I was given a copy of this advance edition by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Lots of suspense and surprises in this twisted psychological thriller.. highly recommend.

Bree’s son is taken. The old woman who takes him wants one thing from Bree. She, of course, cannot be trusted. Bree has to deal with the fact that getting her son back will take far More than she thinks. For the first half or so Bree is a pretty strong and kick ass mom. She does whatever she has to do to get her son back, teaming up with her best friends widow to track down the real motive in order to save her baby.

So for the first part it was well done. And then it just lost me. Bree became the weakest, most apologetic little wifey ever. She looked for every reason in the world to protect her comfortable little life and I lost any respect for the character that built up in the first part of the book. Had the author stopped earlier and not tried to make a happily ever after for the protagonist, the book would have stayed above 3 stars.

Dang, this book was a ride. Mother May I was a book describing every Mother's worst nightmare. What do you do when your child is taken from you? To what depths do you go to get your child back? She was warned that the world was a dark and scary place, but how could this happen to her? She has her beautiful children, her devoted lawyer husband, a nice home....

This enthralling book follows Bree, a mother and wife, through the challenge of working against the witch. She needs to find out who the witch is and what are her motives are.. But most importantly, she needs to find out where they are. Every chapter was a whirlwind following Bree through her emotions and journey to finding Robert.

This is the first novel that I have read by Joshilyn Jackson, but she has proved to be an author that I will now be on the lookout for. Her writing was easy to read and enticing.


Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson

Thanks very much to NetGalley, Joshilyn Jackson and Harper Audio for an audio ARC for an honest review.

This was the first book from Joshilyn Jackson that I have read. Or should I say, I listened to the audio version, read by the author. She did an amazing job keeping the suspense building until the very end.

There are thought-provoking issues to ponder in this gripping story, depending upon what your social class is.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading other books by this author.

#MotherMayI #NetGalley

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Joshilyn Jackson and I loved it. I have read many of Jackson's book, and I think this one is one of the best that I have read from her.

Mother May I grabbed my attention from the beginning. This is a great thriller that I highly recommend, and I could not put it down! Bree would do anything for her family especially after an unknown woman took her son. Bree ends up doing things she would never usually do because she believes that if she does them, the woman will give her son back. Bree is given directions that will cause her to lose her son or someone else. The book is full of twists and turns, and my emotions were on high alert the entire time. I felt for Bree and could imagine being in her shoes if one of my boys was taken from me. Bree turns to Marshall, an old friend, for help. Marshall is a genuinely good person. He is an ex-cop so has useful skills to help Bree. I loved the story and could not put this book down.

I can’t remember the last time I blasted through a thriller this fast. And I almost put it down because the kidnapping of an infant is so difficult for me to read. I’m glad that I powered through my discomfort, because Mother May I ended up being an incredibly gripping, propulsive story.

Because thrillers are incredibly easy to spoil, I’m going to stick to vague references in this review. First off, I thought the pacing was impeccable. There was no drag here, and I was never bored for an instant. I also thought Jackson did a great job on the characters. The protagonists were flawed but likable, as were their opponents. I had no problem rooting for the good guys, even though I couldn’t quite loathe the bad ones as much as I wanted. The descriptions were tight and exactly enough. I was able to picture everything I needed to in detail, without ever getting bogged down in minutia. While the plot isn’t the most original on the planet, it was handled in a way that felt fresh and compelling and even offered a bit of food for thought.

My digital galley of this was an audiobook, and I actually think that format kept me more involved in the story than I might have been with a print copy. The audio is narrated by the author, and she did a wonderful job. Not only am I interested in checking out more of her work, I’ll ensure that I pick it up on audio if she narrates it. Her pacing and inflection were superb.

The only reason this was a 4 star read for me instead of meriting 5 stars is that I don’t think it’s a story that will stick with me for long. I was deeply invested while the tale was ongoing, but I already feel myself moving on from it. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I can see it leading me to including more thrillers in my reading rotation.

This had me hooked pretty quickly. I really enjoyed that the author narrated the audiobook, it made it really fun to listen to knowing it was exactly how she wanted it.

Synopsis: Bree Cabot's baby son is kidnapped by an elderly woman, who has a seemingly simple demand, but escalates quickly, and Bree has to make some very difficult decisions if she wants to get her son back.

This was a fun and suspenseful thriller. It had some twists that surprised me, and managed to be exciting and emotional at the same time.

I really liked Bree's friend Marshall, and their relationship. He was a really complex character and I really enjoyed the chapters from your point of view.

