A Sharp, Witty Whodunit with a Heart

All The Other Mothers Hate Me is a brilliantly dark and funny debut that had me hooked from the first page. Florence Grimes, a single mum and former pop star, is a wonderfully messy and relatable protagonist. When her son Dylan becomes the prime suspect in the disappearance of a schoolmate, Florence embarks on a chaotic quest to clear his name.

The novel is a delightful satire of London's posh private school scene, with sharp observations and laugh-out-loud moments. Harman's writing is clever and engaging, blending humour with suspense. While the plot may not be as tightly wound as some thrillers, the character development and witty dialogue more than make up for it.

Florence's journey is both entertaining and heartfelt, making this a must-read for fans of dark comedy and amateur sleuths. I can't wait to see what Sarah Harman comes up with next.

Florence Grimes, former girl band member and unconventional single mother to 10 year old Dylan. When one of Dylan's classmates goes missing on a school trip Florence goes into overdrive to protect her son, the missing boy's partner on the day. Jumping to conclusions, Florence gets together with another mother, hotshot lawyer, Jen, to uncover the truth. Madcap investigations, well intentioned but completely inappropriate actions showing the strength of a mother's love for her son. The outcome wasn't what I expected but was satisfying nonetheless. #netgalley #alltheothermothershateme

All the Other Mothers Hate Me, is a darkly humorous and fast-paced thriller that introduces readers to Florence Grimes, a chaotic, morally ambiguous single mother determined to clear her son's name after a classmate goes missing
While the plot may lack the intensity of more traditional mysteries, Harman's sharp wit and engaging characters make this novel a standout in the genre

Florence Grimes is a former member of the girl band Girls’ Night, who shot to fame only after she left the group (circumstances I won’t reveal here to avoid spoilers). Since then, she hasn’t known what to do with herself apart from raising her son Dylan on her own. He attends the same elite London private school that his dad attended, but Florence isn’t exactly the life of the school‑run playground. Most of the other mothers are rich, aloof, and either indifferent or openly hostile toward her.

To be honest, it’s easy to see why. Florence is unmoored beyond just feeling down about her career. She’s self‑absorbed, reckless, and headstrong in the most impulsive ways. Her love for Dylan is never‑ending, yet she still finds herself sneaking out late at night while he sleeps alone. Dylan’s world is equally isolated - his only real friend is the retired neighbour who collects crickets for Dylan’s pet turtle, Greta.

When Alfie, the boy Dylan was partnered with on a school trip, mysteriously disappears, Florence immediately fears Dylan might be involved and springs into action to protect him. The lengths she goes to are often hair‑raisingly absurd, and I found myself cringing more than once. Along the way, she teams up with another mother, Jenny - a lawyer who is just as fed up with the rich‑bitch antics of the playground clique - and together they dig into the Alfie mystery, unaware of Florence’s deeper motivation.

I’m going to be candid: my enjoyment of All the Other Mothers Hate Me was soured by two moments that made me cringe – a JK Rowling/Harry Potter reference and an unnecessary shout‑out to Tel Aviv’s trendy restaurants and glittering nightlife. It’s 2025; there is absolutely no need for either.

The pacing is brisk, and the tone strikes a strong balance between humour, suspense, and empathy. The plot holds together well - but it really is a shame about those two deeply distasteful references. I wanted to love it more than I could.

Goodness, it’s no wonder all the other mothers hate Florence Grimes. She’s a disgraced former pop star who is American and whose son attends a swanky London prep school. She has no job (except for delivering balloons) and her son is a bit quirky; a passionate environmentalist who fits in as well as his mum.
When one of the son, Dylan’s classmates goes missing on a school trip, Florence worries he’s involved, so obviously the only way to prove he is not, is to find the kidnapper herself. Teaming up with a newly arrived American mum, Jenny, Florence sets off to clear Dylan’s name, not always as ethically as she could.
This is a real romp of a book. Florence is hilariously self-obsessed, with no filter. Jenny provides some welcome balance. The prep school mums are a pretty dreadful bunch and it’s hard to root for the rescue of the victim sometimes. Funny, a bit thrilling and will make a great adaptation for the screen.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A funny and witty story with some dark humour. It tells the story of Florence. An American and former girl band member who moved to London with Dylan her son. Struggling to fit in with the clique with the mothers st her son’s private school. Florence soon realises that Dylan is struggling to. After the school bully Alfie disappears on a school trip, Florence finds his backpack in Dylan’s bedroom. Does he know what’s happened to Alfie? Not giving any spoilers but I actually enjoyed this book. Well written with a good mix of humour and seriousness. Loved it.

