Confessions of a First-Time Mum

There’s so much to say about this book, it’s fun, honest, relatable and will genuinely make you laugh out loud at times.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read Confessions of a First-Time Mum by Poppy Dolan in exchange for an honest review.
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​I don't have children, so I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to connect with Stevie and her life but this was a useless worry, as Stevie was an amazing, strong character! Her character development was spot on and her witty comments and internal dialogue had me cracking up constantly. I always quite appreciated her husband Tom, and how supportive he was of Stevie, once he was aware that she was struggling.
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​The narrator of this novel was also excellent and really added to the story.
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​Highly recommended!

Narrator 5 stars
Absolutely love this narrators accent. She did a great job with this book

Story 3.5 stars
This was an enjoyable story with some good laugh out loud moments. I could relate to some of the situations ands feelings. (I have also forgot my baby before. He was 4 weeks old, Took him out of the car in his capsule and placed him by the garage door, grab the groceries out of the car and then forget to grab him. I was sitting on the couch for a good 5 minutes after having unpacked when I realised he was still in the garage. Lucky he was fast asleep and completely unaware.)
I really enjoyed the main characters but never really took to her husband and their inability to have meaningful conversations.

Confessions of a childless single person: I loved this audiobook!!! Seriously, I would recommend this book to new moms, older moms, dads, childless people, and even people who don't want kids.
Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for providing me with an arc of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
This book was so fun, funny, and relatable (even to someone who is not a mother). The pacing and writing are great and the plot is very grounded in real life issues. Stevie is so honest and blunt as a narrator which really allowed this book to succeed at what it doing. Her voice is so enjoyable to listen to and the narrator of the audiobook did a FANTASTIC job in portraying this.
The friendships are so enjoyable to experience and the characters felt like real people who I would love to hang out with. One of the things the author does so well in this book is allow for her characters to act and react like real people. Specifically, I really liked the way the ending of this book was handled.

If you are looking for a funny but predictable mom-com (is that a thing yet? A mommy-comedy?), this is a book you could try out.

Stevie, an erstwhile PR executive, is on her maternity break for her six month daughter, Cherry. Her husband Ted is always at office so it’s up to Stevie to manage the home and baby. As you can guess, this leads to typical, over-the-top situations which will make you laugh or cringe. She soon finds two new parent friends, Nelle (a mother of three struggling to manage her home business with her third baby) and Will (a gay dad who serves as the caretaker for his twin daughters while his husband is at work.)

The different factor in this book is that Stevie begins to blog about her mothering experiences and her page “Confessions of a First-Time Mum” soon becomes a hit (as expected) as she seems to delve into the bittersweet side of mothering rather than on the sugary experiences. The chapters that are presented in the form of these blog entries are quite entertaining and the best part of the book.

You get all your usual mom book tropes here – food mishaps, potty bloopers, sleep traumas, social anxieties… Some of it is realistic enough. But the rest is so exaggerated that it might put you off ever wanting to become a parent, if you aren’t one already! We already know that such books are usually cliché-ridden and this book is no exception. It actually starts off very well, and there are many laugh-out-loud scenes in the first few chapters. But it soon digresses into overstated and unrealistic blunders.

The secondary characters are mostly likeable within their stereotypical roles. The main characters, not so much. Stevie’s opinion about her husband seems to go into extremes depending on the situation. The lack of communication between them seems bewildering. Furthermore, Stevie’s almost-entirely absent social skillset seems like a glaring character glitch considering her PR background. The only hands-on dad in the entire book is Will, who is gay. The straight dads seem to be dependent on their female better halves for parenting. Yup, stereotypical it is.

That is not to say that the book is without any merits. The ride is more or less enjoyable, though not memorable. Stevie’s narration of her parenting anxieties, when based in reality, are absolutely touching. The depiction of “mum mums” started off in a typical manner but ended very well. So that was a big plus too. My favourite character of the book though was Nelle, who seems to have her head screwed on very firmly.
What turned the book from a good to a great experience was its narrator Lizzie Wofford. This is one of the best narrations I’ve heard this year. The 9 hours 43 minutes long audiobook went by without any rewind because of her exuberant performance. Full marks to her narration! I would love to hear more books read by her.

A 3.5 from me, rounding up to 4 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Saga Egmont Audio, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an entertaining book to listen to! The narration was superb and the story was fun and fits perfectly in this day and time.

Stevie is a first time mother and she is her own worst critic basically thinking she is messing up big time and not handling motherhood as she should be. Instagram and other social media make us believe being a good mother means you have to be a perfect mother, looking brilliant at all times with everything under control and doing endless fun stuff with your little one to post on all social media. Reality is quite different, for some mothers more so than others! Stevie decides to write a blog about being a first time mom and what it is really like for her and ends up writing most blog posts in the middle of the night, so you can imagine what kind of posts come out then when there is no one else to listen to you.

Being a mother myself I know how challenging, messy and tiring motherhood can be, but I can’t say my version of it was anything like Stevie’s. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Stevie’s day to day life and her blog made me laugh out loud a few times.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed this audiobook about first time mum and her two new friends. All different characters and have different family dynamics but it was great to hear that things are not always perfect! We don't all have this beautiful clean tidy house, an immaculately dressed baby, god we can't even have a hot cup of coffee or go to the loo in peace!! If you want to listen to a book that doesn't make you feel inadequate for not being perfect then this is the one for you. Although its based on a blog the story is part of it not all of it

I loved this book! It made me laugh, it was easy listening, I got invested in the main characters and I sympathised with First Time Mum, I think most parents would!
It kept me entertained and I’ll be looking for more book by this author.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was so fun.
I loved how the narrator made this book “live” and help it to stand out easily whilst I was listening to it today.

