I was very excited for this one as the premise of the book sounded really appealing to me. Unfortunately, I feel like it was just ok. The chapters were short which meant it was quick to get through. It jumped between two different characters - the mother and the midwife. To be honest, there were a few chapters that were a bit confusing/didn’t feel necessary. I was definitely surprised by the ending. Overall, felt that the whole thing was a bit lackluster. Not sure I can recommend this one.

Narrated by Anne-Marie Piazza ⭐⭐⭐
by Victoria Jenkins ⭐⭐ 2.5

**please note due to low rating I will not be leaving a public review for this book as I have not paid for it.**

Really sorry for the low review.
The ending was really good and heartbreaking (both the current story and past story) but the lead up to it was just quite dull.

Would definitely try the author again though.

I found this audiobook a little hard to get into as it is a vey slow burn in the beginning. Not only this, but as the book is told from the perspective of both main characters of ‘the mother’ and ‘the midwife’ and their past and present there is quite a bit of chopping and changing and I found this difficult to follow at times, perhaps this is because it’s an audiobook and as such I do other things while listening, as opposed to a book to which you have to give your full attention while reading.
An interesting premise to the story, with twists and turns, some of which are unexpected and come from a completely different side to which you’re expecting, which is good. The narrator was ok, but I’m unsure whether it is the style of narration or the storyline itself that meant I didn’t warm to any of the characters or in turn feel invested in the story as it unfolded and ultimately concluded,
All in all an ok audiobook, it didn’t grip me and pull me in the way thrillers often do, but I did want to finish it to hear the culmination of the experiences of the characters. I’d give it 3.5 stars, but have rounded down to 3 as although it has the essence of a good audiobook, for me, it didn’t have the hook to pull me in and make me really want to keep listening that I’d expect from a 4 star.

This is an amazing page turner. Tremendously easy to read with understandable undertones that encourages you to keep guessing ( although my abilities as a lowly sleuth didn’t come to fruition) and thinking.
Many situations could possibly be very relatable to the reader, sadly, as it does contain solemn moments that are regrettably very real yet written with such delicious ingredients it’s inevitably a clever and chilling combination.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, the audible version is beautifully narrated and the story is as thrilling as ‘Girl On The Train’ and ‘Behind Her Eyes’.
Highly recommended read.

I was really excited to read this book as I thought it sounded like a thrilling read. It was written from the dual POV's of 'the mother' and 'the midwife' and there was some switching between past and present. Lauren is the mother and she is pregnant with her first child, conceived via IVF. Jackie is the midwife and early on we realise that she wants to be involved somehow with Lauren's pregnancy and birth. Both women have an air of mystery about them and Lauren is trying to escape her past. This was a medium paced book with mounting tension. It kept me guessing and there were interesting twists. I did get a bit lost around the midpoint because there were a few characters who had changed their names and I struggled to work out what was going on. I didn't really warm to any of the characters, although they were certainly interesting. The narration was OK but I did feel the narrator's voice was a little robotic at times and I didn't really like the way Jackie and Karim (sp.?) were voiced. Overall I think the story was really good and certainly kept my interest with some very tense moments. The author managed to slowly reveal more information about the events of the past without spoiling the tension. It was let down a bit by the confusion and somewhat by the narration. I am struggling to give an accurate rating but I will go for 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I would definitely read more from the author.

Thank you NetGalley for the audio copy in exchange for a honest review. Lauren is single and having a baby. She meets Jackie the midwife who invites her to antenatal groups. Strange things start to happen to Lauren. Is she right to trust her midwife? A cleverly written thriller with plenty of twists and turns.

The Midwife sucked me in from the very start!! I finished this in a day as I had to know how this book was going to end!!!

So many twists and turns and had no idea how it would end but it came together nicely.

Having given birth a year ago to my son after a miscarriage I could def relate to the Mother’s anxiety about the pregnancy going well and hearing that baby’s first cry!

The narrator Anne-Marie Piazza did a great job reading the book and was easy/enjoyable to listen to.

This was a great thriller that was hard to put down. It kept me guessing until the end! The characters weren’t all likable, but they were well developed and each character added substance to the story. No one is who they seem! Really enjoyed this thriller!

This book is very unsettling, in the most positive way! Exactly what you expect from a thriller.

It is a story of a woman who finally got pregnant. The due date is slowly coming so it is time to get everything organized. She finds hospital and there she is being found by a Midwife, who seems to very interested in her and her baby.

Omg! Victoria Jenkins blew my mind. I was not expecting to be so freaked out. If you think about it, the concept of the plot is very disturbing. The fact that your mind and predictions are going completely opposite way than what author has in mind is a huge plus and makes the ending so much more better. Of course, there were some details that didn't add up, but the overall experience was so good that I will pretend they didn't exist!