Thank you to Netgally for allowing me to read this ARC.

Florence Grimes had a disastrous brief career in a girl band. Now a broke single mother, her son is present on a school trip when a fellow pupil disappears. Florence decides to find the missing boy in order to clear her son’s name. A funny and twisty story with a memorable anti-hero.

In this debut novel we follow Flo, a strong willed and sharp tongued American single mother living in London. A former member of a girl band that shot to fame after she left, she’s struggled to find her place in the world and a proper job, and Flo now finds herself navigating the cliquey, judgement world of private school mums. Her son Dylan, like her, doesn’t quite fit in at his all-boys school, and when Alfie, a classmate who had been bullying him, goes missing on a school trip, suspicion begins to grow around his role in the disappearance. Determined to clear her son’s name and uncover the truth, Flo teams up with another outsider mum to investigate the secrets that lie beneath the surface of their seemingly polished world of money and luxury.

I think the writer has purposely chosen to make most of the characters unlikeable, in order for them to seem complex like real people, however this made it really hard to root for any of them or to be invested in the outcome. Flo is deeply flawed and has been treated very poorly, especially by her ex-husband and Dylans dad Will who is a real piece of work, which can make her feel real and relatable at times. However she often leans too far into self-pity and defensiveness, she manipulates other people but then also feels hard done by them when they make choices for themselves and their happiness. Still, the writing is sharp and fast paced, and the plot is packed with twists and turns and ultimately when the truth comes out and a murderer is revealed to have been lurking in the midst of Flo and Dylan’s world, it’s a real punch to the story.

This was a quick and intriguing read with some dark humour and social commentary around motherhood, fitting in and identity. Whilst I didn’t love it, it was an easy read and I was definitely curious enough to keep reading to find out the truth.

Some years ago Florence was a member of a girl band which had a modicum of success. Florence left the band in humiliating circumstances and is now single mum to ten year old Dylan. Dylan is her world, the only reason she gets out of bed each day. Florence however is broke, immature, irresponsible, impulsive, full of sass and drinks far too much. Dylan, who definitely has neuro divergent tendencies, attends the private St Angeles school where all the other mums look down on Florence. Dylan is relentlessly bullied by Alfie, spoilt and indulged only child of very wealthy parents. On one occasion Dylan hits back at Alfie's bullying, subsequently coming under suspicion when Alfie disappears on a school trip. Florence soon finds a reason to suspect Dylan may not be totally innocent in Alfie's disappearance and embarks on a mad, irrational and sometimes hilarious attempt to find him and so prove Dylan has nothing to do with Alfie's disappearance.

Despite all her obvious failings and lack of maternal nurturing, Florence is a likeable, if exasperating character. There are plenty of humorous and 'absolutely no way is she going to do that' moments. The story moves along at a great pace, lots of drama, suspense and unexpected reveals and went in a direction I wasn't expecting. A great debut, I will definitely search out Sarah Harman's next book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, 4th Estate and William Collins for my advanced reader copy in return for my honest and unbiased review.

This wasn’t what I expected & I mean that in the best possible way. I went in anticipating a typical thriller/mystery but what I got was so much more. It’s packed with humour, drama & non-stop entertainment.
Florence’s character had me completely torn; there were moments I adored her & so many more when I couldn’t stand her but that complexity is exactly what made the book so great!

Flo doesn’t feel like she fits in with the other mothers at her son’s independent prep school. When Alfie (the not-so-nice son of one of the popular families) disappears, Flo decides to prove her son Dylan, Alfie’s arch enemy, had nothing to do with it, even if this means disposing of evidence and starting her own investigation.
This is a light hearted “murder” mystery with a bit of humour built in as well. A fun holiday read.

Following main character Florence, All The Other Mothers Hate Me was an intriguing mystery story wrapped around with the humour.

Despite Florence being a pretty unlikeable characters at the start, she did grow on me eventually as her heart was in the right place with her attempts to protect her son.

An easy, enjoyable read!

A sharp, darkly funny mystery thriller that had me laughing out loud one minute and gasping the next.

Packed with biting wit and uncomfortable truths about school-gate politics and parental paranoia, All the Other Mothers Hate Me is as much a social satire as it is a twist-filled whodunnit. The voice is fresh, the humour deliciously dark, and the twists keep you guessing right to the end.