There were some parts that felt somewhat redundant, and I didn't love the ending, although there were plenty of exciting moments leading up to that. Would definitely still recommend!

Mother May I is the first I have read from Joshilyn Jackson and I thoroughly enjoyed every word.
It captured my interest from the beginning and held it through out the story.
Bree Cabbat grew up in rural Georgia with a mother who warned her of the dark and evil in the world but Bree did not believe her mother. Until her son Robert was taken at the campus of her daughters school. She woke the night before to a witch staring in her window and after speaking to her husband Trey about it, they ended up shaking it off. In hindsight her husband wishes he would have listened to her and stopped the old lady then. What happens next goes against everything Bree believes and she does what she has to to save her son.
Thank you to William Morrow publishing and NetGalley for advanced wonderful listen.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The narration was excellent and the storyline kept me wanting more. It was suspenseful until the very end. It was a story of revenge, privilege, lies and torment. It was executed really well. I highly recommend checking this one out!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Bree Cabbatt will do anything to get her baby back.

Bree's son Robert is kidnapped while she watches her older daughter rehearse for her school play. This is hours after she woke up in bed thinking she saw a witch outside her window and minutes after seeing a woman who resembled the witch walking by the school. Is it all connected? All she knows is that a note was left on the floor where the car seat had been, and the note tells her to head home for further instructions.

Bree wants to follow all the instructions so she can get Robert back. She lies to those around her so that she can be alone and she doesn't tell her husband who is out of town. She is instructed to complete a task that she is uncomfortable with but she does it. The result is not what she was told to expect and she is drawn further into this tragedy. A friend of the family who happens to be an investigator and former policeman, knows something is off and ends up helping Bree figure out why her son was taken.

The mystery/thriller part of the book, which is most of the book, is quite compelling. The end of the book gets wrapped up in upper class privilege and the change in Bree's attitude toward her husband was so quickly brought on, I had a hard time accepting it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

I dove into listening to Mother May I with no expectations at all and was pleasantly surprised.

I think this book would make an excellent choice for a book club with a strong preference for thrillers. It is one of these rear thrillers with more meaningful content than most.

Are you a mother? Then tell me, what would happen if your baby was taken? Is there anything you would not do to get him/her back? Do you think there is some sort of moral line that you would not cross, or would absolutely nothing stop you?

Because that’s exactly what happened to the main protagonist, Bree Cabbat. One minute her newborn son was safely tucked away in his car seat, right by her side, while Bree was watching her older daughter’s rehearsal at her posh private school, and the next…he was gone, gOnE, GONE! And now a mysterious old lady is giving Bree instructions which she must follow to the tee if she ever to see her baby again.

Mother May I has a pacing and a haunting atmosphere of a thriller, but it focuses on MANY uncomfortable and rather complex topics. The main and most important one being white male privilege. Is there such a thing as a good guy that has done only one bad thing in his life, EVER? How forgiving should we (or should we not be?) when we learn these things about our friends and loved ones? How about the fact that one good ol’ boy’s “mistake” could have been some girl’s end of life as she knew it? Should we forgive such mistakes, and move forward for the sake of our children? How do we as a society treat rich white boy’s experimenting with sex and drugs in college? And how do we react to the same behavior when it is exhibited by the underprivileged girl? The book also brushes on topics such as consent, being a black woman in a predominantly white workspace, sexual harassment at work, class disparity in the South, domestic violence, the moral obligation to be honest with our kids about hard topics, and even (albeit very briskly) on the topic of bringing your firearm to a public place and using it in the case of mass shootings (or what appears to be a mass shooting).

4 starts and not 5, because for me, personally, the book landed a bit too hard on the "happy(ish) ending". It is hard to discuss thrillers without accidently dropping spoilers but let’s just say I found it a bit too unrealistic that no one found out how Bree’s husband’s friend really died. Knowing how there are cameras everywhere nowadays and all. And also, I am critical of some of the choices that Bree (and Marshall) made at the very end. But that’s just my opinion, and that is exactly why I think this would be a great book for a book club discussion: I think some of these questions are HARD, and that it is easy to be all righteous when your own kids are not involved. But…the ending left me feeling like there STILL was no justice for Lexi. And it broke my heart.

Mother May I is narrated by the author, and boy was I impressed. I never listened to a thriller read by the author before! Joshilyn Jackson is an impressive narrator and it was a joy to listen to her bring her novel to life with the masterful use of different “voices”. Her performance of the wide range of Southern accents (all very nuanced) is very impressive!

