I think the science aspect of the book went on far longer than it needed to. as a new-is mother, this book was appealing to me, but it droned on and on without ever really nailing what it was trying to say. I think it would have been better with tighter editing and more succinct points.

I was NOT the right audience for this book. The general subject matter was interesting to me, but as a happily childless adult - I did not relate well to this. I think this would be a great book for someone who has had a child. I felt the author was talking to other parents and I was not part of the club.

I might recommend this book to friends that have children and they might find it engaging, but probably not to people like me. I did not finish this book.

I enjoyed this book. As a first time Mother, I found myself on the precipice of a great adventure I knew very little about. I enjoyed the relatable experiences reviewed and the science broken down to understand what the Mother Brain navigates whilst the body changes. I'm the kind of person that has to educate myself on as many points of vew as possible so for myself, I enjoyed the audiobook as I breastfed my baby at night. Chelsea Conaboy has a soothinng voice as she takes us thru the path of understanding. I felt the information was revealed in a way that is easy to understand. This book helped validate my own struggles and relate to the points given in thia book. A good listen.

This book hits extremely hard as a new mother. To hear how our brains are basically worthless after giving birth actually gave me hope and comfort knowing I was not alone and all the things i was experiencing mentally was “normal.”
While I enjoyed the topic of the book, it was written in a way that I had to rewind pretty much the entire book. I don’t know if the sentences were run-on or just too long, but it was a little difficult to follow.

I previously reviewed this book via kindle, and switched between audio and reading. This portion of the review is for the audio portion: 3/5 I feel like rarely should authors read their own works and instead let a professional audiobook narrator read because the difference really shows. Audio-wise it was not the worst, it was ok. My review of the book itself and the contents are below:

2/5 Ok, I know the author is a journalist and not a scientist, but based on the title and the blurb I certainly expected a more scientific approach to be applied in this book. What I got instead was a lot of personal opinions/experience and political social justice nonsense. Just when she was scratching the surface of something interesting boom personal option or nonsense to follow. I feel annoyed that I wasted my time on this book. The fact that the author is a journalist should have been a red flag from the start because modern day journalism is so weighed down by personal belief and opinions instead of actual information.

Any mom, group of moms, facebook group can attest to so many common changes in our thinking and processing as we become mothers. Chelsea Conaboy does an amazing job of explaining biologically what is going on in our minds as we grow our children in our wombs, experience the post partum shifts, and bond with our children. But as my teen son refers to me, this book is not just for “birth givers” but looks at the evolution of bonding, neuroscience behind the changes that happen in all kinds of families: biological, adoptive, and how attachment, bonding, etc happens with all parents. Extremely well researched and written.

I don’t think I was prepared for all of the inner work this book made me do! It was a bit long but really made me think, and has inspired some great talks at my school among the teachers.

Information dense but validating for those of us who are parents. It’s also not shocking that the research on the role and effects of “mothering” is so poorly researched as it’s long been assumed by men to be all instinct.

Audio ARC from the publisher via NetGalley but the opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the mix of scientific studies mixed in with the author's stories of her experience as a mother as well as people in her network becoming parents. There's something comforting about hearing about other people's experiences that mirror your own and then understanding the science behind it. As a mother and a fan of nonfiction audiobooks, I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest, albeit late review. This just came out last month and I do recommend that parents check this out!

Speaking of "parents," don't let the title fool you. Yes, it's called Mother Brain, but the book in question is less about the so-called "mommy brain" that makes us "dumb" after having kids. It's actually much more about what happens in our brains when we become parents or caregivers, whether we are women, men, trans, nonbinary, adoptive, birthing parents, non-birthing parents, etc. In fact, it's so inclusive, it actually serves as almost a debunk for the very term it uses.

The author is a journalist, not a neuroscientist, but I don't think this takes away from the point of the book. The science-y parts actually felt like almost too much to digest audibly for me (I went with the audiobook). However, where the book was the strongest was its arguments for better involvement from the male counterparts in heterosexual couples, improved health care support for birthing parents, more support in our raging late capitalistic society, etc. Becoming a parent absolutely rocked my world AND my husband's. Often the narrative leaves out the partner, which serves to continue the cycle of disengaged men and patriarchal gender roles. The book really fights back against all of this, proving that we're all pretty much made of the same stuff when it comes to caring for our young.

