Thoroughly enjoyed this story! The main character, Jenn, felt so relatable in her postpartum state. Her curious mind led me down rabbit holes of what-ifs that kept me interested and guessing.
My one complaint is the husband, Tim. He was the perfect husband, maybe too perfect. I felt his role in the story was not to add to the plot, but to be a babysitter so Jenn could be out doing her thing.
Overall an amazingly well-written first novel. I’ll be looking for futures.

It’s a good book. It’s my first book from this author and I’m looking forward to reading more. Midpoint I struggled a bit, but it picked up the pace by the 3rd act. I still would recommend this book if you like suspense.

This story is told from the point of view of Jenn, a new mother struggling to cope with the demands of her young baby. Her life is further unsettled by the disappearance of another woman from the mother and baby group Jenn has been attending with her daughter.

I loved the idea of the main characters being women on maternity leave coping with young babies 24/7, rather than women "married to the job" or women with older, more independent children who give them a minute to themselves!

After the initial disappearance, the action stalled for a long time, while we seemed to go round in circles. Important issues, such as race and post-partum depression were touched on, but never revisited, which I was disappointed about.

The pace did pick up in the final third, with a few twists and turns, although the final actions of one of the characters at the eleventh hour was a bit of a step too far for me.

Nevertheless, this was a solid read which stood out from others in the genre. I'll certainly look out for future books from the author.

Thanks to Netgalley.co.uk, the author and the publisher for the eARC of this book.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC!
I really enjoyed this book. The perfect balance of realistic motherhood with a thriller twist added in there that a lot of us moms enjoy reading! It started out a little slow but I really was enjoying it by the end. Definitely a book I’ll be recommending to my friends!

Just brilliant. Kept me reading and just didn’t want to put it down

Thank you for a free copy for a review

Thank you to Netgalley and Kathleen M. Willett for my advanced copy in return for an honest review!

Mother of All Secrets is one of the best, page turning thrillers I have read so far this year. It was a page turner, and I didn’t want to put it down. It starts out slow, but I like how she builds the characters, and introduces us to the mom group, and how they interact with one another. I love how she included the letters from Jen to her new baby, and the text messages and comments about the disappearance adds such depth to the story. It's something you don't see a lot of in thrillers. I loved it. I like how it made me guess who was writing the letters as there was no name, just signed mom. I think we all have an idea on who they are from but the suspense in that area is great.

I always hate when I can see twists and turns coming from a mile away. This didn’t happen in this book. I was always shocked. I always come up with theories in my head, and after each theory I came up with, I turned the page and whoops, I was wrong. And I love that feeling. I was engaged the entire time, and wanted to know "who dun it"

Would definitely recommend this thriller for anyone who wants to stay confused and wrong up until the last page.

10/10 would recommend to anyone

Mother of All Secrets was on of the best thrillers I have ever read in a very long time! I learnt a lot about motherhood and how one's consequences can ruin or make another person's life. I loved how the suspense built since page one! The inclusion of the letters and text messages made it even better! It wasn't stated who wrote the letters but I felt like it could have been anyone though I do think they all belonged to Allison. I was also a bit confused about the swapping of phones between Tim and Jenn at one point. I was unsure as to whose phone the Google document was actually placed on but this was clarified later on in the book. I definitely think this will be a great hit and cannot believe this is the author's debut novel!

★★★★★
Mother of All Secrets by Kathleen M. Willett

New mother Jenn is struggling with motherhood. She loves her daughter Clara fiercely, but raising a child is not all picturesque Central Park stroller walks and pretty lattes - sleepless nights and postpartum depression cloud her days. It’s not until Jenn joins an Upper West Side moms group that she starts to feel a bit more normal.

Being able to share their struggles in motherhood slowly bonds this group of women together, until one woman goes missing, and the group starts to realize they don’t know each other as well as they thought.

I cannot recommend this novel enough to anyone who enjoys a thriller. I loved reading this NYC-based story; it kept me guessing at every chapter, and I was continuously wrong in my theories (which is a good thing!). Kathleen is an extremely talented writer, and I cannot wait to see this book take the world by storm after it’s release. For fans of The Girl on the Train - I predict Mother of All Secrets to be the biggest thriller to come out Summer 2022.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This one’s destined to be a sure-fire hit. New mommy blues threaded through a twisty suspense story written in Willett’s entirely relatable style makes for a highly compelling read. I chomped through it in just 48 hours. Pick this one right here for your book club - you will not regret it!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Well this was a page-turner! I can't even think how to describe the book without giving away the whole plot. Jenn has a new baby and is struggling. She finds a mom's group and it is helping her, but then one of the members disappears, and she begins to question whether she knows more about that than she realizes. I will say I thought I had it figured out but was wrong! This was a very clever story

Before I start my review I would like to thank the author for an ARC via NetGalley. Something that appeals to my getting free stuff and sale thing. This is part of the deal that NetGalley provides for us parched readers. :-)
The book may be a regular in the genre but what sets this apart is its dealing with postpartum depression. I have yet to come across a book which so seamlessly binds this very real aspect of mothers with a thriller. This was quite an eye-opener.
Mental health issues, real world crime, young mothers, what a roller-coaster.
My suggestion is this is a very good book and please try this.

