Konen has written an unusual domestic thriller that puts a new mom with postpartum depression at the center of murder, marriage secrets, and a missing husband.

Janie, a new mom, has changed course dramatically. Once an up-and-coming professional, she fell in love, got pregnant, and suspiciously quit her job when she could have taken family leave. Now a full-time, breast-feeding, sleep-deprived new mom to Freya, she’s at her wits’ end. Her devoted partner and baby-daddy Max tries to help her, but she is in such despair that Max can’t seem to help enough.

One night while Max cares for little Freya so that Janie can sleep, he disappears. Janie knows something terrible has happened to him because he’s been a devoted father and would have never left them, especially with Freya in his keeping. Janie is frantic, yet Max’s parents convince her to hold off from calling the police. Janie does, but she cannot understand why they don’t seem as concerned as she is. Janie wonders if they are afraid of bad publicity. Yet, even Max’s best friend Liana doesn’t seem as concerned as Janie.

But that changes when a woman is murdered at a nearby bar, and the police come calling. It seems that Max is the number one suspect. As secrets unfold and Janie’s PPD worsens, everyone comes forward to help her—Max’s parents, Liana, Janie’s best friend Molly, and others from work and college. Unfortunately, Janie can’t cope with their offers of help as she’s been independent and self-sufficient, a characteristic that pushes others away. She also can’t cope with her own suspicions of what might be happening, although she holds onto the belief that Max could never kill anyone. While Freya demands mommy’s milk every hour, Janie’s attachment to a baby monitor and the overzealousness of doing the right thing as a mom cause her to doubt her mothering abilities. She also keeps a terrible secret that eats at her. Things could not get worse. But they do.

Konen’s understanding of new motherhood comes from her own experience which went viral on Twitter and was written about in Vogue magazine. Konen keeps the story tense and scary while showing the realities of a body and brain affected by postpartum depression (PPD). Although some of the specifics and details of PPD and the unending needs of a new baby become repetitive and could have been cut back somewhat, Konen does an excellent job of making a cranky and unsure mother sympathetic. Janie loves Max, but does she love Freya, a child who has brought her to tears, self-doubt, and fear?

The title works on many levels about what should have been told—between the couple and the parents, among friends, and to the police. Konen uses these secrets to ratchet up the suspense as Janie goes careening through each page-turning twist, trying to save Max while caring for a demanding baby. We root for the couple because they love each other. The novel especially presents very human, sympathetic characters with justifiable motives for what they do while making major mistakes out of love. Although classified as a thriller, the ending and the killer’s identity bring the story to a finale that usurps expectations for the thriller genre but works for domestic suspense.

Thanks go to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

What a fun thriller - this was fast paced and full of twists and turns and left me wow'd at the end. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an early read.

This was a new author for me. Great book! A sleep deprived new mother wakes up to find her boyfriend missing. None of his friends or family seem too concerned. Great twists throughout the book including the last chapter which had a big surprise. Looking to read more by Leah Konen!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group - Putnam for providing me with an ARC of You Should Have Told Me in exchange for my honest review!

You Should Have Told Me is a thriller that not only kept me enthralled in its missing-person mystery, but also adopts a dramatic tone while navigating the daily pains of motherhood, the psychological and emotional toll they take on moms, and the misogyny that gets wrapped up into this experience and makes being a mom incredibly different from being a dad. As a man, I'm not able to understand this sort of arduous situation from a personal perspective, but I can nevertheless sympathize with Janie's circumstances. It helps that Konen's prose succeeds in giving me a lens into Janie's head so that I can feel all the anxiety and dread she's being forced to bear as she's doggedly searching for her boyfriend Max. That being said, I do think there are points where the plotting comes off as contrived and certain characters behave in implausible ways that are purely intended to propel the plot forwards. There's also a specific twist right at the end that I'm not certain was necessary.

Overall, You Should Have Told Me is a riveting thriller that I believe is worth reading, particularly if its commentary on maternity is up your alley.

I wanted to love this book it has the psychological suspense, a build up and all the makings of my favorite book but this was a hard one for me to read and finish. I definitely had to push myself to finish it and it took me long than usual to read because I didn’t love it. I personally had a hard time with the phrase popping off - it was used in almost every chapter and the repetitive phrase to describe breastfeeding was personally bothersome, not sure why.

Wow- so many thoughts! Janie is a new mom and she is struggling. Really struggling. In the middle of the night, her partner Max, disappears and is now the suspect of the murder of a local woman. Janie has no idea where Max has gone or why. I feel like I have two storylines to talk about- Janie as a struggling new mom and the main mystery plotline involving Max, the suspected murderer on the loose.

