This is a very well written debut novel recounting Stevie's choice to have a baby on her own and detailing the emotional impact of her life choices. The book is compelling in its honesty and rawness and gives a voice to the emotions I imagine many women experience but are too afraid to express.
Complex family dynamics and hidden secrets add extra interest to the read and a twist at the end is the icing on the cake.
The audiobook was beautifully narrated capturing the intensity of emotions of the main characters extremely well.
I am grateful to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced listening copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

An interesting book based on family secrets, strained relationships and being a mum.
There is an interesting twist, you’ll probably guess, but it does work well in the main plot. A fairly basic, not too taxing read.

Sorry to say this just jumped around too much for me. It didn't flow smoothly at all and felt disjointed. It was also totally predictable. I had guessed the big reveal/plot twist within the first couple of chapters. There's some great depth to the chapters where Stevie is struggling to bond with her new baby, which is great because there's still such a taboo about this, leaving too many women feeling somehow "less than". However most of the characters were bland and shallow, without much development. Stevie's relationship with Lex was weird. Her obsession with him made no sense, given that she's pretty much anti-men and pushes all her romantic partners away. It could've been written without the New York chapters because they really didn't add much, except to show the Stevie before motherhood. Those chapters were very long winded and repetitive. Really liked the narrator. She was brilliant. My sincere thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest unbiased review.

There was no way I could give this any less than 5 stars. It’s a stunning debut novel. Split between Stevie’s life now in London and Stevie’s life then in New York. The two ran flawlessly side by side.

It’s a raw honest and say times hard to listen to account of longed for motherhood and how sometimes it’s just not as easy as you hoped it would be, or necessarily wanted it to be. The characters were so well formed, it felt like an observation of a personal chat with a best friend. You know the type of chat where you know they have something to tell you, your sure you know what the something is, but you have to hear the whole story to get to where it’s going? There’s a twist towards the end, and that’s just how it felt. Maybe that’s just me, it felt like such a personal novel. I loved it.

A beautiful book, expertly narrated by Elizabeth Brennan. Due for release May 12th.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

I wish I could give this title more than 5 stars. It’s an exceptional debut from a gifted writer who has packed a lot of emotional content into this multi generational tale. I was particularly drawn by the artwork on the cover; it created an immediate sense of place. The story switches between New York and London and the central character is Sadie. She’s talented, single, late thirties and wants a child. But she’s not keen on having a man in her life. Sadie is pivotal to every scene in the narrative; her friendships, employer, sisters, parents and others all shape her life in different ways.

She moves to NY where she has an elder sister who’s successful but troubled. There’s another sister in the UK who is the parents’ favourite. This is very much character driven as Kate Maxwell explores Sadie’s conflicts, challenges and dilemmas. This isn’t my usual genre; I usually go for psychological thrillers, crime, historical fiction or non fiction. But Hush is so beautifully written, I was immediately invested in Sadie’s life and more than once my heart went out to her as she tried to overcome challenges. There’s a brilliant twist at the end which I didn’t see coming and the plotting throughout is accomplished. This is an amazing debut and I’ll be looking for more from this talented writer.