“All The Mothers” tackles a lot of sensitive topics..:maybe too many to be impactful. It is challenging to weave social issues within the works of fiction in a way that moves the reader without feeling patronizing. For the first half this book, I felt like the author was succeeding at this difficult feat. As it moved toward the second half of the book though, too many social issues were introduced in ways that felt forced, thereby removing their potential impact. At one point it felt like a checklist of “hot topics” and didn’t feel like the natural flow of the novel up to that point. For that reason, this book wasn’t as successful as it could have been for me as a reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced electronic copy. All opinions are my own.

All the Mothers was an easy and fun read. There were laugh out loud moments and I found myself having crazy empathy for the women. There is a serious lack of village in modern day motherhood so the concept of a “mommune” is intriguing and even tempting.

All the Mothers follows three women who all share the same baby daddy. Instead of wasting their energy hating Justin, they come together and pool resources to raise their children together.

The plot is cute and explores themes of friendship, found family, loneliness, love, heartbreak, sexuality, and financial stress. Unfortunately, I found it to read as rather clunky. The sentence structure was hard to follow at times and the dialogue was often cringeworthy. I love a book that tackles social issues but the wokeness in this plot is overwhelming. Steph especially came off very obnoxious with her constant social warrior spiels. It didn’t feel like things were organically addressed, just thrown in as buzzwords.

If you’re looking for a quick, light, and sometimes funny read, you may appreciate All the Mothers!

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the eARc in exchange for an honest review.

Great premise...three moms of daughters all fathered by the same sad-sack man find each other and become best friends, two become a couple and they all become roommates with their kids, sharing parenting. Fun and funny while dealing with serious topics of gender identity, relationships, balance of work and personal life, etc. Good character development. I enjoyed!

This follows Sandy who gets pregnant in her thirties and raises her daughter Rosie. Later she finds out her daughter has a half sibling. This is a story of found family and it was really well brought out.

Thank you to @RandomHouse and #NetGalley for the DRC of #AlltheMothers. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

I liked the premise of this book. Three women each have a child with the same man and when they find out about each other, they band together to tackle motherhood, their ex and life in general. While I enjoyed the strong women and found family aspects, parts of the story just felt over the top. Overall, still an enjoyable read about contemporary relationships.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published May 6, 2025.

This book is a quick read. It’s the story of 3 unwed mothers with young children who bond over having the same deadbeat Baby Daddy.

I enjoyed the unconventional friendship they formed so the siblings could be together.

In the beginning the author used really long run-on sentences that were challenging to read. (I need periods more often so my mind can complete a sentence!) Her pattern of writing changed part way through, maybe because there was more dialogue.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Three strong women with the common misfortune of loving the same man at different times come together to allow their children to be true siblings. Very empowering.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Sandy is unlucky in love and after a long term relationship ends,she gives the dating app a try. Sandy meets Justin, a musician who isn't very talented at all and Sandy doesn't really care for him but low and behold that one night stand turns into a woman in her mid 30s alone and pregnant with his kid. Sandy decides to keep the baby and one day she is creeping on Justin's social media account when she comes across an ex girlfriend of his named Stephanie and she too is Justin's baby mama. Sandy must meet this woman and her daughter so her own daughter can get to know her half sibling. Sandy did not intend to like this woman let alone become close friends and family. I liked this story as it shows how just when you think you are alone in life and have no family, you can become a loving close family just by surrounding yourself with the people you meet and have so much in common with....Enjoy!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of All the Mothers.

The premise caught my eye but after reading it I'm not sure how I feel about it.

On one hand I love the female empowerment and women sticking up for each other and having each other's back.

On the other hand, I'm not sure what's the story about.

Is it about the dopey choices we all make?

We're all human so we keep making the same mistakes over and over and our children have to pay for them?

I can't say I was a fan of Sandy or Stephanie and all the women who fell for Justin and his charm.

I understand there are people like Justin, charming and all, but there were just too many stereotypes I couldn't get past:

1. How all the women are gorgeous

2. How everything works out for the family in the end

3. I'm all for sex positivity but the narrative seemed very focused on gender identity and sexual politics. I wasn't a fan of the political undertones the author wasn't trying hard to hide.

4. None of the male characters are decent and/or kind; Justin, the sleaze bag professor, Sandy's father is indifferent and unhelpful, and the families of the other women are not worth mentioning. Perhaps that's why they chose a family they could trust instead of the family they were born into.

