This book has good twist and turns, making you second guess throughout. Overall it was a decent read but I found myself unable to connect to the characters which made it lack for me personally.

3.75 🌟 very nearly a 4, unfortunately in the last few days I’ve finished another title with an almost identical plot, although the story panned out quite differently, it was too much of the same for me to rate higher, which seems a shame as the book is brilliant and it’s definitely not either authors fault that’s they’ve crossed over, it just made it too predictable for me.

The writing is excellent, the plot is great, there are lots of twists and turns along the way that will keep the reader hooked on the story. There were a few little loopholes in the story that made me a bit confused. You know the type of thing that makes you shout at a horror movie?!

If these titles are anything to go by, people might want to start just recruiting childcare from the nearest bus stop.

Great narration as always by Tamsin Kennard 🎧

Huge thanks to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to review to this ALC 🎧

First-Time Mother by AJ Campbell is a mystery/thriller with one twist after another. Annie is a new mom to an infant and a fairly new step-mom to twin teenagers. She’s struggling with her memory and life as a new mom. After a life changing event, Annie starts to stumble upon a lot of secrets. Things aren’t what they seem at all. I would start to figure something out and some new information would be thrown at me. It kept m guessing. I listened to the audio and narrator Tamsin Kennard did a fantastic job. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book.

Premise - A new mother struggles with the early postpartum period. She hasn't quite recovered from a harrowing childbirth experience, her baby doesn't seem quite happy in her arms, and her husband, Max, keeps telling her she's done things and participated in conversations she can't remember. To make it all worse, her twin stepchildren openly hate her and seem intent on driving a wedge in her marriage.

Max suggests that they hire some help and while she's against it at first, and a little unsettled by how much the sitter, Zoe, reminds her of a younger version of herself, she ultimately gives in. Zoe is a natural with the baby and for a moment it seems like all will be well... but then crazy things start happening, like a fire almost burning their house down, and it seems she's at fault. She awakens from hard naps surrounded by empty alcohol bottles and rumors start drifting that she's a drinker - but she could swear she didn't drink them. What's going on??

I'm several years removed from early postpartum, but I still absolutely LOVE thrillers set in this period. You're sleep deprived, you feel out of your depth, and reality isn't quite as firm as usual when you haven't slept more than three hours in a row in days, weeks, months. It's groundwork rife for psychological shenanigans, the perfect untrustworthy narrator conditions.

This was so fun! It was a well-paced story that kept me off balance, but just close enough to on-balance to think I had a shot at figuring it all out.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Tamsin Kennard. She did a beautiful job, as always! There's a line early in the story where the protagonist says Zoe's accent is the sort of calm music that'd put you to sleep if she were narrating an audiobook and that perfectly describes Kennard (in a good way)! The story is vert engaging and Kennard's read is dynamic, so I was never at risk of falling asleep, but despite the high drama of the story Kennard makes it feel cozy. It doesn't really matter what the book is about - if Tamsin Kennard is the narrator I'll give it a listen.

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

From the moment I started, I was hooked. The tension, the suspense, the way the story unfolded—it had me completely absorbed.

At first, I found myself paying close attention to certain characters, especially when reading aloud, but once I settled into the flow, it all became much easier to follow. The writing pulls you in, making every twist and revelation even more intense.

As a mother, I know stress is part of the package, but the protagonist’s experience was on a whole different level. After a sudden and shocking death close to her, everything begins to unravel. She doesn’t know who to trust, and that creeping sense of paranoia seeps through the pages, making me question everything right alongside her.