I received a copy of The Good Mother by Karen Osman from Net Gallery, free, in exchange for an honest review
Catherine is a good mother and a good wife who keeps her house very clean
She starts writing to Michael, a prisoner who is accused of murder
Karen is very busy with her children and Allison has flown her safe nest looking for something more
The stories of these 3 women merge and you won’t believe what happens
I loved this book
Should be a big best seller

If Amy had to describe her life in one word, it would be 'perfect.' Her marriage, her home, twin daughters. She feels certain she's the envy of her close-knit circle of friends. Everything was just as she wished it to be—until that shameless woman moved into town and had the audacity to allow her to play soccer on their soccer team. And now her daughter wanted to be friends with that woman's child? Amy decided right then and there that Charlotte had to go... one way or another.

Charlotte is a photographer, forced to raise her daughter alone after a terrible mistake in judgement stole the little girl's father away from them. Returning to her hometown was the last thing she wanted to do, but she had nowhere else to go. Everything would be fine. Or so she thought until Amy tries to rally her soccer-mom friends to help drive Charlotte out of town. When Amy's single-minded mission to get rid of her go from being a mere annoyance to overtly threatening, Charlotte begins to fear how far Amy is willing to go in order to get it done.

The Good Mother was the antithesis of the last book I read—it was SO good! I wish I'd been able to read it from start to finish in one sitting, but the time to do so was a luxury I didn't have. Instead, I read as much as I possibly could whenever I had a chance to get some reading done, and moaned and groaned more than usual whenever I was forced to stop.

Most of the adult characters in this book aren't very likable, with the exception of Charlotte. I felt so badly for her, being so ostracized practically from the moment she steps foot into town. Amy took one look at the way she dressed, the way she carried herself, made a snap judgement about what sort of woman Charlotte "had" to be, and proceeded to make her life a living hell. It infuriated me, and I wanted so badly to leap into the book and smack Amy upside the head and tell her to leave that poor woman alone!

There was a pivotal event in Amy's childhood that shaped the woman she was to become—and tied directly into why she was so outraged by Charlotte's appearance. The fallout from that terrible event drove everything she did from the moment she met Charlotte, as well as being the reason why she did everything in her life. There were times I felt sympathy for her, only to have it disappear when she did the next vindictive thing.

There's a subplot that contributes to the overall story, and it's something all the major characters are aware of, though each of them react to it in vastly different ways. I won't get into what it's about, since it isn't mentioned in the book description. It does tie in to another crucial event in the story in a way that took me by surprise. It perfectly illustrated the mindset of a certain character at that moment in time, adding a greater sense of trepidation to the reader moving forward. I was definitely reading with bated breath from that moment on!

I had an idea of how the story might end, and I'm glad it didn't end that way because it was something I considered for more than half the book. The way Grant chose to wrap it up wasn't at all what I suspected, but it was still very satisfying. Hooray for unpredictability!

This is my first book by Cathryn Grant, but it won't be my last. This was a great introduction to a new-to-me author.

I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of Inkubator Books via Netgalley.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC. This book was one that I read so quickly . I enjoyed the various viewpoints from the main characters perspectives (Amy, Charlotte, and Rachel). The book describes any suburban town where the mothers are very involved in their children's lives through PTA, soccer. There is much competition to display a perfect life but no one truly knows what goes on behind closed doors. Kinda reminded me of Big LIttle Lies in that sense. The character of Amy was a bit over the top but overall a good read that I would definitely recommend. Don't want to give specifics to give away any spoilers. Just read it!

I thought that this was a well written domestic thriller.

I liked the way that the author told the story from the points of view of the three main female characters, Amy, Rachel and Charlotte – this has to be my favourite style at the moment and I thought that the author did a great job with this, the pace was slow and it crept along really well to build up the suspense and the writing style was spot on!

