GOOD BAD MOTHER is a great read for anyone who's ever struggled with worrying that they aren't good enough at motherhood, or that their child/spouse deserves better.

Premise: a new mom with a dark past, now married into a wealthy public family, starts to lose control over her nice new life after her in-laws post a family photo that draws the attention of someone from her past...

Pick this up if you want a story with rich people behaving badly (so fun), a monster-in-law, family drama aplenty, new mom angst, and the resilient human spirit surviving it all. The twists weren't exactly difficult to predict, but the story is well-told enough that I really didn't mind.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Lauryn Allman and Penelope Rawlins. Both Allman and Rawlins did a great job with the read, keeping it dynamic and engaging all the way through. Their characters were full of personality without veering from the text. Between Mora's story and Allman/Rawlins' read, this was a one day listen (and almost one sitting, but- alas- adulthood means I occasionally have to prioritize my responsibilities). I definitely recommend!

Thanks, Bookouture and NetGalley, for the audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Good Bad Mother” by Anya Mora is a psychological thriller set on an isolated island.

Thank you Bookouture, Bookouture Audio and Netgalley for the ARC and ALC. Opinions from this review are completely my own.

Amelia is a new mother to a 2 month old baby girl and tries to fit in the role of a ideal wife while living in an exclusive island. But she is hiding things from her past and also has to deal with her mother-in-law that doesn’t like her.
During the book we also get another POV from the past and we slowly find out what happened and why Amelia is trying to hide it.

The audiobook is narrated by Lauryn Allman and Penelope Rawlins. By listening to the book I felt more intense the anxiety that Amelia was going through and having two narrators helped with the timeline changes. It was easy to follow the plot and both narrators did a good job with the characters and bringing the story to life.

The author managed to create a tense and suspenseful atmosphere through the writing style, especially using the alternative timelines. But the plot was a bit predictable and there was not as much mystery as expected.

Man how much can one person take! Heheheheh. This was one where you were rooting for the FMC and just wanted to get down to the bottom of it all definitely pulls some twisty moves in the book and I’m here for it. This was such a fun quick read. I would recommend if you like Frieda McFadden or any domestic thriller really. Fast paced and keeps you guessing for sure. Solid read. :)

Fans who of Frieda McFadden will probably find this book thrilling. It has a similar vibe to her mystery’s. I’m personally not a fan of her work and so this wasn’t a good fit for me. There are a lot of plot holes, the story doesn’t really get interesting until 60% into the story. A lot of repeating descriptions and prolonged “angst”. Just has a cheesy vibe to me.