"We Were Mothers" by Katie Sise is a riveting exploration of the complexities of motherhood, the fragility of relationships, and the secrets that can shatter seemingly perfect lives. This domestic drama, sprinkled with elements of suspense, unravels a web of deception that links two families in their upscale neighborhood.

The narrative primarily focuses on two women: Cora, who is grieving the death of her second child, and Jade, whose marriage is on the brink of collapse due to a scandalous revelation. As Sise delves into their lives and those around them, we are introduced to a host of other characters, each dealing with their own secrets and struggles.

Sise's narrative is layered and complex. The novel’s strength lies in its character development and the way it explores the multifaceted dimensions of motherhood, love, loss, and betrayal. Each character is beautifully fleshed out, their imperfections making them authentic and relatable. By telling the story from multiple perspectives, Sise adds depth and breadth to the narrative, creating a rich tapestry of interconnected lives.

The suspense is well-maintained throughout the novel, and the author skillfully uses it to draw the reader deeper into the lives of the characters. Each secret that's unveiled adds another layer of complexity to the story.

However, the number of characters and subplots might be overwhelming for some readers, causing occasional confusion. While the multiple perspectives enrich the narrative, they also demand careful attention from the reader to keep track of the unfolding drama.

Additionally, some readers might find the exploration of heavy themes, like infidelity, loss, and grief, quite intense. Yet, Sise treats these subjects with sensitivity, weaving them seamlessly into the plot.

In summary, "We Were Mothers" is a compelling and thought-provoking read that captures the complexity of family relationships and the dark secrets hidden beneath the surface of suburban life. Its exploration of motherhood, friendship, and the aftermath of loss is poignant and deeply resonant. Readers looking for an emotional, character-driven story with a dash of suspense will find this novel a satisfying read.

Unfortunately this book was not for me, it was a bit slower than I would like and it just didn't hold my attention. I am sure other people will love it!

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

Fans of "Big Little Lies" will love "We Were Mothers" by Katie Sise. This novel is full of characters hiding serious secrets, and Sise does an excellent job weaving their lives together and slowly unraveling the truth. I couldn't put this book down!

DNF @ 32%

Mothers complaining, mothers lamenting, mothers pining for sex and omg where did my sex life go and that neighbour is making my bits tingle and then the kids are crying and barfing and demanding and we have to have a birthday party for twins and and and… I just couldn’t do it. Potentially something sinister and life-altering was brewing between one of the women’s husbands and the teenage babysitter, but that little crumb of mystery was not enough for me to keep reading these characters.

This reads like it wanted to be Big Little Lies, but it’s just no way on par.

It is not a book that was meant for me as a woman or a reader.

Very well written domestic thriller. The plot was interesting but for some reason I just couldn't get into the story

Great read! Looking forward to reading more from this author! I highly recommend this book and author to all!

3.5 Stars Rounded Up.

I received a reviewer copy of We Were Mothers by Katie Sise from the publisher Little A from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

CW: Abusive Relationship, Rape, Violence, Grief, Car Accident, Drunk Driving, some mentions of infertility.

What It’s About: Cora O’Connell and her mother and friend, Jade are still moruning the death of her sister. Motherhood has allowed Cora to feel again and is throwing an elaborate party for her twin’s first birthday when she is given her neighbor, Laurel’s daughter’s journal and a secret is revealed. Within 24 hours, Laurel’s daughter goes missing. This book follows a set of neighbors and friends with secrets upon secrets that trigger a series of events that forever change their mind

What I Loved: Okay, maybe it’s been awhile since I read a book like this but I thought it had major Big Little Lies vibes, like I loved the idea of these neighbor’s and friends and their secret lives. All of the twists, I felt were believable and I just wanted to see what comes next. This book has similar vibes to Big Little Lies and I ate it up. I loved the family noir that didn’t include unreliable narratives, characters you could root for, but still was twisty. I truly loved finding out what was going on and the events of the past that shaped these people along with the fast moving plot.