A first time mom. Oh I remember it well. It’s lovely….
It’s daunting
It’s rewarding
It’s tiring
It’s precious
It’s lonely and isolating.


So why not start up a moms blog.

The way she writes her entries on her blog made me giggle and relate to so much.

Getting ready just walk down to the shops is an ordeal, you just get ready and little baby is sick all over you.
Change mommy’s clothes
Change babies clothes then….
Oh gee what’s that smell!

Us moms will know what I’m on about, right?

Such a well written laugh out loud book for any mom or would be mom. In fact, anyone who wants a laugh.

An audiobook copy was provided by Netgalley and Saga Egmont Audio. This review is very much my own opinion about the book.

This book follows a first-time mum, Stevie, who used her little remaining energy to post blogs about the reality of mom-hood instead of using it to sleep. This sounds like an impractical choice? NOPE. Because I was also writing this review while my child has just dozed off instead of sleeping. LOL. I love every bit of this book! I was just frustrated as to why it was not really discussed who busted her, because I am so curious why someone would go ways to Sherlock-ing an anonymous mom blogger. Anyway, the narrator was also a big plus that it made me really not want to pause listening to it.

Unsurprisingly Confessions of a First-Time Mum is the humorous tale of the ups and downs of a ...... yep, you guessed it, a first time Mum! It does exactly what it says on the tin. We follow Stevie as she tries to navigate life with a newborn baby, make new friends, and figure out what she wants to do with her career. The book is super fun with some real laugh out loud moments. And as a Mum I was able to relate to and empathise with many of the daft situations Stevie finds herself in. I recognised how some of the things that feel like major issues when you are a new mum you can look back on later and laugh about. Being able to relate to Stevie meant that I enjoyed the book so much more and I was invested in her story. I wanted everything to work out for her and her friends.
I am a huge fan of this trend of having characters talk honestly about parenting and how it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Normalising how difficult it can be sometimes and that parents are not failures for struggling is something I will always back.
I listened to this as an audiobook and loved the narrator. Her voice fit perfectly with my mental image of Stevie and she made the character come to life.
If you're a fan of the 'Why Mummy' series by Gill Sims or The Unmumsy Mum then you should definitely give this book a try.

This audiobook was very funny at parts and totally sums up parent hood. The positives, negatives and the nitty gritty!!
All parents are in this crazy ride of raising children together and should never feel alone or if they are doing things wrong. There is no right or wrong way just the right way for you and your child/ren. This read 100% highlights the madness with giving the reader a good few laughs too!
The narrator was very easy to listen to and understand!
I recommend this book to anyone especially parents 💖
Thank you to netgallery for the opportunity to review and listen to this audiobook.

I loved this book. A great insight into the struggles of a first time Mum. Some funny moments and some serious moments. A great read.
Would definitely recommend it.

Really enjoyed this audiobook. Fast pace of storyline. Clear and understandable narrator. I would recommend.

Reviewing
Confession Of A First Time Mum
By Poppy Dolan

What a fun read! Poppy Dolan delivers the perfect mix of humor, frustration, love, and tenderness in Confessions Of A First Time Mum. New Moms and veterans alike will find Stevies experiences to be relatable and heartwarming.

Fantastic writing, honest characters, and complex relationships all come together to create and absolutely hilarious whirlwind that will whisk readers off their feet.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars for this laugh out loud novel with a heart of gold.

23 yes ago I became a first time mom and there weren’t books like this one that I can remember to make me feel entertained as well as help me along the way as having my baby. Written as fiction, this is a story of Stevie and her ups and downs of being a mom going through every feeling from elated to sad. Throw in a few beat friends and how they too are dealing with parenthood and you have this great book. I loved every second, I listened to the audiobook version and I felt as though I was right there. I can see this book being turned into a season on Netflix. Thank you Netgalley for giving me the chance to listen to this book for an honest review. I give First Time Mum 5 stars.

This book might appeal to new mums because although it is written in a humourous tone, it touches on issues that first-time mums might experience and shows that motherhood is not always a fairytale. While I initially chose to read it for a lighthearted, comical read, by the end of the book I was pleased to see that there was a good story that relates to choices parents face when making big decisions about their parenting decisions and what is best for the whole family.

Confessions of a First - Time Mum shows the life of a First time mum which is not always rainbows and butterflies.
This is a story of Stevie and her six month old cherry. Stevie worked as a PR executive before her maternity leave but now feels lost or that she has lost her identity and now is ONLY a mum.
She makes two parent-friends who have struggles of their own and the three of them help each other out through thick and thin :)

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read/listen to this, Thank you Poppy Dolan for allowing me the chance.
I love this book! I love the fact that an author has actually gone to the depths of what every mother experiences, and hasn't sugar coated it, but has been able to wrap it in a thrilling story, that's both emotional, fun, hilarious and relatable all in one.
It focuses on making sure you have friends around you, that build you up not knock you down, after having a baby and losing some self esteem along the way.
This book has stuck in my mind even after finishing it 2 days ago!
I highly recommend to a wide variety of people... Not just those that are mums (and have already to another mum friend).
Happy reading 😊