I will say that I do NOT recommend this book if you just had a baby. No. NOPE. It is guaranteed to freak you the ef out…. Just don’t do it. Wait a bit. Until they are like 5. Or may be 18 ….

Joshilyn Jackson has become one of my favorite authors over the last few years, and she seems to get better with every book. She excels in writing these domestic thrillers, that will make those fine hairs raise as you read and/or listen to her stories.

When this book opens, Bree, our protagonist, wakes up thinking she sees a witch in her bedroom window. After thinking about it, she thinks it was just something crazy and it couldn’t possibly be real. She wakes to care for her newborn son and two pre-teen daughters while her husband packs for a business trip. Later in the day, she sees the same woman in the parking lot of her daughters school and not long after her baby goes missing.

This sets up the narrative of this story and puts Bree on a crash course that will forever change her and her family’s lives. Lies, innuendos, secrets are all part of this story and makes this book so compulsive to read. Jackson is masterful at giving just enough information to pull you in and and then takes you on so many twists and turns that even until the last page you will not have the full picture of what the end result will be.

This a fun read, though I think this will scare any new parent, so be aware. Have fun with this one and savor Jackson’s writing. If this is your first time reading her, make sure to go back to her backlist, there is so much goodness there.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, this is my favorite Joshilyn Jackson book to date. It may even be my favorite of the year. So incredibly good! I already have my bookclub anxious to read!

This was kind of a surprise. I expected this to be a standard thriller, but it was so much more complex. There were themes of both motherhood and social issues.

They might not have all been healthy, but I think the author did a great job of showing that there are a lot of different families and what it means to be a mother within those different families. It was still within a thriller, so I also had that ‘just one more chapter’ thing too - a pretty good combo.

Though I didn’t my necessarily feel that the characters were exceptionally developed, I think the intense focus on the main character (Bree) really gave a good look at the other characters as well, which really heightened my investment.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Harper Audio, and Joshilyn Jackson for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this second book by Joshilyn Jackson. A mother goes to great length to protect her family and her children. I did not see the last few chapters coming at all. While this book took place over only a few weeks it seemed to last a lot longer. It was a good storyline and kept me on my toes the whole time. I did wish at time that the book was shorter it dragged early on in the story line but all of the information was important for the overall end to the book.

Not only is Mother May I a well written thriller , the audio book narrated by Joshilyn Jackson is so well done that you get lost in the story from the beginning to the end.

The audio book is well done, the voices that Josh Jackson does are perfect and you feel like you are right there with Bree talking to the "witch" who kidnapped her son and is out for revenge from 2o years ago.

Suspense with twists and turns will keep you guessing and listening/reading.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mother May I.

Thanks to NetGalley , Harper Audio for the opportunity to indulge in Mother May I

Thank you HarperAudio for the ALC of Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson! This was another great story by Jackson as she is making her way up to an auto-read author of mine. You quickly get brought into Bree Cabbat's worst nightmare when a somewhat murky dream of a witch standing outside her bedroom window turns into her child being kidnapped by said witch. What at first seemed like a standard domestic thriller soon turned into an intertwined mystery dating back 20 years in the main characters lives. The narration behind Bree and what she is going through as a mother and wife through this story was fantastic. I loved the ending, and the story behind it. You see thriller after thriller hitting on heavy topics but Joshilyn Jackson brought it to light in a way that made you know she wasn't just using the topic to move the story along. Can't wait to see what she writes next!

Joshilyn Jackson does it again! I listened to the entire audiobook on a road trip and it did not disappoint...at times I found myself gripping the steering wheel in suspense and wanting to turn up the speed to hear what happened next. Jackson has such a knack for developing mysterious characters that you care far but also don't fully trust. This was a bit darker than most domestic thrillers I read but I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and appreciated the tidy ending.

When Bri sees a witch outside of her window she just thinks she's overtired, her youngest Robby is only 10 weeks old. But when the unthinkable happens, her son disappears, Bri realizes the witch is real and the world is the dangerous place her mother always said it was. She will do anything to get her son back and enlists the widow of her best-friend to help. What she doesn't expect is to find the secret from the past that led to this. Will they survive? A story of mother love that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The author narrates the book and is the voice of Bri.

I am a huge fan of Joshilyn Jackson and was not disappointed with this book. I listened to this book which is read by the author. The narration went very well with the book. The story really moved quickly and kept me interested.