You'd do anything to protect your baby But how far would you go for a friend?
Alison was expecting a lot of things about pregnancy: the morning sickness, the bloating, the total lack of any clothes that fit. But what she didn't expect was the loneliness. Having recently moved to the suburbs, with a husband who is working all hours to make ends meet, she finds herself increasingly isolated.
So she is delighted when she meets Rebecca, whose baby is due on the same day. Bonded by their shared experiences, the two women hit if off immediately. As they grow closer, Alison is certain she has a made a friend for life, someone with whom she can share all the highs and lows of motherhood.
But when their due date comes and goes, Alison hears nothing for weeks. Maybe Rebecca is just caught up in the chaos of a newborn, but what if something's wrong? Alison is relieved, then, when she tracks her down and finds Rebecca safe and well. But relief turns to shock when her new friend denies ever meeting her... or ever having been pregnant at all.
I am a writer and a bookworm. I studied Performing Arts at the BRIT School. It turned out I wasn’t very good at acting but quite liked writing scripts. I went on to take a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Drama. I later won a full scholarship for an MA in Journalism.
So a book in part about expecting a child but not as you think Imagine being heavily pregnant and meeting someone in the park at almost the same stage as you are, you bond, become massive friends quickly and you have your baby…you are then ghosted and when you track down your friend she isen’t pregnant anymore and refuses to acknowledge she ever knew you or was due to have a baby And nope, if like me you think you know why then very swiftly ( and I loved the author doing this ) you find out you are mistaken and from there the plot you thought could be thin actually becomes very thick There is a lot to come to light and an onion of in story stories that make up a good satisfying read that I ended up finishing with a grimace ( a good grimace as it’s a good ending�..but scary! )
Jesus, this is one weird book. When you think it can’t get weirder Mackay finds a way to make it even more odd. This book is a slow burn, onion layered-esc type of book. You really have to invest in the plot to fully understand the events at the end.
The book follows Ali, a new mum for the first time who meets Rebecca who is also pregnant in a park. They both share the same due date, and both of them hit it off, striking a new friendship. Ali gives birth to her child, Charlie and doesn’t hear anything from Rebecca. Weeks go by with no contact, left on read, until one day Ali bumps into Rebecca. She has no recollection of her, and doesn’t know who she is. It’s a strange concept of a book, but it goes much deeper into this and like anyone could have guess - there’s a whole backstory to this. I just wasn’t expecting how the plot is played out.
I have questions for the character and how they are so willing to believe one another without finding the truth themselves, and the most frustrating thing is that the answer was done through a simple phone call in a matter of seconds. I hated how weird the ending got, it was almost like every page was a chapter and flicking back and forth between dates and different perspectives. I found the reasoning behind this frankly really bizarre. I’ve got mixed feelings about this book. My curiosity peaked when I started reading but it went south half way through. I wouldn’t recommend this book in all honesty.
When Ali meets Rebecca who incidentally is pregnant, they are both due on the same date, they feel instantly connected. Ali is feeling vulnerable after being betrayed by a friend and is hoping Rebecca and her will be able to bond together over their new babies.
After Ali gives birth she is worried as she hasn't heard from Rebecca in weeks. But when she tracks her down all is not what it seems!!!
I loved this book, I knew from the 1st page I was going to be hooked and boy I was!!
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
I was completely absorbed by this book for about 70% and then it lost all credibility. What a disappointment when I was sure it was going to be at least a four star review now to be struggling between two and three. There are twists you would never guess ( well at least I didn’t ) but that’s more because they are so unbelievable. Some interesting characters so not a total waste of a read but just not for me.
I just wasn’t drawn into the story - the FMC’s tone was quite pitiful and I found myself scrolling through the reviews just to find out how the story ends because I didn’t want to continue with it 😬
Fantastically dark with an unsettling feeling that builds and builds. A expectant mother, vulnerable and lacking friends, meets another lady who has the same due date as her, as though it’s meant to be. They strike up a friendship and become close fast but when the first of the babies is born, suddenly the other mother disappears into thin air to reappear denying all knowledge of who her new friend is or ever having met her. The descriptions of being a new, sleep deprived mother desperate for company and acceptance are spot on plus the vulnerabilities of mental health, sleep deprivation and finding your new self are sublime and the sinister aspect draws on this brilliantly. The added threads of past lives and how our actions and friendships from teenage years can deeply affect your adult existence are perfect and terrifying simultaneously. A really good, edge of your seat psychological thriller and I loved the ending. Definitely recommend.
The beginning of the book had me intrigued but, as the plot started to unfold I found myself rolling my eyes. The book had so much potential but, it became so repetitive and the ending fell flat for me.
Felt like the story jumped at parts but it did hold my attention until I started to get a bit bored towards the end. It might of been me being distracted though but I felt I was just reading the end to get finished.
A thriller with pregnancy and early motherhood themes, it was very relatable and a realistic recount of the early days. Full of twists and turns, which I didn't guess. This is a new author for me and fantastic find. I'll definitely read more by her in the future.