Anyway, it was a very interesting read that I recommend for anyone interested in crushing the patriarchy and creating a new set of "family values."

Absolutely fascinating - can get a little bogged down in science jargon sometimes but I also appreciated anecdotal evidence as well. Definitely one that I have already recommended to folks to look out for!

This book was a mixed bag for me. I was so excited to receive an Audio ARC of this book (thank you!). Motherhood and Neuroscience are two topics that I am extremely interested in. Audiobooks are also my favorite way to listen to non-fiction. Throughout this whole audiobook I shifted back and forth between interested and bored. This book had good representation of fathers and was sure to include non cis women. I was interested in a lot of the research but disappointed to find out that most of the research had conflicting research named right after it or a disclaimer that it was 'a small study' or 'needed much more research'.

I don't need to listen to hours of an audiobook just to find out that the topic is inadequately researched. I requested the book because I wanted to know what neuroscience was showing about motherhood, not what still needs to be shown.

Overall some good pieces of information in here but was not my cup of tea.

This book was long and repetitive. I appreciated all of the science, and how it was interspersed with personal stories. However, the author repeated herself way too much, and the book dragged on.

I just had my third child, and learning about how my brain has been forever changed has been a mission of mine. This book was a fascinating addition to the other learning I’ve been doing. I also appreciated the author’s attempts at inclusive language while still acknowledging the unique position of mothers.

A wonderful and well researched exploration into modern parenthood. The content was great and the author’s reading of the audiobook was phenomenal as well. I found the comparisons between biological motherhood and other types of parenthoood answered a lot of questions I have had about adoption, which is something near and dear to my heart.

Fascinating look at how neurobiology, habit, and values change our brains. As if pregnancy does not change our bodies as it is, our brains change as well. This is a careful examination of more than just hormones and neurotransmitters. If you are interested in the subject or simply want to feel as prepared as possible, this is the book for you.

A non-fiction about book about how being a mom/parent modifies the brain of a person I can listen to while dealing with my kids that refuse to sleep through the night? Sign me up.
I really enjoyed some parts of this book, enjoyed learning about the research that has already been conducted in the field. The science was well researched. The author not being a neuroscientist might make this more approachable for the general public and I'm sure any parent will find this insightful. I personally would have been ok with more science in this one and maybe a bit less repetition into what research still hasn't been done. The narration was done by the author itself and I thought it made a fine listen.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this one.

If you are a new mother, you may enjoy this book. It can possibly help with the feelings of helplessness and that you are not alone in your journey of motherhood/parenthood. This book gives much more experience and belief type stances with some science.

As the title states, I expected this to be a book about ‘How Neuroscience is Rewriting the Story of Parenthood”. The title of this book is misleading. It turned out to touch on this only slightly from a scientific standpoint. It should be noted that the author is not a neurologist or anyone with a scientific background. I was unaware of this until I read the preface. Had it not been an ARC, I probably would have put it down.

I also want to note that a good bit of the beliefs this author presents to us, the reader, I agree with, but I want to focus on the book itself.

This book was far too long. The scientific research given could have been summed up in about a quarter to a third of this book. Because of this interesting research is why I gave it 3 stars. As for the rest the author went to point out a lot of bias from male and female research, the lack of research in this field, and how can the science really hold up when long standing environment not studied as much. There were also areas where she describes waiting somewhere for her interview with someone that felt too long and unnecessary. There were also many experiences given to being a parent rather than the science of it. This just isn’t what I expected from the book.

Thank you to NetGallery and McMillan Audio for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. I loved this book! I flew through the pages and wanted to devour all the information about motherhood and parenthood I could. The author is honest in the beginning of the book that she is not a neuroscientist but is a mother and journalist. I found the research to be done thoroughly. This book didn’t bore me once like a lot of science books do. The author also read the audio and I found her voice to be soothing and perfect for an audiobook. I’m glad she chose to read her work. Definitely a fascinating read.

This book was very insightful for all types of parents. I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator was great as well. I was confused at first because I thought the author was going to be writing from her education as a neurologist, but she is a researcher who dove into the topic and is sharing the information with the reader. It's still an awesome book though with tons of helpful information.