What I Didn't Like So Much: It may be unbelievable that this book happens over 2 days. There is a lot going on and for all this chaos to break out over two days is a bit far fetched (I didn’t care too much about this though). There were some unnecessary scenes that seemed to exist so that all of our characters could be connected. Additionally, some plots truly don’t wrap up. Again, I felt this was more to make it seem like anyone could be responsible. Finally, I feel like it got too neatly tied up (it is very hard to please me with endings).

Who Should Read This: People who love family noir. People who want a twisty book but not unreliable narrators. People who loved Big Little Lies. People who want a ‘hidden life of neighbors’ book.

Quick Summary: A story of neighbor’s and friends whose lives spiral after a birthday party.

I've waited to read this one for awhile, and though it kept my attention, I could not stop comparing it to other thrillers that had me racing to pick up my book at every free moment. The pacing felt off to me, making it easy to set my book down. However, like most thrillers, this was a quick read and one that kept me interested enough, why it fits perfectly with a 2.5 star rating.

A decent thriller very much in the same style as Big Little Lies. Loved the mum drama but the tension just didn't build enough for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the free galley! I loved domestic thriller books with secrets in their marriage and twists and turns included. It sounded so up my alley, however some parts got a bit slower for me. I wish it had developed more in the characters though.

I received an ARC copy of We Were Mothers in exchange for an honest review. This was one of the first ARC's I received and I had problems locating it. We Were Mothers was actually released in 2018. I apologize for the late feedback. Wow, wow, wow, how I wish I had not struggled to find this book on my device. What a good read it was. The story starts out at a neighborhood birthday party. A lot of characters, in fact, all the main characters are at the party. It was a little overwhelming at first, with the intro of so many characters all at once. However, they all fit into the story. Once again, there are secrets, so many secrets. All of the secrets are released the weekend of the party. I stayed up late to finish this one!

We Were Mothers is an intriguing roller coaster ride! Katie Sise has penned a novel full of secrets and drama. Loved it!

We Were Mothers by Katie Sise would probably better be titled ... We were wives. The "drama" of the book is about the children, but the story is really the marital, ex-marital, and extra-marital relationships of these women. The marital relationships in the book range from sad to truly disturbing (reader, beware!). The story takes place over the course of the weekend, but the secrets cover a lifetime. The book is a very quick read, somewhat a soap opera of a relatively affluent set of people in a quiet suburban community.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2019/08/we-were-mothers.html

Reviewed for NetGalley.

A close-knit neighborhood faces a catastrophe when one couple’s daughter goes missing. The big question, of course, is why.

Cora, particularly, wants to know because earlier in the evening, she read a diary entry–left mysteriously for her–written by the missing girl in which she disclosed an assignation with one of the husbands. Cora is sickened, enraged and fearful. Her first reaction is to protect her family, but she is a mother. She understands how Laurel, the missing girl’s mother, feels, and she becomes determined to help find her.

Katie Sise spins a lot of plates in this story. There are four narrators: Cora, her mother Sarah, Jade (who was best friends with Cora’s sister Maggie, who died a handful of years earlier), and Laurel. These are the titular mothers, and each faces her own set of dilemmas. The first half of the book sets up these women, showing their interpersonal relationships and conflicts. It becomes clear that none of them are particularly happy, certainly not in their marriages.

The second half takes off with the missing girl and becomes a mystery. It almost feels like a different book because the narrators’ voices change. Part of this is due, no doubt, to the frenzy over the missing girl. A second mystery is introduced, and that one proves to have the big plot twist.

Will you like the women? Ehhhhh …. probably not. Sarah bugged me the least. Cora is one of those mothers who become the bane of the existence of her children’s teachers. While I do not think that Cora deserves what happens to her here, I do hope she learns from it. Laurel frustrated the mess out of me because I wanted her to be stronger, to fight harder. Jade is self-focused to the point of disdain, not that I can blame her because her husband is a gigantic anal pore. Jade is caught up in her own losses, which I get, but I couldn’t help but think that some of the problems her friends face could have been dispatched with quicker had she taken action sooner.

