I was not a fan of the characters or the drama and just could not connect with the book. If you are big on female drama and chaos, this may be a better fit for you!

Mean Moms is about a group of women from Manhattan, New York who are wealthy and have children attending a very prestigious school. Frost, Morgan, Belle, and Sofia were the main mom friend group who hung out and attended school functions. Sofia originally from Miami was new to the group and wanted to fit in well with the other moms. Suddenly bad events started to take place such a motor accident, a theft/burglary, poisoning of a school official via Sofia’s baked goods and all the ladies started to wonder why such things were happening and who is behind it all.

Tropes: Cheating, Bully, Blackmail, Revenge plot

Mean Moms was like listening to an episode of Housewives of Manhattan. There was a lot of backstabbing, toxic friendships/relationships and bullying. The narrator, January LaVoy, was great at portraying the characters, especially Sofia, because she felt like the realest character out of all them. Morgan was my least favorite character. I’m glad at the end justice was served!

Thank you Netgalley and McMillan audio for a copy of this audiobook in return for an honest review.

Rich bitches backstabbing each other? Sign me up! I enjoyed the premise of this one, and the characters really drew me in. My only critique would be that some parts in between the sabotaged events were a little slow. Overall, this was a fun read. I wouldn't say the "twists" were that shocking, but that didn't detract from the story. I liked it!

I enjoyed all the different events, trying to one-up each other, and it got even more entertaining when the sabotage began. But it did take some time for things to get to that point, with a slow start for the first portion of the book. Much time is spent trying to keep the characters straight, and remember whose husband and what children belong to who.

There were a few discussions in here, mostly on the message boards, about gender and modern mindsets in their school. I’m not really sure why the author included these brief moments, or what the intent was behind it, but it felt odd. Same with the general approach to queerness in this book – I have a feeling it was supposed to be more satire like the rest of the book, but the delivery in this area didn’t work. Near the end of the resolution, I was also disappointed that the character decided not to pursue any legal action and just said “let’s let it be some other parents’ problem.” This definitely made it more difficult to relate to that character and did away with some of her credibility.

If you like easy-to-read books about rich people behaving badly, with gossip and petty encounters, then you’ll probably enjoy this one. This was definitely more of a slow burn mystery with psychological thriller elements than a real thriller. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I’ve always loved satirical works. Mean Girls meets Desperate Housewives is how I’d describe Mean Moms. However, with this book, the tone is darker. This is due to the mystery/thriller element. I’m always a sucker for domestic intrigue. While humor plays a part in this book, it’s also part psychological thriller, too.

I have never seen Real Housewives. However, I definitely got that feeling with a group of wealthy moms. They were sending their kids to a very bougie school in Manhattan. Morgan, Belle, and Frost (not kidding with that name) welcome Sofia into their world on the first day of school. Sofia has recently moved to New York from Miami following her divorce.

These women are the uber-parents who are heavily involved with the school, planning and prepping functions throughout the year. That also means the women spend a lot of time together. It isn’t long before each of the women feels targeted. There are huge obstacles for each of their planned events. This makes for a very interesting story as the women try to figure out the saboteur. The ultimate question is WHY are they being targeted? And that’s what makes this such a great beach read or listen. January LaVoy narrates the ebook and does a fantastic job! I’ve listened to her a few times, and she’s quickly becoming a favorite.

I loved and hated this.
like oh no poor rich people and their dumb problems but also oh yes rich people and their secrets!
I had to keep telling myself “it’s just a book…it’s just a book..”
the accuracy captured in the writing is so dead on that it’s painful.

𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗣𝗘𝗘𝗞
Wealthy Manhattan moms Frost, Morgan, and Belle are the elite school clique. When glamorous newcomer Sofia arrives, suddenly chaos follows and the women begin to suspect there’s a truly mean mom in their midst.

𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗡
From the title to the cover, this book delivers exactly as expected: wealthy elites behaving badly. But beneath the glamorous mean-girl surface, the spite felt surprisingly mild - more witty satire than edge-of-your-seat thriller. It’s women’s fiction with a satirical twist.

I always love a multiple POV but everyone seemed to get a slice of chapter. I don’t know why we needed to hear from so many characters - even the school secretary - I personally don’t see that it added much to the story. I think less POVs and a bit more shit-fan antics could have taken it to the next level.

The highlight for me was the audiobook, narrated by January LaVoy. As always, she’s perfection and brings the vibe every time!

The ending was all wrapped up in a fun, satisfying way and by the end, I loved the cast of characters. I just wished the chaos was ramped up to a 10 rather than hovering at a 5.

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗?
If you’re in the mood for a breezy, no-stress read about fabulous moms, power plays, and subtle sabotage, this is a good time. Just don’t expect thriller vibes - it’s fun, not fierce.

