I loved this!!! Such a fun listen on audio and the plot and pacing of the book was excellent. I worried at first there would be too many characters to differentiate on audio, but the narrator did an excellent job and Mean Moms was easy to follow along and very engaging. I can so see this being a tv show—entertaining, rich people behaving badly but with character depth.

This book was not my normal cup of tea with the real housewives aspect of it, but man did it suck me into the drama so fast! I was sure I knew what was going on and then bam! I was wrong! I couldn't put it down until I found out what the heck was going on with these women! The way they would turn on each other, it was anyone's guess! Anyways, this was a fantastic book, especially for those who love a good mystery with a lot of rich houswife drama mixed in!

We all know those moms, that group that seems to have everything together. Well this book is all about those moms. I loved listening to this one, the narrator was great and I felt like I was in that group of moms. I loved watching everything unfold. a great book!

Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum is a razor-sharp, addictive novel that perfectly blends humor, drama, and a touch of mystery. From the first page, Rosenblum pulls you into a world of suburban politics, social rivalries, and behind-the-scenes secrets, all told with wit and irresistible charm.

The characters are wonderfully flawed and utterly believable, making it easy to see a bit of real life in their antics. The pacing is fast, the dialogue sparkles, and the story kept me hooked until the very last page.

If you love smart, entertaining fiction with an edge—and characters you’ll be talking about long after you finish—Mean Moms is a must-read.

A deliciously sharp and wickedly entertaining read. Mean Moms pulls back the curtain on beachside perfection to reveal a world of secrets, ambition, and dark humor. With biting wit and irresistible twists, Emma Rosenblum delivers a clever, fast-paced story that’s impossible to put down. Perfect for fans of smart, scandal-filled fiction.

What better place to explore the dynamics and machinations of manipulative sociopaths than a group of wealthy Manhattan moms? Beautiful, privileged, and down for drama, the queen-bee moms of Atherton Academy, Frost, Morgan, and Belle, are thrown for a loop when the voluptuous and mysterious Sofia shows up Miami, mysteriously nabbing a coveted spot in the school for her two children. How did she get in when even celebrity royalty cannot? Why do mysteriously bad things keep happening at every social gathering, business launch, and school fundraiser that the women are involved in? When will the drama stop? The story is satire-meets-suspense in the best way, with glitz and glamour thrown in. An enjoyable read for fans of the Real Housewives or Gossip Girl. The audiobook narration is smooth, easy to listen too, and adds positively to the atmosphere and tone of the book.

When you thought you experienced Mean Girls during school and never thought we would see it within the Moms! This book shows you the drama and friendship that can happen between mom and how catty some of them can be!

Loved this book!

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ARC provided by Macmillan Audio.

Meet Frost, Morgan, and Belle—a wealthy, gorgeous group of New York City moms, the queen bees of downtown Manhattan. Their children attend Atherton Academy, the top private school in the city, and their social lives revolve around elaborate themed parties. On the first day of school, the arrival of a new mom and mysterious beauty from Miami, Sofia shakes up their world. When Sofia quickly integrates herself into their clique, inexplicably bad things start to happen to the women. Is someone at school out to get them?

Mean Moms is part satire of upper-crust mom-ing and part mystery, interrogating the line between friendship and jealousy, and getting at the question: What would happen if the woman standing next to you at school pickup was actually a sociopath?

Mean Moms was such a wild and entertaining read—completely over-the-top in the best way. I loved how it followed four very different women, each of them both charming and infuriating in their own way. They were bratty, dramatic, and just a little twisted, but impossible to look away from. There is something irresistible about rich people behaving badly, and this story delivered plenty of that. The backdrop of an elite New York City private grade school made things even more fun, with pranks and schemes that were as outrageous as they were clever. The mystery kept me engaged, and the little twist at the end was a nice touch. If you like drama-filled stories about the wealthy getting up to no good, with a splash of mystery, this one is worth adding to your TBR.

Rating: 3.5/5

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

🎧Song Pairing: I Hope You’re Miserable Until You’re Dead - Nessa Barrett

💭What I thought would happen:

Had me at mean moms - that says drama and you know me. Where there is catty b^tches, there’s a Kelly.

📖What actually happens:

😈Mean rich mothers
📍Manhattan
😱Drama
👀Who’s behind “it”
⚠️Eating disorder, cheating

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

This book has one of my fav tropes - D&D: Drama and Deception.💋 If there’s a mother that drives you bananas at your child’s school/activity and you desperately want to give em a little shove read it (please, like you’re actually judging me)

Okay while I love stories with mean girl behaviours, I actually believe women should stand up for one another, need as much support as we can get amIriiiight?

Really really liked it! It’s a binge book, if you hate petty rich person arguments then skip this one but if you live for a nice sugary cereal over bran (but for your 🧠) check it out. You won’t feel regret.

3 stars

Mean Moms is a juicy, fast-paced satire about the glamorous yet cutthroat world of wealthy NYC moms. It’s filled with gossip, outrageous mishaps, and just enough mystery to keep the pages turning. Rosenblum nails the over-the-top drama and delivers plenty of sharp, funny observations about privilege, rivalry, and toxic friendships.

That said, it’s definitely more style than substance. The characters often feel like caricatures, and while the antics are entertaining, the plot treads familiar ground—wealthy women behaving badly—with a mystery that wraps up a little too neatly.

If you’re in the mood for a guilty-pleasure read—like Real Housewives meets a light mystery—this is a fun choice. Just don’t expect deep character development or a truly surprising twist.

