I absolutely loved this book! However, the line on the cover of the book is not what the book is about. "My baby is missing, everyone thinks it's my fault!" This line makes you think the book is going to be about a missing baby when it isn't.
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Annie is a first time mom who is having a difficult time with "postpartum depression" and a colicky baby. She is always forgetting and misplacing things and most of all exhausted. She can't get any sleep. She is just not herself since the baby was born. If things aren't hard enough, she has to deal with twin teenage step children who do not like her and make her life even more difficult. A tragedy occurs in her house and she doesn't know how and why it happened. As she tries to discover who could have done such a horrible thing she begins to have suspicions about her husband, her step children, and other people in her life. Who did it and why? The ending had a great twist that I did not see coming.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to the book before it was released. The narration was great and made me want to keep listening to the end.

First-Time Mother is a gripping thriller that steals your heart and runs away with it!

Annie is a first time mother who is severely struggling following the birth of her daughter, Lola, and through her haze of confusion and delirium things begin to fall apart around her. Annie knows something is wrong but is too tired from being a new mom to put it all together until she loses someone dear to her and her fears are realized. Events snowball into losing her daughter as well, and Annie is on the hunt to get her back.

Annie is a very sympathetic character whose suffering and heartbreak can be felt through this novel. She's very human in her struggles and insecurities and concerns which makes it very easy to become attached to her and her plight. Even as an unreliable narrator it's near impossible not to root for her. While I did not fall into the same suspicions that she has about other characters, her suspicions are reasonable even if unbelievable. I could feel my chest contract every time Annie suffered another heartbreak, big or small, I just wanted her to win.

I listened in audiobook format and must commend the actress that did the audio for this book. It really added to just how intense the emotion was through the novel and perfectly suited the voice of Annie. Absolutely wonderful performance that I would highly recommend if you enjoy listening.

The plot was gripping! Even as a reader with an amount of omniscience about the situation, it doesn't deter from the excitement of seeing how things play out. Annie's actions are never unreasonable or dumb, even if they are slightly off from what the reader knows would be a better course. Knowing what she's working with, she operates as a very intelligent and reasonable woman who is simply in a bad situation. I greatly appreciate that the main character is not helpless or making decisions that are bad simply to further the plot, great writing all around in how the build up plays out.

However, I do wish that perhaps there had been a little more insight or clue to the twist earlier in the novel. While I did find that the twist made total sense the way it was presented, I wish there had been some breadcrumbs along the way. I had correctly deduced who the culprit of the bad happenings was early on, but it took the very climax for it to be explained to me exactly <i>why</i> there was motive. I do believe the book would have benefitted from just a single crumb in the corner to this motive to the twist, but otherwise I believe the mystery actually benefitted from the surprise. I do believe some readers will be bothered by how sudden the villain is revealed, but that will be a personal reader opinion. As it stands, I personally feel satisfied with a villain that makes sense and a mystery that cleans up nicely!

The writing was quick and the story moved along at a good pace. The secrets everyone held were very human and believable. Secrets that feel so small as a reader but realistically some of these secrets are life ending for people. The pace at which the secrets and then reveals for secrets come along feels natural. This book does not linger long on scenes that don't need it. We are given all the information we need without any doddering around the page. The author is very concise in a way that significantly aids the pace of this thriller!

As I've seen others say, my honest biggest gripe is the tagline for this novel. While it actually does fit in tone and uncertainty, the message paint a different light of what this story ends up being. It's still a gripping thriller about a first time mother, yes, but the wording is very deceiving. This book is about a first time mother, as the title suggests, not a missing baby, as the tagline does. I think workshopping this to be more in line with the actual story would have been advisable.

First-Time Mother is very quick and gripping, and Annie is one of the best thriller protagonists I've read in a bit! I highly recommend this book if you're looking for a fast-paced, engaging thriller!

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

First-Time Mother
AJ Campbell

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This is my fifth read by this author and I've really loved all of them so far!
I almost want to say that this was the best yet, but I say that at the end of each one, so....!!

This book had me hooked from the start and I was so engrossed that I couldn't put it down! I read this in two sittings!

So, this really wasn't quite what I expected - the title (and blurb now that I've read it) suggest that this will be all about the baby and mother - but (without giving too much away) there was so, so much more at play here.
Don't get me wrong, this definitely plays a huge part in the storyline - but there was so much going on, so many twists and different threads running through, that I could hardly think straight! (This is a good thing!!)