Let's start with the first! I am really glad that more and more authors are tackling the "ugly" side of motherhood.
Janie's struggles felt raw and realistic and this book really portrayed the nuances of motherhood that are often overlooked in entertainment. On one hand, I loved the representation. On the other hand, dang, I think I'm still too newly postpartum where I apparently need a breastfeeding trigger (is that a thing? lol).

Now onto the plotline: I love domestic suspense and this one checked most of the boxes. Hidden secrets and partner's questioning if they really know each other is one of my favorite storylines. I really enjoyed trying to guess everyone's involvement and motives as the story developed... and that was on a full night's sleep. I couldn't imagine being Janie and trying to figure out if my husband was involved with a murder while being newborn sleep deprived. I loved that I didn't guess everything, but that it was all explained in a pretty plausible way. Communication definitely could have gone a long way in this family, but that wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining!

Thank you @netgalley and @putnamebooks for an ACR in exchange for an honest review!

Wow! If you’re looking for fast paced, this is a boon for you. YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME was intense and gripping from the first page. You can easily devour this in one sitting. I found it hard to put down.

This story focuses on a new mother that is struggling that has a fantastic boyfriend. Suddenly her baby is missing, a baby she never wanted…. We’ll leave that right there.

Perfect for fans of mysteries and domestic thrillers.

The Most Anticipated Mystery and Thriller Books of 2023

This year’s psychological thrillers and suspenseful mysteries are really going places—literally.

There are villas and chalets and boarding schools and writing retreats and cooking competition tents. Cat-and-mouse chases span small-town Virginia to the far edges of Long Island, trekking up and down the Alps and across Italy. The inspiration for these page-turners is also wonderfully rich, from Great British Bake Off to Frankenstein to slasher films, postpartum anxiety to diversity fails to grifter culture. These Final Girls and anti-hero(ine)s are nearly killing themselves to confront the past, or just get through the next five days. And, if you can believe it, these books represent only the first half of 2023!

You Should Have Told Me by Leah Konen

Release Date: January 3 from G.P. Putnam’s Sons

I’ll admit I’m biased, as the mom of a one-year-old: It was a tweet from Leah Konen about the underestimated labor of breastfeeding that made me seek out her latest domestic thriller, my first of hers. Janie is six weeks postpartum, grappling with suffocating secrets—one that will be revealed in due time according to genre tropes, but the much more awful one is presented at the start: She dreads being left alone with her newborn, Freya.

So when her partner Max disappears, Janie is gripped by that familiar fear of being solely responsible for the baby, but also with a new mother’s seething resentment at others being able to move around freely while she’s anchored to her new role… even if Max is absent for dangerous or even nefarious reasons. Janie’s ambivalence around motherhood is familiar, if not talked about enough, and the title is engagingly multifaceted—clearly she and Max are keeping bombshells from one another, but this is also a woman’s cry for help, saying You Should Have Told Me how difficult motherhood would be.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, for the copy of You Should Have Told Me. Looking for a book you won’t want to put down? This is it. I started reading and before I knew it I had read half of the book without stopping. I didn’t like Janie, but I did feel bad for her and what she was going through. Her trials and tribulations about motherhood became the main theme of the book, which made sense after I read the acknowledgments, but didn’t make for compelling reading because how often do I need to read details on breastfeeding? In all fairness, I’m not a mother, so maybe if I were the details it wouldn’t have seemed like too much. There were other things that were repetitive, so maybe better editing would have helped? I thought incorporating the postpartum depression into the story was important though, because it isn't talked about enough.
At some point I lost my zeal for the story and then the ending hit with a disappointing thud. Tacked to the end there was a very odd reveal that made no sense at all to me. Miraculously, Janie gets her memory back about her past. How? Why? I really enjoyed the first ½ or ⅔ of this book so 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

“It felt like hell, a hell of my own making, a hell I never would have chosen if I could have gone back.”

I think “You Should Have Told Me” by Leah Konen will be a perfect book club book — I guarantee everyone will have an opinion on how the choices these characters make.

New mom Janie is struggling. But right after she confides just how bad her postpartum depression really is, her partner, Max, vanishes, and she wonders how well she knew him at all.

There were some really sexist early reviews of this one; Publishers Weekly actually called Janie’s PPD “histrionics” (😳). Konen went viral on Twitter when she tweeted that reviewers were saying there’s too much breastfeeding in this book about a six week old. Ha. I am childfree by choice and even I know that’s pretty much all you do at that stage.

