A compelling read! The author gets so much exactly right — the overwhelming love for a newborn baby, the exhaustion, the secret longings for one's "old" life and the guilt that comes with such longings, the sudden ambiguity (brought on by sleep deprivation) about one's marriage and career... The novel is set on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and the author gets all those details right as well — the locations, the clothing, the brand names of various baby paraphernalia, the wine drinking — while also capturing the fundamental warmheartedness and loyalty of the members of a new moms group that the protagonist joins. The characters are plausible and well executed. And then there's the plot itself, with all its twists and turns, the reveals about the characters, and the unexpected secret that the young moms have in common and how they deal with it. The novel is like a roller coaster — moving steadily to the point of no return and then rocketing to the finish. Buckle up! I loved it!!
(This review is also posted on Goodreads.)

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

I really enjoyed this book. It starts out with Jenn describing and going through all the stages that a new mother goes through. She feels lonely and then joins a group for new mothers or is it murderers? 👀

Anywho one of them goes “missing” and everything spirals down and links them all together by one person….dramatic pause please…..how are they all connected by one person and what did this one horrible disgusting person do? Well read and find out. If you like plot twist then buckle tf up! 🤣

It’s kinda slow at the beginning but give it time because it speeds up and you end up not being able to put the book down. Also if you like books that build up the thrilling expense then this book is for you.

A book about motherhood, murder, strong friendship, and payback all wrapped into one glorious story. I definitely recommend!

Mother of All Secrets is Kathleen Willett’s debut novel. It is a thriller and suspense read about a group of mothers who reside in the Upper West Side of New York. Willett delivers a rapid-paced, suspenseful, gripping, well-written and perfectly executed thrilling mystery and had me hanging on to every word up until the shocking end.

Overall, a solid mystery thriller debut that I’d recommend to anyone!

3.5 STARS

First things first, this book is my first ever ARC!! A big thank-you to NetGalley and Kathleen Willett for allowing me to be an early reader!

Mother of All Secrets is Kathleen Willett’s debut novel. It is a thriller and suspense read about a group of mothers who reside in the Upper West Side of New York.

Jenn, a new mom, who struggles with early motherhood is looking for a group of other mamas who can relate to her and offer support. When Isabel, also a new mother, reaches out to Jenn regarding a group that she leads, Jenn is over the moon.

Jenn joins the group that consists of herself, Isabel, and three other members: Vanessa, Selena, and Kira.

After a month of weekly meetings, Isabel goes missing. Now, it’s not only Jenn’s baby that keeps her busy and stressed, but also the fact that she could be linked to the disappearance of her group leader.

As the group of mothers gets together, they realize that they need to save Isabel. And after coming together, they realize that they were all invited to join the mom-group because there’s something that connects them all together. But what exactly is that something? And are these new mothers willing to risk everything they’ve worked for - their children and their families - just for a group leader that they’ve only known for one month? Read to find out.

The climax of this book was so intense and exciting, and it made me want to never put the book down. There were some points where the book dragged on a bit, but overall it was a fun read!

I loved the perspective this book had. Jenn being a new mother and sharing her raw and real struggles with caring for a baby, while having a mother who recently passed away, and a husband who works all day - it was such an original book! Not to mention the point of view of mothers who experience postpartum depression. Such an important aspect to shine light on!

If you are looking for a book that will keep you on your toes with the thrill and plot twists, then this one is for you! And also if you are looking for a unique book that illustrates the bouts of motherhood, then look no further! Mother of All Secrets will be published in June of 2020, stay tuned!
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This review has also been posted on Goodreads!

This book was a great read, it shows the changes in a woman’s life with been a new mother and also grieving the death of her mother, it actually had a great ending which I did not expect ..

'Mother of All Secrets' is an intense debut thriller by Kathleen M Willett that everyone should be talking about. The first part of the book is convincingly relatable, as the new moms share their gripes and groans about motherhood with infants and discuss their humorous frustrations with their spouses. Willett doesn't forget about the darker and more lonely aspects of motherhood as these more hidden feelings are described through the book as well.