The author has created some great complex characters that show that for what people portray on the surface there is often a lot going on under the surface and behind the scenes – do you really know what is going on in the lives of friends and neighbours too – this book gives you food for thought

It is 4 stars from me for this one – I really enjoyed the suspense and seeing the different plot lines come together and the different characters start to unravel too

This book sounded like it was going to be a good read but I found the characters to be unlikable and I didn't finish it. Sorry this one isn't for me

BOOK REVIEW⠀
BOOK: The Good Mother
AUTHOR: Cathryn Grant
@cathryngrant_fiction

At first this book feels to me like one mom being catty about another mom, almost irrationally. But it’s so much more. It’s the effect of trauma on your life, and the importance (ultimately) of dealing with it and healing.

This book was such a good ride. There were parts I felt myself skimming just because it seemed like the same conversation. But in the end, the payoff was good and I felt satisfied with the outcome. Definitely recommend!


Short Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Amy’s life is picture perfect. Mess with that picture – you’re going to pay.

Amy’s life is close to perfect – two lovely daughters, a wonderful husband and she’s queen bee in her circle of soccer moms. She feels content, like she’s finally put some distance between herself and the terrible events of long ago.

The only fly in the ointment is Charlotte, a recent arrival to this affluent suburban community. The shameless way she dresses, the way the men look at her… it’s not right, she’s just not the kind of person they want around here.

Amy spearheads a drive to exclude Charlotte, to make it clear to her that she’s not welcome here. Infuriatingly, Charlotte doesn’t seem to care… And when her daughter joins the soccer team there’s just no getting away from her.

But Amy knows from bitter experience the kind of trouble a woman like Charlotte can bring. And there is no way on earth that her girls are ever going to be exposed to anything like that. The solution is clear - Charlotte has to go. No matter what it takes.


I received this book for review purposes from NetGalley. ⠀
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I read the synopsis for 'The Good Mother' and it certainly sounded like just my kind of read. I love psychological thrillers that have a surprise or two within the pages of the book. So I grabbed a cup of tea, secured my comfy spot on the couch and started to read. Oh my word, 'The Good Mother' was certainly a read and a half, which I did enjoy but more about that in a bit.
I can honestly say that I didn't take to the character of Amy at all and by the end of the book I literally couldn't stand her. Amy is a bit of a complex character. She suffered significant trauma as a child having witnessed her mother being raped by a stranger. I also get the impression that Amy's parents didn't have the easiest of relationships and they could be quite volatile. I wasn't too surprised when Amy's mother took her own life. It's not surprising that Amy has issues and I did wonder if she was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Amy strives for perfection and her adult life seems perfect. She has the husband, the kids, the money and the house. Amy is also popular with the other mothers. In fact Amy and the other mothers reminded me of witches round a cauldron in a sense. They are a tight bunch and they are rather snooty and judgemental of those who don't fit in. However the atmosphere changes for the worst once Charlotte and her daughter Meadow turn up. My first impression of Charlotte was that she was fleeing something and she wanted to make a fresh start. Charlotte is 'different' to Amy and the other mothers. She wears different clothes, she has different ideas and she has different attitudes to bring up her child. I think that Amy perceives Charlotte to be a threat to her 'perfect' life for reasons which are initially unclear. Amy is determined to make sure that Charlotte 'goes away' and I don't think she cares how she does it. She sees Charlotte as trouble an she needs to be dealt with. What happens? Well for the answers to that question and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
It took me no time at all to get into this book. In fact the book seemed to develop a hold over me from the moment I picked it up until the moment I finished reading. I realised that Amy was a complex character and I was interested in how her character was going to develop as the story unfurled. The pages turned increasingly quickly as my desperation to find out what happened steadily grew and grew. At one point the pages were turning that quickly that it was almost as if they were turning themselves. I seemed to reach the end of the story far quicker than I had wanted to, which I was disappointed about. That's disappointed in myself for reading it so quickly and not disappointed in the quality of the writing or the story.
'The Good Mother' is extremely well written. The story begins in a way that is going to stay fresh in my mind for a long time to come. Cathryn describes what initially happens in a brutally honest way. Cathryn grabbed my attention from the start and then she kept it throughout the story. The book is written from the points of view of the different mothers. This way of telling the story gives a real insight into their individual mindsets and helps to explain why they are the way they are. I did wonder if I would get confused by the different chapters but I needn't have worried because this way of telling the story worked well and the story flowed seamlessly as a result. Cathryn has created multi layered and complex characters that seemed as real as you and I. The author uses such powerful and vivid descriptions that I really did feel as though I was part of the story myself.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Good Mother' and I would recommend it to other readers. Just a word of caution though, the matter of rape is discussed in quite graphic detail which might be distressing for certain people. I will definitely be reading more of Cathryn's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

I was drawn to this book because of the cover. And for me the cover is the best part. I have never read a book before with a cast of characters that are completely unlikable. I wanted to love Charlotte but I ended up wanting to shake her. Many will enjoy this book, unfortunately I didn't.

