Three generations of strong women make their way in this novel of family, love, motherhood, marriage and ambition. Like Mother, Like Mother is complicated and will make for great discussion.

Thanks to @thedialpress and @netgalley for the electronic copy.

I recently finished “Like Mother, Like Mother” by Susan Riger, and it truly captivated me. The novel delves into the intricate dynamics of motherhood and the generational ties that shape our identities. Riger’s characters are beautifully crafted, each facing their own challenges and desires, which made their stories feel incredibly relatable.

What struck me most was how Riger captures the unspoken expectations placed on women, weaving a narrative that is both poignant and insightful. Her prose is lyrical yet sharp, making me reflect on my own experiences with family and legacy. Overall, it’s a heartfelt read that resonated deeply with me, and I found myself thinking about it long after I turned the last page.

Excellent story. It's a multi-generational story about strong women, found family, family legacy. Plenty of secrets. I loved the structure and the way the characters talked to each other. The ending is very satisfying as is the entire novel. Thanks to NetGalley and The Dial Press for the advanced copy. Highly recommend.

A friend recommended I request this book and I am so glad she did. I loved the intergenerational family drama. I enjoyed the character development over the decades of time. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about the ending but the more I think about it, them ore I understand it.

An interesting story of multi-generational family relationships and trauma. There's a good mystery towards the end and an intriguing look at a cast of characters spread across decades. For anyone who likes big-picture stories that cover long time spans and those that look at the same dynamic from multiple viewpoints.

This book centers around Lila, a strong-willed matriarch who rises from an abusive childhood to be the editor of a powerful newspaper and mother to 3 daughters. Her story is told and then her daughter Grace’s life is followed as she grants Lila’s dying wish to find out the truth about Lila’s missing mother. This book has a lot of symmetry throughout - the older sisters who are nearly twins and lead parallel lives, Grace and her best friend Ruth’s life paths, and the similarities between Lila and Grace. I found it an interesting but a bit too long. It’s about the importance of family, secrets, and understanding. Thank you Net Galley!

"He looked at her closely. "You're not Irish, are you." he said. "Obituaries are the Irish sports pages, the first section in the paper they turn to in teh morning. Who beat the reaper, who didn't." Susan Rieger, Like Mother, Like Mother

Thank you @netgalley and @thedialpress #partner for this advance reading copy of:

Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger
4 1/2 stars

HAPPPY PUB DAY - October 29, 2024

A family story of multiple generations of mothers and children, how each saw the story just a bit differently and the generational trauma that each one experienced.

This is a family drama of 3 generations of women, all dysfunctional. I had a few issues with the stories and characters themselves but overall, it was a good book. One odd aspect, rather than a lot of character self-reflection, other loved ones did character dissections of them. Because of the lack of self-reflection, there was no true change from generation to generation of a certain “trait”.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the complimentary copy of this book. As always, the opinions expressed within this review are completely my own.

Side note – I’ve been sick and just getting out of a reading slump. Both of those might issues have affected my review.

I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I really enjoyed it. It gave me the same feelings as when I was reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. My favorite parts of the story were the beginning about Lila and the ending about Frida. From the title of the book I thought the main characters were going to be motherly. I would definitely recommend this story and read more books by this author.

3.5 stars. This book was certainly well-written, but I found myself struggling to feel emotionally invested in any of the characters. I was still entertained by it, but it was hard to find myself really caring about anyone involved. I don't know if the issue was that some of their actions/dialogue felt unrealistic to me or if it was something else I can't pinpoint. I do think this was an interesting book that tells a thought-out multi-generational story.

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE MOTHER centers around a daughter, mother, and the grandmother of a family and uncovering the truth of what happened to the grandmother after being admitted into a psychiatric institution. I liked the premise but didn't find myself really getting into the story or caring for the characters in the story. I did however find it interesting to see how the parenting (or lack there of ) changes and how it differs and affect the following generation and the complexities of family relationships and dynamics.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Random House Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.

This novel was one I was really hopeful for, however it was not my cup of tea per se. I did enjoy the story line being about a child growing up after her mother was committed by her father to an insane asylum. The novel was kind of messy and all over the place for me to really follow it, but I know that some readers will really click with me. I would definitely give this author another try however. I did really like that the author took the spin of kind of relating how one person’s evil acts, impact a child rather than just other adults.

4.5 stars

When the first thing I see in a book is a character list, I get nervous. But somehow, it all ties together well in the end.

Like Mother Like Mother by Susan Rieger is a multi-generational story that calls into question if the consequences of a person’s actions (more specifically a parent’s) are truly their own. Stemming from an abusive father and an absent mother, the Perreira-Maier family, as well as the lives of those they touch, have to figure out what it truly means to be a family, and most importantly, a mother.

This book is beautifully written. Somehow, despite the large cast of characters, you’ll find yourself invested in every single one of them, even those who may seemingly be minor characters. The absentee mother (in more ways than one) is a central theme, and while you’re not guaranteed a happy ending with this book, you will get a satisfying one.

The only drawback is that the way the story is written can be a bit disjointed because of how many characters there are, and therefore how many POVs there are. It can get even more confusing towards the last third of the book, so you’ll want to get used to the unconventional third-person omniscient writing style early on.