5. I didn't like anyone. I thought the women were all kind of flaky in a way and that's why Justin chose them.

Not my usual kind of book, but it kept me turning the pages. What I assumed was going to be inevitable never came to happen, and I was left with more feels than expected.

Not my usual type of read. I'm not a mother, but author Domenica Ruta miraculously got me to empathize with the moms in this book. Their trials and tribulations were expertly written. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Random House | Random House and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

A mother’s love: it’s what we crave from day one.

The beauty of the book lies with the importance of strong, long-lasting support from parents and especially a mother. The point of the story about relationships is good and I could easily visualize the handful of characters.

Yet, I couldn’t relate to the plot with the mothers in their late 30s trying to make it in this world that seemed so unbelievable in NYC. Other women, however, could find it to be as pleasant as a true friend sitting close by.

My thanks to Random House and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of May 6, 2025.

Dating and relationships really aren’t Sandy’s forte. Unplanned pregnancy, single motherhood, superficial friendships turn her into the stalker of her exes ex and her child. And then things start to look up. Even though I initially didn’t care too much for Sandy, she grew on me, and in the end I cheered for her and her mommune. The book is at times sad, annoying, funny, and uplifting. It’s well written and overall a fun read.

Have you ever read something and think to yourself this is a really sweet story, I'm glad I picked it up? Well this is that book.

All the mothers is the story of Sandy who has gotten pregnant by Justin and then been mostly ghosted to raise the baby alone. When Justin's mother Tara offhandedly references "the other one," Sandy realizes she isn't the first woman that has fallen for Justin's games. She searches and uncovers Steph and her daughter Ashley. While initially prepared to hate her, they become friends and grow to depend on each other as they raise their girls to understand that they are sisters.

I was absolutely blown away by this story. While a little different than my normal, I loved the exploration of what makes a family in modern society. The women were strong, flawed individuals just trying to survive. Five well deserved stars for a beautiful story of struggle and love.

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

All The Mothers is not my typical read but I thought I’d give it a go. While it wasn’t a “wow”, I did enjoy the concept of the moms, their babies and how they managed their lives. Despite the challenges of low or no income, small living space with 3 kids and dealing with the same ex they somehow seemed to make it work. Add another mom and baby to the mix and the fun really begins!
What I liked most about this book was the support Sandy and Steph gave each other. Sure it wasn’t always great but between working and child care, it did. And, of course, the connection with the babies dad and how they dealt with him.
A good, light read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for my eARC copy.

I really liked the first third of All the Mothers by Domenica Ruta. The beginning chapter really pulled me in and I immediately felt compassion for Sandy and her experiences as a single mother...her friends pulling away, her job difficulties, her family dynamics and the jerk that her baby-Daddy ending up being. By the end of the book, it was all a little too much and too far fetched for me. I felt like the book ended up focusing on nonbinary topics and became more of a "how to" book than an interesting work of fiction. Ashley's coming out at age 8 as nonbinary, Sandy and Steph becoming lovers, Justin ending up impregnating 4 women, the professor sexually harassing Sandy, it was a lot. I liked the concept of women helping women, creating your own family with the people you love and the few bits of humor that Domenica interjected throughout. Overall, this book wasn't relatable to me and I felt like all the plot lines ruined the true message of the story. I appreciate the NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC.