I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed this book! I would highly recommend it to lovers of all genres! It started off a little slow, but once it picked up, it had me hooked.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Great first novel! I really enjoyed the style of writing. It reads a lot like a conversation, and the way I chat with friends.
Mother of All Secrets dives right into the struggles of being a mother, exhaustion and friendship. Being a mother is incredibly rewarding, but can also make you feel alone and overwhelmed. Kathleen M. Willet exposes motherhood for what it can truly be.

First time mom Jenn loves her baby girl more than anything, but suffers from extreme fatigue when her baby won’t sleep. Jenn joins a group of likeminded moms and quickly develops new friendships. But when one of the moms in her group suddenly goes missing, Jenn is forced to reevaluate her relationship with some of the women in the moms group. Mother of All Secrets is a page turning novel about how people are not always as they seem.

I received a free e copy of this novel from NetGalley.

Overall, a quick reading, engaging popcorn thriller that tried to reach for loftier goals and almost makes it but not quite.

It combines two trends I’ve been seeing a lot lately. The first is the obvious one— lady-centered thriller about a missing woman with a surprise twist or two. That’s what you expect going into this genre, to the point where there being a twist isn’t really a surprise anymore, it’s an expected and necessary feature for the genre to work. The second, though, I’ve been seeing across genres, from literary fiction to horror/fantasy to memoir to advice— and that’s the terrifying difficulty of the postpartum/newborn period.

That combination is one of the things that makes this book fall a little bit short of being awesome— the postpartum stuff is relatable and serious, but the way it’s handled feels overall a little bit flat. It doesn’t have the raw pain and anger that you see in the other books that handle this topic— though that’s certainly not a universal experience! But it seems like one of the takeaways is supposed to be that the lead is having a very hard time and it just seems… like an average time, honestly? The uselessness of men is handled, and the resentment, but not as well as I feel it should have been given the early stress on it. Like, the lead talks a bit about intrusive thoughts but then is ready to go in an overnight??? And the realities of pumping during that overnight aren’t even addressed.

Also, the lead clearly had an alcohol problem that appears to exist only for a convenient two plot points, but her daily drinking never manages to leave her with hangovers or impact her parenting abilities which… as a mom to an almost three year old just seems ridiculous. I’m practically a tee totaler now because parenting with a hangover sounds like my personal hell.

Small small bit that talks about race relations and black motherhood, but then is conveniently never mentioned again. Sure, it underscores how clueless our lead is but damn, it made me want to see more of Selena and less of the lead.

Rape and it’s consequences is another aspect of the book that is important, and which clearly drives the lead’s actions, but which isn’t really fully examined.


But all that leads us to the fact that the second big twist (yes, there are two!) is just utterly batshit off the walls. Because it gives us a victim-blaming murderess with just… an utterly ridiculous mindset and personality, who is worthy of a damn academy award.

This book wanted to be both a literally commentary on postpartum struggles and rape culture, AND a popcorn thriller. Instead of doing an amazing job at either, too much was stuffed into a small space. It was fun, I don’t regret reading it, I’d absolutely consider the author again, but at the end of the day it left me dissatisfied.

The prolouge to this book sucked me in....but then after awhile I started to get bored. I am not a mother....but I do like reading "mommy lit" from time to time if it sounds interesting. However it really felt like other books I've read before after awhile and did not hook me enough to compete this book.

Jenn is a sleep-deprived new mom who is trying to adjust to the trials of motherhood. She joins a support group with other new moms, but shortly after, the group leader disappears. Jenn becomes obsessed with trying to solve the disappearance while attempting to keep secrets of her own.

Jenn's point of view truly captures the exhaustion and isolation of being a new mom. The moms group on Facebook also made me giggle…they really are all the same aren’t they? While I loved the first half of the book, the second half felt a little wordy and slow. The characters had deep explanations of all of their actions, and that took away a little bit of the suspense. Overall, I enjoyed this read and felt it was engaging. I’m really excited to read more from this author! I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley.

Sleep deprived and overwhelmed, first-time mom Jenn is struggling to adapt to her new role. Frustrated with her loving but preoccupied husband and still grieving the death of her own mother, she feels isolated and depressed. It’s only when she joins a new-moms’ group that she starts to think she’s finally getting back on track.
Until Isabel, the group’s leader, suddenly disappears. The characters are well-drawn and believable. The plot is perfectly paced, holds your interest, and keeps you guessing. It’s a page turner, for sure!

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I think this will quickly become a must read for Summer 2022! I could not put the book down - from the very first page I was hooked! The suspense throughout keeps you reading 'just one more page' as you want to find out what is going to happen. I can’t wait to read more by Kathleen Willett!

This may be Kathleen Willett’s debut novel, but she writes like she has been in the domestic suspense world for years. A great book for any thrill lover.

Mother of All Secrets by Kathleen M. Willett was a thriller that highlighted the problem of postpartum depression among new mothers. I can definitely relate to becoming instantly dependent on a new moms group for your sanity when you feel completely isolated and yet 100% attached to another human. Very twisty and an unpredictable ending!