Name: Alexa M's review of The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy
Item: The Perfect Mother
Rating: 4
Author: Alexa M

Aimee Molloy

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE SUMMER—SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING SCANDAL’S KERRY WASHINGTON An addictive psychological thriller about a group of women whose lives become unexpectedly connected when one of their newborns goes missing. A night out. A few hours of fun. That’s all it was meant to be. They call themselves the May Mothers—a group of new moms whose babies were born in the same month. Twice a week, they get together in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park for some much-needed adult time. When the women go out for drinks at the hip neighborhood bar, they are looking for a fun break from their daily routine. But on this hot Fourth of July night, something goes terrifyingly wrong: one of the babies is taken from his crib. Winnie, a single mom, was reluctant to leave six-week-old Midas with a babysitter, but her fellow May Mothers insisted everything would be fine. Now he is missing. What follows is a heart-pounding race to find Midas, during which secrets are exposed, marriages are tested, and friendships are destroyed. Thirteen days. An unexpected twist. The Perfect Mother is a "true page turner." —B.A. Paris, author of Behind Closed Doors

A Novel

The Perfect Mother

Lynn

Alexa M

REREAD 7/15/2021: i wanted to reread this to see if it held up and im not quite sure it did. i think it was a solid thriller for what it was - a domestic, "mommy", thriller - however, i dont think that is a type of thriller that i am interested in any more. i think it was a solid 4 star book but not twisty enough for me! would definitely recommend to avid domestic thriller readers.


5/22/2018: *4.5/5 stars*
One word: WOW. I know it’s only May but this has to be the best thriller/mystery of the year hands down. Pick this up!!!

Gisela Ayala 

There is a lot of fluff in this book, but it's doing what most thrillers/suspense book do - leads you away from the truth and the truth was, WOW. I did not see it coming at all. My mind was somewhere else completely.

Skye Sherman

I found a lot of this book to be contrived and just way too...tepid and simplistically written. (Though a lot of it I probably didn’t like because I am happily kid-less at this time in life and so all the mother/baby stuff didn’t appeal to me. But I can’t resist a good thriller that keeps me guessing and impressed at the end!) So I was just kinda putting up with it... and then the ending happened and my head is still spinning and I can’t think about anything other than backtracking mentally and figuring out how all this could’ve worked. Crazy how the author could’ve weaved a story like that right under the reader’s nose. Whoa.

chloe mcpherson

I can't wait to see this turn into a movie!

A group of mothers, known as the May mothers. First meeting online and then deciding to become friends in person. After a few months deciding they need a night out, the May mothers go out but the night turns out for the worst when one of the babies goes missing.
Straight away there is a media frenzy as photos and videos and secrets come to light.

One thing I really enjoyed reading this book was that, the book doesn't follow the mother of the baby that went missing. We follow the other mothers in the group, and for me that was refreshing, something new.
The story was gripping, and kept me gripped from the start. 

I really enjoy Molloy's writing and I am excited to see what she comes up with next.

Tiffany Robinson

I thought this book started out strong, but the more I read the less I was liking it. At some points while reading the characters just seemed to mesh together since it seemed like they all had the same voice more or less. When the big reveal came on what happened to baby Midas it just fell flat to me which was super disappointing. This definitely could have been so much better.

Story Eater

Phew! I'm glad that's over with. Man, reading this was like getting up on a Monday morning and going to a hostile work environment at which I don't even work! What a discombobulated mishmash of social commentary and condemnation interwoven throughout the lives of some moms that can't get their crap together and commit to taking care of their babies without giving two dumps about how other people think they're doing it! Your milk's dried up? Feed the baby some formula! Feeling bad about the chemicals in the formula? Give the baby organic fortified goat's milk! (I'm obviously being sarcastic.)

I'm going to go ahead and give this a one. Here's why I'm giving it a one: the book is character-driven--and while character-driven books can be quite amazing, this book's character-driving relies heavily on perpetuating stereotypes of certain groups of people that are popularly negative. I suspect the lazy, negative portrayal of certain characters because of certain attributes is why it is so popular and has already gotten a movie deal. 

For example, one of the character's mother is a Christian lady, so of course she's racist and bigoted. One of the character's Catholic high school teacher is a privileged boy from an Ivy League school, so of course he's a statutory rapist. One of the moms did not have an epidural or any pain-relieving drugs for her delivery because nothing went wrong when she was giving birth to her child, so of course she's the perfect super mom. All of the police in the novel are idiotic and incompetent, and three mothers who are borderline psychotic with sleep deprivation can crack a case better than they can. But they can't remember to pour their coffee in the coffee mug and not the baby bottle.

Plus, the ending had an R.L. Stine Fear Street series feel to it. If you've read any of his stuff from the 90's, you know how the end goes. Whoa! Where'd he or she come from?

Character-driven stories need complexity in characters in order to be successful. Unfortunately, The Perfect Mother is full of flat, misrepresented stereotypes for characters.

Kaitlyn Krna

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It reminded of reading Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies because this book is also predominantly about women and the relationships between them. Instead of a murder, the thriller aspect of a missing baby provides the stage on which these complex friendships and loyalties play out.

As far as the thrill and mystery of trying to figure out what had happened, I wasn't able to guess who had abducted baby Midas. The story is told through various unreliable points of view. It was occasionally difficult to tell when one character's thoughts ended and another character's began. The story jumped from narrator to narrator in what seemed like a jumbled fashion, however I believe that was Molloy's intent in keeping the pace of the book frantic.

Each character had secrets and told lies, which added to the twists. I had suspicions about what had really happened and who was responsible, but I was never able to actually figure it out. Overall, this novel was suspenseful and kept my attention throughout.

Chelsea White

So. Good. I gasped at the final few twists, and had trouble putting the book down. The lives of all the women are beautifully built, as hard and seemingly exhausting as they all seem. Truly, one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. If you’re looking for a thriller with good pacing, a few abrupt twists, and well created characters, this is the book for you.

Randy Robbins

The problem I had with this book is that I did not find any of the characters interesting. I could emphasize with being a new parent but I found them uninteresting.

Ashley Lock

***Don't miss this instant New York Times bestseller*** Soon to be a major motion picture starring Scandal's Kerry Washington. 'Wonderfully nuanced and compulsively readable' KERRY WASHINGTON 'Thrilling . . . you'll think you have all figured out - until you realise you don't' MARIE CLAIRE 'An electrifying thriller' PEOPLE, BOOK OF THE WEEK * * * We all want different things. Francie wants to be the perfect mother. Nell wants to escape the past. Collette wants to spend more time with her family. All Winnie wants is to have her baby back. When Nell suggests a night out in Brooklyn to her new mums' club, the others jump at the chance. But the evening takes a tragic turn when Winnie learns that her six-week-old son Midas has been kidnapped. As the investigation hits a dead end, Nell, Collette and Francie make it their mission to succeed where the police are failing. But as Winnie and those around her come under scrutiny from the media, damaging secrets come to light and friendships are pushed to the limit. Because people will do almost anything to protect the ones they love . . . * * * 'A true page turner!' B.A. PARIS, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE BREAKDOWN AND BEHIND CLOSED DOORS 'A fast-paced, twisty, engrossing read - I loved it!' MEGAN MIRANDA, AUTHOR OF ALL THE MISSING GIRLS

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The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy

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