This book made me feel so seen!! Highly recommend as a bookclub pick, especially if the club is filled with Moms!
Highly recommend this book!

This book immediately captured my attention. I was interested in the characters that Hooper crafted and the situations they found themselves in. The writing is excellent, and the pacing is perfect. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It made me feel normal as so much of it could have been pulled from my own thoughts. I immediately went looking for more from this author. Thank you for the opportunity to read this advanced copy! Can't wait for the next one!

i don’t want to give away too much of this story, but we follow the povs of 3 women who are struggling in the midst of motherhood whose lives intertwine in the most unpredictable way possible.

i am not a mother and not sure if i ever want to be, so i could not relate to that aspect of this story at all. however, i was still interested in the story. i feel like i have a better understanding of my mom and grandma, and appreciate them more after this.

the pacing of the story was fantastic and the book overall was well written.

Woman on the Verge by Kim Hooper is a raw, intimate portrait of the emotional toll that womanhood, marriage, and motherhood can take and how grief weaves its way into all of it. What starts out feeling like a sharp, relatable read slowly and powerfully unravels into something much deeper. It’s funny, yes, at first but then it’s devastating. It grips your chest and doesn’t let go.

Told through the perspectives of Nicole, Katrina, and Rose—three women across generations—the story explores what it means to unravel, to ache, and to survive. Nicole and Katrina, both mothers of young children, find themselves in marriages that feel suffocating, disconnected, and unrecognizable. Meanwhile, Rose’s POV, shared through diary entries, lends a haunting voice from the past, echoes of resentment, longing, and silent suffering from the 80s, when being a “good” housewife often meant losing yourself completely.

The short chapters and flowing prose made it almost too easy to devour, even as the subject matter was difficult and, at times, painfully relatable. I felt deeply for all three women. Their exhaustion, their yearning, their guilt. Their shame. The quiet desperation of feeling like you should want what you have and the terror of realizing you don’t.

There’s a point where the plot takes a sharp turn, and while it may seem wild on the surface, it lands with an emotional precision that stunned me. The twist made sense because of everything these characters had been through. It didn’t feel out of place, it felt like inevitability finally colliding with choice.

Hooper does a phenomenal job weaving in references to past feminist writings, societal expectations, and even wisdom from Esther Perel, adding richness and texture to the narrative.

Who Should Read It?
-Honest, unflinching depictions of motherhood
-Multi-POV storytelling across generations
-Feminist fiction
-Quiet domestic settings with quietly explosive truths

Final Verdict
This is a story that sees women. All of them. Their rage, their love, their grief, their yearning. Woman on the Verge captures the heavy, invisible weight women are told to carry and the quiet, sometimes catastrophic ways they start to put it down. I felt seen. I felt shaken. And I will absolutely be picking up more of Kim Hooper’s work.

Grateful to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing AND Kim Hooper for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. This book made me feel so seen as someone who is deep in the toddler trenches of motherhood. I related so much to the inner dialogue of Nicole, a stay at home mom struggling with her day to day routine with her two toddlers.

We get a glimpse of three women’s journeys after becoming mothers and soon come to realize they have more in common than we initially think.

As an empath and someone who suffered from PPD I could see why Nicole, Katrina and Rose made the decisions they made or felt certain ways. Although so many women wish to be mothers, there are those that struggle a lot with the identity shift, sacrifices and isolation that often comes along with motherhood and this book shows just that. This is not a book about the joys of motherhood but the inner dialogue of three women who are on the verge of making some very selfish decisions in the result of constantly sacrificing their own mental and physical health after having children.

This book may rub some people wrong if they have issues with adultery or are easily triggered by their own PPD. I encourage readers to push through as this book was not at all predictable, left me absolutely mind blown and the ending will help give you some closure on the decisions that Nicole and Katrina has made and may even turn out to be relatable for you as well.

