THIS REVIEW CONTAINS EXPLICIT SPOILERS
The Baby Exchange had a pretty good plot (until the end), but it just wasn’t written well. This felt like just the bare bones of the story. No depth. The characters’ relationships were unclear. Especially Mae and Billy. There could have been so much depth to the shared trauma of their childhoods and their friendship. But it wasn’t explored. They have some serious backstory that we would like to see. If we had that backstory, their big fight would have been so much more powerful and meaningful. We could have understood his feelings and motivations much better.
Everything between Mae and her mother was very surface as well. They just mentioned she spent almost her whole life in an institution. But now she has dementia and Mae has taken her in. She needs round the clock care because she isn’t safe. There was a lot of potential here but it just wasn’t written.

Where this really fell to one star for me was the ending. Literally the last 10 pages. I’ll explain why, but FULL SPOILERS AHEAD:

After Mae, very clear headed, decided to give her baby for adoption, (to a LOVELY kind mother and family) she has to argue to everyone the reasons she is making this choice. She is smart and logical and though it isn’t easy, she knows it’s what she should do. It’s best for her and her baby. I respected the way this was written. It’s a hard subject and was handled realistically -I thought. Until the last second when Mae decides she’s going to keep the baby. The author doesn’t even give the adoptive mother’s perspective or show her broken heart. And literally in the last couple pages, Mae decides she’s in love with Billy (always has been) and that her mother actually doesn’t need to go to the care home for her dementia. She should stay living with her and the baby for a while longer since she’s a grandma now. They all live happily ever after.
I didn’t want to finish-literally the last 5 pages. I wanted to DNF at that point. It was so frustrating and I hated how this one wrapped up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

A Gripping Tale of Desperation and Reality TV

The Baby Exchange by Hannah Parry is a captivating exploration of the lengths to which individuals will go when faced with overwhelming circumstances. The novel follows Mae Miller, a talent agent in Los Angeles, who finds herself entangled in a reality TV show that offers a controversial proposition: a chance to secure a future for her unborn child by giving them up for adoption on national television.

Parry masterfully delves into themes of identity, sacrifice, and the ethical dilemmas posed by the intersection of personal lives and public spectacle. Mae's internal struggle is portrayed with depth and authenticity, making her a relatable and compelling protagonist.

The narrative is both thought-provoking and emotionally charged, keeping readers engaged from start to finish. Parry's writing is sharp and insightful, offering a poignant commentary on the commodification of personal stories in the media.

The Baby Exchange is a must-read for those interested in contemporary fiction that challenges societal norms and examines the complexities of human relationships in the age of reality television.

I found this book emotional and it had a dark premise and didn’t let go. The story had me constantly questioning everyone’s motives—even Mae’s. Watching her unravel under the pressure of a pregnancy she never planned for was equal parts heartbreaking and suspenseful. The reality show angle added a layer of creepy glamour, and the way the story dealt with this felt disturbingly real. As the book progressed, I couldn’t look away. It made me feel tense and surprisingly emotional. A twisted and thought-provoking book.

The Baby Exchange by Hannah Parry

The baby exchange is the name of a TV show about surrogacy. We see three surrogates and their prospective parents on their journeys.

Mae Miller is a LA talen agent who has a mother with dementia and a mountain of debt. Mae find out at 37 weeks that she is pregnant, she does not want to keep the baby as she is in desperate need for money, so she decides to join the show. The show will pay her enough to cover her mother's expenses, and allow her to promote her friends acting career.

This story is definitely wacky at times, but is centered around reality tv which you know is great for finding interesting characters. Overall you find yourself routing for Mae and her wacky idea and hoping it all works out in the end.

Thank you Hannah for working with NetGalley. I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

This book will be published in July 2025.

Well wasn't this a please surprise! This book had such an interesting premise i really wasn't sure where it would end up but i ended up having a great time!

Thank you to Hannah Perry and NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

I'm really unsure what I think about this book, quite a few hours after reading it.

On the whole I generally enjoyed reading this story, but at times I wasn't really sure if I liked any of the characters.

Mae is hard to like, I could understand her decisions, but felt she acted even younger than her young age would suggest. On one hand she seems naïve, on the other she is pregnant with a cryptic pregnancy.

Where this book really shone for me was highlighting the vast array of emotions of discovering you are pregnant at 37 weeks, without realising before hand. And how that means you may not be as bonded to the baby as you might have been, had you known you were growing one of 9 months.

And the issues surrounding surrogacy were all very interesting too.

I think though at times the book was lacking that certain quality that for me turns a good book into a great one.

I definitely enjoyed it, and it has a great concept behind it.

Thank you to Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This was a comedic easy read.
I think it had a lot more potential in terms of the writing style but overall it was a pleasant read.

Mae Miller is not in a good space. One of her two best clients, child actor Raphael Cooper, is undergoing dialysis and is out of work. Her other best client, best friend Billy Mac, is being poached by big talent agent Matthias Bloom, her mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and she has no money for her care. When Mae discovers that she is pregnant as a result of a one-night stand (it’s a cryptic pregnancy and she is 37 weeks along), it seems like nothing could possibly get worse.

Hoping to earn some money and get her child adopted, Mae contacts reality TV show, The Baby Exchange. At first, all she cares about is the money. But over the next few days, the baby becomes increasingly real to her. Will Mae exchange her baby for money?


