This story had potential but unfortunately I wasn't invested in it. Still I forced myself to keep reading to the end. Lara really was an unlikable character. In spite of trying to sympathies for her, I wasn't able to do so. I recently become a mother too and I understand what a postpartum depression can do to a woman. But here, I felt that Lara was selfish to think all about herself. The kind of woman she was before having the baby made it even difficult to change her after she had a baby. I wish the writing was a little easier and less abrupt.

The gradual build up was so well done, it shows how easy it is to get to the extreme end of postpartum depression.

This a great book about motherhood and how lives change in becoming a mother. Lara the main character was hard to like and relate to at times, but I had to know how this ended. Defiantly different that the types of books I normally read but I would recommend this to a friend.

I really did not like this book and could not finish it.

Incredible book, strong and powerful. A novel that tells the reader things that definitely he/she would not expect to read. Highly recommended, especially to all mothers.

The journey that Lara goes through to get to motherhood is rough and unexpected, and then when she finally has what she thinks she wants, she finds motherhood itself to be markedly different than she anticipated. She becomes someone she never imagined and struggles to find a way back to some semblance of herself.

Wow. There is actually a great deal to unpack here. Maybe the intent of this book was to highlight the realities of postpartum depression (PPD), but I feel that is vastly oversimplifying. Admittedly, this might be because there are many parallels between Lara’s experience and my own, so this book made me feel all the feelings. That made empathizing with Lara easy, even on the occasions when I didn’t share her feelings or perspective (and trust me, there were times I found her profoundly unlikeable). It also made me react emotionally at certain parts of the book that just hit too close to home. Even when I didn’t like her, I felt a comradery with Lara that made me a little protective when things started to go bad at the end.

The truth is, I’m struggling to review the book rather than write an essay comparing my experience with Lara’s. Which speaks volumes for the authentic voice and tone of the book. There were a few details about the infertility process that didn’t jive with my experience (as is often the case on television shows where they never seem to even try to get it right), but I fought back my irritation, reasoning that maybe they do things differently in other parts of the country. There were times where her husband Will made me want to break things, but that’s mostly because his reactions were painfully familiar. See? Authentic. And her attitude towards motherhood in the beginning was irritating. I’ve got no issues with women choosing not to have children, and I don’t even care why. But ridiculing others for their procreation choices while being insulted when they ridicule yours? That’s called hypocrisy, my dear. But also? Pretty authentic. ;)

*****************************MINOR SPOILER ALERTS*****************************

Two points of contention: I think this representation of postpartum depression (PPD) is pretty severe towards the end. Not saying it can’t get that bad (I’m no doctor, as I assume you all know), I just don’t think that hallucinations and violence are typical for most sufferers of PPD. In fact, I don’t think it’s appropriate, given the severity, to label it postpartum depression. It seems more like postpartum psychosis to me, which much more severe and pretty uncommon. Also, having suffered through infertility myself, and having participated pretty heavily in the virtual infertility community during those years, I’d like to point out that the majority of people who are struggling to get pregnant don’t go around trying to walk off with other people’s babies. This is a perverse and unfair distortion. That Lara did something so unstable prior to getting pregnant tells me she likely already had severe mental health issues that needed addressing, and given that behavior, her postpartum mental health issues shouldn’t be a surprise.

*************************SAFETY ZONE (NO MORE SPOILERS)************************

At the end of the day, I found the book to be really well written , and with few exceptions, an honest – and painful – portrayal of the challenges of infertility and postpartum depression (or psychosis). From the strains on her marriage to her mixed feelings about her baby, to the judgement she felt coming from every direction about every decision she made about her family, it all felt a little like I was walking backwards in time, experiencing it all again. I can’t say how someone with none of these experiences will process this book. It is fiction, but taken with a grain of salt, it could be very enlightening. For those who have been some of the places Lara has been, it might be a bit too painful and sometimes frustrating, but also quite validating, too. Either way, a book worth reading.

As a type A - childfree woman working in Marketing , I found this a little hard to read. Lara is Type A, single and working hard to be a success in Marketing. She meets Will at her father's funeral and they fall in love. Lara puts off motherhood until she becomes obsessed with getting pregnant.

I didn't find Lara likeable in any sort of way. Even her battle with postpartum depression was annoying to me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book

It was nice to see the perspective of a struggling mom to be... and how the perspective of being a parent is different from non-parents and parents. It was on point and I could relate to the time before I was a parent in relation to after having kids. Your perspective on everything and how to handle things can be very different depending on your situation.
Touching on the subject of postpartum depression is hard, and I'm surprised we don't see it as often as we should. Having a glimpse into the mother's harmful thoughts was tough to read at times, but it kept my attention.
The reason why I didn't rate the book higher is because the story line felt rushed at times. It almost seemed as if I was missing parts of the book. The transitions between scenes in the book did not occur smoothly. I don't know if that was the author's intention. Overall, still worth the read.