Alison and Dan are expecting their first child and are looking forward to becoming a family but, having not long moved house and with Dan working long hours, Ali finds herself missing having friends around her. Then she meets Rebecca, a successful barrister who is also pregnant and due the same date as Ali, they immediately form a friendship and start spending time together. Ali's baby arrives early and Rebecca is over the moon for her but, as the due date for Rebecca's baby passes, Ali's messages to her go unanswered and she starts to worry that something has happened. When she finally manages to track her down Rebecca is no longer pregnant, denies ever being pregnant and claims she's never met Ali before, but she's certain her new friend is hiding something and Alison is determined to find out what it is.
The Due Date is told from the perspectives of the main characters and across various timelines. It's a fast paced domestic thriller with an intriguing plot that draws you in right from the start and develops many twists along the way, the story is, at times, complex and one you have to concentrate on with the differing timelines, to avoid confusion. The drama centres mainly around Ali and Rebecca, with another yet unknown character slowly coming into the story and we learn more about them further down the line. Mackay is a new author for me but she certainly knows how to weave a tale which kept me guessing throughout and I devoured this book in a matter of hours, I will definitely be looking out for more of her work in the future.
I'd like to thank Headline and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on ŷ now and Amazon on publication day.
First off, what an interesting premise for a book! I had this in my TBR for quite some time before actually reading what it was about and that's what pushed me to finally read. I would like to say that Ali and her family are so relatable, sometimes it's hard to connect with characters who seem to be just that but Ali is a complicated character (in a good way) her inner monologues are often full of insecurities and worries/anxieties I've had or felt myself. Rebecca remains quite mysterious basically right up until the last page of the novel, I was often questioning her "How could she? WHY would she." based of what little we know of her, her choices seemed so...unintelligent but then later made SOME sense.
I was LOCKED IN to this book for about 70-80 percent of the read, but the closer we got to completing the plot, the more it seemed to crumble. I really liked this book until the end. It just seemed unrealistic in some parts and believability was waning for me. I felt the end seemed rather rushed and hasty and it didn't tie up everything as I'd hoped.
Overall I enjoyed it and don't regret reading. I would be open to reading more from Niki. :)
I am sure someone, somewhere liked this book. I did not. I wanted to. I wanted it to become better. First of all, Ali was in no way realistic. And the random Izzy and Max reference added no value at all to the story. The Rebecca and Maddie situation made no actual sense and again was in no way believable. The epilogue was just absolutely lousy and I felt like it was so lazy to end the book and be like "Oh Rebecca is a mastermind."
"The Due Date" is a twisted tale of friendship, loneliness, and betrayal and reveals the lengths a troubled mind will go to protect this idea of friendship. The story begins with Ali, a lonely pregnant woman who runs into a fellow mom-to-be named Rebecca and discovers their babies are due on the same day. They instantly bond and are on the road to becoming fast friends. Soon after Ali gives birth to her little one, she tries to get in contact with Rebecca only to find her unreachable. When a worried Ali ultimately shows up at Rebecca's home, a no longer expecting Rebecca acts like they are strangers and claims to have never even been pregnant. Is this a consequence of lies, delusion...? Or perhaps more forces are at play than anyone could imagine?
This was such a gripping read and I enjoyed every bit of it! The chapters were brief and engaging, making the novel so hard to put down. I found the unmistakable parallels between Ali's and Rebecca's past intriguing. With their broken friendships and failed relationships, it's no wonder the two women feel so connected to each other. Additionally, I respected how the narrative honestly portrays the unglamorous and sometimes daunting sides of pregnancy, childbirth, and of course motherhood. As Ali's perspective so clearly depicts, motherhood can't always be sunshine and roses, but it does help to have a good support system. Ali considered Rebecca as a part of this support system. Having no close friends of her own, she viewed Rebecca as someone she could unload all her fears about motherhood to without being judged. This is why Ali latches on so strongly to their friendship and becomes slightly obsessive once she fears she's lost it.
While there's not much more I can say regarding the plot without spoiling everything, I will say it kept me on my toes! When the twists are eventually revealed, it takes the story in a whole new direction that I was not at all expecting. And just when I thought all secrets had been exposed, the novel unveiled one final sinister surprise that left me reeling.
The concept of this was good, I was really gripped from the beginning and at no point in this book did I want to stop reading - I needed to know what happened. However, I felt like it dragged on a little. The last 20% was really good but even that dragged. I think this book would have been better if the chapters from the other characters were more dispersed throughout the book and not just in the last 30%. I think, even if they were kept anonymous until the end, it would have worked better as the suspense would have been kept up throughout the book. Unfortunately it felt like the author was trying to hard to explain everything which at points made me think ‘I actually don’t care about this at all� which is a shame because I did enjoy it to begin with.
