The Lifeguards by Amanda Eyre Ward #bookreview #mystery #womensfiction

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Title: The Lifeguards

Author: Amanda Eyre Ward

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Publication Date: April 5, 2022

Page Count:  333

My rating: 2 stars

About the book:

The bonds between three picture-perfect—but viciously protective—mothers and their close-knit sons are tested during one unforgettable summer in a gripping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters.

Austin’s Zilker Park neighborhood is a wonderland of greenbelt trails, live music, and moms who drink a few too many margaritas. Whitney, Annette, and Liza have grown thick as thieves as they have raised their children together for fifteen years, believing that they can shelter them their children from an increasingly dangerous world. Their friendship is unbreakable—as safe as the neighborhood where they’ve raised their sweet little boys.

Or so they think. 

One night, the three women have been enjoying happy hour when their boys, lifeguards for the summer, come back on bicycles from a late-night dip in their favorite swimming hole. The boys share a secret—news that will shatter the perfect world their mothers have so painstakingly created.  
 
Combining three mothers’ points of view in a powerful narrative tale with commentary from entertaining neighborhood listservs, secret text messages, and police reports, The Lifeguards is both a story about the secrets we tell to protect the ones we love and a riveting novel of suspense filled with half-truths and betrayals, fierce love and complicated friendships, and the loss of innocence on one hot summer night.

The Lifeguards by Amanda Eyre Ward is a women’s fiction novel that dives into a mystery in a tight knit community. The story in The Lifeguards is one that is told by changing the point of view between the different characters to give all sides of the story.

Whitney, Annette, and Liza all live in the neighborhood of Zilker Park in Austin, Texas and have grown close to one another after all their years living in the community. The women have all bonded over motherhood and have raised their sons together so it’s not surprising that when the boys find themselves in a predicament when the body of a young woman is found the mothers all will do anything to keep their boys protected and safe from the investigation.

On paper The Lifeguards by Amanda Eyre Ward is a book that I really should have loved and raved about. In real life however I found myself not really even becoming engaged in this story. The book started off well enough however once the mystery is introduced I thought that the story just kept wandering away and I wanted to dive right in and find out what happened. There were several times I was wanting to just yell at the characters and made them do what I wanted which wasn’t a good sign. when finished I just chalked this one to not my cup of tea.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /   Amazon

About the author:

Amanda Eyre Ward is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels including The Jetsetters, a Reese’s Book Club pick. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her family.

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