Florence, the underdog single mum with not much going for her, unexpectedly teams up with a glamorous American newcomer—who also happens to be a hot-shot lawyer—to figure out what really happened to missing schoolboy Alfie. An unlikely friendship forms, but it’s not without drama. After all, Florence isn’t exactly friend material... or is she?

A brilliantly unsettling, unexpectedly heartwarming read that doesn’t take itself too seriously—and that’s exactly what makes it so compelling.

thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review! <3

’Tonight, for once in my life, I’m going to do the right thing. The hard thing’

All the Other Mothers Hate Me was a funny, enjoyable, easy-read, that I definitely needed at such a stressful time in my life.

The main-character Florence, while quite unlikeable at times (her morally-greyness was the point!), but was great to read from the perspective of, and I felt that her decisions were pretty realistic. I love reading about messy characters who don’t have their lives together, and I thought that worked very well in this murder mystery-esque book.

The mystery itself was creative, and while I did guess near the end of the story who the kidnapper was, I didn’t guess one of the other twists at all, which I really liked.

The writing was simple but effective, and I had a pretty good time from start to finish. Oh, and all the digs at upper-class Brits were hilarious and so well done (coming from a lower-class Brit!).

Overall, All the Other Mothers Hate Me gets 4/5 stars.

4.5✨

I loved this, it was so fast paced and I couldn’t put it down. I am a big ‘judge a book by its cover’ kind of girl and I’ll hold my hands up, I didn’t read the synopsis when requesting this on NetGalley, I was just sucked in by the cover (so credit to who designed it). But honestly this book was so good and the twists and turns constantly had me second guessing what had happened/who done it/if there’d be a plot twist (spoiler; there is).

This could very easily be a Netflix series and I could see it playing out in my head. Very Harlan Coben vibes if you’re a fan of that style of writing.

Overall I loved this and can’t wait to see what the author brings out next!

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book!

Deliciously depraved and utterly page-turning, ALL THE OTHER MOTHERS HATE ME is the literary playground thriller I’ve been waiting for.

Think the black humour of Bella Mackie with the razor sharp writing of Gillian Flynn, this deserves to be a smash-hit bestseller in 2025.

I really enjoyed this debut book. It’s an emotional lighthearted fun read full of drama and mystery. So entertaining. I couldn’t put it down.
It’s brilliantly written and the plot flows well with plenty of twists throughout keeping you guessing,
Florence is funny and a complete train wreck of a character. Despite making questionable choices she’s a fierce mum who’s determined to protect her son Dylan and find out what happened to his missing classmate Alfie.
I liked the friendship and amateur sleuthing between Florence and Jenny. One of my favourite parts in the book. I enjoyed the banter between the characters too.
Overall, an entertaining humorous mystery. It’s well worth a read. I look forward to reading more from @sarah_harman_writes
Definitely recommend this one.
With thanks to #NetGallery @4thestatebooks for an arc of #AllTheOtherMothersHateMe in exchange for a honest review.
Book publishes 10 April 2025

Well,what a character we have in Florence…

Unpredictable,good,bad,reflective,,fiercely Mum loyal,funny,inspiring,angry,jealous,kind….you get the picture….she is one on her own but then she is a little bit close to comfort to us all,well those of us who will admit it

Florence was almost a pop legend and now lives a chaotic life trying to manage getting her son Dylan to school and back without disasters happening,(the school is very posh and has a delicious array of parents to loathe) however one day things go bad,really bad when on a school trip a pupil disappears and all fingers point to Dylan,Florence then goes into action trying to make the focus on anyone but him to devastating affect

A romp of a book,antic filled and raw,delightful and menacing and so on point with social commentary it made me wince then laugh throughout

Refreshingly honest and brazenly real,brilliant in every way

I really loved this book! I picked it on a whim and it did not disappoint!
It's essentially the story of Florence, and her son Dylan who might have had something to do with a class mate going missing. Florence decides to investigate herself with the help of a fellow new mum at the school, solicitor Jenny.
I genuinely loved the characters and the story and stand by that while Florence is quite unlikable and with very questionable morals, the majority of the other characters around her are too!
I always struggle with explaining why I loved something without explaining why and giving away too much plot but I genuinely would recommend this to friends!

A fun and thrilling read. Florence is a great character to read about, she is a mess but atleast she owns it. This was a book I could not put down and had to finish it in one go