3⭐️ The Due Date is a domestic thriller focused on heavily pregnant Alison, who meets equally as heavily pregnant Rebecca and they become firm friends due to their shared situation. The novel explored a number of important topics including a mother not bonding with her newborn; which is such an important situation to be visible in mainstream fiction. This was a solid 5* read, until the last third, when the plot and characters deteriorated into chaos. The characters motives were childish and unbelievable, and reduced the overall plot to a farce. There were other plot points that were abandoned. As a reader, it felt as though the author knew how they wanted the story to end, but hadn’t planned the middle, resulting in a little bit of a mess.
The premise of this book seemed so interesting. Very strange in an intriguing sort of way and it was, for a little over half of the book. Ali's actions were a little out there, especially for how short of a time she knew Rebecca, but it left me curious. Then, a little over halfway through, we got random flashbacks and side stories that didn't really matter and a random POV out of nowhere, and this book just went off the rails and stopped making sense. Went from a 4 star to a 2 real quick.
This book had me constantly guessing at everything. What was Rebecca’s secret and why was she lying to Ali. At the same time as wondering if Ali could have gotten it all wrong and Rebecca wasn’t who she thought she was.
Ali is heavily pregnant when she meets Rebecca one day, Rebecca is also pregnant and due at the same time. They strike up a friendship, of which Ali is heavily invested in. Then Rebecca goes cold and disappears, she denies ever knowing Ali and there’s no sign of a baby or partner.
Truthfully I imagined all sorts and I’m pleased to say that I never worked it out, who actually could! It was slightly bizarre in the end. A very twisted tale with some very twisted conniving people involved.
I really enjoyed it and flew through it as it was so easy to read. Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for the ARC in return for an honest review.
2.5 stars. I was gripped by this early on, but then when it got to part 3, for me personally it just seemed to fall apart. The reasons for the entire plot of the book just seemed a bit nonsensical to me and let the whole book down.
Found it so repetitive up until the second half, started to be intrigued and liked it but the last few chapters ruined it. It over explained the plot far too much and the background stories didn’t really contribute anything. Last chapter made me cringe
3.5 ⭐️�.I enjoyed about the first half of this book. I like both characters and got into the story and mystery. After that it felt like the book that would never end. The third character was introduced in a way that felt choppy. Characters can be brought into a story late, but it just didn’t seem to work in this one. And then it seemed to take forever before we got to the bottom of it. Just wasn’t one of my favorites!
4.5 stars ⭐️ woah, I flew through this book! I listened to it mostly, and I couldn’t stop! It has Freida M (housemaid author) vibes, and with short chapters and lots of twists, it’s one you don’t want to miss.
I have a few questions left that I wish she had answered, which is why it isn’t a 5 star for me.
This book had so much promise, but I found it implausibly twisty and difficult to follow. Unfortunately, it made it rather predictable as you knew that, given a ridiculous scenario, the more ridiculous would be the path taken.
I did enjoy the story, but it could have been better. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.
3.5 stars This started out so well, but then 2/3 through went downhill with a big historical back story which to me was really irrelevant and weird. Shame
This had me guessing early on what was going to happen. However, I did get confused slightly going back and forth with the timelines and I found myself rereading parts so I understood what was happening correctly in the story which is why I have given it four stars.
The chapters were short, which I liked and were just enough to keep me wanting a little more of the story. This would make good drama television.
Highly recommend if you enjoy a twisty psychological thriller.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of the is ebook in exchange for my honest review.
What I loved about the due date was the fact it was quite a unique thriller, in some thrillers I find the balance between the back story and the excitement, twists and turns of the story aren’t always equal, however with the due date I think the reader was given a good amount of both, you had all the fun and excitement of a thriller plus a really good and different story line.
Ali is pregnant with her first child, one day she is sitting alone in the park where she is approached by Rebecca who also happens to be pregnant. As the two women talk a friendship is immediately formed and soon both women realise their babies are due on the exact same days.
Ali and Rebecca meet up a few times more and it looks like a solid friendship is formed, for the first time in both their lives Ali and Rebecca both feel they’ve made a good friend who truly understands them. Ali gives birth before Rebecca and shared photos of baby Charlie, not long after Rebecca has her baby, then to Ali’s shock she hears nothing from Rebecca.
Dan (Ali’s husband) tries to convince her that everything is fine and that Rebecca may simply have been kept in hospital for a few days, but as time passes Ali becomes concerned about her friend and does some investigating of her own. When Ali turns up on Rebecca’s door step she is shocked when Rebecca claims not to know her and denies the fact she was ever pregnant.
Confused and hurt Ali is determined to get to the bottom of what is going on with Rebecca so she follows her and learns various things about her mysterious friends life, however when the truth is uncovered Ali is shocked by what she finds and begins to wish that she hadn’t got involved with Rebecca at all.
Pretty soon on in this book I thought I knew exactly where this storyline was going, but I was completely wrong (which I love as I find it makes a much more exciting read) never in my wildest dreams did I think this book was going to go off in the direction that it did. If it wasn’t for work I think I could have easily sat and read this book in one sitting.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review. This was my first book by Niki Mackay and I doubt very much this will be my last, I can’t wait to see what else she has to offer her readers.