3.5 ⭐️

I’m not a mom, but goodness I loved the relatability this book offered! It’s covering a lot about PPD and realities of being a new mom. I did expect some more of the thriller/mystery storyline but it remained enjoyable and I was happy to read about Brynn’s journey as a mother. There are some triggering elements I would encourage people to look into before reading. The reason for taking away stars is at times it did feel flat and repetitive.

A FMC with postpartum depression is a great idea. However, it almost seemed redundant at times. I understand that depression can feel like a bottomless pit. I suffer from it myself, and perhaps postpartum is much different, but for me, it almost fed into my depressive tendencies.

Such A Good Mom was not what I was expecting. The protagonist is Brynn Nelson. Growing up in the poorer area of Martha’s Vineyard she grew up knowing the Nelson family. Marrying Ross the eldest son was a dream come true. Everything is going great until the birth of her much longed for child. No way could Brynn predict she would be faced with postpartum depression. She feels like Ross is pulling away from her and not seeing her struggles. But her mother-in-law is always there helping. Thrown into all of this a young waitress is murdered and suddenly Ross is accused of it. Brynn is determined to help herself and help prove Ross’s innocence. But someone is determined for Ross to take the fall. Great plot twists.

This was an interesting mystery that also serves to bring attention to the issue of postpartum depression and the role friends and family can play in the mental health of women suffering from it.
Brynn , the heroine, is a young mother who is suffering from severe post partum depression and having trouble coping with caring for her son and her relationship with her husband. In the midst of this there is a murder of a young woman on Martha’s Vineyard ( the setting for the story). Based on some pretty shoddy evidence her husband Ross is arrested for the crime. Brynn then sets about to try to solve the murder and in the process reconcile her feelings about her husband.
The details of her investigation are interesting if a bit far fetched. There are plenty of twists and surprises to keep the reader engaged.
As in most family dramas it always seems as though if the characters would just speak honestly with one another, things could move a lot easier but that is not the way life works. It does make for good reading !
I felt for Brynn’s plight with regards to her depression. Not many women are really prepared for the emotional and hormonal aspects of having a newborn and are often the hardest on themselves. Recognition and support services are key.

This book is about being a new mother and all that it encompesses. Postpartum depression is a big theme here and dealing with a newborn. The mystery is there and interesting but not a big chunk of the book. I did not mind that though. I felt this book was interesting and relatable and covered many different topics. I give it 3.5 stars.

This is a wonderful story about what it means to be a mom. It’s not an easy thing and this book dives into why. The different stages of parenting all have unique challenges, from the haze you feel when your baby is first born, to the emotions along the way. This book isn’t really a mystery as most of the plot centers around the struggle of being a mom, but it is there, just a little. This is a deeper book with light thrills or a little mystery. More of what I would call thriller light. Never really getting into the substance of a thriller. I went into this one expecting it to be a little less about being a mom and a little more thriller, but it worked out. This book does cover some topics that readers might need to take care with so please check your trigger warnings.

If you’re looking for a good character study with a dash of mystery, then check this one out.

I went into this book, thinking it was more of a murder mystery/thriller type. While there is some of that, the bulk of the book is about her being a mother and how hard/stressful that is. While I have sympathy for the situation and for her postpartum depression. It wasn''t interesting to read about it fr so much of the book. the writing style was also somewhat flat. I pushed through it but overall it wasn't for me.

This author is new to me and I must say, I really enjoyed this book.
Her writing accurately portrays the newborn/postpartum haze, highlighting the thoughts, emotions, and relationship dynamics we face as new moms.
Besides the murder and a secret-keeping husband, I could relate to so many of the themes in this book.
I would recommend this to any mom who needs a quick, entertaining read!
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The summary of this book doesn’t really disclose what this book is really about. Yes it is a murder mystery, but only 20% of this book is about the murder. The majority of this book is about postpartum depression and all the woes of having a newborn. I did find that part relatable and fairly interesting/entertaining, but that is not what I signed up for. I think this needs to be brought up since this can be very triggering for people since the books drags on this concept through the whole entire book. It also talks about her having an abortion. None of this is what I thought I was going to be reading nor was it what I really wanted to read. If I wanted that, I would have read a drama/woman’s lit.

The characters in this book were all very unlikeable and they lacked any real character development to make me have any vested interest in them.

Also, the murdered was pretty obvious, but it didn’t fully deter from the mystery. I just wish more was written about it.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was a fun read! It wasn’t super deep, more of a popcorn thriller. It kept my attention throughout and was definitely worth the read. The ending was slightly predictable, but that didn’t ruin it for me.

