This is the book all moms need for its relatability, raw truths, and suspenseful story that accompanies a nursing mom late into the night!

What if women could take a pill to eradicate guilt from their lives? What would their lives be like without any sense of lingering guilt?

Maya Patel is the CEO and founder of Medini, an eco-friendly toiletry company and a recent mom to her son, Shaan, She and her husband, Dev share an enviable life in the Tribeca neighborhood of NYC and seem to "have it all."

However, Maya is flailing. She's overwhelmed with caring for her baby and trying to simultaneously run her company, despite the fact that she is supposed to be on maternity leave.

When Maya connects with controversial #girlboss Liz Anderson, Liz supplies her with an experimental supplement that her company is testing that is suppose to eliminate female guilt. Highly skeptical but desperate for a fix, Maya decides to try them.

Unbelievably they work! Suddenly Maya feels like she is invincible. As time goes on, however, she needs more and more supplements to maintain her guilt-free state. When her decisions become unnecessarily ruthless and her husband and close friends start to notice her personality changing for the worse, Maya has to reckon with the unforeseen consequences of this drug and how to manage the ramifications in her life.

Saumya Dave has created a compelling and insightful novel that examines key questions that women universally acknowledge and struggle with in their personal and professional lives. She has blended genres to be both a women's fiction read as well as some thriller elements. Dave also utilized a dual timeframe that shifts back and forth in time so we see the evolution of Maya's journey. Newspaper articles, interviews, and police transcripts also add to the development of the story and help to cement a mysterious/thriller/true crime mood.

Dave has created something wholly original, unique, thoughtful, and a (sadly) necessary commentary even in 2025,

Definitely get this unique novel on your radar ASAP!

I really enjoyed and identified with this novel. This is likely because I am also raising a baby in NYC. But all women, not just moms, can identify with many of the themes. It was a really unique plot with an ending that I never saw coming. I read the author's debut novel and the two books share many of the same themes and I really enjoyed this new genre from this author.

Rounded up from 2.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for this e-ARC of The Guilt Pill in exchange for an honest review.

Maya is the CEO to a successful eco-toiletry brand and a new mom. As she navigates the difficulty of fighting to maintain control of her company in a male-dominated space she is also juggling the guilt she experiences every time she feels like she fails, either as a business owner or a mom. When another female founder offers her a pill that can eradicate guilt designed specifically for women, she takes it, desperate to relieve herself of the guilt that is weighing her down no matter what decisions she makes. What would she be like free of the guilt that seems to be part of the package of being a woman and a working mother?

I wanted to like this book so much. The concept was and is so interesting to me, and particularly as a new mom myself, Maya's experience and struggle with early the postpartum period really resonated. But unfortunately The Guilt Pill really lost me in the execution.

WHAT READERS YOU CAN EXPECT:
-Themes of new motherhood
-Addiction
-Family drama
-Big time girlbossing
-Thriller elements
-Speculative fiction

Throughout The Guilt Pill there are these salient moments and lines that really struck a chord for me. Themes around generational trauma, around working mothers navigating impossible expectations, about the loneliness and isolation of those early postpartum days and how articulating that struggle is often met with a wave of toxic positivity. But I'm not sure what this novel's thesis is. When I finished the novel I couldn't figure out what the takeaway was supposed to be.

I really like the structure of the novel - each chapter is punctuated with news clippings, transcripts, and interviews that build suspense and move the storyline along. That worked effectively and kept me moving through the novel to find out what happened.

The early chapters really captured the early motherhood experience and how truly difficult it is, and I found that to be nuanced and well-executed.

Despite the relatability, though, I found that I disliked basically every character in this novel. Maya drove me absolutely nuts. She frequently ruminated on how she watched her mom sacrifice everything to be a wife and mother, but when her parents do anything to alleviate themselves of that she loses her mind. She tells her mom that everyone in her generation should be in therapy when she scoffs at the idea of therapy herself. Her husband is terrible. Her best friend is correctly concerned about her, but also terrible!

The pacing of this novel left me baffled. The front half goes into excruciating detail about baby supplies (shout out to the Snoo and DocATot which are both name dropped), but other major plot points are yada-yada-yada'd away. The takes a wild turn that comes a little out of left field, and there is a traumatic event that is alluded to throughout the book that really doesn't pay off.