The first half of the book was very conversational and I assumed I could guess where it was all going. I was wrong; the mid-point of the book slapped me with a turn of events I didn't expect and from there I couldn't stop reading. Willett ingeniously constructed the remaining parts of this domestic thriller with more surprises that would be worthy of a movie production. I was hooked and mesmerized by what was happening.

Underneath this captivating debut, Willett reminds the reader that we never know what is happening with someone personally, no matter how close we think we are or how similar our experiences may be. She points out, however, the importance of creating meaningful bonds that can shine a bit of light on our darker days.

I will be watching out for more from Kathleen M Willett and talking about this surprising read in the meantime!

I appreciate the publisher Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to enjoy this eARC.

I found this book enjoyable to read, I wouldnt say I was gripped by it at first as the plot was a slow burner and so it didnt instantly grip my attention, however I still didnt want to put the book down and I am so glad that I didnt. As the story got going it was engaging and unpredictable, I didnt know what to expect. A good read.

Big thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

Mother of All Secrets tells the story of first-time mom Jenn who — believing that she was failing as a mother to three-month-old Clara — joined a new moms' group in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Then one day, Isabel, the group's facilitator, disappeared.

This book, though with an intriguing mystery, was honestly hard to get through. The main character, Jenn, is annoying, for lack of a better word; her personality just boils down to being a tired mom, nothing more. She is also overly talkative, which could have been a good plot device to let us know more about her and the other characters but her talkativeness was done in a very repetitive way, making it a tedious read. There were chunks of paragraphs where she just kept going in circles talking about something that ended up being irrelevant to the story as a whole.

Also, while I do appreciate the attempt at tackling societal issues such as race, the delivery in this book was not done properly, IMHO. As a result, it all came out forced and a little insincere.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Lake Union Publishing and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

This one was slow, I had a difficult time getting into it. I found it predictable, repetitive and the main character annoying.

Eeek! This book was a heck of a roller coaster! New mothers come together over lack of sleep and all the things that come with babies. Jenn is invited to join a Mom's group, and she feels like she's struggling more than most. It's then that one of their own goes missing. Jenn becomes a bit obsessed with the story behind what happened, and it rubs some the wrong way. Jenn starts believing that her life intersects with the missing mom's life, and she isn't sure where to stop her obsession. This book had me guessing until the very end. Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an e-ARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

“Mother of All Secrets” follows new mom Jenn as she navigates the ever exhausting and often thankless world of motherhood. Her husband is often more than useless when it comes to their infant daughter, Clara, and to top it all off she is grieving her mother.

And while her new mom group helps get her out of the house, she often finds herself jealous of how put together the other moms are. Until one of them disappears.

Jenn and the others moms- Vanessa, Selena, and Kira soon find themselves tangled up in a dangerous situation as they discover just what happened to the other missing mom, Isabel. And they soon learn they have more in common than babies.

I noted a few reviews that mentioned finding the first part of this novel slow and actually didn’t find Jenn annoying. I found her incredibly sympathetic and someone who was doing her absolute best to keep her head above water despite numerous difficulties.

With that noted- the motherhood aspects and detailing of Jenn’s day to day life was best part of this book. Everything was going swimmingly up until we discover what secret connects the mothers.

And then things get a bit wonky.

Honestly, I was really into this book up until the exciting parts happen! It seemed as if there was an attempt to make this book super twisty and WOW, but for me personally it fell a little flat. The entire scenario just felt so incredibly contrived. The book was a slow burn thriller that I thought was going to pack a real punch only to be given something that felt hollow.

It also felt like there were simply too many attempts to shoehorn in societal commentary in a way that did NOT lend itself to the story and these moments fell flat instead of being impactful.

<i>“Because as a Black woman, I can’t mess up. You get that, right? Your biggest problem may be that your husband doesn’t help with laundry or whatever, but mine is that my son will be looked at as less than because of the color of his skin. Or that he’ll be arrested for something he didn’t do. Or worse. I have to be very, very careful as his mom, from the day he’s born until the day I die, and God willing that’ll be long before he does.”</i>

The quote above is taken from the black woman in the group, Selena, and the character eventually apologizes for this outburst.

There were also moments in the big climax where the dialogue just felt like a big info-dump. It was meant to tell you why THIS character DOES that instead of showing us these character motivations.

