THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An addictive psychological thriller about a group of women whose lives become unexpectedly connected when one of their newborns goes missing.A night out. A few hours of fun. That’s all it was meant to be.They call themselves the May Mothers—a group of new moms whose babies were born in the same month. Twice a week, they get together in Brooklyn’s Prospect … Mothers—a group of new moms whose babies were born in the same month. Twice a week, they get together in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park for some much-needed adult time.
When the women go out for drinks at the hip neighborhood bar, they want a fun break from their daily routine. But on this hot Fourth of July night, something goes terrifyingly wrong: one of the babies is taken from his crib. Winnie, a single mom, was reluctant to leave six-week-old Midas with a babysitter, but her fellow May Mothers insisted everything would be fine. Now he is missing. What follows is a heart-pounding race to find Midas, during which secrets are exposed, marriages are tested, and friendships are destroyed.
Thirteen days. An unexpected twist. The Perfect Mother is a “true page turner.” —B.A. Paris, author of Behind Closed Doors
more
A true page-turner with an unpredictable twist. I don’t want to include any spoilers here, but I’m dying to discuss the ending if any fellow BookBubbers have read it yet! I’m also curious to hear how any mothers who have read this reacted to its portrayal of motherhood, which I couldn’t relate to personally but found to be an interesting and significant element of the plot. Can’t wait for the movie! (https://deadline.com/2017/02/kerry-washington-the-perfect-mother-tristar-amy-pascal-aimee-molloy-novel-1201905599/)
/ 5 red herring filled stars!
I read The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy as a buddy read and I think it is safe to say that we all really enjoyed this thriller, and it was a complete binge read for almost all of us.
I didn’t really know what to think of this book as I was reading it, but then I got towards the end and WHAM, it changed the entire book for me. The Perfect Mother is about a mommy group called The May Mothers, named for the fact they all have babies born in May. One night – the 4th of July of all days – the May Mothers go out without their babies and one of the babies gets taken from home out of his crib and disappears. What happens next is a wild ride of moms snooping and meddling, and doing their best to help their friend Winnie find her little boy Midas.
There are quite a few times that the book jumps around between characters with no clear definition of where one starts and the other ends. I actually started a list in my phone of who everyone was and distinguishing characteristics so I could keep track of them all. However, it didn’t really take away from the book too much for me. Once I got used to the names and each character popped up more, I was able to stop consulting my list.
The chapters in this book aren’t all that short, but they sure read very quickly. Some chapters focused on a couple characters viewpoints, but for the most part the chapters touched on most, if not all, of the characters POVs. There is also a mystery person thrown in there which was a nice touch. Those sections are just for that POV.
The fact that I’m not a mother didn’t make this read any less enjoyable for me. I can’t always relate to viewpoints from mom’s, but Molloy made it easy for someone without kids of their own to enjoy this whole book no matter whose POV you were reading. Each chapter starts out with an email to the May Mothers about where your baby should be at in regard to how old he/she is. I even enjoyed that part! It was nice too because it was something different.
I think Molloy did a great job on all these characters too. I felt like I was becoming a part of their lives throughout this book. Nell was definitely my favorite character and May Mother. She was hilarious, and of course, she likes to drink!
Final Thought: I think that even if you aren’t a mom you will appreciate this book. Molloy really gets all those social stigmas of new moms out there. They shouldn’t drink, they need to dress a certain way, they need to raise their babies a certain way, etc., so many silly things that constitute the “perfect mother”. I can appreciate what she was trying to do here even though I’m not a mom and not planning to be one. I loved Nell’s ‘F them’ attitude about all this stuff too. Secrets will surely be revealed in this fast-paced psychological thriller, and I highly recommend it. I seriously can’t even believe this is a debut novel!
The Perfect Mother in 3-ish words: Fast-paced, Meaningful & Fun
Wow! Aimee Molloy got me with this one! I was so excited to read this book after I heard that Kerry Washington had optioned the movie rights. And I was not disappointed. A total page turner. And wonderful insights on modern motherhood along the way.
