A horrifying and illuminating non-fiction narrative of 3 cases of Munchausen by proxy written by an investigator and an author whose own family had been rocked by MBP. I like that the authors treated the child victims with such respect and it was encouraging to know that these kids can grow up to live healthy normal lives if there's successful intervention. This was not an easy read. It is never easy to read about kids being harmed, especially by their own mother. That said, I could not put this down -- largely because it was written with such compassion and I wanted to know how each kid made out in the end. The authors make a good point that women are just as capable of evil as men are, but our preset ideas of "mother" can get in the way of acknowledging a crime, even when it's happening in front of our nose.

Thank you to NetGalley, Andrea Dunlop, Mike Weber and the publisher for the ARC and opportunity to review this book.

I gave it 3 stars because the fact that it is non-fiction and the authors were able to bring this disorder to light was well done. I found that it was overly repetitive in many sections which led to less interest in finishing it.

I have to be honest and say that I was very let down by the fact that the author referenced her own family and this disorder many times but never actually told readers what happened in her family. To assume that readers know her family history should never be done by an author. Many of us love to step out of the box and read new authors. I generally never read non-fiction so I had no idea who she was or what happened to her family.

While it was a good read, it lacked in my opinion. I feel like it was really just ‘notes’ about cases on the disorder and it didn’t flow nicely from one family to the next.

It felt more like a case study in a textbook.

3⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is an important book that I hope finds a wide readership. The authors have done an exceptional job of making this phenomenon come alive for the reader. The three families illustrated provide a compelling look into this incomprehensible form of child abuse. Dunlop and Weber provide an effective level of detail without overwhelming the reader. Highly recommened.

While I found the cases in this book to be fascinating, and I did enjoy the pacing, I could not give a higher rating for this one...

The author references things that happened in her own life and in here own family. However, she never actually explains what the events were that occurred. Every time they are referenced, it reads like the reader is just supposed to know already. An author should NEVER assume that a reader is already familiar with them or their previous works but it's very obvious that this author did exactly that.

There are times when I found the book to be a bit repetitive, going over the same evidence over and over.

I also felt like there were several instances where the author spends a lot of time talking about things that just didn't feel relevant to the cases.

At one point while talking about the Mary Welch case, the author says that Gabriel's test for autism came back "negative". This is not even remotely how tests for autism work. There is no negative or positive. It is a scored test where a psychology reviews the responses and gives an overall score (a number) that tells the psychologist where on the spectrum a person falls. This alone cost major credibility points with me.

Told from the perspective of a person who has a close family member who was the victim of Munchausen by proxy, this book looks at three cases of child medical abuse. The author helps a layperson understand how a parent is able to deceive medical professionals, through lies about their educational and professional backgrounds and false reporting of events and symptoms in their children’s lives. An interesting and important read!

Wow what a tragically sad well written book. It's always so cringy to read about the horrible things that happen to kids let alone at the hands of their own parents

Riveting. My jaw dropped several times. Dunlop's story-telling is comprehensive while keeping a good pace. So often with criminal cases, authors will get wrapped up in the court proceedings, which unfortunately can make readers' eyes glaze over (much like a juror overwhelmed with legal jargon and repetitive questions).

Most importantly, we're brought into this niche area of the law where victims are extra vulnerable - children at the hands of their mothers. I will definitely be listening to Dunlap's podcast for more interviews and perspectives of those involved.

Such a good read. Great way to tell the story. Felt the respect of the authors when talking about the mother who did have a mental illness instead of just treating her as a villain.

This book is a deeply disturbing look at child medical abuse, which is often made salacious in dramatizations. It establishes patterns that parents (in the book's case, all mothers) display in the course of their abuse. The most hopeful thing is that this book does emphasize how the children who are freed from their abusers do go on to thrive. The stories are frequently jaw-dropping and horrifying, and it might send you into a bit of a spiral at the cruelty some people can stoop to. The author's position as a family member of someone investigated for medical abuse gave her an interesting level of distance from the subject-- neither intimately involved nor at such a remove that she can't see subtle effects. This is a good book and a quick read for anyone who wants to be clued into what to look for in these rare but devastating cases.

The book is about MBP. It's interesting to see how the cases come together but heartbreaking to read. The book drags in parts. It's crazy how many women suffer from it and how much they put their children through. It's hard to digest how many professionals fall for the mom's stories. Mary's mom was distressing to read about or relate too.

An easy understanding yet informative book on MBP. This book brings out a lot of emotions. Disbelief, righteous anger, inspiring and yearning for ways to help out.
Dunlop and Weber are a great team. Reading that cases sometimes can take years to solve is mind blowing. The confusion and thought provoking goes towards the committees who make the decisions. Because removal and protection of the child has to be immediate.
Thousands and thousands of paperwork, HIPPA, interviews.

When a non-fiction book reads like fiction, then you know the author is amazing! This book was not only entertaining but it gave information to the reader as well. The 3 case studies were similar yet different in aspects and I loved seeing how upper management really impacts the direction of a case regardless of facts. I loved her writing so much that I will be listening to her podcast as well.

read if you like:
📚 non-fiction
😷 munchausens by proxy
🕵🏻 journalist investigations

summary:
I’m not a typical non-fiction fan, but I had access to this ARC and decided to check it out given how much Munchausens by Proxy has been in the news lately. It tells the story of three women, Hope Ybarra, Brittany Phillips and Mary Welch, who spend their lives convincing people that their children have debilitating medical conditions, only for everyone to find out they were living a lie. It goes into detail about the background of medical child abuse, with a focus on state laws and the ability to prosecute parents as a result of them. Each story has a bit of a unique twist, but all three are heartbreaking in that these children’s lives are altered forever by the decisions and cons facilitated by their parents.

It doesn’t spend a lot of time focusing on the mental illness aspect of the disease, which I wanted to hear, but more on the victims and the challenges with bringing them to justice for their crimes. Honestly it’s not an area I had thought a lot about, but it’s disheartening to understand how challenging it is to find these parents guilty given the ambiguity of their crimes and lack of protection against them. It also raises interesting commentary on the doctors involved in these cases, and how especially with the shortage of health care professionals and the reliance on parents to relay their children’s symptoms, the ease in which they can convince doctors something is wrong when it isn’t.

Thanks to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC. If you’re interesting in MBP and the dynamics around it, check this out when it releases on February 4.

I enjoyed this book and its examination of this disorder which I have seen as a nurse. This book is an in depth examination of that . It is well researched and informative
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

Interesting. Book on. Medical child abuse . Fast paced . Although there is a lot of characters to keep up with several cases being told .

Heart wrenching. Hard to believe that this happens, but wow just wow. Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. This was an interesting read about 3 reported munchausen by proxy cases.

Such a fascinating look at MBP. The timelines and investigation of the abuse are chilling, but so interesting. A wonderful, informative read!

This was so interesting! I have heard different stories about this disease before, but nothing like this! I loved that it was narrative nonfiction, because it just sucked me in!

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

An eye-opening look into Munchausen by Proxy and three specific cases of it that all ended very differently. Not easy to read at times because of the disturbing subject matter, but well-written and researched.