I really connected with our FMC, Annie, who was struggling with exhaustion after having her first baby.
I totally remember how she feels and even though it's many, many years ago, this brought back all those feelings and memories for me.
Being so tired that you feel as though you're going mad!

When strange things start to happen and different parts of the story unfold, I didn't know who to look at and suspect.
I even had moments wondering whether Annie was going to turn out to be an unreliable narrator - but this flowed so well and came together so perfectly in the end - and it was still a huge shock when the reveals started coming.

Some great characters and a really clever and unique storyline to keep you guessing until the end!
A great read and a bonus having the audio book narrated by one of my favourite narrator's too!
Gill did a great job keeping me glued to this one throughout!

I really enjoyed this book, but wasn’t sure if I missed something or if something was left out, so I had to go back and relisten to try to figure out what I missed. Great pace, captivating, and would recommend for friends to read! Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this ALC!

4.25⭐️This one got my attention right away. We get the story through Annie’s words and to be honest she is a bit of a mess which works really well in keeping us confused and guessing.

She is a woman who appears to at best suffer from postpartum depression or at worst maybe even postpartum psychosis. She is clearly suffering and when help and support is offered to her she refuses it which makes her hard to sympathize with at first. But as we get deeper into this it becomes obvious there is more going on. It was definitely an edge of my seat kind of thriller for me and I devoured this one really quickly. I felt stressed the whole time.

If I had one complaint to make it would be how misleading the book blurb is. If you go in thinking this will be about a missing baby you will be disappointed.

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley and the author A J Campbell for the advanced listening copy, all my opinions are my own.

*ARC Review*

“First time Mother” is a gripping book that was hard to put down! I loved the drama, lies and twists and I was hooked from the beginning right to the end. This author is new to me and I can’t wait to read more!

Annie is the mother to a newborn and adjusting to life in a blended family. There are the usual struggles (postpartum, sleepless nights, family dynamics, etc) but something feels very wrong and she can’t put her finger on it. One afternoon she falls asleep and wakes up to a murder in her home, and things just get wilder from there.

This was a solidly suspenseful domestic thriller. I enjoyed the pacing and the short chapters which moved the plot along. The synopsis speaks of the baby going missing but that does not happen until the last quarter of the book. There were plenty of other intriguing selling points with this book and I don’t think that aspect needed to be the focus.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for this audiobook ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

First-time Mother hooked me from the beginning! In my opinion, the story seems well thought out!
I love the narrators different voices/ accents to differentiate between people. I thought I knew what was going to happen (spoiler: I did not. At all).
It was shocking, mysterious, and intriguing all at the same time. The plot twists, that kept coming one after the other, kept me guessing & on the edge of my seat during the end.
Overall a really good book!!

The story follows a first time mother, Annie, and her family. She is married to a man with two children from a previous marriage who don't like her or welcome her into the family. The story kept me engaged because of the constant twists and turns. The narrator was great and put a lot of emotion into the story. The ending blew my mind--it was a twist I did NOT see coming. I am now adding this author's books to my TBR pile!

The story did not match the synopsis. This wasn't a mystery about a missing baby, and why is the baby carriage on the cover? There was a murder, but it was a completely different character, and the child was not in danger.

Weak twists and endings, plus wildly bizarre coincidences with the family, parentage, and multiple people they knew who had died in tragic events. It was difficult to suspend my disbelief that much.

It was not anywhere near as good as Freida McFadden's books for me. Reminded me of Don't Let Her Stay, but also not as twisty.

I really enjoyed this book! This is the first book I have read by AJ Campbell and look forward to reading her other books..

The story follows first time mom Annie. She is completely overwhelmed with the responsibilities of a new baby, new step children and new husband. When items start disappearing and people start thinking she's crazy and needs help, she starts to believe it. Her anxiety made me anxious also. I could feel her pain when she thought she was a bad mom and everyone was blaming her for all the issues.

I was completely taken in by the story and shocked by the ending. Full of twists and turns and an ending you never see coming!

Thank you NetGalley and AJ Campbell for giving me a chance to read this amazing book early!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC opportunity!

This was really good. I didnt see the twist coming at all. I actually expected it to play out entirely different. Once one part of the twist was revealed, i was able to piece the rest together.

My only complaint is that i wish we got more details on the DNA test and the backstory there. We got so many other side details but not that.

This thriller was fast-paced, with twists and turns throughout the book. I kept wondering what is going on!? For the majority of the book. Thrillers like this keep me invested from start to finish. Listening to this audio, I gasped in surprise at part in this book. This was such a tun, addicting, binge-worthy thriller.
If you love a twisty thriller, this is for you!