The suspense in this one ratchets up pretty early on, and there are a few really good twists that will catch you by surprise. I am hoping we can make this a pick for my book club because I know everyone will have an opinion on this one.

A new mother, a missing partner, and lots of unanswered questions. Janie is an exhausted mother trying to keep up with the demands of a newborn. Max, her partner, whom she loves dearly tries to help until one morning he is missing. Shortly after that a woman is found murdered behind an local tavern and Janie is desparate for answers. It’s clear that Max has been keeping secrets and Janie is fearful her own terrible secret might be revealed as well.

You Should Have Told Me is a domestic thriller that fell a little flat for me. It started off slowly and at times it was difficult to empathize with the main character. There are many mentions of the difficulty of motherhood, the demands, and the feelings of regret. It became somewhat repetitive and annoying. There were also many references to feeding the baby and, again, it was a bit too redundant.

As the story progressed there were enough twists and unexpected revelations that kept me interested but overall, it was still a book that moved too slowly, with annoying characters. I’ll give it 3 *s simply because it did redeem itself a bit as the story concluded.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

This is a solid domestic thriller about a husband who disappears. As his partner tries to figure out what happened, she gets drawn into a murder investigation case and tries to solve the mystery of what really happened and if he was really involved. Lots of twists, including an ending I did not see coming.

Leah Konen has quickly become one of my favorite thriller writers. You Should Have Told Me will have you guessing at every turn, with an ending you won't see coming. The characters are strong and readers will find someone to relate to.

The very early pages of the book started a little slow for me, however, as soon as Janie realizes Max is missing, the pace picks up substantially and you won't be able to put this story down. It's definitely a ride, with a fabulous ending.

Thank you Putnam Books and NetGalley for the eARC!

Motherhood is hard, on your body, your mental state, and those around you. Leah Konen’s writing brought back memories of my first year with my daughter. I remember the pressure to nurse, the anxiety of being alone during my maternity leave, and lack of sleep. Luckily, I knew where David was… in the lab working.

With great twists and short chapters with cliffhanger endings, I could not put it down until I knew where her partner went and what was going on. My heart went out to this oh-so-relatable mother.

I’m a sucker for thrillers that show the darker side of motherhood, and this one did that brilliantly.

This was a fun find. I stumbled upon it randomly via an article the author wrote about breastfeeding. I enjoyed what she had to say and it made me curious about her book, so I requested it on Netgalley and was approved soon after. The main character is a new mother who clearly has undiagnosed PPD. She is exhausted by the demands of motherhood and nursing an infant and being a first time mom. I think the author 100% nailed this aspect of the character. It felt so real. It’s been a long time since those days for me, but reading this book brought it all back. Not long into the story, the baby’s father goes missing and her already unstable world turns further upside down when he is linked to a murder of a woman at a bar AND the disappearance of her child. Despite this being a rather short book, this part of the book kind of dragged on after a while as she tried to figure out what happened. There is also another side story in the book that I didn’t really enjoy and felt was unnecessary. Without those two issues, this could have been a 4 star read.

This is a fast paced book with a few good twists in it. I was completely blown away by the ending. I am definitely looking forward to reading more books by this author.

You Should Have Told Me tells the story of a new mom whose picture perfect life is not at all what it seems. The man she loves is keeping a secret that could destroy everything. A murder, a missing husband, and a lot of unanswered questions make up the plot of Leah Konen's book.

In my opinion, the book had a bit of a slow start and I had some trouble empathizing with the main character as she wasn't really likable to me. The bomb dropped about halfway through the book completely changed things and definitely propelled the plot. The twist near the end was fun and unexpected. Once the pacing picked up this was a pretty good read!

I loved this mystery. Great character development, good storyline, I loved the little twists throughout and at the end. It’s also about forgiveness, motherhood, love, and family. I highly recommend this book.

The cover of this book is absolutely stunning!

I love how Leah Konen writes her stories. At first, you feel like it's going to be another eye rolling thriller that you've heard before. But, she definitely adds her own voice and uniqueness to her thrillers.

What I loved? Leah really captured what it's like to be a new parent. The things that aren't usually talked about... breastfeeding, depression, and the anxiety of being a new mom.

What didn't work for me? I feel like it was really repetitive. Also, I feel like we always see the partner (Janie) getting involved in doing their own investigation taking over basically for the police and it's a bit over the top eye rolling for me.

There were some small surprises a long the way but overall it was a decent popcorn read!

3.5/5 stars

Thank you so much to Dutton and Leah for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date 1/10/23
Published to GR/IG: 1/4/23