This book is about a woman named Amy. Amy is married and has twin daughters. She has her own group of friends in her town. All their children play on the same soccer team so they are pretty close friends. When Amy sees a new comer in the town she isn't happy. She doesn't like how the woman dresses and how she acts. As time goes on they have their run ins with each other. Amy isn't happy and she makes sure the new comer knows she isn't happy. Amy will do anything to protect her family.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. The book starts out with vivid details of a rape and the victims daughter, Amy, watching. As an adult, Amy has alot of issues including disliking a new woman who moves into the community. I really loved all the twists and was ready to give it 5 stars but was disappointed in the ending.

I enjoyed this book and weirdly the fact that I didn’t really like the characters helped.

The premise makes it stand out as I’ve never read a book from the point of view of the daughter of a rape victim.

Good solid read.

Very interesting and my favourite genre too! Although I'm reading Cathryn Grant for the first time, I'm definitely going to be looking out for her in future too! Recommend to all fans of psychological thriller genre.

I really enjoyed this book! The writing was great, the characters were interesting, and the twist ending was fantastic. I do have to say, I don't think that I would label this book as a psychological thriller. I think domestic drama is a better fit, but holy moly was that ending a thrill! This was my first read of 2020 and it did not disappoint. I would definitely recommend this book to others, and I'm very interested to read more from this author.

It was a very insightful novel, with a strong cast of characters. I enjoyed the story line very much and would definitely recommend this book.

This is the story of three friends- Charlotte, Amy and Rachel. Amy and Rachel have been friends for a while and Charlotte is new to the area. The story is told from the POV of all three characters.

Some of the characters were unlikeable but that just made me want to know more about them. The first half of the book was slow with not much happening. The pace picked up in the second book.
The book had suspense but there weren’t any real twists and turns. The ending of the book was satisfying.
An enjoyable read.

Trigger warnings- rape mentioned often.

Intriguing synopsis. That’s where the interest stopped for me. The actual story didn’t flow for me. There wasn’t anything that made it shocking.

I was hoping for a little more from this story after reading the synopsis. The characters were not likeable at all and I was hoping for a better ending. Thank you for my copy netgalley.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like the blurb made it sound more interesting that it actually was. I can’t say a whole lot about why I disliked the book without giving away the plot. But I can say that all the characters were unlikeable and the story line just fell flat for me. I expected one thing and got something completely different.

Having loved the Good Neighbor, I settled down with glee to devour this new suburban mother’s nightmare. Full of gossip, snippiness, and their holier than thou attitudes, I didn’t know whether to love or hate these four women. Perhaps a little of each as the story develops into a strong domestic thriller where I suddenly pictured Good Little Lies. Laughing and enthralled. Going to make a great TV series for the lucky network who snags it.

I quite liked this domestic drama with a dash of thriller. I felt like a voyeur trying to soak up the gossip in the neighborhood.

4 ladies who were kind of best friends + a newcomer + strange murder and rape happening in the neighborhood + irrational fear due to a childhood event = made this a potboiler of a drama where Amy was in the eye of the cyclone. Rachel was her best friend. Charlotte, the newcomer, was the brunt of Amy's viciousness. And a death occurred.

My first book by author Cathryn Grant, I felt as if I were watching a television series. Each chapter made me chortle with glee wondering what these ladies would dredge up. The death of their friend shocked me and ramped up the wickedness. I loved watching the real faces come out.

Loyalties were tested when they lost a friend. I was eagerly waiting to see who would break down first. For me, the book moved at a delightful pace holding my interest in the story and making me eager to get to the next part.

Overall, a fun breakfast read.