How we all need a minute! This has so many points that are so relatable as a mom to young children. It’s refreshing when you see someone else’s story but it could also so easily be yours. I loved the illustrations and storytelling and how they can relate to people around the world.
There are some points made that are not my own personal beliefs, but I applaud the author and her husband for getting to their point in life and the progress they have made. Moms- if you have trouble telling your husband what it’s like to be a mom, then send this book their way.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

It was so good! Mama Needs a Minute is an unhinged work of art revolving around mother's struggles, the imbalance societal pressure on moms, navigating a marriage life as new parents.

This is gold. Im sure lots of women and mothers feel seen, and understood. The bravery to challenge the status quo, the willingness to make it better. It's all there. Very honest. No sugar coating. Still very much informativeness without being patronising.

Highly recommended for everyone who wants to have a child. Especially If you're a perfectionist and overthinker and easily anxious. This book helps a lot.

Thanks so much publisher and netgalley for the arc in exchange for honest review 🫶🏾✨

This book is filled with stories about parenthood. I love how honest it is. There are stories that are relatable and watching them navigate good intentions and patriarchy was inspiring.

4 stars

This book was so relatable and easy to consume with the way it was set up! I have never felt more seen by a nonfiction book before. This is something that just isn’t talked about enough in mainstream media- and needs more people to bring up the topic of the housework and childcare balance. I have had my husband on SO many occasions go “well I do a lot more than a lot of other dads” not acknowledging that that is also a problem. I saw myself and my struggles as a mom of two little ones in this in a way I never have before and it was incredibly refreshing!

I like the graphic novel feel to this. It definitely allows busy parents to get an idea of what they are reading even if they dint have time to sit down and read an entire chapter.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I’m torn about this book. For some, I think this would be quite enjoyable. Honestly, I did not finish it, not because it was bad, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting funny, relatable motherhood stories, but there wasn’t much that made me laugh (some of it actually made me want to cry tbh and I wasn’t prepared for that type of book). As a mother, parts were relatable, but there were parts that kind of triggered memories of my PPD.
Also, as a graphic novel, there was a lot of text and there was a lot that I thought could have been left out or shortened (if it’s about mom struggles, why does the reader need the whole back story of meeting the husband; if it was especially important to include parts, it could have been shortened).

I got this book as an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.

I really loved this book. I think it's a must read for any mom, dad, and especially parents-to-be. It addresses the burnout, mental load, and navigating sharing responsibilities in a way that's easy to digest. It's definitely something I'm going to recommend to friends as they become pregnant because you see exactly what Mary Catherine went through so often - the mom naturally takes over some responsibilities like putting away baby cloths when she's pregnant because she's excited. And then over time it snowballs to her being the only one who knows where things are and it's hard to make that up.

It also addresses parent preference which is such a challenge. In my family, we dealt with this the opposite way because my husband was home with my daughter due to covid unemployment. So he got to do fun things with her whereas I had to work and then finish and go do things like make dinner, leaving me not enough time and energy to be the fun parent. The solution they gave in the book is for the preferred parent to leave, forcing the kids to spend time with the other parent. Another solution is for the other parent to take the kids places too! I'm sure it's common for the working parent to fall into this trap and you really do have to make an effort to be fun for your kids even if you're tired.

While I definitely experienced some of the same exact scenarios that came up in this book with my husband, it also made me appreciate him so much. In the examples in the book, I felt like Mary Catherine really did ask her husband for help a lot or tell him she was burnt out and struggling and he didn't listen to her. I know my husband can be a little clueless sometimes but he does always make an effort to help and to jump in if I'm doing a lot.

She talked about their solutions and I applaud her for making more time for herself and forcing her husband to have more nights where he is responsible for the kids while she gets a break. I do feel like she frequently told him that she needed him to do something and he was distracted by his phone and not listening to her. Hopefully he makes a better effort to hear what she needs and be more present to the needs of his family.

Thank you to NetGalley for my Advanced Reader's Copy of this book.

I feel like I should write the disclaimer that I am not a Mom, so maybe this book wasn't for me. But I am going to review it nonetheless. I imagined that this book would be about funny daily stories about being a mom and the anxiety (and ridiculousness) that comes from having children. The key word here is funny. The title says funny, all of the descriptions I read said funny. To me this book had no humor at all. Honestly, this book felt like one long bitch fest about how hard it is to be a mother and how useless father's are. Now, while this may be (and probably is) true in some or even most cases of parenting, ultimately, the title and the description made me expect something else entirely. I would recommend this book, but only to exhausted, frustrated moms that need someone to relate to.

First of all, I loyally follow Mary Catherine Starr's Momlife_Comics on Instagram. She has a perfect gift for translating my feelings into a comic square. She is able to articulate the societal expectations vs realities of raising children, parenting, and marriage. Things that I find frustrating are described in articulate detail through Mary Catherine Starr.

I will be purchasing this book for every toddler mom in town! Follow her on IG and buy this book!

