I just could not get into this book sadly, and in the end, I stopped reading it. I found the subject matter difficult to read about, and personally, too close to home. For me the narrative did not flow easily. Sorry.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy.

I really enjoyed this book. It has great main characters who are likeable and a really good story line. Really cleverly written.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

The Augustts are a loving Irish family, with two kids, Jenny and Jacob. Jacob has Autism and is trapped in a silent world. They muddle through until mum Annette has a stroke and Granny has to move in to help while Annette recovers.

The book is narrated in alternative chapters by three main characters: Jenny, Jacob and Annette. Although this is a great idea to get the seriousness of autism and stroke across, I struggled with it. I found it interesting to get in the head of five-year-old Jacob, who cannot speak but has a head full of muddled words trying make sense of the situation. However, when mum Annette narrated during and in the recovery phase of her stroke, it was very hard to know what was going on with a jumble of words - very interesting style of writing and I understand the concept the author was trying to get across for both, but it didn't work for me.

I liked it when Jenny narrated - a young girl trying to be there for her little brother while also not understanding why her mum was in hospital, and trying to cope with Granny running the household.

I think I would have preferred the whole book written from Jenny's point of view, but then the downside of this is we wouldn't have got into the minds of a child with autism or someone who has just had a stroke.

I also found at times the story felt like it wasn't going anywhere. There was a large portion of the book where it felt like we were just waiting for mum to get better, with the rest of the family plodding on.

I tried, I really tried with this book but I just couldn't get into it. I didn't get on with the Child "Jenny's" narration. I'm sure its a lovely book but I didn't finish it.

I loved this book in parts , it was cleverly written and gave you an insight how a major upheaval within a home effects the children, one being autistic the other his very astute sister (her chapters lifted the book). However it’s very sad, sometimes drags a little but is still in places very poignant and well written. The characters are likeable, the granny reminded me of many Irish mums I knew throughout my life and working with autistic children through my career found the authors perspective interesting. This book isn’t for the faint hearted however many chapters made the book well worth a read.

A heart warming, touching story of a traditional Irish family.
I wanted to love this book but I found it a struggle at points. It is a very good debut novel and I will certainly read books by this author in future.

I really enjoyed this book. It has great main characters and a really good story line. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I liked the idea of it but I did struggle at times.

The mother, Annette, suffers a stroke and is hospitalised in Dublin. Their father tries to keep things going but struggled to look after Jenny and her young brother Jacob who has autism and is non-verbal. However their Granny Mae-Anne moves in and takes charge.

The story is mostly narrated by Jenny. The conversations between Jenny, her Da, and her Granny are great. Jenny tells it like it is and as she sees it. She's a lovely character with quite an imagination. She seems older than her years. These bits are funny, poignant, well written. I loved the Irish turn of phrase. I could picture the scene and the conversation. These are the parts I liked. There was also input from the mother Annette and Jacob in the form of what they were thinking. This was where I struggled a bit.

Annette's thoughts are very disjointed and don't always make much sense. I understand this. The character had suffered a devastating stroke and she wasn't able to express herself or do anything for herself and I suppose the mixed up narrative represents this.

Jacob's thoughts were a bit more interesting as he tries to make sense of things. Not only is he autistic, he's also only coming up for 6. In fact he has his 6th birthday in the story. Jenny seems to be good at knowing what he wants or needs.

The granny, Mae-Anne, is a wonderful, strong character. She obviously loves the children and tries to shelter them from what has really happened to their mother. There are some wonderful conversations between her and Jenny, and with Jenny's Da'. At times I laughed out loud.

It took me much longer than usual to read this book so something was missing, or it might have been I was reading it at the wrong time for me. I liked all the characters and generally the writing was good and yet for me, that 'thing' that makes me want to sit up late to finish a book just wasn't there. In fact it was fairly easy to put aside.

I'm giving it 3 (and a bit) stars

As usual I will give nothing of the plot away in my review - plenty of those out there if that's what you are looking for!

I loved this book. The storytelling is first-rate, and there are some fabulous characters. I particularly loved Jenny and Granny, though Jacob, Da and Annette are all well-written too. The story switches between narration by Jenny, Annette and Jacob - and between timelines to some extent. I loved the way Jenny wove stories around her reality, the books she was reading, and her imagined future self. Granny is a "force of nature" and reminds me of someone I've met in real life - a larger than life character!

At times I found it hard to tell what was real and what was imagined - but that's the mark of a good story in my book!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for my honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading this book, but just could not get into at all. The narrative didn’t suit me at all. Granny was by far the strongest character, but even she wasn’t enough to carry the book.
Not for me.

