The story itself was really well written and kept me
Intrigued thru out for me I absolutely hated the narrator so that made it hard to digest.

This was an absolute thriller from the start. The characters were believable. The plot moved at a decent pace. The twists and turns held my attention throughout and kept me listening. The story was excellent, and I enjoyed the narration. I would recommend this to fans of suspense, thrillers, and women’s fiction.

***I have trouble pasting my links in the space below, so will post them in this section:

Goodreads - @KristineYarwood
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/227932643

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/profile/amzn1.account.AEFYAI6ODBS6YDYTMC4WJEJHHDEQ

Rarely do I finish an audiobook in one day but First-Time Mother was that story. First-Time Mother did just time. You meet Annie, wife and step mother who just had her first child with her husband. There's so many tense and suspenseful moments throughout this story. The chapters are short. The book kept me guessing. There's so many lies and secrets among the characters. I didn't know which way the story was going but I was so invested.

AJ Campbell's First-Time Mother audiobook is a chilling and emotionally charged thriller that immediately throws the listener into a parent's worst nightmare. The opening lines, "My baby is missing. Everyone thinks it’s my fault," set a tone of immediate dread and suspicion that permeates the entire narrative.

The listener is placed squarely in the shoes of the unnamed first-time mother, whose vulnerability after a difficult birth is compounded by unsettling blackouts. Campbell expertly crafts a sense of disorientation and paranoia as the protagonist grapples with the disappearance of her newborn, Lola, and the growing suspicion directed at her. The audiobook format amplifies this feeling of unease, allowing the listener to experience the protagonist's confusion and desperation firsthand through the narration.

The novel cleverly plays on the anxieties surrounding new motherhood, twisting the common experience of sleep deprivation into something far more sinister. The protagonist's unreliable memory and her own past "terrible things" create a compelling ambiguity, forcing the listener to question her innocence alongside the other characters.

First-Time Mother is a fast-paced and gripping thriller that explores the fragility of a new family and the devastating impact of doubt and suspicion. Campbell masterfully builds suspense, leading the listener through a maze of potential culprits and hidden motives. This audiobook is a tense and emotional ride that will keep you guessing until the shocking truth is finally revealed, leaving you breathless by the final moments.

First Time Mother presents itself with a gripping blurb, promising a chilling domestic thriller about a mother’s worst nightmare. However unfortunately, the story doesn’t quite deliver on that initial promise. While the premise had potential, the plot felt overly familiar, echoing many thrillers in the genre without bringing much new to the table.

The storyline is well developed and does offer a few unexpected twists, but the overall outcome fell flat for me. It was one of those reads that felt like déjà vu, I’d been down this road before, and it lacked the punch needed to stand out. Annie, the protagonist, was particularly hard to connect with; I found her frustrating and unlikeable, which made it difficult to root for her, even in her most desperate moments. The supporting characters were more palatable, but none truly left a lasting impression.

On a positive note, the narration was solid and engaging! It helped carry the story even when the plot began to lag. And despite my lukewarm feelings about this particular book, A.J. Campbell’s writing style is smooth and easy to follow, and I’d be open to exploring more of her work in the future.

In the end, this was an okay listen nothing groundbreaking, but not a complete miss either. I’d still recommend it if you’re looking for a popcorn thriller read

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️



✨ WOWZa!
✨ Plot twist. Best to hear it on audible .


Again.. and again - Everytime that Tamsin Kennard is the narrator it’s going to be the best! She always gives life to the story. Again.. well done tamsin!!✨


✨ Story from a struggling mum. Postpartum isn’t for the weak and she taught she is going crazy. And who to trust in this point.
It makes me boil and questioned the line in every chapter.
Started quite slow but picked up easily in a few chapter. Definitely recommended❤️



✨ Thankyou for the opportunity to read this arc for a honest review (bookouture)


❤️ Shaye.Readss

This audio book had me gripped from the start! I love the authors booked they are always fast paced and keep you guessing along the way. I also loved the narration on this one, was very well done. Looking forward to the next book already by the author. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the audio arc.

I finished listening 🎧 to this book 📕 on Thursday. I was immediately pulled into this one from the prologue, and was completely hooked until the very last minute. I didn’t want to put it down. It was fast paced and the short chapters made you feel like you were flying through it. I definitely didn’t see the twists coming. This was my first book by this author and it absolutely won’t be the last. I gave this book 5⭐️‘s.

The blurb definitely doesn’t live up to the premise of this read. It’s a well developed storyline with many a twist and turn but it’s not any different to many other books of a similar storyline. As I was listening it did feel like I’d been here before several times. The few twists along the way were a surprise but the overall outcome was just underwhelming. I found Annie to be such an unlikeable character and she kind of got on my nerves. The other characters were likeable enough. The narrator did a good job and held my attention. Unfortunately this one was only ok.

