I love a good psychological thriller and I always enjoy trying new authors, so when I was asked to review Karen Osman’s debut thriller, The Good Mother, naturally I just had to say yes. Here are my thoughts:
The Good Mother by Karen Osman
Blurb from The Back Cover
Three women – all with secrets. Secrets that can no longer be ignored…
Catherine is a good mother and a good wife. The family home is immaculate, her husband’s supper is cooked on time, but when she starts writing to Michael, a prisoner convicted of murder, she finds herself obsessing about his crime and whether he can ever truly be forgiven…
Kate has no time for herself. Caught in the maelstrom of bringing up two young children with no money and an out of work husband, she longs to escape the drudgery of being a wife and a mother. And she soon starts taking dangerous risks to feel alive…
Alison has flown the nest. But university life is not what she had hoped for, and she finds herself alone and unhappy. Until the day her professor takes a sudden interest in her. Then everything changes…
A gripping psychological suspense with a shocking twist that will leave you reeling…
My Thoughts on The Book
The Good Mother starts out with three women just living their every day lives. Catherine is a housewife who volunteers to fill in her time, Kate is a downtrodden, unappreciated wife who begins to discover life away from her home and Alison is a student who begins to have a thing with one of her professors. And yet there is something about the book that kept me wanting to read more.
The way the book jumps between stories should be annoying, but it isn’t – in fact each section is just long enough to keep you wanting more but also feeling ready to move on to the next person at the same time.
The three main characters are well written and you feel like you’re getting a real insight into their lives. The story pulls you in and you just have to keep reading. Considering most of the books I read are full of blood, gore, murder and action, the fact that this book kept me gripped is a testament to the writer.
I’m not going to give anything away about the ending of the book, but I will say this. I don’t think the twist was particularly shocking and I had worked it out pretty early on in the book. But in spite of that, I still wasn’t sure how the book was going to end.
The ending was well done and if you haven’t seen the twist coming, then it will make sense of a lot of things and give you a real aha moment.
Conclusion and Rating
This is a really well-written debut novel that will keep you interested and wanting to read on. I would have liked the twist to be something else rather than the obvious one – now that would have been a real surprise, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed The Good Mother. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a character driven plot that is easy to read but still keeps you hooked. 4/5.
You can grab your copy of The Good Mother here.
Have you read The Good Mother? Let me know what you thought about it in the comments 🙂
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Disclaimer: I was gifted a copy of The Good Mother in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and as an avid reader, I would never recommend a book I didn’t genuinely enjoy.
Kate
Your review made me want to read it and funnily enough my various names through life are the same as the characters you mention too and of course an unappreciated wife called Kate is bound to resonate with me loads. So I like that you had good and bad things to say as good reviews should but I could happily give this a read #BloggerClubUK
Debbie, My Random Musings
It’s really captivating – I found myself where I really didn’t want to put it down.
Tracy Albiero
Ohhhh…sounds very interesting! I love a good book! #bloggerclubuk
Mummy here and there
This is my kind of book, I shall write down this title. Thanks for sharing X #bloggerclubuk
Debbie, My Random Musings
I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Heather Keet
This one looks great. I like books where it seems to jump and then the end ties it all up. #AnythingGoes
Debbie, My Random Musings
Me too and this one does it really well 🙂
Maria | passion fruit, paws and peonies
This one sounds really good, I might give it a go. Thanks for the review xx
Mum on a mission for a better life
Sounds like a good read and one that I may add to my ever growing reading list #AnythingGoes
Kate
Popping back via #AnythingGoes linky – there is such a joy when you get a unputdownable book to read
Debbie, My Random Musings
So true!
Sophie
Sounds like a good book; my kind of story. #anythinggoes
Rachel ~ Kids, Cuddles and Muddy Puddles
This sounds like a book that I would enjoy. I like to feel like I get to know the characters involved so I really empathise with them in the story. #AnythingGoes
Jayden R. Vincente
This looks really interesting! I’ll definitely recommend it to my book club, too. 🙂
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