Regardless, for those who are big fans of family stories, you’ll definitely want to pick this one up.

Special thanks to NetGalley and The Dial Press for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Like Mother Like Mother is available everywhere now.

A novel about three generations of ambitious women who put themselves first to the detriment of their children. I loved how the story was arranged. It jumped around in time, but not in a confusing way. Every character had a rich backstory that kept me invested in their development. It’s a complex story that at times made me uncomfortable but also pulled at the heart strings. Every family is complicated and Susan Rieger detailed this family beautifully. This book would be great for a book club to discuss. I highly recommend!

I will not be reading this book as I've only seen this author downplay her mistakes/poor choices in regards to plagiarism. A law degree and an ivy league education should be enough to not toy the line so closely and then to be so flippant about the allegations.

Susan Rieger has delivered a compelling book, ripe with discussion topics for Book Clubs. In it, she examines familial relationships—most centered on the mother.
I will not concentrate on the story itself, since most reviewers have done that already. These are the things that came into my thoughts as I read this book:
There are mothers who leave, others who are absent in spirit. How do absent, or non-participating, mothers affect the family dynamics? Is motherhood a learned thing, or is it hereditary? Can one who had no example to emulate be a good mother? Do sons handle the absence of a mother differently than daughters? How do fathers deal with these situations?
Rieger’s in-depth characterizations are masterful. She looks at three generations, from the abused mother to the successful career woman to the young children raised by their father. I was drawn to each of these characters and felt that they all had meaningful stories.
There is a fair amount of stereotyping here: a wealthy Jewish mother-in-law, bouncy blonde California daughters, unwed Southern mothers, to name a few. Rieger also used the roman a clef device here where it suits her. She uses real names for some of her political characters, fictional names for others. I was curious about why she chose this avenue.
This book will be a huge success. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

Title: Like Mother, Like Mother
By: Susan Rieger
Pub. Date: October 29, 2024

Genre:
Fiction, Women’s

Red Flags:
Domestic Abuse, Child Abuse, Neglect,

Summary:
Lila Pereira's mother was committed to an asylum when Lila was only two years old, and she's never heard from or seen her since. However, Lila remains doubtful about what really happened. Did her father lie to her? Is her mother still alive?

Lila has built a successful career at The Globe, often prioritizing her work over her role as a mother. But it’s okay—her husband Joe is the perfect dad, playing both mother and father roles. He’s flawless.

Grace, one of Lila and Joe’s daughters, is trying to understand her mother’s distant and work-focused behavior. Why doesn’t Lila seem to care about her children? Why is work so important to her? Grace believes her mom’s actions are linked to the absence of her own mother, and she’s determined to uncover the truth about what happened to her grandmother.

Review:
Like Mother, Like Mother is told from multiple points of view, which requires smooth transitions for the plot to flow naturally. Unfortunately, this is where I found the story lacking. At several key moments, the transitions were confusing, and I had to backtrack to fully understand the story. However, the plot is fast-paced, suspenseful, and character-driven.

Thank you Susan Rieger, Random House Publishing Group, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#LikeMotherLikeMother
#SusanRieger
#RandomHousePublishingGroup
#reluctantreaderreads
#advancedreadercopies
#NetGalley

This book had so much promise; the first half of the book was great but it went downhill and never really recovered.

Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger is a story based on the fact that a person raised, or abandoned by her mother will assume some of the characteristics of motherhood from that experience. While I don’t believe in inherited trauma, this amazing story shows how trauma can travel, through experience, from one person to another. The story centers around Lila Pereira, a successful executive editor of the fictional Washington Globe. She births the daughters but her husband, Joe raises them. Joe loves her but even he tires of her obsession after years of living with it. Her lack of mothering skills is passed along, albeit differently to each, to her daughters. One daughter, Grace, who is a writer, becomes obsessed with her mother’s parents: an alcoholic, abusive father and a mother who, supposedly, died when Lila was very small. What she learns explains a lot about her mother.

This is a collection of interesting women, all of whom, related or not, became part of the story, which includes, abandonment: straight out, or through adoption; the love of surrogate mothers; and other childhood traumas. It is full of interesting situations and personas. These potentially damaged woman all found someone to love them and that is the saving grace of the damage their parents, accidentally or purposefully, imposed upon them. It is a wonderful story as well as a cautionary one. It is easy to get so involved with one’s own life that he/she can fail to see it from any other perspective or recognize the damage being done. Excellent piece of writing, but lest we forget, good things are learned from mothers, too.

I was invited to read Like Mother, Like Mother by Random House Publishing Group-Random House. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #RandomHousePublishingBroupRandomHouse #SusanRieger #LikeMotherLikeMother

This sent me into a bit of a slump. I loved the premise: three generations of mothers and how we inextricably affect our daughters. However, the third person POV felt too detached. I wanted more emotional connection with the women. Also, in the Grace chapters, I felt whiplash going between Grace and Ruth's life. I feel like it dwelled too much on Ruth when it was supposed to be about Grace? I liked her story, but it didn't fit with the premise or narrative of it being 3 generations of women from the same line.