We Were Mothers by Katie Sise is really more of a domestic drama than anything. It’s one of those that I like to think of as popcorn books that you grab your popcorn and sit back and watch the drama unfold before your eyes as you read. This one really did deliver on the promised twists but a few of those may need to suspend disbelief a bit.

The story is told from the point of view of Cora, Sarah, Jade and Laurel. Cora is the young mother to two year old twins who finds her husband has cheated with the babysitter and Sarah is Cora’s mother. Jade is a good friend of the family who is considering adoption and Laurel is the mother of the teen that babysat for Cora’s family.

What we have in the book is different ways different generations handle things, struggles with life and love, abuse, lies and deception or dealing with loss among many other things. It’s a bit like reading a daytime soap opera but if you love a juicy drama then this one will probably be for you.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

An author to watch

In Ravendale, comfortably off families gather for the birthday party of two-year-old twins. Young mums discuss gluten-free diets and healthy snacks and plan fund-raisers. Grandparents do their stint of child-watching. Fathers wind up the kids and discuss deals.
So far, so suburban…
But beneath the façade lies a more ‘Desperate Housewives’ world, where men abuse and women compromise, where the memory of a dead young woman is a shadow over every event, where deserted wives try to carve out a life of their own.
It’s a powder-keg set to explode and it just needs someone to light the fuse.
This is definitely not the kind of book I normally read but I was gripped! Although some reviewers have found the cast of characters confusing, I enjoyed ‘meeting’ Cora, Sarah, Jade, Laurel et al as they each take the stage, and watching the author bring the different strands together.
I will certainly look out for more from Katie Sise.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the relationships between all the different women, young and old. There were many different parts to the story and the author did a fantastic job of drawing them all together at the end. Highly recommend!!

The cover of We Were Mothers looks pastoral at first glance, doesn't it? There are strewn flowers, and a clean, beige background. But look closer. Are those flowers wilted AND torn apart? Welcome to the world of Ravendale. It starts innocently enough, at a toddlers' birthday party. Yes, twin toddlers. Everyone gathered there has secrets, dark ones, and before the week is over, four women's lives have changed forever.

I read a lot of reviews describing this novel as a less successful Big Little Lies. I haven't read that book, but I guess I should, because I really enjoyed reading We Were Mothers! I didn't click with all the characters, but I was flabbergasted with the ways their lives detonated, and how one chain reaction led to another. It was a bit soap opera-y at times, and the ratio of men behaving quite badly was quite high. None of that really bothered me, however. It was a suspenseful, attention-grabbing read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I haven't read any novels by Katie Sise before but I am looking forward to reading more of her works in the future.

This book has multiple points of view with one of the main ones being Cora. The book opens at the birthday party for Cora's twin two year olds. When Cora goes upstairs to change one of the children she discovers a notebook with a secret regarding her husband and the babysitter. That's when things get interesting and the babysitter goes missing. From there the book goes between the four main character Cora, Sarah, Jade and Laurel. There are many twist where everyone has their own secrets that keep the story moving along at a fast pace. I really enjoyed this book and felt it was a quick read.

Huge thank you to Amazon publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I found this too formulaic and stereotypical. Women all played as "victims" and men as "perps". Too many elements to juggle. Characters over-drawn and practically chewing the scenery. If you like romance, this may be for you. But lovers of deep serious fiction should pass.

I really did not enjoy this book, and finished it simply because I wanted to find out how the author was planning to bring the storyline to a climax. The characters were all largely unlikeable, and the storyline it self was pretty far-fetched. I can deal with a small amount of artistic licence, but here I just felt like nothing was very believable and I just wanted the book to end. There was too much going on, too many points of view to switch between and keep up with, Too many plots points were thrown together with some expectation that it would work, but it just didn’t. I use reading as a hobby to relax and unwind, but this required so much thinking and interpreting of the given information that I didn’t enjoy it.

Such a great plot. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and author. There were twists that I did not see coming. You can feel the pain of these women. I would absolutely recommend this book.

Great book! So many different stories and twists! Loved it and will definitely recommend! I rate this book 3.7

The mothers in this story are all bound together in some way by the death of Maggie. At first they seem quite distinct couples living in Ravenswood and it opens with a birthday party being thrown for 2year old twins where we also meet the main characters.

The book does move through different time periods and between characters' points of view but it is all done seamlessly and slowly ratches up the tension as the plot takes unexpected turns.

I really enjoyed this book with its revelations being significant without becoming melodramatic. The plotting is excellent and the story very engaging. Many topics are embraced here and explored in a subtle and realistic way. Do you have to be a mother to appreciate it? I don't think so. Some of the themes are loss, infidelity, and guilt that are all universal. Of course motherhood is a theme too but there is plenty of complexity and layering here to keep any reader involved.

Suburban life, mothers protecting their children, secrets being kept, there were many different things going on in this book. Many characters with multiple problems made for an interesting if confusing story.. I enjoyed reading this one..