Loved this book. A great easy read with lots of twists and lots to think about.
Makes you think about your own life to and what goes on whats said and what you keep quiet about.
It follows some very strong issues in society, Autism, family life, Illnesses etc.
I laughed I cried every emotion came into reafing this book.

I tried so hard to finish this book. I found it so disjointed, unreadable and unenjoyable that I unfortunately stopped reading it - something that I never do.
Sorry.

I really wanted to like this book. The Augustt family sounded an interesting bunch. Dad is out of work, Jenny is old beyond her years, probably from being brought up with Jacob, her autistic young brother. Mum finds life a struggle & when she has a stroke & is hospitalised for a long time Granny moves in to take care of everyone.

Each chapter of the book is written by alternating characters. Although this does serve to show the strange & wonderful world Jonah inhabits & the confusion Annette feels after her stroke, I found this difficult to adjust to. I would have much preferred the story to have been purely from Jenny's point of view. I did enjoy the character of Granny- although I would have hated living with her!

This was a brave way to write a book. I admire the intent even if I didn't like the book as much as I hoped. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

I find the story difficult to read and several times nearly gave up. The author explores the intricacies of family life – a family bound by love but, each with different and often difficult needs. Granny turns up to help when Mammy suffers an unexpected stroke. The careful balance of their family life is totally exploded and the resulting turmoil is amusing. The author uses most peoples’ idea of a typical Irish family in which to weave her story.

I really wanted to enjoy this s book,but struggled through to the end. The fact that it was from a few different viewpoints wasn’t an issue, it was more the confusion/repetition of words (illustrating the confusion in the mind of the character) affected the flow of the story (which I did actually enjoy.) Heavy going.

I found this book difficult to settle into, but it was worth the effort. The writing style moves between the different characters and it is difficult to describe the way this works without revealing to much and creating spoilers.
Suffice to say it deals with autism, parental illness, grief and loss and life from the voice of a stroke patient.
Set in Ireland, it tells its story from the point of view of each character. It is at times poignant, puzzling, hilarious and sad.
Read it, you won't regret it.

This book is all about the August’s, a complex Irish family. They have a strong bond with each other and the book is told from the prospective of Jenny, a young girl, Jacob her autistic brother who is none verbal and her mother who has had a stroke. Dad is also struggling with unemployment and drinks to much . Step in Grandma!
This book was not an easy read. Some parts were excellent, other parts were far to descriptive and slow moving . It became hard to concentrate on the narrative at times. Did I enjoy the book- yes I did as the storyline was definitely different however I felt the book needed editing. Many people would give up on it which is a shame .
Many thanks to Netgalley, John Murray Press and Eleanor O Reilly for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review

I can only rate this book three stars because it was a very confused story to read but there are a lot of positives I feel. The Irish accent is heard very loud and clear and I loved that. The plot idea is clever and interesting. It’s just that the strands of the story are all complex and end up just too entangled so I couldn’t quite fathom it all out.
A good first book though and I would read another by this author.

M for Mammy sounded like a truly intriguing read.
It covers some pretty important issues, such as Autism and having a stroke.
I was really quite excited to read it, but sadly I found it very hard to follow because of the disjointed nature of the set-out.
I understand the three viewpoints were important, and the thoughts of an autistic child, Jacob, would be all over the place, and again the way we were put in the mother Annette's shoes, who has suffered a stroke, and all the confusion your mind goes through. Then we had Jenny, a young girl who is battling through trying to understand life, her brother and an absent mother.
Three very different ways of thinking, and the premise was really clever. But I just got confused!
I loved Granny and would have liked to know her more.
I wish I could rate more, but it took me so long to read, because I couldn't engage, therefore my rating is as such.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Two Roads and John Murray Press for an arc, in exchange for an honest review.

This debut novel is very different from the books I usually review but I was intrigued by the description. I am very familiar with the stereotypical ‘Irish Mammy' and found great humour in this. The same can be said with the internal thoughts of Jenny, a young girl trying to handle what life is throwing at her. Whilst this, for me was a very emotional read, it is help greatly by Grandma's shenanigans. The only thing which puts me off from giving it a higher rating than ⭐⭐⭐⭐ is the fractured, confusing flow at the start of the book. It took a lot of perseverance to get my head in the game and knuckle down until things smoothed out. It was worth my efforts, but I wouldn’t class it as a quick read, definitely a novel you need to take your time with. Having said that, given the subject matter that may have been the author intent. My thanks to #Netgalley and @JohnMurrays Press for allowing me to review an advanced copy of #MForMammy.