In this debut novel we follow Flo, a strong willed and sharp tongued American single mother living in London. A former member of a girl band that shot to fame after she left, she’s struggled to find her place in the world and a proper job, and Flo now finds herself navigating the cliquey, judgement world of private school mums. Her son Dylan, like her, doesn’t quite fit in at his all-boys school, and when Alfie, a classmate who had been bullying him, goes missing on a school trip, suspicion begins to grow around his role in the disappearance. Determined to clear her son’s name and uncover the truth, Flo teams up with another outsider mum to investigate the secrets that lie beneath the surface of their seemingly polished world of money and luxury.

I think the writer has purposely chosen to make most of the characters unlikeable, in order for them to seem complex like real people, however this made it really hard to root for any of them or to be invested in the outcome. Flo is deeply flawed and has been treated very poorly, especially by her ex-husband and Dylans dad Will who is a real piece of work, which can make her feel real and relatable at times. However she often leans too far into self-pity and defensiveness, she manipulates other people but then also feels hard done by them when they make choices for themselves and their happiness. Still, the writing is sharp and fast paced, and the plot is packed with twists and turns and ultimately when the truth comes out and a murderer is revealed to have been lurking in the midst of Flo and Dylan’s world, it’s a real punch to the story.

This was a quick and intriguing read with some dark humour and social commentary around motherhood, fitting in and identity. Whilst I didn’t love it, it was an easy read and I was definitely curious enough to keep reading to find out the truth.

Some years ago Florence was a member of a girl band which had a modicum of success. Florence left the band in humiliating circumstances and is now single mum to ten year old Dylan. Dylan is her world, the only reason she gets out of bed each day. Florence however is broke, immature, irresponsible, impulsive, full of sass and drinks far too much. Dylan, who definitely has neuro divergent tendencies, attends the private St Angeles school where all the other mums look down on Florence. Dylan is relentlessly bullied by Alfie, spoilt and indulged only child of very wealthy parents. On one occasion Dylan hits back at Alfie's bullying, subsequently coming under suspicion when Alfie disappears on a school trip. Florence soon finds a reason to suspect Dylan may not be totally innocent in Alfie's disappearance and embarks on a mad, irrational and sometimes hilarious attempt to find him and so prove Dylan has nothing to do with Alfie's disappearance.

Despite all her obvious failings and lack of maternal nurturing, Florence is a likeable, if exasperating character. There are plenty of humorous and 'absolutely no way is she going to do that' moments. The story moves along at a great pace, lots of drama, suspense and unexpected reveals and went in a direction I wasn't expecting. A great debut, I will definitely search out Sarah Harman's next book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, 4th Estate and William Collins for my advanced reader copy in return for my honest and unbiased review.

This wasn’t what I expected & I mean that in the best possible way. I went in anticipating a typical thriller/mystery but what I got was so much more. It’s packed with humour, drama & non-stop entertainment.
Florence’s character had me completely torn; there were moments I adored her & so many more when I couldn’t stand her but that complexity is exactly what made the book so great!

Flo doesn’t feel like she fits in with the other mothers at her son’s independent prep school. When Alfie (the not-so-nice son of one of the popular families) disappears, Flo decides to prove her son Dylan, Alfie’s arch enemy, had nothing to do with it, even if this means disposing of evidence and starting her own investigation.
This is a light hearted “murder” mystery with a bit of humour built in as well. A fun holiday read.

Following main character Florence, All The Other Mothers Hate Me was an intriguing mystery story wrapped around with the humour.

Despite Florence being a pretty unlikeable characters at the start, she did grow on me eventually as her heart was in the right place with her attempts to protect her son.

An easy, enjoyable read!

A sharp, darkly funny mystery thriller that had me laughing out loud one minute and gasping the next.

Packed with biting wit and uncomfortable truths about school-gate politics and parental paranoia, All the Other Mothers Hate Me is as much a social satire as it is a twist-filled whodunnit. The voice is fresh, the humour deliciously dark, and the twists keep you guessing right to the end.

Florence, the underdog single mum with not much going for her, unexpectedly teams up with a glamorous American newcomer—who also happens to be a hot-shot lawyer—to figure out what really happened to missing schoolboy Alfie. An unlikely friendship forms, but it’s not without drama. After all, Florence isn’t exactly friend material... or is she?

A brilliantly unsettling, unexpectedly heartwarming read that doesn’t take itself too seriously—and that’s exactly what makes it so compelling.

thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review! <3

’Tonight, for once in my life, I’m going to do the right thing. The hard thing’

All the Other Mothers Hate Me was a funny, enjoyable, easy-read, that I definitely needed at such a stressful time in my life.

The main-character Florence, while quite unlikeable at times (her morally-greyness was the point!), but was great to read from the perspective of, and I felt that her decisions were pretty realistic. I love reading about messy characters who don’t have their lives together, and I thought that worked very well in this murder mystery-esque book.

The mystery itself was creative, and while I did guess near the end of the story who the kidnapper was, I didn’t guess one of the other twists at all, which I really liked.

The writing was simple but effective, and I had a pretty good time from start to finish. Oh, and all the digs at upper-class Brits were hilarious and so well done (coming from a lower-class Brit!).

Overall, All the Other Mothers Hate Me gets 4/5 stars.

4.5✨

I loved this, it was so fast paced and I couldn’t put it down. I am a big ‘judge a book by its cover’ kind of girl and I’ll hold my hands up, I didn’t read the synopsis when requesting this on NetGalley, I was just sucked in by the cover (so credit to who designed it). But honestly this book was so good and the twists and turns constantly had me second guessing what had happened/who done it/if there’d be a plot twist (spoiler; there is).