I didn’t know it going in but this book takes place in my hometown of Richmond, VA and that made it all the more special to me. I could envision each and every thing in an entirely different way because I could see the places and things she describes. Yay, Richmond!

This is a very in depth exploration of motherhood – the quest for motherhood as well as the reality of motherhood. I resonated a lot with this story in part due to my own difficulty getting pregnant and my own experience after giving birth to my twins. This book did a great job at describing those experiences in a way that felt real to me as someone who has experienced them myself. It is brutal, raw, and real.

The character, Lara, isn’t particularly easy to like in many ways. She is definitely flawed and we explore every facet of those flaws throughout the book. Although I wouldn’t say that I related to her, I did understand where she was coming from and why she reacts the way she does. I didn’t need to like her to find her story compelling. In many ways, her inner arrogance about everything is what we see unfold as the story moves forward. I mostly felt sad for her, to know how disappointing it can be to finally get your wish and find that it’s nothing like you’d dreamed. There is a real rawness to this character and her experiences.

If you want to read a book that will help you understand what it is to yearn for a baby when your body isn’t cooperating, this book will deliver. If you want to read a book that will give you a realistic view of how life changes when a baby arrives, this book will deliver. If you want a book about how lovely it is to have a baby and how wonderful it all is, this book will disappoint. All in all, I definitely recommend this one. I was surprised by just how real it felt and how much it made me FEEL.

Lara wants a baby with her husband. They try various methods to conceive. Finally after many tries, Lara becomes pregnant. She is so very excited. She does everything to prepare for the birth of this child. She plans things and wants nothing more than to be a good mother. The one thing she does not plan for is post partum depression. This is a very good book about a subject matter that happens quite a bit. I found myself so engrossed in this book, it was read in one setting. Very good read. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book in return for my honest review. I highly recommend this book.

This was a great book and I so nearly gave it five stars but for me, there is one glaring reason why I can't. Why does the author insist on including so many sex scenes and sexual references?! Long before Lara and Will begin trying for a baby we are treated to scenes which just aren't necessary. I'm not a prude by any means but I do think in written word that less is more and that leading the reader to know that the couple are going to make love is enough without describing errections. Seriously, no one can do that without it sounding a bit creepy. I nearly decided to stop reading but decided to keep going as the subject matter is so close to my heart. Thankfully the scenes became fewer, or less over described or I became immune to the feeling that a 12 year old gets when they realise their parents have sex which is what the scenes reminded me of!!
Sadly I can identify with so much of what Lara went through. Although I already had 3 children, when I started trying to conceive my youngest child I went through 3 miscarriages and 3 years of obsessing, living on ttc forums and trying every old wives tales I heard of. Grapefruit juice and Brazil nuts anyone?
And while thankfully that eventually resulted in my wonderful daughter and a happy babyhood for us both, I suffered severe post natal depression after the birth of my first child and so could identify with that part of Lara's story too.
While this book may be impossible for women who are in those moments to read, I think women like me, who have come out the other side will love this book and the validation it gives. I met many people, women as well as men who sought to minimise the heartbreak of my miscarriages and the struggle to get pregnant and it is an incredibly lonely place to be.
I found the character of Will harder to connect with but in this instance that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I wanted to be focussed on Lara because it was Lara bearing the brunt of the pain, suffering and relentlessness of it all. In a way it highlighted how together a couple makes a baby but how physically, the woman's body copes with growing that baby, birthing it, suffering from the related hormones and then feeding the baby with her own milk.
Lara's ability to act 'normal' and seem to cope with parties, play dates, giving a jolly report to Will of their day's activities is perfect, totally, totally accurate from my description.
I will definitely read anything else this author writes or has written.
Reflecting on the title, the unprotected is the psyche, an embryo, a mother struggling with her first child when her partner goes back to work, the baby of a severely depressed mother? It covers so many things and more and can mean something very different to every reader I think.

This was sure a surprise of a read for me. A book about infertility and postpartum depression, who knew? Be careful what you wish for, your wishes may be granted!

Beautiful book on wanting to be a mother, and then finally getting it, just different than you expect. Little slow to start but very mesmerizing. This is a winner!

Great book! Loved the story! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!