Sandy was tired of relationships that went nowhere-the three guys that she loved had toyed with her heart then split, leaving her to believe her late mother's maxim "men suck." Tired of pizza for one in her studio apartment, she finally used a dating app to match up with another guy, Justin. While not her ideal (he was an off-key singer in a grunge band,) he did have a certain charm and they began seeing each other, but only every few weeks. He owned a window washing company, and with his erratic band schedule there wasn't a lot of time for Sandy. She noticed that he didn't seem interested in her life or friends and she realized one night that she was spinning her wheels-she didn't love Justin and couldn't wait to dump him. When she woke up in the morning vomiting, she ran to the drugstore for a pregnancy test and saw the inevitable two lines.
What to do? All of her college besties were married and they were having a hard time trying to have children. Sandy was in her early 30's and she knew the cruel timeline that relationships needed-was this her only chance for a baby? She decides to keep the pregnancy and Justin told her that his mother would give her a baby shower, even though Tara did everything she could to cut Sandy out of their lives. At the shower one of Tara's friends said something confusing "this one barely eats too, " Sandy was too depressed to care what it meant.
When she had Rosie her life blew up-no sleep, pumping breast milk at work, and Justin only came over sporadically to help. But when he did, he said something puzzling before he left, "I'm not going through this again." Then Tara blew the secret-Rosie wasn't Justin's first baby, he and Stephanie had a baby together eight years ago...and who's Stephanie?
Sandy becomes a dedicated stalker and finally tracks down Stephanie and her daughter Ashley. Amazingly, they hit it off. They both have time constraints and agree to share housing and babysitting so that Sandy can concentrate on her job and Stephanie can go to class. But soon they have to deal with a new wrinkle-Justin got a new girlfriend pregnant and he dumped her too after trying to convince her to have an abortion. She had her own house and the two other mothers moved in with her, creating their own momune. Things worked out pretty well until Justin married a religious woman who strong-armed him into suing for full custody of Ashley and Rosie. The moms only knew one thing-that was never going to happen.
This was a book of complicated relationships and trust issues. Each woman learned to rely on the others and built a caring and nurturing family that, while unusual, was just what each needed. I really enjoyed how the author took a disparate group of women and wove them into a cohesive group who would give their daughters positive role models as well as sisters. It recalled the old feminist saying, "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle"...men, take heed.

After reading this book, I'm not really sure if I'm more jumbled up in regards to this book, or if it's the story itself that was a jumbly mess. It's not bad, and that jumble is supposed to be there as part of the story, but I was happy for it to be over with once I completed the book. As for me, I have all sorts of different ideas about this book. Some things I liked while others annoyed me to no end. It's fairly easy to read and worthwhile for some readers when all you want is some light reading; albeit, with its jumbly plot.

Essentially, the local stud, who himself is a mess, impregnates three different women who find themselves in each others life and make the best of a difficult situation. The fortunate thing about a book of Fiction, you can allow yourself the luxury of letting your emotions and wishes run rampant without them affecting real life. In this case for example, you can wish bad things on the various jerks without the guilt trip. You can laugh at unfortunate circumstances and be happy when things go odd ways, all for a good laugh or for entertainment value. This is one of those books that lets you throw real life to the wind while picking and choosing what happens to the various characters. The three women whose lives become deeply intertwined all have their different natures that help to balance each other out. That I will give to the author for creating that dynamic within this story.

However, I do have to admit that I did become very annoyed at how woke this book is. Early on in the story I didn't mind so much because it defined a certain character. As the story progressed, it just got out of control and took things to levels that caused me to lose interest in this book. Sure, there were still funny and upsetting circumstances, some of which were interesting, to keep the reader's interest, but I found them to be in conflict with what I prefer reading. Some of the events that took place were unrealistic and difficult to believe, but, again, that's the advantage of Fiction. You can easily defy reality and take your story any way you wish. I just didn't care for some of the aspects that were part of this story.

If you are looking for some light and humous reading about how life and romantic situations can get all jumbled up, you might really enjoy this book. It's not the great American novel, but it doesn't pretend to be either. Just a bunch of fun as a collection of people find themselves in difficult and goofy dilemmas. As previously mentioned, it does get extremely woke, so I would suggest that you avoid this book if that is something you prefer not to bother yourself with. It wasn't for me as I found it to be just far too woke for my preference. The book had potential, but just didn't live up to all that it could have been.

Single mom Sandy discovers that her baby daddy has a child with another woman. The two mothers create their own family, which ends up expanding because baby daddy Justin can't keep his dick in his pants.

I didn't like Sandy for most of the book because she's such a doormat and puts up with bad behavior. But she experiences some character growth later on. Despite at least four children with four different women, I bet Justin will be planting his seed until kingdom come. The author provides a good glimpse into what it's like to raise a child with and without support.

Equally humorous and sobering, this novel follows Sandy as she finds a supportive community during her transition into motherhood. The guidance of new friend Steph (and later, Kaya) eventually becomes a symbiotic home scenario: three mothers, four children, all taking care of one another.

Sandy's vapid set of "squad" friends in the beginning of the book are recognizably cringey and reflect her desire for a deeper connection, which she finds later on in the story. Some of the characters' choices are somewhat hard to believe, and other characters are a bit flat-evil for my taste. Overall, I would think that parents would find parts of this relatable, and at the very least, a good laugh.