A new mother finds herself in a dilemma when her husband is accused of and arrested for murder and she thinks she is certain that he did not do it and he tells her he did not do it and is being set up but she is just not certain what she can believe. He tells her what she needs to find but she is torn and confused. She does finally find what she was looking for and figures it out before it’s too late. Good read. Don’t want to give away too much so I’ll just stop with this.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was initially intrigued by the premise of this book—an overwhelmed mom caught up in a murder mystery on Martha’s Vineyard, but it ultimately fell so flat it became a DNF.

Such a Good Mom reads like so many other current books: new mom is ridiculously tired, baby won’t stop crying, no one understands, societal expectations etc etc. And I’m sure there’s probably a postpartum depression message in there at some point and it’s a very real thing, but as a reader you just want the plot to get on with itself. Childless women can’t relate and moms who’ve been there, well, it’s the same motherhood we’ve all been doing for ages. After awhile I just lost interest and started skimming.

Thank you to the publisher for making this available to read and review through NetGalley.

As a currently expecting first time mother, this book was a bit difficult to read at times. It openly & honestly covered the challenges women face both during labor/delivery, as well as postpartum (unfortunately much too common). Though it made me feel more nervous & anxious at times, it was also eye opening and normalized the struggles. Motherhood aside, it was a good story line and a nice mystery without all the gore/grim details. However, I did quickly catch on/solve who was responsible.

Thank you Net Gallery!

I had a difficult time with SUCH A GOOD MOTHER. I feel like it had too much of Brynn’s internal reflections about the struggles of new motherhood and not enough thriller. Overall, the book was a downer, although I do appreciate Julia Spiro’s exploration of the difficult topic of postpartum depression (I’m not denying that this is a fascinating topic, it’s just really heavy).

I would not call SUCH A GOOD MOTHER a “perfect beach read,” as is advertised in its blurb. There is a twist midway through but it was not totally shocking. This book was a fine read, but I didn’t love it.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read an early digital copy of SUCH A GOOD MOTHER in exchange for my honest feedback.

Such a Good Mom seems to be a love (hate?) letter to postpartum depression. Yep, that’s about it. Theoretically, it’s supposed to be a mystery about a young woman that was killed, and Brynn trying to figure out who actually killed her after Brynn’s husband is arrested for the murder. But it’s really more just Brynn questioning her fitness as a mother and reliving a horrible delivery experience over and over and over again. I don’t want to belittle postpartum depression, because it’s a very real thing that isn’t taken seriously enough most of the time, and maybe Spiro is trying to convey how all consuming it is. But it consumes the book, and for anyone that isn’t looking to be validated, having gone through it themselves, it makes it feel like there really isn’t a plot line to the book. The killer is eventually revealed, and while it is not particularly surprising, it feels like it just falls into Brynn’s lap and it magically makes her see that she needs help with her situation. I read a book a year or so ago, one I unfortunately can’t remember the name of, that is also a new mother with postpartum depression trying to solve a murder and that book struck a much better balance of conveying the sense of isolation and questioning one’s memory and judgment to make the protagonist an unreliable narrator and a woman dealing with a very real mental illness that she needed help with. Good idea here, but the execution was lacking for me. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Such a Good Mom by Julia Sprio. This book offers an engaging and refreshingly honest look at the challenges of motherhood. Sprio’s writing feels conversational, making the characters and their struggles come off as real and relatable. I enjoyed how the story explores the tension between the perfect mom image we expect and the messy, hidden realities behind closed doors. Although the plot could be a bit tighter at times, the blend of suspense and genuine, heartfelt moments kept me hooked. Overall, Such a Good Mom is a captivating read that shines a light on the complexities of modern parenting.

Such a Good Mom is a mystery, thriller about Brynn, a mother whose husband is arrested for the murder of a young woman on Martha's Vineyard. She is not sure who she can trust and begins to spiral as she tries to unravel what really happened. This book was as much about murder and mystery as it was about motherhood. I though the strongest point of this book was its unrelenting honesty about what being a mother actually looks and feels like for many women. I definitely was able to discern the plot twist about halfway through the book which was not necessarily a bad thing, but if you are into super shocking plot twists this book failed to provide that for me. Although it has a relatively dark premise, I would recommend this book if you are looking for a mystery that also delves into the expectations and realities of new mothers.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC!!

Julia Spiro has effectively portrayed the alarming aspects of postpartum depression in her work. The book presents a compelling narrative, evoking empathy for the main character Brynn as she grapples with feeling overwhelmed and isolated following her husband's incarceration. The story was engaging, and it delved into the intriguing mystery surrounding Cecelia's death. Overall, the book proved to be an interesting read, leaving me intrigued to explore more of Julia Spiro's writings.

I loved this book! I started it late at night and read until my eyes couldn't stay open. I picked it up the next morning thanks to a snow day and finished it. There is nothing I love more than getting immersed into a book and downing it in one or two sittings. I was sucked in immediately and had guesses of whodunnit, but still got surprised!

Brynn is a new mom with postpartum depression (trigger warning). I found her relatable as a character, as I was overwhelmed years ago as a new mom. It was so hard for me to ask for help and I felt easily dismissed or judged by others. While parts of this were repetitive, it's kinda spot on for how mental health challenges present. This plot aided the mystery of who killed Cecilia as one thought was "is Brynn an unreliable narrator?" I have read enough of these types of books that I start to think about possible suspects other than the obvious. Regardless, if I'm right or wrong, I love the reveal as it often includes the motivation (sorry, no spoilers here!).