Annie is a sleep-deprived first-time mother. She begins to lose pieces of time, but her husband assures her it's the slack of sleep. When strange things start to happen, she begins to question everyone in her orbit.
Thank you @netgalley and @ajcampbellauthor for the audiobook!

First Time Mother❤️
By A.J. Campbell💫

Review👏🏻

When I first started reading this, I was really intrigued. I've always like domestic thrillers. I was feeling terrible for the main character because she believes she is going insane after having a baby. The twist was the best part of the novel, although it took a long time to get there. I was completely surprised by the ending, so kudos to the author for making me feel so stunned. I enjoyed the book, however I felt it was a little prolonged. I believe many people will love the thrilling features of this story.

Domestic thriller🏡
Suspense🫣
Plot twist🌀
Crime🚔

Audio:
Loved the narrators voice. I thought she did a fantastic job and her voice was perfect for the story.

I Swear this year, pretty much all the audiobooks that are coming my way are good! This one has a story a bit like if it was written by John Marrs or Sarah Langan, but maybe more like Sarah because we had only one point of view, and I really enjoyed because until almost the end we didn’t know if our narrator was reliable or not. The twists and turns made me guess things on the story, some became true and others I was just lead there and it was another completely different story. In the end I enjoyed this story, I think only why was a neckless in the pocket of a pair of trousers stayed without answers…

The person reading this book, Tamsin Kennard, did a brilliant job reading the book, she did accents, it was really nice and made me enter the story and full concentrate on it.

it was a good story, keep me on my toes, and I just wanted to listen to more and learn the truth, if you like thrillers (before I didn’t enjoy thrillers, but I guess it depends on what kind of stories are told, now I like this kind of thrillers, and if you enjoyed “A better world”, believe me, you’ll enjoy this one.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture Audio, for the free AAC and this is my honest opinion.

From the tagline of this book I was expecting a baby kidnapping story but the baby doesn't actually go missing until near the end of the book and instead we get a bit of everything - a murder mystery, domestic thriller, blended family dramas, post-partum struggles and some!
Short punchy chapters, lots of twists and turns and plenty of intriguing characters which will leave you on the edge of your seat and desperate to know what is really going on.
The audiobook was very well narrated providing an entertaining and suspenseful experience.
I am grateful to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced listener copy of this fast-paced audiobook.

I received an advanced audio copy of "First-Time Mother," a psychological thriller by AJ Campbell. The story revolves around a new mother whose life is thrown into chaos when her sister dies under mysterious circumstances. As she delves deeper into her sister's life, uncovering lies and secrets, the line between murder and suicide blurs.

This book was a solid read that successfully held my attention. The main character is well-crafted, and as a listener, you find yourself empathizing with her plight and rooting for her as she seeks the truth. The narrative follows the traditional structure of a thriller, with suspense and plot twists that keep you engaged throughout. Overall, "First-Time Mother" is an enjoyable and gripping read for fans of psychological thrillers.

This was such a good read! This book hooked me from the start with its twists and suspense. It had that addictive, can’t-put-it-down energy that makes thrillers so fun. I loved how the tension built around the themes of motherhood and trust. So many moments had me questioning everyone and everything haha I didn’t know what believe!!!

That said, a few parts felt a little predictable or drawn out. Also the ending fell a bit flat for me. After all the buildup, I was hoping for something a little more impactful or unexpected. Still, it didn’t take away from the overall experience too much. It was a fun, thrilling ride and definitely worth picking up if you’re into twisty domestic dramas.

First-Time Mother by AJ Campbell
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Intense!!! Loved this extremely entertaining and gripping psychological thriller!
It started with a bang and never dropped off with the drama and excitement! It’s so fast paced that it didn’t take long to get through the audiobook! The twists and turns are amazingly wild!
Annie, a brand new mom to a colicky baby, is very sleep deprived and questioning things she’s forgetting. Certain events aren’t making sense to her, along with her trying to deal with a horrible family tragedy. Is Annie going crazy?

This is my first book from this author, but I’m so excited to read more!
Thank you to NetGalley for an audio copy of this amazing book! The narrator was excellent too!
*This book comes out April 14, and I highly recommend it!*

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced ready copy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s been a while since I’ve read a mystery/suspense novel and didn’t guess the ending early on. This was an outcome I didn’t see coming. Initially , I felt the beginning was repetitive, but by the end of the novel, everything made sense. I also enjoyed the character development. The relationships in the novel were relatable. I highly recommend First Time Mother.