This could very easily be a Netflix series and I could see it playing out in my head. Very Harlan Coben vibes if you’re a fan of that style of writing.

Overall I loved this and can’t wait to see what the author brings out next!

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book!

Deliciously depraved and utterly page-turning, ALL THE OTHER MOTHERS HATE ME is the literary playground thriller I’ve been waiting for.

Think the black humour of Bella Mackie with the razor sharp writing of Gillian Flynn, this deserves to be a smash-hit bestseller in 2025.

I really enjoyed this debut book. It’s an emotional lighthearted fun read full of drama and mystery. So entertaining. I couldn’t put it down.
It’s brilliantly written and the plot flows well with plenty of twists throughout keeping you guessing,
Florence is funny and a complete train wreck of a character. Despite making questionable choices she’s a fierce mum who’s determined to protect her son Dylan and find out what happened to his missing classmate Alfie.
I liked the friendship and amateur sleuthing between Florence and Jenny. One of my favourite parts in the book. I enjoyed the banter between the characters too.
Overall, an entertaining humorous mystery. It’s well worth a read. I look forward to reading more from @sarah_harman_writes
Definitely recommend this one.
With thanks to #NetGallery @4thestatebooks for an arc of #AllTheOtherMothersHateMe in exchange for a honest review.
Book publishes 10 April 2025

Well,what a character we have in Florence…

Unpredictable,good,bad,reflective,,fiercely Mum loyal,funny,inspiring,angry,jealous,kind….you get the picture….she is one on her own but then she is a little bit close to comfort to us all,well those of us who will admit it

Florence was almost a pop legend and now lives a chaotic life trying to manage getting her son Dylan to school and back without disasters happening,(the school is very posh and has a delicious array of parents to loathe) however one day things go bad,really bad when on a school trip a pupil disappears and all fingers point to Dylan,Florence then goes into action trying to make the focus on anyone but him to devastating affect

A romp of a book,antic filled and raw,delightful and menacing and so on point with social commentary it made me wince then laugh throughout

Refreshingly honest and brazenly real,brilliant in every way

I really loved this book! I picked it on a whim and it did not disappoint!
It's essentially the story of Florence, and her son Dylan who might have had something to do with a class mate going missing. Florence decides to investigate herself with the help of a fellow new mum at the school, solicitor Jenny.
I genuinely loved the characters and the story and stand by that while Florence is quite unlikable and with very questionable morals, the majority of the other characters around her are too!
I always struggle with explaining why I loved something without explaining why and giving away too much plot but I genuinely would recommend this to friends!

A fun and thrilling read. Florence is a great character to read about, she is a mess but atleast she owns it. This was a book I could not put down and had to finish it in one go

This book reminded me a lot of The Dead Friend Project by Joanna Wallace - a messy, hard-to-like woman trying to solve a mystery. I think that the less-than-perfect woman is such an interesting character to read as it goes against the traditional view that women need to be perfect in every aspect of their life...which none of us are.

That same fierce love is evident in both books too, in this instance Florence is trying desperately to protect her son at any cost, even if he has done something truly terrible. It's a showing of undying all-encompassing maternal feelings that never feels like a trope. Florence's actions feel genuine, if a little unhinged, all the time. The clever way that the events are ramped up a little at a time gives it an authenticity in that I could absolutely believe that, as each is a small step from the previous, someone could find themselves convinced that what they were doing was rational.

Everything about Florence sets her apart from the school-gate mums at her son's posh London school - she is American, single, has no job, and isn't hiding her fuzzy edges. She doesn't put on a pretence of who she feels she should be, I'm not sure she's self-aware enough to ever think of that!

The pacing of the central mystery (what happened to the wholly awful Alfie Risby) is spot-on. I tore through the book and it kept up with me, keeping me engaged all the way. A great debut.

Set in the backdrop of a preppy school in London, ex pop star Florence just doesn’t seem to fit in with the other mums.
When one of the boys from her son’s class goes missing and she finds his backpack under her son’s bed, we see how far a mother will go to protect her son, from Amazon prime deliveries to Ritz afternoon teas and flirting her way to the answer.

There’s budding friendships, plastic babies and blackmail. Not my typical read, but I was hooked nonetheless. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Fourth Estate for this early release copy. I saw this in Irish bookstores a couple of weeks back, but can see it has a UK/kindle publication date of 10th April.

At the start of this book I thought I am not going to like this and thought will I give up. I persevered and continued to read the book and it got better as the book went on.

Florence lives with her son Dylan she is divorced and shares custody with her ex Will. A boy Alfie from Dylan’s class goes missing and Dylan is a suspect. Florence becomes friends with Jenny another Mum from the school and start investigating the disappearance of Alfie will they find him.

I liked how in the end Florence seemed to change she was selfish at the start but by the end of the book she came into her own. As I said as the book went on it became more interesting and certainly it had a twist at the end which I did not see coming.

It was an easy read.

A roller-coaster of a book which was an enjoyable read. A boy goes missing on a school trip and Florence, believing her son may have something to do with it, tries to protect him by trying to solve the mystery. Funny, emotional and unpredictable.

Enjoyed this book with its occasional humorous moments and proof of a mothers love for her son. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

I found this book entertaining enough and the writing is good. Some of the one-liners made me chuckle – but I can’t say it’s a book I would recommend. The characters aren’t believable or likeable, and the plot was weak. I’m not sure whether it’s supposed to be a cosy crime, a thriller, or a comedy but it’s an easy read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, and I’m sorry I can’t really think of anything positive to say about it. 2.5 stars upped to 3 for the humorous bits,

This book got me out of a book slump! I devoured this is one sitting. The twists! The turns! LOVED IT. Florence isn't particularly likable and yet I found myself rooting for her all the way through. It was just so well written.