🎧 Narrated by January LaVoy
📖 Publishes 07•29•25 | 304 pages | 9h 12m

Thank you MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for this #gifted ARC.

Somewhat surprised I enjoyed this book as much as I did. I guess I needed something far removed from my everyday. The narrator January LaVoy has to be credited for keeping my listening ear engaged and committed. She's fabulous and I will look for and listen to whatever she narrates next. The book itself could have done with slightly better editing as it look a bit to get going and then the ending seemed to take a bit to wrap up. That said - I was committed and interested enough to stick it out - and it's not that I liked ANY of the characters! Well...maybe Sophia. I also appreciated how the daughters were integrated into the storyline. The setting, NYC also felt like a character to me. I love that city but as a Canadian I won't be visiting again anytime soon (thanks? Trump?) I concluded the book feeling grateful for my mom friends and public school. and our semi-boring lives. This book was the escapism I needed. Big thanks to Emma Rosenbaum (this was my first book by her and I'd read/listen to another!) #netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc audiobook. If you are looking for some gossipy escapism - give this a listen!

I almost DNF’ed this book around the halfway point, but I’m glad I stuck with it. It took its time, too much time in my opinion, to set everything up for the last third or even fourth of the book. I listened on audio, and really liked it, although it was a bit hard for me to keep track of all the different characters.

I was drawing a lot of comparisons to Bad Summer People, without realizing it was the same author. That did influence my feelings about this book, because it felt like a copy/paste of that book just in a different setting. There’s only so much rich people behaving badly I can take without a little variety. Let’s maybe let the cheating with your friend’s husband trope go.

Overall, I did like this one better than Bad Summer People. I was glad the focus wasn’t on a murder, but instead on who is messing with all these moms. I just wish the groundwork had been laid out better, and the story took off sooner.

My favorite part of this whole book was the lady in the group chat who kept asking to be removed because she no longer attended the school.

3.5 stars

Moms are always our own worst enemy and author Emma Rosenblum only needs to exaggerate around the edges a bit to give us this thrilling and sadly relatable read. Engrossing, mesmerizing, and all too real.

I have enjoyed Emma Rosenblum’s previous books and was excited to get her latest!

I think Mean Moms is my favorite of the three books she has out! It was the perfect summer read- I was looking for a book to escape into and this did the job nicely.

This book is about a group of rich moms and if you enjoy rich people behaving badly, this is a super fun read! There is a mystery as well which was fun to try to figure out. Overall, if you need a quick summer read, I’d recommend this one. I really liked the audiobook narrator as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Thanks #netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc audiobook. First, January LaVoy is quickly becoming one of my favorite audiobook narrators and this was another amazing performance. I loved this book. Rich people behaving badly with a side of mystery immediately peaked my interest. I flew through this one and it’s a great summer read. All the main characters were likeably dislikeable and I really liked the ending. Definitely recommend this one especially the audiobook.

What a wonderfully unhinged book!

I loved these mean moms and their high society. It was very funny and did such a good job at capturing the complex adult relationships—fake niceties and all.

I liked how we got different POVs for all the characters, so we could slowly piece together everything and recount what was happening from other characters.

This book is just a lot of fun, and I loved the narration!

Absolutely loved Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum! The characters were unlikable but richly drawn, and the NYC and cultural references were pitch-perfect. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC!

Well… this is what happens when women have too much time and money on their hands.

That being said, I enjoyed this audiobook. Thank you to @netgalley for this early read. I recommend it

All the twists and turns brings a good story

The narration was well done in order to keep track of all the characters. The story was a little bit anticlimactic and was a little bit disappointing that there wasn't more to the story. It was difficult to connect with the characters in the book. But for anyone who loves drama, reality TV, etc. this would be a good pick.

A solid three star read. I could imagine this being made into a mini series. Fun characters but not a lot of depth

I liked this author’s previous book so I went into this one blind just with hope however this wasn’t for me

This was such a fun listen! I was pleasantly surprised that I was laughing, gasping and very involved with the characters. Rich people doing bad things is a perfect description of this book. Will definitely be reading more from the author.

3.5 stars.

Something about upper class women drama always pulls me in. I guess reading about the more trivial problems of people who have many advantages in life helps me escape from my own complicated situations.

This book was fun and had good mystery to it. It reminded me of Big Little Lies, but a much more tame version.

I think the way it starts out made me expect some really dark and dramatic events that weren’t paid off later. I think overall the plot and twists could’ve been a bit more intense.

Other than that, I did stay engaged the whole way through and have a positive experience listening to this one. Though a little predictable, it was a juicy and indulgent read.

The narrators were good for this one. I liked that there were different voices for different characters and the accents felt authentic when used.

Overall, this was an entertaining read but doesn’t stand out too much from other similar books.