🤫 Mean Moms - Emma Rosenblum

3.5 ⭐️ - Rich moms with nothing better to do than lie, cheat, and cause problems at their children’s schools. It’s raunchy, it’s ridiculous, it’s funny. It’s exactly what you expect from rich people with money and problems. It’s a quick read or listen that you could definitely throw into your beach bag before summer ends!

Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the early audio copy! This one’s out now!

This wasn't for me. The characters were hard to like and hard for me ro invest in. The narration was on point though.

Fast-paced, clever, and brimming with delicious twists, Mean Moms is the ultimate guilty pleasure you don’t have to feel guilty about. If you love your satire with a side of scandal, this one is a must-read. Emma Rosenblum has officially secured her spot as a queen of suburban drama.

Morgan, Frost and Belle, rich, well maintained and always perfectly dressed are the mean moms of Atherton Academy, New York’s most exclusive private school. On the first day of the Fall semester, as the moms air kiss and pose, a homeless man spits at Belle. In a flash, new mom Sofia, a divorcee from Miami, pushes him aside to protect Belle. Instantly, she becomes part of their mom club, one of the popular women of Atherton. During the next few months, Belle, Frost, Morgan and their husbands host over-the-top theme parties that involve teams of decorators, hairdryers and stylists. A designer dress business and a salon whose purpose is to be calmed by different sounds open. And dangerous, embarrasing and damaging things start to happen. Private thoughts and relationships are made public and the women start to wonder if one of them has targeted the others. Who would do this? Why?

Emma Rosenblum has delivered a delicious satire targeting Manhattan private schools and parents. I loved all four women, especially Sofia, and the perfectly described New York lifestyle. Narrator January LaVoy does an excellent job of bringing Mean Moms to life. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, Emma Rosenblum and January LaVoy for this ARC.

Short story; Desperate Housewives meets You in this smart, sexy, absurdly funny mystery/satire sprinkled with Taylor Swift references. Bookish Swifties to the front!

💜💜💜

The women in Mean Moms have intense and layered relationships—adversarial one moment, fiercely bonded the next. There are these unexpectedly tender and complicated bonds between women that feel so true to life that it makes my heart ache. It’s the kind of dynamic you only get from a story written by a woman—someone who understands the messy, overlapping loyalties and rivalries that come with friendships between women, especially in groups.

The writing perfectly fits the ensemble-cast mystery vibe. It’s got that fun paranoia factor where you start getting suspicious of people just because of how they’re written into the background. I couldn't help side-eyeing certain characters purely because they kept popping up at odd moments, their motives fuzzy and their actions never fully explained. This turned out to be deliberate crumb dropping by the author rather than red herrings or sloppy writing; years of reading trope-heavy mysteries make me trust no one, and this book plays into that brilliantly.

Even more brilliantly, it sticks the landing with its upbeat ending without being overly saccharine or feeling rushed. I'm hoping for a sequel--- though I'm not sure what it would look like! These characters are just too fun to want to let go of. Even the one who ends up being the villain!

It’s fast-paced, laugh-out-loud funny, sharp-tongued, and just dark enough to feel grounded in reality. An absolute five-star read!

Thanks to NetGalley, Emma Rosenblum, & Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

A satirical mystery perfect for millennials who grew up quoting Mean Girls—but now with more money, bigger drama, and… PTA meetings? This one dives into the lives of a clique of wealthy Manhattan private school moms, where social status is everything and the claws are always out.

📚 Expect:
💰 Rich people drama
👯 Clique politics
🎭 Social climbing & competition
🔍 Mystery + sharp humor
🎙️ Fantastic audiobook narration by January LaVoy—she nailed every POV and made the story extra fun!

It’s juicy, entertaining, and full of intrigue, though I will say the few spicy scenes felt unnecessary and pulled me out of the delicious chaos of the moms’ antics.

⭐ Compelling? Yes. Petty? Absolutely. Drama-filled? 100%.

Mean Moms is like Mean Girls meets Real Housewives plus add a little suspense/mystery vibe. I was entertained & surprised by the ending. The narration of the audiobook was very enjoyable to listen to.

Very well-paced and funny at times, but not my favorite from Emma Rosenblum.

There’s a slight tinge of ick to this thanks to all the backstabby, woman-on-woman crime, and it often makes you feel sorry for the characters or feel disgusted by them in a way that doesn’t happen in a book like Very Bad Company, where the humor is better and the soulless corporate schills all make excellent targets for Rosenblum’s skewering.

It’s tough to balance characters bad behavior with some appeal to empathy from the reader, and Rosenblum has historically been pretty good at this. Here it’s more cut and dried (it’s pretty obvious who the true villain is even before we’re expressly told), and I don’t think that helped the story.

I also think in the subgenre of rich people behaving badly, old money is more interesting than new money, and this is very, very new money.

In all, this is fun and pacey if not Rosenblum’s best work.

This book was a mixed bag for me. I liked the mystery element that really moved the plot along, and I also like how it was very hard to know who to trust up until I certain point. I loved Sofia's character, but I found many of the other characters insufferable. I know that was part of the plot but it made it really difficult to read at times. As some of the more grotesque acts arose, I was really turned off from reading the book. Overall I liked Sofia's triumph at the end, but the middle and climax left much to be desired for me personally.

Rich moms in NY plus chaos! Sign me up!

This rich girl gang in NY, welcomes a new mom into their fold. Chaos ensues and things go horribly wrong.

This book was full of funny quips, chaos, and shenanigans! I loved every minute!

Audiobook narrator was perfect and audio was clear. I encountered no issues.

I would definitely recommend this book to friends.