The teenage years are rough. And his dad has died. His mother has let grief create a gap in keeping track of her son. Now a boy is on the way to the hospital and she can't get hold of Ezra. She sees blood on his clothes and is afraid he has been involved or hurt. A great beginning to a well done story. I was pleased to read this thriller. What a rush. Anyone with teens can relate with the ups and downs of those last years before they leave home.

Wow what a great read, I couldn't put this book down! I enjoyed it so much! I'm off to find my next read by this author!!!

3.5/5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and Anya Mora for allowing me to read and review this book.

This book is about a mother's intuition about her kid, who has suddenly started acting strange. Letting her trauma and grief from losing her husband to a tragic accident control her judgements and actions regarding her son, she washes and removes blood stains from her teenage son's clothes one night. There's a kid in critical condition in the hospital, a hate crime. Did her son do it? She doesn't believe he could ever do something like this, but if it wasn't him, then who's blood was on his clothes that night?

The premise of this book interested me. However, I just had a hard time loving this book. It became too political for me. That does not mean this book was not well written or interesting, just not the book for me. I still recommend it, and don't want to dissuade anyone from reading it.

This was an interesting book, Cora is convinced that her son Ezra has been involved in a serious incident that she learns about, but is relieved when she finds he is at home in his bedroom. Her husband died and so she is always worrying about her son. The next day she learns that the boy who was badly injured in the brutal attack was Ezra’s friend who he had been with earlier. When she finds blood stained clothing belonging to Ezra she wonders whether he was involved and needs to discover exactly what happened. I enjoyed the inclusion of mails written by Ezra to his deceased father, that interspersed the story. An enjoyable read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Joffe books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Great characters and a captivating plot. A thrilling story that kept me hooked until the last page. I really enjoyed reading this book.

I have a son and this book kept making me question what I would do. The Mother who will do anything to protect her child. Ezra is a teenager having a tough time with the loss of his father and trying to cope with his mom dating. Cora is struggling with her son not talking to her anymore. A teenager is found barely alive and she is scared that it is Ezra. When she finds out it was a childhood friend of his, she begins to suspect that he may have played apart in it. This book talks about racism, white supremacy, LGBT and church. Ezra meets people online and he soon realizes they are not who he thinks they are. Anya Mora really made me question what I would do if this was my son and makes you realize that the internet can be dangerous. I would definitely recommend this to my patrons that love suspense/thrillers.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was a great fast paced read! I love this author and her writing style. The storyline and characters were well done.

I honestly thought this rollercoaster ride was never going to end. It is a unbelievable thriller. For mothers with teenage sons it is a must read!

Oh my goodness. This book was so good. This book was thought provoking and a roller coaster ride. I couldnt put it down.

This book tackles big subjects that are pertinent in today’s society, especially USA. It doesn’t shy away from tough decisions and is quite sad in places. I found it tough, but well written thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Hard to put into words or find the appropriate rating. Very heavy book about the sad state of things in America today, but a good book.

The story revolves around the insecurities of a single mother when it came to her teenage son and her constant worry about how he was behaving. It was a good read and an engaging one too.

Sad to say this one was disappointing and not as good as previous books I have read by the same author.

I didn’t really connect to the characters, I found Cora to be naive and her relationship with her journalist boyfriend didn’t really add much to the storyline. The potential was great with the dangers of online gaming and chat rooms, white supremacy and homophobia, but it didn’t hit the spot for me,

After the death of her husband, Cora had realised that the church didn’t offer her anything and so I found it strange that her teenage son still wanted to go to church, in a time where teenagers are better able to think independently rather than being brainwashed by fantasists.

2.5 ⭐️ rounded up. Thanks to Netgalley, Anya Mora and Joffre for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Wow this was a wild ride!! I thoroughly enjoyed every twist and turn that came with this one because the ending delivered!

I have a son and this book kept making me question what I would do. The Mother who will do anything to protect her child. Ezra is a teenager having a tough time with the loss of his father and trying to cope with his mom dating. Cora is struggling with her son not talking to her anymore. A teenager is found barely alive and she is scared that it is Ezra. When she finds out it was a childhood friend of his, she begins to suspect that he may have played apart in it. This book talks about racism, white supremacy, LGBT and church. Ezra meets people online and he soon realizes they are not who he thinks they are. Anya Mora really made me question what I would do if this was my son and makes you realize that the internet can be dangerous. I would definitely recommend this to my patrons that love suspense/thrillers.

I like some parts of the book, but other sections, not so much. I think, I was looking for more of a thriller with a twisty ending, but the "shocker" was given away too early in the story.

Brilliant story. And ending. Well written and great pace. I love the interjection of Ezras emails to his father as the story was progressing and the final email made me cry with happiness

Ohhhhhh.....where's my tissues?

The Mother by Anya Mora was a beautifully written book that just tore at my heart, it's an emotional roller coaster ride that will have you reaching for a handful of tissues. Anya has written this book from her heart and is beautifully written from start to finish.

I wouldn't say this is a holiday read - Well, only if you're wearing sunglasses and in the shade type of book and no one can see you!.....but a book I would get snuggled up in the warmth of my house in front of a fire with a cup of hot chocolate kind of book.........So turn your phone off and open your kindle and become apart of this book The Mother.....It will not disappoint!!!

I highly recommend this book. Just beautiful!

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for an advanced copy of The Mother in exchange for a review.

My Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

As both a widow and a mother who struggled with raising teenagers (I had 2) after the loss of their husband, I struggled with this one. On one hand I GET it. Everyone grieves differently, and I could empathize with Cora to a point. But the way that she just allowed herself to become so consumed by her grief that she couldn't even get out of bed and tend to her son was something I couldn't understand, nor get behind. That boy needed his mother and all she did was cry over what she had lost. I'm sorry, but being a mother has to come first.

And then she finds blood and clay on her son's clothes the night after his best friend has been attacked. And what does she do? She washes his clothes and then confronts him, choosing to believe his far-fetched story on how he supposedly hurt himself even though she knows he's lying. I'm sorry. Maybe I'm just from a different walk of life, but if I thought one of my children had committed a heinous crime such as the one perpetrated here? I'm turning them in. They can explain the truth to the police.

As others have pointed out, there were a lot of mentions of the church and religion, or more specifically Cora's desire to be rid of it altogether while her son longs for the familiarity of it. Again, if she had paid the slightest bit of attention to her son, she might have known that he needed what she did not. As it was, when he did make the choice to return to the youth group, Cora initially scoffed at the idea, proving that once again she was not going to be winning any mother of the year awards.

However, I did enjoy reading Ezra's letters to his father at the start of every chapter. I feel like they really gave us some insight to him and how he was dealing with things in the wake of such a monumental tragedy, and it also helped to understand just how he ended up making the choices that he did. And the author's writing style was strong enough that even though I didn't agree with some of the actions and behaviors of the characters, I was still glued to the pages to see how things were going to unfold.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

Cora has been left to bring her son Ezra up on her own after her husband died. She though they were both doping fine. She was in a new relationship which her son didn't approve of but she was coping. When the son of an old friend is brutally attacked and left for dead the whole community is shocked. Cora has a feeling her son may know something but is too frightened to ask.
This book will make you want to read on through the night. I highly recommend it.