Everyone has secrets, it’s a matter of the lengths they’ll go to in order to keep them.

Thank you to NetGalley, Julia Spiro, and Minotaur Books for this ARC!

A body washes ashore on the idyllic island of Martha’s Vineyard just as the high season shifts into full swing, and it threatens to overturn Brynn Nelson’s already faltering life like a sudden squall on a beautiful day.

Brynn is a new mom adjusting to life with a fussy newborn. She’s convinced she’s a terrible mother and that her husband is retreating from her. Reluctant to confess her feelings to her best friends, who all seem to have it together, or to her husband’s family, who play an outsized role in her life, she feels utterly alone. Then the body of someone familiar to Brynn's family washes ashore, and her husband is arrested for the crime.

Confused about whether she thinks he might have murdered someone or whether she is losing her mind, she reluctantly begins searching for clues at his request.

This is a slow burn mystery that leans heavily into Brynn’s postpartum depression. While Spiro does capture the tedium and repetition of the early days with a newborn, these descriptions drag a bit on the pace of the mystery. Moreover, living so fully in Brynn’s experience ends up leaving some of the other characters a little flat.

Thank you to NetGalley and to St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

This was a great book to read. I highly recommend it to everyone! I loved the mystery of it and trying to figure it out as I read!

It took me a while to decide how to rate this one. I think part of it is that it is advertised as a mystery and while it certainly does have an investigation, it takes a backseat to Brynn's postpartum depression. It feels like it pulls it more into women's fiction with a mystery background story than the other way around.

The plot was interesting adding in the close knit nature of the area and rich families of Martha's Vineyard and the secrets that come with them. At times, the motherhood/depression takes over and it felt hard to get through those chapters. Although probably hard to get through life with PPD too, so realistic in that sense but not the easy reading beach mystery promised.

The final culprit isn't especially surprising but it takes you a while to pin them down as the main suspect. I think I would have liked it more if the mystery took more of the focus.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press / Minotaur Books for the copy to review.

I loved that this book was so relatable and relevant to topics that you hear about everyday. The realities of post partum depression are real. I did not experience them after my son was born, so for me this book was really eye opening and helped me to see what a horrible state some women can go through after their baby is born.
This book was good and the plot very interesting. Although at times the depression descriptions were repetitive and could tend to slow down the story, I think the author made that choice to illustrate how when you are down deep into that depression how it can feel repetitive and keep circling your mind.
Overall, I enjoyed the story and would read more from this author.

4.5 stars — Such A Good Mom by @juliaspiro

A book I couldn’t put down. I loved Brynn’s early motherhood experience as a large part of this mystery. While I was invested in the mystery, I also was invested in Brynn’s life and wanted the best for her.

The storyline and twist was pretty good. I had my own theory and I was wrong. Brynn had to find an answer to a cryptic message from a love on to save them/her family. What I wasn’t fond of being so heavy on the new motherhood and postpartum depression, it was too much. At times these two subjects were just redundant. Brynn was hard to connect with. Honestly most of the characters were. Thank you, @netgallery for the book and chance to read the ARC.

This was an OK read for me. It centered on Brynn, who is struggling as a new mom anyway when her husband becomes more distant and an acquaintance on their small close-knit island of Martha's Vineyard is killed. Brynn wants to figure out what is going on with her husband and his influential family, as well as if their secrets tie to something much more sinister.

The book focuses very heavily on Brynn's postpartum depression to the point where the murder mystery seems secondary to the story. While I do think the depression is covered well, it was often quite repetitive and I wanted to get back to solving the murder. While there were a few twists as it related to the mystery, I did find it somewhat predictable and wasn't surprised by any of them. In fact, I wanted to yell at Brynn for sometimes being slow on the uptake! That being said, I thought the loose ends were tied up well, and I did enjoy the dynamic within friendships Brynn shared with her support network.

Overall, this was a quick read for me but didn't exactly hit the mark because I wasn't really sure what the book was trying to be. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t sure initially how much I’d like this because there was a great deal about postpartum in it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I saw this twist coming, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment. The book was well written. I think I will check out more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book had an awesome premise that drew me in. The story was very well told and very relatable. It deals with postpartum depression and a mother that is ambiguous about her new baby. All totally normal but things that society crucifies women for.

A murder takes place in the book and the FMC begins investigating it while dealing with PPD.

This was a slow burn that I found to be relatable and compelling.

I commend Spiro for capturing the sensitive topic of postpartum so realistically. I loved the plot and the wild twist at the end!