It is absolutely smashing book! Just read it/listen to it and agree with me in the comments ;)

***Audio ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.co.uk in return for an honest review ***

An enjoyable novel told from the perspective of the mother-to-be (Lauren) and her midwife (Jackie) switching perspectives each chapter. Lauren is in her 40s and expecting her 1st baby through IVF and Jackie is her oh-so-helpful midwife whose intentions are questionable.

I thought this way of telling the story was well done as each chapter peeled away a little more information to make the overall view clearer. It took me a while to get exactly where the twist was going to go, which is always preferable.

The narrator was good and engaging, and this is an audiobook I would recommend to a friend.

The fact this took me 4 attempts to start shouts loudly. I couldn't get into it at all. I'm glad I finished it as it did get better but still wasnt better than 'okay’, the writing flowed well but overall unremarkable. Wouldn’t recommend this one but I would still try anything else by
this author. Overall three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I couldn't get into this on audio. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the ALC in exchange for a review.

I really wanted and expected to love this book. Having a medical background, thrillers featuring medical professionals in difficult or 'villainous' positions really catches my interest. But unfortunately The Midwife wasn't a standout thriller for me. In fact, with dual timelines and dual points of view over those timelines, and only one narrator I actually got quite confused as to what was happening for some parts. Neither the Midwife nor the Mother were particularly relatable so I wasn't really that invested in what happened to them.
That being said, I didn't really dislike the book. I just didn't love it. I'd say it is an average thriller and fits right in the 3 star bracket

The Midwife
By Victoria Jenkins

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy of this audiobook in return for my honest review.

I started this book with high expectations as I loved the cover, I was excited to read one of this authors books and this story sounded intense for me.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish the book. I could not find that hook to keep me going.

I'm not a huge fan of thrillers that create "monsters" and I didn't understand from the blurb that this book was likely to include that as a main component. Mea culpa - I should have done more reading around before requesting.

That said, there are plenty of readers who *love* this type of character - we only need to look at the success of Killing Eve to see that.

For me, because of my personal disinterest in fictional murderers who are so broken they are inhuman, the best of this book was in the early chapters, when I could enjoy the incipient dread of what terrible thing was going to befall the main character. I also really enjoyed the backstory, in which we hear more about the first pregnancy, its circumstances, and the ways in which this led to the extreme worries around the second (current) pregnancy that we are witnessing as readers.

Finally, I liked the motivation, with a title like The Midwife, not to make the eponymous midwife the real threat, and I enjoyed the way the author played with this to ratchet up the suspense. I just would have preferred the actual jeopardy to have come from someone a little less psychopathic / sociopathic.

Thanks very much for the opportunity to listen to this ARC. I'll be looking out for future titles by Victoria Jenkins. Great writer.

This was my first time reading a book by Victoria Jenkins and what a read! I listened to this as an Audiobook and the narrator was wonderful. This story is full of suspense right to the end.

The story is about mum-to-be, Lauren and midwife Jackie. Lauren very much keeps to herself and does not let others into her life which is full of secrets. And someone else seems to know her secret and starts threatening her and her unborn child. Jackie is a midwife who wants to help. It seems that Jackie knows Lauren, but it isn't clear how until the story unfolds towards the end.

This is a great read and will keep you enthralled to the end.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Bookouture for the ARC.

This was the second Victoria Jenkins story that I have read/listened to. The synopsis got me super excited and I expected the book to be thrilling. I mean a pregnant mother wanting to protect her child above all else must be so exciting and scary. Unfortunately I did not feel Lauren's angst and fear, I just heard the story. The idea for the story was good and there were expected twists and uncertainty in terms of who should we trust, but I didn't care enough about the characters for it to be a great story for me and the story moved too slow for my liking. That said, I have see other reviews for this book where the reviewer loved it, so it's as always a personal opinion.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced audiobook copy of this book via NetGalley and Bookouture Audio. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 3/5 Stars
Publishing: November 14, 2022
Pages/Audio: 245 / 7 hours and 16 minutes

“The Midwife” by Victoria Jenkins, new author to this reader was a very good audiobook listen. Narration by Anne-Marie Piazza was engaging and kept me drawn into the story. I loved the suspense, intrigue and twists and turns that kept me glued to the listen. Wasn’t sure what to anticipate close to the end but glad I did not give up on this story as it was one that you couldn’t put down. Only pet-peeve for me is the back and forth timeline.

A well-written suspenseful and psychological thriller fiction read. Recommend the listen and looking forward to more from this author.

A quick short read, told in multiple points of view. The story was a little hard to follow as the narrators both had too much backstory. By the time I got to the end it was super underwhelming and I didn’t care much for the twist.

Good, kept my interests. Not great. Some moved so slow and some was just plain predictable but the last few chapters were full of surprise. Not really sure how a woman can work for someone and rent a flat under contract using a fake name in todays day & age but whatever. If you overlook that and the side plot implausibility, you're good.
I kinda played the whole thing in my head like a Lifetime movie.
Three and a half stars, rounded up to four