This is an interesting, if uneven, book. I have some unanswered questions, but for the most part, Katie Sise delivers a satisfying conclusion.

This book was alright, but I felt like there were several complicated pieces that could have been toned down a bit.

Cora, the mother of twins, is celebrating their 2nd birthday and trying to gain favor with her new neighbor Laurel when she finds a journal entry that someone left for her to read. Uncertain if the entry is factual, she confronts her husband after the party. This starts a chain reaction where Laurel begins to address the problems in her own family, and Cora's friend Jade learns the truth about her best friend Maggie's death. With a lively cast of helpful women and not so helpful men, this book is a real page turner.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

We Were Mothers by Katie Sise is really more of a domestic drama than anything. It’s one of those that I like to think of as popcorn books that you grab your popcorn and sit back and watch the drama unfold before your eyes as you read. This one really did deliver on the promised twists but a few of those may need to suspend disbelief a bit.

The story is told from the point of view of Cora, Sarah, Jade and Laurel. Cora is the young mother to two year old twins who finds her husband has cheated with the babysitter and Sarah is Cora’s mother. Jade is a good friend of the family who is considering adoption and Laurel is the mother of the teen that babysat for Cora’s family.

What we have in the book is different ways different generations handle things, struggles with life and love, abuse, lies and deception or dealing with loss among many other things. It’s a bit like reading a daytime soap opera but if you love a juicy drama then this one will probably be for you.

There is a lot of dark issues going on under the peaceful surface of Ravendale' s friendly community.

Not good, but not bad - this is my final verdict.

What I like here, are the wise thoughts about life - quite often I have stopped my readings and pondered the true points and wisely modeled life situations. I think this novel accidentally tapped one of the worst reasons of evil going strong in our society - the self-centeredness (I am not saying egoism, as often it is not about the egoism, but because the lack of conscious effort (not everybody has time/energy for that effort, of course - but some have and are not using them to really see the others' needs)).
The idea behind the novel - how the mothers act and react in the challenging times - is quite fresh and the modern motherhood is a topic worth writing about. I also like the feminine feeling of the novel, full of rich emotions and perceptions.
The wrting is quite engaging and the mysteries could be, too.

But the novel is quite prolonged, unfortunately. And the purpose of the story feels to be undecided - is it all-embracing motherhood? But all-embracing - why? against what? and it is even good to have this attitude? These questions are not answered here.
Some parts are pure musings about the pros and cons of motherhood, some indicate the "big" mystery going on - both in the past and in the present, and some are here for the sole purpose of letting you to go into the character's minds and feelings at the moment. And some chapters or their parts are quite repetitive in telling the characters' emotions.
My first minus here goes for the mystery/mysteries, which are heavily hinted about - and, finally, there is no big mystery. I am not the one wanting the tragedy here - but why I am led to think that there would be one, and then I get vanilla one?
My other complaint here is about how the men are portrayed - weak, cowardly, violent and passive. Women, at the other hand, are strong and can fight for the right things. And this quite bothers me - even of it can be true about some men, ultimately it is not true about all of them. So why do we sell the uncritical, all-justifying and all-embracing motherhood, but not the love between the men and women? This love does exist, too, and it feels unjust not to mention it.

But still - I was once again reminded of how immersed can I get in my own world. How I can perceive the others as well put-down, happy - and I how I should care more, how I can care enough to try to see the others for who they truly are, to be friend enough to be willing to ask the unpleasant questions. Because world needs no more of Laurel Madsens.
And this is the morale of the story for me - and it is a very strong point. Thanks for that much needed reminder, Ms Sise.

4 Stars!

I didn’t read the blurb on this book, I picked it because of the cover and the title. And I wasn’t disappointed!

I loved reading the different view points from the various characters in this book. And the twists the author added kept me wanting to read more and more. I think this book resonated with me a bit more because I’m a mother myself. Although you definitely do not have to be a mother in order to read or get drawn into this book. The writing was great and it also had an interesting storyline that on,y spanned over a few days. It was a very interesting g book!