The audiobook was absolutely amazing for this book and I highly recommend it so you can get the full experience of the plot twist in this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC and to Brilliance Publisher/Audio.

This book had such an interesting premise — three women navigating the messy, complicated realities of motherhood, identity, and desire. I liked that it explored modern motherhood through different timelines and perspectives (Nicole in the present, Katrina caught between impulse and responsibility, and Rose from the ’80s).

There were definitely moments that hit hard — especially the parts about feeling invisible or losing a sense of self in motherhood. The writing was sharp in places and the emotional tension between the characters felt real. I appreciated the honesty around how motherhood isn’t always fulfilling or beautiful — sometimes it’s lonely, frustrating, and heavy.

But I also had complicated feelings about it. I couldn’t fully connect with the characters, especially Katrina’s storyline — some of her choices felt too sudden or unconvincing. And while the twist linking the women was surprising, it also felt a bit too convenient and rushed. I wish the story had gone deeper emotionally instead of relying on shock value.

So overall: I think a lot of people will enjoy this one, especially if they like books that explore womanhood and societal expectations. But for me, it was just an okay-ish read — interesting but didn’t fully land.

The first time this year, my pen may have rank out of ink because of the absurd amount of paragraphs I was highlighting. The beginning of the book till the half way point was so captivating and engrossing, I could not put the book down. The plot twist of the two characters was truly shocking and I found myself audibly gasping. The pacing of the middle to the end was a bit slower, but I enjoyed the more detailed insight into Nicole's life. Nicole herself was such a fleshed out character and her inner-monologues and conflicts seem to mirror those of new moms who have entered the uncharted territory of motherhood. I loved the strings of nuances about maternal identity and ambivalent motherhood. I also enjoyed the critiques on escapism and death, some of the lines regarding these topics were truly beautiful and extremely well worded. I truly thought that this was going to be the first 5 star read of the year for me until I read the ending. <spoiler>I want to critique the author's potrayal of Nicole's delusion towards the ending, firstly there was only one piece of evidence (hotel keycard) which pointed at her delusion, so it didn't full make sense to paint her as a character suffering from an identity disorder. Personally, I don't think that this should have even been the direction the book should have gone in, given the 300+ pages focused on subverting the traditional notions of motherhood and the female identity, the fact that the protagonist walked right into the very thing she was trying to challenge is not great. This somehow painted the picture that if you're not enjoying motherhood, you might be crazy—a narrative the book was clearly trying to subvert. Moreover, the story was messy, and it should have stayed that way. I would have much preferred to see everything fall apart when Nicole confessed to the affair—whether she left with Elijah, completely abandoned everything like her mother, or did something entirely unexpected—rather than having an ending that was neatly tied up with a bow.</spoiler> Overall I really liked this novel and would have given it 5 stars if it weren't for the ending.

Wow. After finishing I went back and read some reviews and was SHOCKED by the amount of people upset at the twist. Any mother, regardless of partner, will resonate with at least some of this book. The main character may seem like a Debbie downer or whiny but if you think that you’ve never been there. I think the author did a fantastic job of tackling this subject. The line about on the verge of insanity or bliss cut me to my core. Everything with our main characters mother really set the scene. However, I wanted more of that as well.

As someone who already has an irrational fear of prion disease, the plot line with her father was upsetting on all levels. I love seeing different portrayals on grief in literature and Woman on the Verge satisfied that craving. It is raw, it is unflinching and it is unapologetic. I’ve already recommended it to all of my favorite mothers.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Wow... I loved this book. This is right on time for women. For all women. Mothers, and those without children. We all relate. Highly recommend!!

Woman on the Verge by Kim Hooper

I've never had kids but I can see that you must have a sense of humor to survive parenthood. Nicole's two little girls made me laugh so hard as they picked up on every single thing she didn't want them to hear and then would proceed to YELL the word in public, over and over. And kids sure are gross but I enjoyed reading about them from my safe spot on the other side of my Kindle.

