ARC Review 📚📚📚

This book had me on edge the whole time!

Lauren and her husband Dan have struggled to have a successful pregnancy and with many miscarriages over the years they decide to look at surrogacy.

After much research and realising they don’t have the money to go through with it in the US they decide to look closer to home. Here in the UK they are not given the option to be legal parents from the beginning and this is where Lauren and Dan contemplate whether they can actually go through with it.

Ruth, Lauren’s mother has a highly successful career and she decides to be their surrogate so they don’t have to deal with the complications of UK regulations.

This is where the book takes a turn for the worst. While Lauren loves the idea of her Mum helping out free of charge she can’t help but wonder if her own Mother will turn her back on her.

Lauren is constantly keeping tabs on her Mother and her baby which starts to frustrate Ruth and with the weeks and months passing gearing up to the big day tensions are rising with everyone.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a really thrilling read and kept me hooked until the very end.

Thank you to the author @susanspindlerwriter and @netgalley for this ARC.

Publication date: 4th March 2021


4 Stars!

I'm not sure why I chose this book as it sits outside what I normally read but I loved it. This is a confident debut from someone I'm sure we'll be hearing more about. The writing is scrumptious. The plot unusual enough to hold my interest despite sitting outside my usual genre. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to @netgalley for this copy!
I thoroughly enjoyed this!
Alot of the time I found myself saying "this is not going to end well"
Although I thought what Ruth did for Lauren was absolutely amazing, alot of the time I couldn't help but get mad with Ruth. And also a few occasions a get a bit irrated with Lauren.
All in all it was a nail biting and truly gripping. This is coming out 1st of April, its well worth a read!

New reviews praised of an unputdownable and mesmerising read. I found it very bland and boring. It was obvious the way forward it would go from very early on. And as some one who has suffered both pre-eclampsia and eclampsia I found it very dramatic compared to real life. I know that's only my opinion though as everyone is different and things do go differently for people in any condition. So maybe that’s why. I don’t know. But I just read it and didn’t have any feelings. I didn’t like Ruth from the start and I just didn’t get any pull. I need pull to read.

2/5

A good read which I thoroughly enjoyed, not what I was expecting but after I had got into the story line I really enjoyed it.

Fantastic read. I have been completely unable to put this one down. I cannot wait to read more by this author.
Full review to follow on publication.

The surrogate is such a totally immersive, engaging read you really don’t want to put it down!
Tense, emotional and captivating! The real depth of a mother’s love for her daughter and the drastic measures she is prepared to take to the detriment of her health and her marriage to ensure her daughter can be a mum, such a selfless act but one wrought with obstacles, emotion and angst.Told brilliantly and very informative re the process of reversing menopause, surrogacy, legal aspects etc, loved everything about this read!
Thank you netgalley for this early read.

If you want to start the year with a book that will have you stuck to seat from beginning to end this is the one for you.

I was totally engrossed from the very start. One of the most captivating stories I think I have ever read.

As a mother myself I have often questioned the strength it must take to be a surrogate. Could I give the most precious gift willingly and so unselfishly?

It was fascinating to examine how the relationships within the story were impacted, whether between husband/wife, mother/daughter or sister/sister, each one was brilliantly written and each and every raw emotion was felt.

The character execution in this book was spot on. Every single character was strong and brought something to the novel, definitely no filler characters needed here. I loved the way the author was able to portray the good, the bad and the ugly in everyone's traits.

Susan Spindler has so expertly covered an emotional charged, sensitive topic with upmost authenticity, it has sat with me for days after finishing. She has so obviously researched to its highest level and that is evidently clear in her writing.

Loved, loved, loved it!

Huge thank you to netgalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It wouldn’t be something that I would normally read as I’m more of a thriller/mystery fan, but I’m glad I requested an advanced copy.
The plot is well written and the characters are believable. A good read.

Ruth Furnival has a highly successful career as a television executive, lives in a beautiful London home with Adam, her lawyer husband, and has two grown up daughters. Sounds perfect right? However, at 54 years old Ruth finds herself feeling dissatisfied.