This novel felt like it should be more of a character study, and some of the most interesting elements of the book were exploring the relationship between Maya and her brother and parents, but most of the book was spent telling instead of showing and I ultimately don't feel like I have an understanding of who Maya really is beyond the trope of "new mom who also works". I loved the idea of the novel, but unfortunately this was a miss for me.

What if you could take a pill that erases all guilt—parenting guilt, marriage guilt, workplace guilt? The premise of this book immediately hooked me! Just imagine living in a world free from the weight of our mistakes and anxieties. I really enjoyed how the story moves throughout Maya’s life showing guilt she feels at different ages. It seems to always be with her. Maybe a little guilt is a good thing, it’s a signal that something in our choices may need some reconsidering. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I really wanted to like this as a sci-fi fan, but this is more contemporary fiction with a sprinkling of sci-fi thriller. So, just a heads up for those (like me) who wanted something more immersed in the sci-fi realm.

As contemporary fiction, I liked this book for how it portrayed the challenges of motherhood while running a growing startup. Combine that with Asian American immigrant stubbornness and you have a realistic character with Maya.

I loved how race was interwoven into the narrative, with Maya being an Indian American woman who grew up working class, who then married an upper middle-class man. The themes of race and class within the Indian immigrant society were very well done imo. Maya's frustrations with having to struggle in childhood while her husband underwent a privileged background felt very authentic.

I also liked how the author used Liz Anderson as Maya's foil, particularly when it came to Liz's status as a white woman business owner who's been in Maya's shoes when it comes to running startups. It was very easy to see how Maya was desperate enough to trust Liz's solution: a questionable medication that could solve all of her problems by minimalizing her guilt and anxiety with not being good enough as a new mother, a wife, a businesswoman, and an influencer.

I think I would've liked this a lot better if Maya's friendship with Liz went even deeper, with Liz introducing Maya to her family and her inner circle. Throughout the novel, Liz's character felt very distant, and it was easy to see that she had something up her sleeve. Even though Maya became addicted to Liz's pills pretty quickly, it felt sort of unrealistic that Maya would trust a relative stranger with her health, especially since her best friend is a doctor.

I did like the book for its themes, so I'd recommend this for someone who likes contemporary thrillers with a bit of sci-fi.

Thank you to Park Row and NetGalley for this arc.

One of my biggest talents as a mom is feeling guilty about every single thing I’ve ever done or not done. I’ve felt guilty about being too involved with my kids, not involved enough, letting them eat junk food, being too obsessed with what they eat and not letting them eat junk food, spending more time with one over the other, not playing enough imaginary games, not having enough patience, having too much patience and letting them get away with everything, having a messy house, cleaning the house instead of playing with them… I could literally go on for days. I have a phd in mom guilt.

Ok so now imagine this. You can take a supplement that takes away your mom guilt, allows you to speak up for what you want, find time to focus on yourself, silence all the negative self talk, help you realize you’re doing a way better job than you think… would you do it?

This book had such an amazing premise, it touched on such important topics - obviously mom guilt, the massive challenges of being a working mom and balancing it all, the maddening differences in responsibilities (and power and influence) between men and women. It had so much potential, but I really wish it went deeper, because there’s just so much to unpack here.

Really grateful to have received an ARC for this one; as soon as I heard the synopsis I knew I had to read it. Thank you @netgalley and @htpbooks this one comes out April 15!

Maya Patel is the successful CEO of an eco conscious toiletry company and a reluctant social media influencer. She and her husband Dev are new parents and Maya finds juggling her career (not to mention facing the challenges that come with being a female founder) and her new son more challenging than she ever could have dreamed of. An interview with Today and a surprising DM link her up with successful female entrepreneur Liz who proposes a solution that she formulated: a pill that gets rid of female guilt. Though initially skeptical, Maya embraces the use of the medication and uses to get through the day.

Now Maya is missing, and the story jumps deftly between interviews with her family, news coverage, online speculation and the backstory that led up to her disappearance.