2.5/5 🌟🌟/🌟

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen and review #FirstTimeMother

A special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Bookouture for giving me access to listen to this (newly published) thrilling audiobook, “First-Time Mother” by AJ Campbell.

In this book, we are introduced to first time mother, Annie who is still adjusting to life with a newborn. On top of that, she is dealing with her busy-at-work husband and difficult teenage stepchildren. As she is dealing with these stressful situations, she is also having moments when she loses time and falls asleep at the most random times. Is this normal for a first time mother or not?

From there the book continues in a very different direction than I was anticipating (not spoiling).

This book definitely focused on back-to-back twists! Some twists were better than others, but for me, I felt there were too many twists and turns for such a short book!

On the other hand, I really liked the narration…it kept me interested in the overall story.

However, I’m mixed on the ending…I did enjoy the action and the race to save the day moment, but then it fell a little flat in my opinion.

Overall, I feel this book is definitely a good airplane/travel read, because it’s short (under 7 hrs) and fast paced!

Thanks to NetGalley, AJ Campbell, and Bookouture Audio for the eARC. This one had me hooked! A chilling psychological thriller with a raw look at postpartum struggles and some killer twists. Tamsin Kennard’s narration made it even better. A must-listen!

“My baby is missing…” but the baby literally….wasn’t missing. The story just doesn’t match the title or the tagline. I’ll add to that, it doesn’t even match the description of the book. It’s almost as if they accidentally swapped book covers with another story.

That said, I liked the storyline. I feel like it was well written and I didn’t have a difficult time following. However, I feel a little duped by the tagline.

I’m only removing one star for this because outside of that it was a very good book. I was constantly wanting to know what was going to happen next. It’s definitely gripping, just not for the reason described.

This was a brilliant book and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. The twists and mysteries were amazing and I was hooked.

The narrator did an incredible job with the characters.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the advance copy Bookouture Audio

I got to listen to this as an audiobook. This story takes place in England, so the narrator was British and it was a very lovely. This story kept you drown in and trying to guess what was gonna happen next
It would’ve been a five star read but going into this book you’re expecting like a kidnapping or postnatal depression. Although that is a good portion of just an overwhelmed mother in the story the baby’s only missing for like three hours. The story is not about a missing baby . All of the blurbs and the cover make it out to be about the missing baby, but the story is not about a missing baby. Yes, it does play a small part in the story, but that is not the main theme of the story.
This had me guessing on who the bad guy was until the big reveal are right before the big reveal.

3.5⭐️
The narrator did a great job with this book. I have mixed feelings about the story itself, though. At some point, I honestly felt like I was losing my mind—not just the main character!

The quote “My baby is missing. Everyone thinks it’s my fault.” felt a bit misleading to me, since that part of the story doesn't come up until much later. Last 40% of the book things start to pick up.

Annie is a new mom struggling with what seems like postpartum depression and mom brain. She's constantly forgetting things and blaming herself because she’s so sleep-deprived. There’s so much drama in her household—difficult relationships with her stepchildren, tension with her husband, and people around her thinking she needs help (which she eventually seeks out).

I had so many theories while reading, and just when I thought I had it figured out—nope. If you think you know what's going on, trust me, you don’t!

Overall, it was an okay read. It felt repetitive at times, and the pacing dragged a bit in the beginning.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this ALC.

First Time Mother by AJ Campbell was really twisty, to the point of being a bit confusing.

Annie is a scatterbrained new mom, her memory is challenged, she is absent minded, and she feels like she's losing her mind. She begins to doubt herself, her memory and her actions.

As unfortunate events keep piling up, she thinks everyone is guilty, maybe even herself.

If you love am unreliable narrator and an unstable new mom, this one is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I was very interested in the premise of the book and the relationships between the various characters. I found the pacing good and there were certainly plenty of mysterious options to keep me guessing about who "did it" and why. However, the reveal needs to be something you could have reasonably guessed, and that wasn't the case here. To me, that dramatically reduces my satisfaction with a mystery book.

I did like the narrator a lot.

This was my first AJ Campbell book, and it certainly won’t be my last! I was hooked right from the start and couldn’t put it down. The pacing was great, and the storyline kept me guessing all the way through. Even though I (repeatedly) thought I knew what was going to happen, I was almost always wrong – and I absolutely did not see the ending coming!

I’d highly recommend the audiobook version, Tamsin Kennard did a fantastic job with the narration.

Four star thriller! Loved the twists and turns of this one. I felt the struggles of the first time mom through the story line so hard to figure out what was actually happening and kept me on my toes. Highly recommend!

Lots of surprises at the end. Throughout the book I felt like i knew where the ending was taking us, but loved how there were a couple surprises I didn’t predict! I had the pleasure of listening to the audio version. The narrator was enjoyable and easy to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC.