Another good author who is new to me! Loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone! Must read! For sure a good summer book!

A decent enough thriller but with zero likeable characters. Really I had a hard time connecting with Rose, even with the full reveal at the end. Some things just didn't make sense overall. I think it needed to be a smidge shorter. 2.5 stars.

Rose is very insecure and naive, and while there was an explanation for it, it was still annoying. The pace was a bit too slow for the genre. There were a couple unexpected twists, but it didn't turn things around for me.

"This thrilling novel cuts straight to the dark heart of modern motherhood, privilege, and the lengths we’ll go to get ahead." Well, that sounded intriguing ... and I'd loved "The Gifted School," with a similar premise: namely, moms behaving badly when it came to their kids. I dove into "Such a Good Mother."

Rose is a British mom (maybe I should say mum) who is struggling. She and her husband have a young son, a low income, and few prospects for improvement. Rose decides she would like for their son to attend the prestigious Woolf Academy -- a pretentious school with a "sensory roof garden," so he can gain the "Woolf polish" ... "the boys and girls who go here emerge with the combination of manners and confidence, not to mention grades, they'd normally achieve only from attending some ancient public school" (remember that among English schools, 'public" is what we in the US call 'private').

This sounds like the set-up for drama, and it is. But most of the drama isn't among the kids, it involves the moms. Rose quickly learns that school director Amala (a villain if ever there was one) has a "Circle" of specially-chosen moms who have access to her and to various perks of the school denied to others. I think most of us have experienced something like this, where we observe other moms or kids getting preferential treatment. But Woolf Academy takes things to a whole other level. There are financial kickbacks and payoffs, kids thrown into "counseling" for questionable reasons, and even several deaths.

Rose makes it into the Circle, where she finds out that all is not as it seems ("I've been wondering, Rose, whether you're prepared to give that little bit more to The Woolf," Amala says).

"Such a Good Mother" is a clever title, although I didn't think it totally fit the book, since the plot ends up being much more about the drama and pettiness between the women than about any aspect of parenting. There are other things that felt a bit off in the book; the beginning was rather abrupt and I never developed a very deep feeling for Rose, which I felt was necessary for the book to really work. And some of the twists and unexpected things that happened in the book felt so over-the-top that they veered into the ridiculous, in my opinion.

I much preferred the somewhat-similar "The Gifted School" in this genre. "Such a Good Mother" was an okay read.

A slow burn with an intense plot, Helen Monks Takhar "brings it" with this page-turner. Following the main character Rose, and her struggles to meet with demands of her sons elite school while also juggling her lifetime feelings of inadequacy and wanting the best for her child, I empathized with her mother's heart-- despite the many twists of this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC of this book.

Rose O’Connell is struggling to keep up with her life. Her relationship with her husband is going through a rough patch and her son is not liking the new school he attends, the famous Woolf Academy. This school has a close knit group of mothers that basically “rule the school”. Rose is an outsider to this group known as The Circle. When one of The Circle’s members unexpectedly dies, Rose has an opportunity to join the prestigious group. As she gets deeper into The Circle she realizes that everything is not as perfect as it seems.

I enjoyed this book. The writing was excellent and I really got into the story. At the half way mark the pacing really picked up and it held my interest perfectly. There were definitely some intense twists. This is my first book by this author and I was impressed. I will definitely look into this author’s other books.

Many thanks to Random House for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

Part "Primates of Park Avenue", part "The Herd" and all teeth, "Such a Good Mother" is a tense and dramatic story on motherhood, relationships, and the pressure women face in our modern parenting world.

As soon as this book began, it gave me chilling Stepford wives/mean girls vibes and I could not put it down once I began. I was initially drawn to the main character, Rose, but as the story unfolded I couldn't help but feel my stomach twisting with every decision that got her deeper and deeper into trouble.

Definitely an entertaining read. Wouldn't classify it as a "thriller," and didn't love how some of the plot points wrapped up - but enjoyed it nonetheless! I will definitely read more from this author.

Thank you for the ARC! A really great page-turner.

This book follows Rose O’Connell who’s been going through a rough time. Her relationship with her husband is rocky and they’ve been struggling to pay the bills. She feels like her luck might be changing when she manages to get her son into a prestigious school, but she soon finds that both she and her son don’t fit in with the rich families whose children attend. That all changes when she is invited to join the inner circle of mothers who run the school by their beautiful and adored leader, Amala. Thanks to Amala’s social status and Rose’s connection to her, The O’Connells begin to thrive both at the school and financially. But Rose soon learns that in return Amala expects unconditional subservience, and her constant demands become more and more extreme.

I loved the group of women Rose found herself working alongside in the inner circle. They were all awful and unlikable, but I loved reading about how awful and unlikable they were. I was obsessed with Amala. The story very slowly shows Amala for who she truly is under her glamorous surface, and I thought it was delightful finding out what new, sketchy thing she’d do to achieve her twisted little goals. Rose was an interesting character to me. I just wanted to shake her and yell at her to leave the circle before it was too late. I thought that she was unlikable, but complex. I think some people might find her frustrating to follow because of how naive she is, but I was fine with it. I liked watching her discover what life is really like within the circle. I was just as surprised as she was when I learned how great the benefits of being in the circle were. I was just as surprised as she was when she learned about the dark secrets Amala and her inner circle held. I cared about the people she cared about. I was surprised by all but one plot twist, and that’s saying a lot because there were a whole lot of twists.

In short: I was completely immersed. I read it in one day.

I think my only “complaint” (and it’s barely a complaint at all) is that I think there were one too many plot twists. I can think of one in particular that I think was a little more extreme than it needed to be to serve its purpose. It really isn’t a big deal though. What’s really impressive is that from what I can remember, Helen Monks Takhar managed to pull off that many twists without leaving any plot holes and having just the right amount of foreshadowing. I’d have to reread it to make sure that’s true, but if I’m remembering everything correctly, the way she fit everything together was excellent.

I highly recommend this. It’s my favorite thriller I’ve read this year.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a crazy- ass mother of a book! One twist after another, nothing I saw coming, just getting more depraved by the page (in a good way). Perfect summer beach reading.

4/5 
Fiction, 320 pages
No Spoilers Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for multiple reasons!

There are several different themes at play here, and the author just nails each and every one of them. There are also many twists and turns, most of them unexpected, but each very believable. The result is a story that evokes strong emotions and is very relatable.

First, we have bullying. The main character, Rose, was bullied as a child, and those experiences have stayed with her to this day. I found this to not only be spot on, but it also allows those of us who have experienced bullying to really feel for and relate to Rose. It also provides excellent context for understanding the decisions she makes throughout the book.

The second theme is that of a parent, in this case Rose, doing anything they can for their children. I could almost feel her determination to do just that. Rose's willingness and drive to provide Charlie with the best comes across as being very genuine.

The next theme is that of entitlement. You've got the members of the circle basically running the show at the school and pretty much expecting to get everything they want and their way at that! They don't care about anyone but themselves and will stop at nothing to get what they want.

The story is full of twists and turns, most of them unexpected. It is also rife with drama. There is so much going on that it can sometimes get a little confusing trying to keep everything straight, but it is well worth the effort as none of it seems far fetched. In fact, it is all very believable.

Things I liked: 
* Rose's backstory
* All the realistic drama
* How some of the characters were contorted/twisted
* Rose's very relatable struggles
* How there were several twists that caught me completely off guard
Things I didn’t like: 
* The level of complexity was a little high at times for my liking 
* I felt like it took a little bit of time for things to get going

I would recommend this book to anyone in a heartbeat.

I have just read Such a Good Mother by Helen Monks Takhar

I am not quite sure where to start with this review, as the description states that it is a Thrilling novel about modern Motherhood.

I really had a hard time getting through this one, as it was in my opinion more about mothers wanting power, treating each other poorly, and control.

The characters were quite annoying to me - each and every one of them, and the storyline just not one that compelled me to want to read on.

I did preserve at finishing the book, only since I did commit to reading and writing a review.

I am sure it will appeal to many readers in general, but just not for me.

Thank You to NetGalley the Author and Random House for my advanced copy to read and review.

#SuchaGoodMother #NetGalley

This was just "okay" for me. I had a hard time connecting/caring about any of the characters. This is a dark, twisty ride that did pick up suspense and twists and turns a little more than halfway through, but by that point I already lost a lot of interest.

This book started off with a bang, and just kept giving you jaw dropping moments. The prologue was equally mysterious and intriguing. The story is engaging as well as relatable on some level. I really connected with Rose in the beginning. I’m a working mom, the main caregiver to my two children, and the person that takes care of most thing – doctor’s appointments, school things etc… I really connected with Rose’s inner turmoil about how to solve her family problems that keep her up at night. This is something I do on a daily basis! There are a few twists in there that I didn’t see coming, but again, were jaw dropping moments. The author did a great job at giving each character a distinctive voice, and making you either love or hate a specific character.

I found this to be only an okay read. I did not feel any mounting suspense that left me page turning to see what happens next. The characters were all rather unlikeable and poorly developed within the storyline. A slightly unpredictable ending was the best part of the book.

I had a difficult time connecting with the characters in this book or caring about the storyline. Books about mean moms/prestigious schools and groups are hit or miss for me and this one was just okay.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59366769

A thrill of a novel, and a delight to read. I never saw the end coming, and can’t wait for the next one!

Pretty intense plot that had some crazy twists near the end…one was quite shocking! Definitely some intense female characters!!

Special thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Random House Trade Paperbacks and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC of Such a Good Mother!

The cover caught my eye and then the synopsis! I do love a good thriller/suspense novel so I was very excited to read this one about a mother truly trying to fit in - however, this story just fell short for me. While it was a page turning I found the story to be a bit confusing and not overly satisfying in the end. Had good twist but not one of my favorites so far this year

A richly characterized novel divided between a thriller and a character study.

Such A Good Mother was slow to start, but I held tight as I identified with Rose- a poor mum trying to get her son the best education she could manage. I also identified somewhat with Pete, his hesitation and difference to a wealthy education, instead preferring the simple things in life.

I really enjoyed this novel and knowing the backstory made me enjoy it all the more. Many thanks to Mrs. Monk Takhar, Random House, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this arc in exchange for an honest and fair review.