<i> “Without missing a beat, Isabel said, “I think you crave the power you didn’t have as a child. I think you measure your worth in bowling pins—deals at work, women—because it allows you to convince yourself that you’re winning the game, in control of everything and everyone. I think it’s a distraction, too—from the fact that you’re a bad person and the world would be better off without you.”</i>

With all of this being said- I’m giving this a three in that I did enjoy the first part of this book and I would probably still recommend this book with notes on issues I noticed.

I really loved this book. It was a thrilling ride and it held me captivated till the end. The issues related with childbirth are explained in a good way.
This book also makes us realize that childhood trauma can have profound impact in our relationships with other people.
The title of this book is completely apt. The ending was completely unexpected for me despite having read so many thrillers.

This was just ok, not particularly well structured or constructed and dragged on a bit. Also the ending was completely unbelievable.

Jenn has been beaten down by the early days of new motherhood - the sleepless nights, constant spit-ups, diaper changes and laundry. Clara is three months old and seems unable to sleep more than two hours at a time. Her husband Tim tries to help but his job keeps him away from home for most of the day. And sadly, she’s grieving the death of her own mother and missing her much needed help and advice.

So a new mother’s group seems like the perfect solution. New friends, baby product recommendations, play group ideas - everything Jenn needs. However, she gets more than she anticipates and quickly finds herself in over her sleep-deprived head as confessions, plots and more swirl around her.

This is a first book by a talented writer. Jen is a sympathetic character. Kathleen Willett’s descriptions of the exhausting first weeks of motherhood are perfect. However, without spoilers, the situation that unites the mom’s group is over-the-top. I think the plot would have been more believable had only one or two mothers been victims. The others would have been better as supportive group members. The story needs to be toned down. So 3 stars for the book but one more for Kathleen Willett. She’s a good writer and she will get it right next time. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Kathleen M. Willett for this ARC.

Jenn is an over-tired, first time mom to three month old Clara. When she joins a mom’s group, in hopes to connect and commiserate, she never expected to find that one of the 5 women suddenly disappears in the middle of the night.

Jenn spends most of this novel either not sleeping, complaining about motherhood and scouring for clues about Isobel’s disappearance. I found this novel to be slow in parts and very repetitive. The sudden injections into the plot 3/4 of the way through felt like CPR was trying to be performed on the plot line. They were jagged and quick; changing the dynamic of the novel quite quickly and dramatically from the first part.

I liked this book well enough, but parts of it felt a little slow. I also wish there was some more character development beyond "tired mom", but the book and its characters kept me hooked until the end!

“Mother of All Secrets” is an enjoyable thriller that highlights the difficulties of being a new mother and the importance of women supporting other women. It follows the main character Jenn, who is currently on maternity leave while learning how to raise and take care of her new baby daughter. She joins a group with four other new mothers, hoping to find support and connection based on their shared experiences; however, she ends up getting more than she bargained for when the leader of the group, Isabel, suddenly vanishes, and Jenn is thrown headfirst into a mystery she can’t get out of.

The overall themes of the book were amazing, and I really appreciated the discussion of motherhood and the trials that it brings, as it’s a topic I don’t often see brought up or talked about in public society. The exploration of the mothers’, and specifically Jenn’s, state of mental health and postpartum depression I found to be very informative and important to read about. In addition, the relationships formed between the adult women of the novel as the story progresses really built the core of the work.

To be honest, a large part of the first half of the book definitely did drag for me. I thought that the pace was a little slow, the plot points were slightly repetitive, the side characters vague and easily confused with each other, but most importantly, the main character I thought was very hypocritical and annoying. She constantly made extremely judgemental comments about everyone else around her, even when she herself complained about feeling like she was being judged for being a bad mother, so much to the point that I found myself rolling my eyes at her repeatedly. While that may have been the point of her character at first, it was done to such an extent that it made the beginning part hard to slog through.

However, the second half saved the entire read in my opinion, as the plot twists, despite being slightly predictable, made me much more invested in the story. In the end, I found “Mother of All Secrets” a generally intriguing and quick read, in spite of its mild flaws, and would definitely recommend it to others.