Good book that had a few slow parts to it. I enjoyed it as a whole but it did slow in pace in a few spots.

What a beautifully written reflection on motherhood and all that comes with it. As a mother of three myself, I was drawn into what Nelson was sharing throughout the read, and feel that she has done an excellent job at putting so much into words that some of us just cannot. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to read this beautiful piece of work.

Five stars, through and through.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital review copy of this book. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Adiba Nelson is going to take you for a ride with this book, Ain’t That a Mother! I was initially attracted to it because it looked like a book about motherhood and I don’t see too many of those with Black women on the cover. The subtitle, Postpartum, Palsy and Everything in Between also caught my attention. As a Black mother, you don’t often get to see other Black women’s stories about their postpartum experience in print.

Get The Audiobook
I listened to this book on audiobook. The author narrates it herself and I believe that just added to my enjoyment of the story. This woman has led a very colorful life when it comes to the story of her motherhood. Oh yeah and her language is mighty colorful too! Just warning you if you didn’t pick that up from the title.

Great Storytelling
I loved her style of storytelling! I actually don’t read too many memoirs, but between her narration and the way she wrote the book, she had me hooked the entire time. Her tales of how she met the father of her child, who was also married but she didn’t know because he lied to her about it multiple times is just the start. She describes how she discovered her child was special needs, her own postpartum issues and how she made it out of the relationship with her daughter’s father.

Interesting Counterarguments
She also has an interesting way of address counter arguments to her statements that she anticipates her readers will have with regards to the choice she makes. I appreciated her reasoning and justification when she did that, because even I got caught being a little judgy at certain moments.

What a fabulous rendition to motherhood! I loved the tales and lessons to be learned through the experience of other mothers. The writing was captivating and honest and, at times, humorous.

A rare and honest look at the challenges of race, motherhood, motherhood with a child with special needs, and just overall life! This was an enjoyable read.
As an educator, I would not use this for any courses or students but I did find the honest view of life refreshing.

This is a book about the author's experiences while raising a special needs child.


This book was not what I was expecting to read. I thought it would be more about parenting and would be more inspiring and uplifting. I felt it was a depressing read about the anger, disappointment, and bad relationships the author had. I really liked the stories she told about her daughter. I would have liked the book better if it would have been more about the daughter and less about the author. When the author talked about her daughter it felt more genuine and interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I love finding books written by moms who aren’t afraid to be real, authentic, and 100% themselves. Abida Nelson did just that! Not holding back & being vulnerable, letting us in on the rollercoaster that is life & motherhood, showing us that we can do this, we can be strong, and us moms really are amazing!

I received an advance reader copy of this book to listen to in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Ain't That A Mother is an audio book I will listen to again and again! Nothing I write will do this book justice! Adiba Nelson is a strong, independent and amazing lady. She's faced such struggles and highs and has come so far in her life but not without sacrifice and a fight. I received the audio and pdf of this book and looked through the pdf at the photographs. Adibas daughter is so beautiful and such a special little girl. She really is a credit to you Adiba (if your reading this). This book was an amazing listen and I felt so connected to Adiba through her story. I felt like I was chatting with a friend! Going through hell myself right now, this was the perfect timing for me to listen to this book. Not only has it been helping me through what I'm going through, but it's given me strength and made me feel not alone.
This is definitely a book everyone should read or listen to. I'm so glad I got the audio book as it was much more engaging than the physical copy . Thank you for sharing your emotional story Adiba! You've given me light and hope during the darkest of times and I will always be grateful for that!

Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the eARC and audio ARC of this! I switched back and forth while I was reading.

This was really emotional, and I spent the entire book swinging between the teary lows as the punches seemed to keep coming and rooting for the highs to work out better this time. I think this is exactly the kind of memoir that’s needed, the one that either validates your lived experience by showing you someone else getting through it or that shows you a window into a life that’s unlike your own, but that you can still find ways to relate to and learn from and empathize with. She doesn’t shy away from sharing hard moments or ones that might paint her in a bad light or be judged, and I hope that more good moments are coming for her and her daughter.

A hilarious and heartwrenching and deeply honest memoir. Really personifies poet Muriel Rukeyser's lines about "What would happen/if one woman dared to tell the truth about her life?" This book tells many truths about race, gender and motherhood and tells them in a compelling fashion,

I really enjoyed Ain't That A Mother. Adiba takes us through her personal journey of relationships, becoming a mother, struggles with postpartum, and breaking generational curses. Not only is she team scorpio, she curses like a sailor and I'm all for it! This is a book I feel all mother's could relate to in some way, and I'd recommend adding this to your collection.

The reason why I'm giving it 4.5 stars is due to the amount of footnotes. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed reading them, but the Kindle format made it hard to follow sometimes.