The Guilt Pill is an in depth exploration of the guilt that women face in all facets of life, especially when trying to maintain control at work and juggle life as a new mother. Though I don’t have children, I found the character of Maya supremely relatable as she deals with imposter syndrome and questions whether her life choices are the correct ones. With an intriguing plot, interesting characters and a dose of humor, The Guilt Pill is a great read. 4.25 stars.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

Loved it!!! Couldn’t put it down - really nails the challenges women face as mothers and leaders in the workforce and puts quite the spin and twist on it. Highly recommend!

Thrillers have been going downhill lately but this one turned my stance right around! What an extremely important novel to read right now, especially when it comes to women and the things we all go through to do what we must.

Loved loved loved! The beginning really hooked me and I could see the main character, an immigrant founder and new mother, in so many current stories! Would highly recommend

I was drawn in by the premise, and I did really enjoy THE GUILT PILL. The novel is spot-on in terms of the guilt that working mothers often feel and the pressures put on them by society. The protagonist's struggles seemed very realistic. The back and forth structure got a bit tiresome, especially when some things were repeated. Overall, the novel could have been shorter/tighter. However, this is certainly an enjoyable read, and I think it will find a large audience.

i really liked the premise of this book. it stressed my tf out. i think the ending was wrapped up too quickly and there needs some editing but overall it was pretty good!

As a working mom, I was so excited to read this one! The stress/pressure that we (and society) put on ourselves to have and do it all (without receiving or asking for help) is enough to burn a person out! In this novel, the FMC is a new mom who started her own company and is feeling like everything is coming apart at the seams. A fellow female business founder slips her a supplement she has been working on to erase female guilt.

Could not put this one down! However, I'm not so sure about the ending.
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While it turns out this "supplement" was actually a mix of benzos, E and hallucinogens, it was good to see the FMC FINALLY sticking up for herself and asking for help. Where it lost me a bit was that everyone around her was like 'wow, you're being so shitty' when she stopped being a people pleaser. While this was addressed somewhat, she was chastised and apologies from other people were a bit lacking in my opinion. Then things wrapped up so quickly and happily and perfectly which doesn't feel very real-life to me. While it's great the FMC survives and has some changes (better, more rational changes), I would have liked to see her be able to save a little bit of her bad-assery and boldness.

This fell into the category of “just okay” for me. It started off strong and then really started to drag. It held my attention enough that I finished it but it’s not one that I will be rushing to recommend.

I can’t stop thinking about this book! As a mom currently navigating the newborn phase with my second baby, reading this book had me sobbing with a sense of being deeply understood. It resonated with me on such a personal level, and I felt seen in a way I wasn’t expecting. This book is perfect for any mom who feels the pressure to excel in every area of life—whether it's career, parenting, or relationships.

The only reason I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because there’s a twist toward the end that didn’t quite fit with the tone or world of the story for me. It pulled me out of the narrative for a bit. But aside from that, I couldn’t put this book down, and I’ve been talking about it nonstop since finishing. I’m not even sure what genre to label it because it blends so many elements, but it’s a little bit of everything in the best way.

I’ll definitely be recommending this to others when it’s released, and I can see it being a perfect book club pick in 2025!

WHY isn't this book talked about more??? Wow so incredibly captivating and addicting. An extremely interesting concept that was executed wonderfully and in a way that had me attached to my kindle.

Writer and psychiatrist Saumya Dave draws upon her experience as a working mother with The Guilt Pill, a taut narrative that calls out the unrealistic standards facing ambitious women who also want a family. CEO Maya Patel appears to be doing it all – managing her fast-growing sustainable self-care company while on maternity leave and giving her all to her husband, baby, and friends. When Maya’s highly-instagrammable life starts to fracture under the pressure, #girlboss founder Liz offers a way out: a pill that takes away the guilt. Executive editor Annie Chagnot is confident readers will “resonate with so many aspects —racial and gender discrimination in the workplace, the inauthenticity of social media, the overwhelm of modern motherhood, and of course, the heavy burden of female guilt.” Like The Push or The Other Black Girl, Dave’s latest will have everyone talking, pushing the cultural conversation towards necessary change.

a very real pageturner about guilt and existence and about e.ntrepeneurs. would really recommend it. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Thank you NetGalley and HTP books for the ARC of this book!

I don't know why this book is not getting talked about more. Loved it!
I resonated with Maya and I am sure other mothers would feel the same way. Talking about basically post partum depression in this book, is something I don't see often talked about.

Don't walk, run to grab this book!

#theguiltpill