I've read a few books in recent months where the FMC is an author struggling to get her next work out and this was one of them. I wished there was a little more about this versus what felt like passing comments, but bonus points because I was glued to the pages wondering what would happen next. I'm glad I chose to read a novel that was hard to put down.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this story and the twisty turns it led the reader. I really liked the non clues/clues Spiro left in and didn’t figure out the whole of it until the big reveal.

Thank you NetGalley for this read!!! I normally can figure out early in a book who done it but this time I was all the way to the end and still trying to come up with the culprit!!! what a book!!!! I started and finished this book in one sitting I was determined to read it in one day, I had to know the ending!!!! For sure this will be one I will recommend to others!!!!

Such a Good Mom by Julia Spiro

I knew this story dealt with a mother suffering from the exhaustion and everything else that comes after childbirth. Brynn was so looking forward to being a mother but somewhere during her very long and difficult labor Brynn's thoughts and feelings about this motherhood thing changed and she never got back the excitement she had felt before labor started. This could have been a complete story just by focusing on Brynn, her postpartum depression, and how she saw and felt about the people and world around her. But I was there more for the murder part of the story than the motherhood part of the story. My mistake, the story is called Such a Good "Mom" after all, not Such a Good "Murder".

I've never been a mother and I was massively overwhelmed by all the breastfeeding, temperature taking, miseries of motherhood focus of the story. Brynn watches all her friends with babies/toddlers (more than one even!) handling life so much better than she is handling life. They seem to be able to function, they seem to like their babies and be glad they had them, they seem to be living the life she thought she'd be living once her baby arrived. Instead Brynn wishes she had her old life back, the one before a husband and a baby. Or at least the one before the baby. Oh, and then there is the fact that her husband has been arrested for murder but her anger at him seems to be anger that was already there before the arrest, the entire murder thing spends a lot of time on the back shelf because of the depression thing. That's what depression can do, overwhelm all of life. I do think this story portrays depression realistically but I would have liked more emphasis on the murder part of the story.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

A fine showing of postpartum depression, However, the majority of the plot is boring. The big twist was easily guessed.

This was a well written book. I liked the storyline and the fact that all the characters had some type of connection. I think that the author did a great job in portraying the postpartum depression symptoms a lot of women experience after childbirth.

This was such a fast read! I did not want to put it down. The story was engaging and had mystery, which I enjoyed. The author tricked me, (I didn't guess who the murderer was) so that was a plus!

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes clean books that include suspense and mystery with a few twists.

This was a 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ read for me. I would read it again.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins press for this e-arc. I enjoyed this twisty read. It didn’t keep me guessing as much as I would have hoped it would, but it was still a good read. 3.5 rounded down

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Such a good mom combines an unflinching look at new motherhood with a twisty, conspiracy-fueled thriller. What's the worst thing that could happen to an exhausted, overwhelmed new mother? Her husband accused of a murder is probably towards the top of the list. This makes for a unique story with twists and turns the reader doesn't seem coming, culminating in the reveal of a very unlikely perpetrator which begs the question - how far will a mother go for her child?

Thank you to Julia Spiro, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this arc of Such A Good Mom, out April 29, 2025!

📜Quick Summary: What bad can happen on an island as beautiful as Martha’s Vineyard? Brynn is a new mom, exhausted and pushed to the brink. Her husband Ross is continuing to live his life uninterrupted, which Brynn is starting to despise. The journey of motherhood so far weighs on Brynn deeply, and when her husband is accused of murder, Brynn carries even more on her plate. Brynn knows she has to find out who killed this friend of a family, while also living through life deliriously tired, exhausted, and struggling at her own writing job.

❣️Initial Feels: Only 4% in, and I can relate to Brynn so much. Not only from the emergent c-section, but from the overwhelming feelings that happen almost immediately postpartum. You no longer care for yourself, but this new human being.

👀Trigger Warnings: postpartum depression

📖Read if you want: mystery, romance, thrills, Martha’s Vineyard backdrop, postpartum motherhood

🙋🏼‍♀️Moving Character: This author made Brynn so likeable and relatable from the start, it’s hard not to want to root for her…or as I did, say “Me,too!” many times throughout the novel. Her devotion to her husband, even though she questioned him and really didn’t know what she would find, was admirable. Her brutal honesty about motherhood was raw and truthful. The growth she showed throughout this book hits the mark.

🗨️Touching Words: “The days are long, but the years are short.”

💡Final Sentiments: I can tell this book will be hit or miss with people. Any mothers (new or old) that deal with postpartum or just the raw feelings of becoming a mom will instantly bond with Brynn. The resentment she feels toward her husband, who lives in his world, is one that is all too similar for other women. The way she described a mother’s mental load was spot on, and it’s all those behind the scene “items” on a checklist that weigh a mother down. If you’re looking for a true thriller, this isn’t it. The mystery portion is great, and I did enjoy the bread crumbs that were left, but you may be able to pinpoint the killer at some point.

🌟Overall Rating: 4 stars

This novel was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Such a Good Mom by Julia Spiro was an interesting read. Unfortunately, I had a hard time relating to main character Brynn. I am guessing author was trying to develop a relatable mom and how one would feel if they had postpartum. Brynn wound up getting on my nerves. Overall, when I accepted, I wasn't going to change my thoughts on Brynn, the overall story was interesting and did want to see how the story ended. I like how author revisits the relationship between Brynn and her mother.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC.

This couldn't quite be a thriller because of the introspective rambles about motherhood and women's roles, but there are too many mystery-novel reveals to feel like a thoughtful literary novel either, Two genres I like, but this made a strange mashup for me.