I want to preface this review by saying I had to wait 2 months for it to become available from my library. That is unheard of for books I want to read. Apparently this one is in high demand and once I started reading I began to understand why.
This is Aimee Molloy’s first novel from what I’ve gleaned but the writing and style reminds me of so many of the great novelists of this genre right now. She’ll be compared to the likes of Lianne Moriarty, Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins and that is certainly not a bad group to join.
I enjoyed this book very much. I loved the switching perspectives and the glimpses into each mother’s personal life just as much as the drama of the kidnapping of baby Midas. The social commentary on modern mommyhood was great as well. I will say I figured out the biggest twist fairly early on for a thriller of this magnitude which is what kept me from giving it a full five stars. There were enough other twists and turns to keep me entertained and flipping pages, so much so I stayed up late to finish it.
I’ll definitely be looking forward to more from Molloy. (4.5 STARS)
Wonderful read! Well written book that is captivating, suspenseful and really keeps you guessing! I love all the characters even though in the beginning they are a bit difficult to keep straight.
There was such buzz this summer for “The Perfect Mother,” but I thought this novel was lacking in several ways. It was entertaining, I’ll definitely see a movie with Kerry Washington, but I found most of the characters to be underdeveloped and it didn’t hold my attention the way so many thrillers do. It wasn’t terrible and (as always) it would be worth reading before a movie release, but I have to be honest and say I don’t know what all of the fuss was about.
Would read this book again and recommend it to my friends. I’ve seen that they are in the works to make this book into a movie. I hope they do it justice.
Really good book.
Sounds like a book I’d like to read but my library doesn’t have it at the present time; will check again at a later date.
Enjoyed this book and the flawed characters depicted, although it was a bit confusing at times with its rotating points of view. But overall, The Perfect Mother has a good plot, keeps the reader’s attention, and is very well written.
Cant wait for this author’s next book!
This book would be good for a book club. The nuances are there and a bit of stereo-typing. The ending will grab you
I listened to the book on my phone and thoroughly enjoyed it, but some twists near the end seemed to come out of nowhere, which made me love it a little less. The book covers all the new mother horrors and fears, as well as the pressures and judgments women put on each other and themselves to do everything just right.
A true page turner. I couldn’t stop reading.
There’s nothing scarier for a mother than the idea of her child going missing. The Perfect Mother takes that concept and turns it up a notch… imagine your baby going missing? And, if that baby is taken while you are celebrating a night out with your mother’s group, the blame escalates. Soon to be made into a film, read this book!
I borrowed this book from my library, it was a WONDERFUL book. It kept me reading, guessing, and wondering who was the culprit. Amazing writing for a first time author will definitely read her next book when it comes out.
I sadly didn’t like this book as much as I had hoped I would. For me it was difficult to follow with constant switching between characters and when I finished reading it and tried to tell my husband about it I found myself confused on who did what. I also felt that it tied up a little too tidy without answering all my questions. I will say however it was interesting enough that even with my confusion I finished it to find out the end.
A group of mothers who meet and make their life feel sane again. Sound ideal. Its an everyday thing going to mommy and me meet ups. You’d never suspect the twist that Molloy tosses into make this the ultimate play date.
Why 4 stars, because simply because I figured out the end before it came. Which was rather trickery. Molloy did a fantastic job of hook, line and sinker.
A book with significant potential, never realized: too many characters with too many twists combined with too much moving around in time and sequence. Parts seemed to approach realizing its potential, then seemed to pop out – especially with the ending! Meh.
Could not put this book down!
I think it was when I was about ten years old that my mother dreamed that someone came in and grabbed my baby brother. I also think I’ll never forget it. I awoke from her shouting and the wild run to his bedroom. Father awoke and was alarmed as well. Surprisingly, her sigh of relief came as the baby’s voice cried from the next room.
The outline of this book will better be described on the back cover than I can, but don’t be complacent to believe. This is an excellent book that gave me a few stressful reading hours.