As an idea, the premise was novel. But the execution left me feeling dissatisfied.

The book was plagued with excessive description. The book even began with unnecessary description before introducing the Main Character and then giving us irrelevant details about her day so far. Thereafter, it persisted with giving us long descriptions of nearly every character and location, even going to the extent of describing TV sets and the outfits of minor characters.

I did warm up to Mae in time, once I realized that she was only 24, still young and not quite capable of handling the problems she was faced with. But the extended and unnecessary introduction to her life didn’t work for me. Also, her refusal to answer the calls of Raphael’s mother Adele, despite knowing that Rafa was seriously ill, made her appear inhuman. On the other hand, characters like Elsa, Mae’s mother, Israel, her caregiver, and the women at the reality show, Aphrodite, Tamara, Scarlett etc. are flat, each a replica of the other.

I liked the bond between Mae and Billy Mac. Billy had some potential but the plot didn’t give him much of an opportunity to shine. As an antagonist, Bloom was weak. The presence of Padma Rao, Indian-American, helped to check the diversity box.

The author makes the setting, Hollywood, come alive, not so much physically but as a presence throughout the story. She refers to Hollywood as a “tawdry city with its tinsel surface and anorexic underbelly.”

I also appreciated her similes:

She hurled the words at him like they were dinner plates.

His voice was as empty as the desert at dawn before the wind rose.

The humour is subtle. We see one example of it when the nurse tells Mae to breathe and the 3rd person narrator tells us that Mae “wasn’t aware that she had stopped”.

As a light-hearted read about a young girl who finds that being an adult is financially quite draining, it was fun. But there were many issues that needed to be resolved.

As late as the 10 percent mark, we were still getting background information about Mae’s childhood in a foster home, her mother’s institutionalization, her work as a casting agent and her mother's Alzheimer's Disease. The plot of the book doesn’t start till the 11 percent mark when Mae learns that she is pregnant.

The names Mae and Billy Mac were just too similar. There is a child actor called Raphael, affectionately called Rafa, and a nurse called Raya. They don’t have any scenes together but why in a world of a billion names, must their names sound so alike?

Joe, Mae’s neighbour, brings her a crumpled piece of paper that, he says, fell out of her handbag. The narrator tells us that the paper came from a fortune-teller machine at the beach. But Mae never went to any such machine. Where did the paper come from then?

It was odd that the doctor didn’t call her in for regular checkups, didn’t give her a list of things she could or couldn’t do, didn’t schedule any blood or diagnostic tests or sonograms.

I was disappointed with the resolution.

When I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I'm glad that I kept reading it. This book has it all. It takes you on a roller coaster ride that makes you laugh, smile and even cry. I highly recommend The Baby Exchange by Hannah Parry.

Whilst the idea of the storyline made me want to like this book, I struggled with the writing style and sadly found that it didn't suck me in.

I historically have always made myself finish a book but in a world where there are millions of books I want to read, and sadly not enough years in my life, I have to accept when it's not for me and DNF'd at 25%.

I have previously enjoyed this author though and have had book friends shout about it being laugh out loud so don't let my review put you off and pleaser give it a try yourself.

Thank-you NetGalley and Hannah Parry for an ARC!

I picked this up after hearing a review from another reader. She raved about how funny and entertaining it was, and her enthusiasm made me excited to give it a try. Unfortunately, after reading a few chapters, I quickly realized this book just wasn’t for me.

While I can see why others might enjoy it, I found the language and behaviors of the characters off-putting. The writing style also didn’t resonate with me, making it difficult to stay engaged. Because of this, I decided not to continue reading.

That being said, I can understand why some readers find it entertaining. It just didn’t align with my personal taste. Thank you, NetGalley, Hannah Perry, and first for the opportunity to read and review this advanced copy.

In the beginning I wasn't sure about this book but I very quickly became invested in the author's writing style which is light, funny and unique. The book is totally different to anything I have read before. The author has come up with a new concept that I loved. I would highly recommend this story and I need more like it.

I really enjoyed this book. A quick book with lots of twist that make you want to read more and hooks you in.

Really good book that i will recommend to others.

Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

This was such an enjoyable story! It was fun, lighthearted and endearing. It was a relatable and tender hearted story that included a reality tv storyline. They’re not usually my favorite trope in books but I loved this.

This book was slow to hook me. That said it was worth sticking with as once I got about half way through I then finished it in one day as the storyline took off properly. A worthy read

This is a whacky premise that the author pulls off with style. The idea of a game show based on surrogacy is more and more credible nowadays and seeing the characters navigate it was sometimes funny and sometimes kind of heart breaking. I enjoyed the writing style and found the dialogue particularly engaging, wishing I had a bit more time with some of the quirky side characters,

The baby exchange is the name of a TV show about surrogacy. We see 3 surrogates and their prospective parents on their journeys.

Mae finds out at 37 weeks that she is pregnant, she does not want this baby and is in desperate need for money so decides to join the show.

And that is pretty much it, unfortunately this book wasn't for me. There was no depth to the plot or the characters if anything I found them highly annoying and I just wasn't invested in what happens here.

This was a bizarre and funny story, it certainly was entertaining and I really admired her bravery amidst the chaos she found her life in. Billy was sweet and some of the other mums in the show were very funny too. It was a nice, light hearted read.

The Baby Exchange is a quick, but cute read. It had a few funny parts. I had a hard time getting in to the book, but really enjoyed the ending.