The writing was quite good and the story was easy to follow. Each of the characters were defined well. Good imagery for the descriptive material.

The characters were not very nice people for the most part. I saw character development as good; yet Amy needed severe family as well as self-counselling. The men in the story were portrayed as weak. (As was fitting in this book).Amy imagined that all of these men wanted to be with Charlotte. Yet, Amy's perception of everything was extremely jaded. (Especially, her perception of herself). Yes, her mother had gone through an awful experience but she truly did need to somehow "get over it".

The school principal had a difficult time with the parents. I do not think that she should have allowed Charlotte to display her photographs at the school in the first place, either. This was the catalyst for a major turn in the character's hatred and obsession.

I give this read 3 stars - it was quick and easy to follow.

Many Thanks to Inkubator Books and NetGalley for a poignant read.

This was a tough one for me. I absolutely hated Amy, so reading about her made my blood boil and made it hard to enjoy this book. But it was a good story and I didn't expect the ending so I kept reading. Not sure i would recommend this because of how awful Amy was though.

I enjoyed this book even though there were very few likable characters. Of course we sympathize with the protagonist, Amy who is living in a little cocoon of misery and paranoia as she relives the aftermath of her mother's rape years ago and tries to protect her twin daughters. So when newcomer, Charlotte moves to town with her daughter, she becomes Amy's target as she tends to dress seductively and in Amy's mind is "begging" men to notice her. This is basically Mean Girls Grow Up (but don't mature), as the women in Amy's circle attempt to discredit Charlotte any way they can. The end was oddly satisfying although a little too trite to be entirely believable. Overall, it was a good solid read.

While The Good Mother is being pushed as a domestic thriller, I am not sure I would classify it as such. The Good Mother definitely has a domestic story to it about mothers, families, and friends but it lacked in the thriller part. I did enjoy the story and the dynamics between the women in this fictional town. I felt sorry for the main character, Amy. She had a very hard childhood with her own mother and that has spilled over into her adult life with much paranoia and some obvious mental illness. The book did lag in the middle and I found myself checking to see where I was in the book. Grant writes the story from three of the characters point of views and it flows very nicely, although at times I felt like each character said the same thing over and over. Charlotte is the new girl in town and is shunned. It was the adult version of Mean Girls. Overall, this book had more potential if it wanted to be classified as a thriller. The thriller part was very predictable and not all that thrilling in the first place. I would push this book as more of a mental illness awareness book and what trauma does to a person. Overall, it was a decent story. I wouldn't throw it out. I will look for more Cathryn Grant books in the future and see what else she has to offer. Special thanks to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for the advance digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
#TheGoodMother #NetGalley

Thank you to Netgallery for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

**** Trigger Warning : Rape ****

I was really hoping I would like this one. It had potential, but fell super short of a true Psychological Thriller. The book was a very slow and sometime boring read. There were no major plot twists that you couldn't see coming. The characters were either flat or annoying. If I had gotten this book at the library, I would have stopped reading it about 30% through and added it to me DNF list. The only reason I pushed through was because I promised an honest review. I wouldn't recommend this book to any person that loves Psychological Thrillers. Maybe those that enjoy high drama are more suited for this book.

Amazon review will be posted on 5 Jan, publication day.

This book was so absorbing I finally understand the term "unputdownable". The interplay between the characters was fascinating to watch, and contributed so much enjoyment to my interest in this book. I will be sure to watch further for this author!.

So, I thought this would be more of a Mean Girls book instead of something a little sadder. Are there really women out there that think like that about themselves and other women?I'm definitely a guy's girl over a girl's girl so I had a tough time trying to relate to Amy and her psychosis (sp??) but I thought the plot was original, the subplot was suspenseful, and the ending was not what I expected at all.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Not sure what review I should give this book as it really is not a thriller and really could not relate to the characters, read it and skipped it

The book cover drew me in. And I was not sorry. The book is fantastic. A wee thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Very hard to put down. It was well written and worth a read

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I was excited to read this book. The premise was really promising. With that said I could not get in to this book. I read the entire thing - but it fell flat. I found myself skipping a lot of the text and going straight for dialogue.

The end was the best part. This was not a psychological thriller. It was honestly a big old mess.

