Nikki and Ashley with chapters alternating between their recent pasts and the present day, this is a story of family, relationships and friendships.

Both Ashley and Nikki have had their struggles to deal with.  Ashley has recently lost her husband and has just found out her teenage daughter is being bullied online and at school, while Nikki has been keeping a huge secret to herself and worrying about her own teenage children slipping further and further away from her into the world of technology with social media and online gaming.

To escape and recharge the two families decide on a spur of the moment trip to the Western Australian bushland.  A camping retreat at a beautiful coastal getaway with no access to the internet and no phone reception.  I found myself laughing a few times at the teenager’s reactions to this new found hell with no ability to keep up with their snapchat streaks.  I could so easily picture my own teens behaving the exact same way.

There is a cast of likeable characters, including Nikki’s hunky husband Chris and his equally hot cousin Luke, and we start to learn a little more about all of them through evenings around the campfire.  As the days slide by tiny white lies are slowly revealed as their past secrets meander into their current lives.

While it is a light read, it does cover some pretty dark topics, such as suicide, depression, bullying, and issues with body image.  I just wished it could have delved into these topics a little more which I think would have given the overall story more depth. I really loved it when the author highlighted the women’s pasts, I was completely engrossed in what they were both going through.  There really was a lot to enjoy about this book, I just found the holiday chapters a little light on and too easy to skip through, but still a fun weekend read.

Thank you so much to Hachette Australia for the opportunity to read and review this book.