I have followed Mary Catherine Starr on Instagram for a while, so I was excited to see she was coming out with a comic memoir. She covers much of the same material, but there is a more cohesive timeline that allows us to follow her on the journey that led to where she is now, including her courtship with her now-husband and her pregnancies and births. From the start, she is clear that this is now a how-to or a book that you can expect to walk away from with novel techniques for how to address the mental load of motherhood is cis-het partnerships. I think what makes her comics so accessible is that they are so validating. As she writes, there are women from all over the world who comment on her comics because they feel so seen and understood by this common struggle. Oftentimes, that's just what we need-- to know we're not alone. Then, once we're validated, we can collaborate on solutions!

Mama Needs a Minute is a wonderful read for all moms; whether expecting, new or seasoned. Mary Catharine Starr's comics does a great job depicting the mental and physical workloads of motherhood.

As someone who had a traumatic birth experience, and suffered from ppd and ppa, having someone say " you aren't alone" really helps with mom guilt and isolation.

I plan to purchased this book whenever a friend has a new baby. I wish I could have read this when I was a new mom

Great title! This graphic novel geared to adults, chronicles what actual 'real life' parenting looks like, especially focusing on the mom....in so many homes. She sheds light on the double standards of parenting, the mental load of motherhood, the default parent .... among other issues......using great analogies, like 'the checked out passenger' & 'weaponized incompetence'. The author has a very popular Instagram acct @momlife_comics & her artwork is very good/detailed/effective. I'd think probably every woman/mother, & maybe every man/father too, will find much to relate to in this book. A reader might find themselves saying 'oh yeah, I can see that', 'been there, done that', they might find something to chuckle at, something to nod or shake your head at...... This is a real good book.
I was gifted an e-ARC of the book from Chronicle Books via NetGalley, giving me an opportunity to read it & post my own honest/fair review.

I am not a big reader of graphic novels so the format did take me some time to get used to. However, the story is relatable and in parts funny and in other parts quite sad.

This book looks at the author's journey from dating college student to married with kids. There are struggles along the way as they navigate the changes that come along with the new roles.

Her depiction of her husband was not always flattering.

The author did a good job of capturing the realties of the emotional and physical demands of motherhood and how much harder society is on moms vs dads.

There were also funny parts interspersed with some of the deeper themes.

Overall, I think this memoir is real and relatable and did a good job of exploring the author's journey into parenting. For me, I kinda wish this was a typical memoir rather than a graphic novel. However, if you like graphic novels then this one is a great read that tackles some serious issues.

This comic memoir is full of compassion and encouragement for parents (especially moms) of young kids. Often funny but sometimes raw and sad or angry, it tells the common and relatable story of how an egalitarian marriage slid into an unequal partnership once kids entered the picture. The author includes some strategies for trying to avoid or fix the pitfalls that she and her husband have faced, but also offers tremendous understanding of how hard that can be to do. The book has no perfect answers, but a lot of hope and love.

I loved this. It made me laugh. It was raw and relatable. I just had such a great time with this book.

I have been eagerly awaiting Starr's first book and it did not dissapoint. Pulling from her comics we are emmeshed into the very funny lives of Mary and her family. Starr has always been great at showing readers ideas that they may not have thought of before (the invisible labor of moms, etc) but the fact that she is able to do it so humoursly is a rare gift. Recommended for all.

An honest memoir about what the struggles one mother went through in her marriage while raising a family. Provided insight into being a mother that I won't experience personally, but can now empathize and understand much more with.

As a non-mother and non-child raiser, it was eye-opening on all the visible and invisible struggles that mothers go through. Overall, an enjoyable read, even if more text-heavy and presented differently than I expect from a graphics novel.

I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, some of the comics were cute and rang true, but there were parts where it felt (deservedly) harsh on her husband. I know she's telling her truth and many women's truth, but there were very few positive outlooks on her marriage/husband. That being said, I love how open she is about mental health and the necessity of openess of communication in a partnership.

I went into thinking it would be a light, funny book but it was much heavier and wordier than anticipated.

Based on the cover, I thought this book would be a collection of comics documenting the ups and downs of motherhood. Is it not exactly this. It is actually an illustrated yet wordy recounting of the author’s journey from fresh, single young woman to harried, overworked, overtired, over-everything mom/wife. It’s cute but way more wordy than I was expecting. This is not a bad thing, but it was a surprising thing. Clearly I did not read the description of this book closely enough.

The illustrations are very cute, and what they depict are painfully accurate. I loved the “what I thought it would be” vs “what it really was” comparisons sprinkled out. I think I will make my husband read the parts where she illustrates the dad experience at things vs mom’s.

I highly recommend this for anyone, but it will probably be most meaningful for couples and parents.

(ARC received from NetGalley)

Mary Catherine Starr writes and illustrated such poignant comics about modern motherhood and the mental load that comes with it. She does such a fantastic job of expressing this and giving hope for ways that we can work with our partners to address it.