I haven’t been able to put this book down. It’s a great story which has gripped me from the very beginning.
My first read by this author but won’t be the last.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in return for a fair and honest review.
Cathryn Grant's latest book, "The Good Mother", revolves around the lives of several suburban women. All are wives and mothers, with the exception of the single Charlotte who has just moved to town. Amy takes an immediate dislike to Charlotte's artsy clothing and wonders if there is something happening between Charlotte and Amy's husband. I found the story to be quite banal and tedious. None of the female characters are very likable, so it's difficult to really care about what's happening to them. Overall I was not impressed, and the exciting ending/twist I was expecting unfortunately never came. If you're new to the genre you might enjoy it, but if you love psychological thrillers, this one doesn't live up to the name.

Another domestic drama novel billed as a psychological thriller!

This just isnt for me, I gave up at 47%, it was just dull, the characters aren't at all likeable and I just didn't connect with the writing style.

It just seemed to go on forever without anything happening!

I'm only basing my rating on the percentage I read, it might get better later on but I was so bored by 47% i didn't have it in me to finish.

1*

Thanks to netgalley and Inkubator Books for the ARC.

Lots of craziness within this book, guilt, obsession,paranoia, and they all need air conditioning desperately. I probably would have rated this book higher but it was more like reading about teenagers than adults and that became annoying very quickly. Overall, it was a good story.

This book was not for me, I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable and couldn’t really connect with the book. It was a difficult read and seemed to take a long time with nothing much happening. Thank you @netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I feel disappointed with this one

Well, it was just not for me. I really wanted to like it. After reading as much as I could. Everyone was a mess. It was more clique and done again..didn't care for anyone. Nothing stood out. I ended up feeling it was a waste of time

This book was not at all what I expected. I had no clue where it was going at the beginning, but was pleasantly surprised at the direction it took. Very good writing, great character development. Thank you netgalley for the chance to read the ARC.

This book is most definitely not for the lighthearted. It starts of with a brutal rape whilst a young child watches and only gets more difficult from there. Amy who is our protagonist is unstable and unwell. Charlotte is a newcomer who is just trying to live her life and Rachel, well... Rachel is the most reliable character in this book. Unsure of what to do, of herself, of what is right or not. The book definitely doesn't shy away from family dysfunction, from deteriorating mental health, from suburban warfare between housewives. It's very interesting also how violent acts are perceived by different types of personality. Which are morally right or wrong. I highly recommend it, but proceed with caution as the book is very graphic in the violence described.

Trouble in the neighborhood! I’m pretty sure we all know someone like Amy. She is picture perfect and her good looking children have perfect manners. Her husband is a handsome, hard-working guy who lavishes attention on his wife. She has everything she has ever wanted and more. Nothing ever goes wrong in this family. Their house is beautiful, even outside each blade of grass is in perfect formation.

In The Good Mother by Cathryn Grant, the pretense of perfection can’t last forever. Or can it? What happens when this so-called perfect mother’s carefully designed life takes a turn by way of a new mom in the neighborhood, one that doesn’t quite live up to a certain standard?

Here’s the scoop with The Good Mother:

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.

This is an entertaining story and I can see how it would all play out in real life. Kids aren’t the only ones that deal with bullies and drama!

Get this book on January 5, FREE with Kindle Unlimited or 99 cents without.

Amy thinks her life is perfect. She is the helicopter mom to twins, first to volunteer at their school, and a doting wife to Justin. In reality, she is self-absorbed, anxious, possibly anorexic and haunted by a traumatic childhood event. She is NOT a character you want to like.

However, Charlotte is. A single mother, a photographer, and an independent, strong-willed woman, she crosses paths with Amy with disastrous results. Amy becomes obsessed with Charlotte and uses her weak-willed friend Rachel to help ostracize Charlotte from their close knit soccer mom group.

A criminal targeting their neighborhood, the death of a close friend, and Charlotte’s failure to yield to Amy’s escalating attempts to have her move from her home drive Amy to frightening levels of delusion concluding in a shocking surprise ending.

The Good Mother is what Amy thinks she is and what Charlotte actually is. The novel deserves four stars for its excellent characterizations and plot. However, I did not think Amy’s descent into jealousy and madness was believable. That said, you’ll read The Good Mother quickly and it will make you wonder what your neighbors are really like.

Thanks to NetGalley, Cathryn Grant and Inkubator Books for this ARC.