First of all, thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for providing me early access to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review. 🖤🖤

Don’t Trust Mother starts with a gripping premise—a woman shows up claiming to be the main character’s real mother just after her adoptive mom dies mysteriously. The setup is intriguing and the suspense builds well at first.

However, the pacing felt uneven, with some predictable twists and characters making questionable choices. While the concept is strong and kept me interested, the execution didn’t fully deliver. A decent read for thriller fans, but not particularly memorable.

Don’t Trust Mother had me hooked from the very first chapter. The pacing was sharp and relentless, and I couldn’t stop listening. I needed to know what would happen next.

The characters were all layered in suspicion, each one carrying secrets that kept the tension high. The story was packed with twists and turns, and the ending completely caught me off guard. I never saw it coming, and I love when a thriller can pull that off.

This is a gripping psychological thriller full of dark secrets, shocking moments, and shady characters that keep you on your toes from start to finish. I listened to this one on audio, and it was a fantastic production I highly recommend for audiobook lovers.

3.5 stars!

This was such a good and easy listen, started and finished in one day! The story was fast paced and had plenty of twist and turns to keep you intrigued. The ending was a bit out there, but I love when I don’t correctly guess the ending of a book!

The narrator did a great job with the women voices but needs a little work on the men, other than that I enjoyed listening. Lastly, I do not feel that the title or the cover of the story actually give a good representation of what happens in the story.

I could not put this audiobook down. The twists and turns and surprises etc. I was sucked in and recommending it to friends who also love thrillers as I listened. Gripping!!

My first Carey Baldwin book, but not my last. Don't Trust Mother on audio was solid. The story itself is interesting and, although a slow start, kept me listening and provided enough twists that it was an enjoyable journey.

My only meh about this one was the narration. Didn't love it. Female characters were ok, men not so much. Additionally, there are a lot of players in this one and a single narrator makes my job as a listener harder. I would have preferred multiple narrator voices to better help me keep track of exactly which character was speaking. That said, I'm not a novice listener and began audiobooks on cassette format from the dark ages of the 1980s.

Premise - Ivy is grieving her mother when Sandra shows up on her doorstep, claiming she’s her birth mother. Ivy didn’t even know she was adopted! But when she thinks back to the last phone call she had with her mother (cryptic, to say the least) she suspects her late mother had secrets.

Ivy starts stalking Sandra in the hopes of finding the truth, but things just keep getter by weirder and the people closest to her think she’s losing her mind.

It’s a competent novel, but the voice didn’t work for me. The characters didn’t come to life for me the way I wanted them to and I just never connected with Ivy, so I couldn’t get invested in what happened to her.

I’m sure others will like this more and I’m sorry it wasn’t for me! It’s more a marketing mismatch than an issue with the book - the cover and comps (The Wife Between Us, Girl on the Train, Frieda McFadden) made me expect a different vibe than what I got. I think this would appeal more to readers who enjoyed The Last One at the Wedding.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Elise Roth. I liked her overall narration and her female characters, but the dad voice threw me.

Thanks, NetGalley and Bookouture Audio, for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.