Lauren, Ruth’s eldest daughter, has had multiple rounds of IVF, and after her latest miscarriage she is told that the only way she will ever have her own child is through surrogacy. However, surrogacy laws in the UK can be complicated, which leads to Lauren unsure about letting a stranger carrying her baby. When Ruth realises that it is possible that she can reverse the menopause and carry Lauren’s baby, Lauren and her husband, whilst reluctant at first, agree out of desperation.

However, not is all as simple as it seems.

Surrogate is an extremely powerful read. It touches upon such a delicate topic yet Susan Spindler portrays it perfectly; delicately but authentically as she shows all the realities, which need to be considered and the emotional turmoil it can cause to all involved. Aside from surrogacy and infertility other themes in the novel include relationships, identity and self-purpose.

The characterisation in this book was spot on. Every character had something to bring to the novel and I found it interesting to understand the impact of the surrogacy on each of their personalities. Sometimes when reading you like and dislike certain characters- with this book I liked and disliked them all during different times- as the author managed to bring out the worst and best in all of them, which showed the rollercoaster of emotions and feelings each of them faced.

I really enjoyed the pace of this book. There were lots of twists and turns and things which you don’t expect to happen. It was a topic which a lot of people may shy away from and therefore very much if anything similar to this before and overall found it a very powerful and emotionally charged read.


Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#ADifferentRead #NetGalley
A different read.
Ruth Furnival is a successful television executive with a seemingly perfect life: a nice house in London, a lawyer husband and two grown-up daughters. But at 54, with an empty nest and the menopause behind her, she feels restless and dissatisfied.
After multiple rounds of failed IVF, her eldest daughter Lauren has been told that the only chance for her and her husband to have their own child is surrogacy.
Thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown Book UK for giving me an advanced copy.

Ruth Furnival is a 54 year old mother of two girls, Lauren and Alex. She has been married to Adam for many years and both have successful careers. When Lauren has yet another miscarriage after several rounds of IVF she is told that she can have no further pregnancies. They look into surrogacy but it proves impossible until Ruth makes an incredible offer. The book examines and reflects on the impact of this act of altruism.

The author has clearly researched well in preparation for the book and there is a good debate on surrogacy and motherhood and you get a balance of views. However, at times the storytelling gets a bit lost in the procedures and it’s a bit dry and scientific and I admit to some glazing over as the pace is slow. Then it picks up when it examines the impact on relationships and that is fascinating especially on Adam and Ruth. You learn a lot about each of them and it’s not always complimentary! There are some good moments of tension where their varying emotions are almost off the scale in their depth. Not many of the characters are especially likeable especially Lauren although her feelings are depicted very well. She is extremely hard to like and her one track mindedness and disregard for Ruth is hard to get your head around. Ruth pays a very high price for what she does and wins my admiration even if I can’t warm to her much! She sacrifices a lot for her daughter and towards the end you realise just how huge that sacrifice is and it’s heartbreaking. I think this uneven read of good sections and some that are less so is totally saved by the ending which is excellent. It’s gripping, extremely tense and vividly described and pushes the book into a four star rating.

Overall, a mixed read but it is a thought provoking examination of surrogacy especially strong on looking at the potential impact on family, friends and others.

With thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group/Virago for the arc for an honest review.

Gripping! Not at all what I expected but a fantastic and well written psychological drama on a fascinating subject,

Powerful and beautiful in its prose and vivid characterisation. Surrogate which is a topical psychological drama is a genuis of a novel.

I'm finding it difficult to portray just how impactful this book is. From it's introductory slow build up, the tension builds and a sense of panic and foreboding engulfs your emotions.

A beautifully told story of what it means to grow older as a female and of self identity, marriage and purpose. It brought me to tears on more than one occasion.

I devoured this book and highly recommend it.
Everyone will be talking about it soon

A story of a mother’s love and sense of duty turning into an obsession while becoming the surrogate for her daughter is the original concept behind this thriller. Highly recommended!