At the same time, I could feel Nicole's frustration at thinking she was going to succeed at having a career she enjoyed while also co-parenting her two daughters with her husband. She was getting it done even if her husband did his co-parenting in a very oblivious, "huh? you didn't tell me to do that" manner, as if the only time he needed to do anything was if he was told to do it. A very teenager method of fatherhood, it seems.

Then Nicole loses her job and her husband is very happy to have a stay at home wife who can do all the chores and parenting (no more childcare costs!) while he continues on his merry way living life the same as always, nary a (child)care in the world or concern that his wife is imploding while trying to get her husband to understand just how incredibly unhappy she is with the arrangement and how much she is beginning to hate her husband.

Then things change again, Nicole's father, so very far away, is dying. Nicole gets to shed parental responsibilities while traveling back and forth to be with her father and she finds that she thrives on a new experience that she gets to experience every time she visits her father. The story explores how women can love their children but want to be away from them, may wish they could be away from them most of the time, maybe always?

There are three other women we hear from in this story and their views will give us an even wider POV. To say there are twists and turns in this book would be understating things. I came away from the story realizing how important it is to listen to mothers (and fathers). Not only do not all parents excel at parenting, some may need to be able to tell the truth about how they feel about being a parent. These women come together at some point and we can see a much clearer picture of the realities of motherhood.

I was able to read this book with DeAnn and Jayme and there is so much to discuss. At the last minute, I was also able to download the audiobook as a KU audiobook selection and the audiobook is a special experience due to things about the story. Reading or listening, both ways are a good way to experience the story.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. I adored this book and it’s an extremely relatable read for any woman and any mother. A lustful affair, caretaking parents, a woman’s duties of being a mom, wanting to work, being a wife, and managing it all. As everything unfolded I started to make connections on how the plot may unfold. This is a book I could get lost in again and again.

Thank you @amazonpublishing and @kimhooperwrites for the free arc 💖.

🗓️Out tomorrow! 7/1/25

✨What it is about:
The novel explores the pressures and complexities of modern motherhood through the lives of three women: Nicole, Katrina, and Rose. ✨

💭My thoughts:
This is my first ARC as part of the Amazon Publishing Creator Program, and it was a super interesting read. It’s an emotionally honest look at what it really means to be a mother today, and what often gets lost in the process.
The story follows the messy, complicated lives of three very different women who are each, in their own way, struggling to hold onto a sense of self while juggling the overwhelming expectations of motherhood, marriage, and identity.
As a mother myself, I could relate to several moments in their lives, especially those early on, when everything feels like it’s changing all at once.
As mothers, we often give to everyone but ourselves. We’re exhausted, sometimes disconnected, and at times it even feels like we—the person we used to be—are disappearing. On the surface, we may seem like we’ve got it all together. But inside, there’s often a quiet restlessness. We try to do what’s expected, caught in the tension between being a “good mother” and simply being happy. We constantly question whether we’re doing enough, or the best we can.
Through the lives of these women, the novel highlights just how real and ongoing that struggle is: trying to be a whole person and a mother.
It was an engaging and insightful read, and though the ending definitely threw me for a loop, I really enjoyed this one.

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
👩🏻‍🍼Character driven stories
👩🏻‍🍼Modern motherhood/parenting
👩🏻‍🍼Complex + flawed women characters
👩🏻‍🍼Multiple POVs
👩🏻‍🍼Unexpected endings

⚠️CW: Infidelity, parent with a terminal illness, death of a parent, abandonment, sexual content.

Kim Hooper has been one of my favorite authors since I read "People Who Knew Me" in 2017. I was so excited to get my hands on an early copy of Woman on the Verge and I could not put it down from start to finish. I had some struggles with this as it is very centered around the challenges of motherhood, which is not something I can relate to as a single woman, however, Hooper's writing is as beautiful as ever and the story kept me hooked.