We Were Mothers takes place in an upscale suburban environment. When a girl goes missing, all hell breaks loose and secrets are revealed. The story is told from alternative perspectives. Unfortunately, this story didn’t work for me. First, it felt very similar to Big Little Lies. Second, the story did not have anything (or at least very little) to do with motherhood. The story was only somewhat plausible. It did not seem like a new story to me. It left me wanting more. 3/5 stars.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced Kindle readers copy of We Were Mothers by Katie Sise. I haven't read any of Katie Sise's previous novels but the description of We Were Mothers were very intriguing to me - suspense mixed in with the lives of the wealthy families. There are a lot of couples to keep straight, but it wasn't too difficult. I would say the main story line follows Cora and her husband, Sam, but there are actually Jade and Jeremy and Laurel and Dash to consider also. There are several twists and turns in the book - especially how the marriages have their secrets. It is the type of book I enjoy reading - the exploration of the wealthy and their lives. Cora finds out devastating information about her husband Sam - both past and current behavior - while Jade and Jeremy are struggling to conceived. Laurel and Dash's dirty secret is that he is abusive. Sam and Jeremy have THEIR secret, which involves Cora's dead sister, Maggie. I liked We Were Mothers enough that I would read it compulsively and finished it rather quickly. The writing is solid and engrossing and the storylines and characters were interesting enough for the reader to want to find out the conclusion. Overall, We Were Mothers is a suspenseful and worthwide read.

This is a story about secrets and lies in small town USA where everybody knows each other or so they thought ?. The story started off at a children's birthday party and is set over a weekend which is life changing for all the couples involved. It took me a while to get all the characters and their complications in place, however I enjoyed the read and I recommend tis book.

We Were Mothers by Katie Sise is a so-so soap opera of a novel full of secrets.

The novel is set in an upscale suburban neighborhood and the story unfolds through the points-of-view of four characters. Cora is the mother of two year old twins and understandably tired while trying her best. She finds a dairy of the neighbor's college-aged daughter, Mira, claiming that Cora's husband kissed Mira after a baby sitting job. Laurel is the neighbor, mother of Mira, and has secrets of her own. When Mira disappears, she is frantic. Jade is a friend of Cora. Her husband wants them to have a baby. Sarah is the mother of Cora and is still mourning her deceased daughter Maggie.

The narrative unfolds over the course of one weekend when events trigger a chain of circumstances that begin to slowly expose more and more secrets. Every chapter exposes a new secret and reveals a tangled mess of new information. All the women are distraught victims and all the men are scoundrels in this over-the-top melodramatic story. All the improbable twists affecting every character during this one weekend are farfetched and left me shaking my head.

If you enjoy scandalous melodramatic novels where everyone has a trunk full of secrets and can suspend disbelief when everything is exposed and hits the fan all at once AND don't mind that all the women are victims and the men villains, then by all means pick this novel up. Or if you want to read something mindless and fluffy with a flimsy soap opera plot full of caricatures without distinct voices or character development, then give it a try. There is, ostensibly, a message about empowerment for women at the end, but it arrived way-too-late to the plot. At least one character should have had the enlightenment to be true to herself long before this weekend happened.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the publisher.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/11/we-were-mothers.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2581474311
https://www.librarything.com/work/21919797/reviews/162037170
https://twitter.com/SheTreadsSoftly/status/1058404840555061248

This was a decent domestic suspense, although a little shallow in character development and plot build-up. Tons of what I would call character revelations and a good fast pace towards the end. Thank you to Little A publishing for the advance copy of this book!

Well that escalated quickly!! I could not put this book down. I had to know what was going to happen!

It’s hard to write a summary of this book without potentially spoiling some of the plot so I will just say it’s about seemingly perfect families in a wealthy neighbourhood and the secrets they keep.

We Were Mothers has a lot of twists and reveals along the way but they all seem organic and not forced. The characters learn things about each other and their history in a way that keeps you read just one more page. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys domestic suspense, a fast paced plot, and a lot of characters. It is told in a multiple POV style which does take a little more focus at the beginning to learn everyone’s name and situation but I found once I got them straight it was easy to read. Each of the characters has a different voice and situation so I found it easy to tell them apart after the first few chapters of each character.

Excellent book. Started off as a campy story of a neighborhood and all the residents and how they knew each other and then quickly became extremely serious as you got a close up look at their lives and lies. Told seamlessly from the point of view of many characters throughout the story. Domestic thriller dealing with many issues from murder, domestic abuse, and teen pregnancy. Fast paced and very hard to put down, I throughly enjoyed this book. I will now be putting all Ms Sises books on my list to read.

The opening scene is a birthday party for two year old twins hosted by Cora and her husband. Now we all sort of know what that is like; huge competition to have the perfect party, perfect food, entertainment etc., etc. What I felt I was presented with was a jumble of people (who I just couldn’t pin down – who was who), why wasn’t Cora focused on anything; what was her relationship with this person and on, and on and on. There were twists and turns and unexpected happenings but I didn’t care. Didn’t like anyone. All too contrived and all too confused.

Sorry, didn’t work for me.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

The style of the story is narrative with flashbacks, foreshadowing. It includes lots of outer dialogue mostly done through conversations. The mood comes off as dark with a suspenseful undertone. The story is written in the third person with an omniscient narration with indirect characterization and some direct characterization by fellow characters. There is a mixture of internal and external conflict, the main internal conflict comes off as guilt as the theme is looking past what you believe you are seeing.

Jade is the most close of main characters. She hides a lot of herself, including her knowledge of the past and many secrets involving those around her. Laure in the most timid of the characters. She wants to do the right thing but often finds it difficult for what she believes are moral reasons. Sarah is the most obsessed character. She lives in past whether it be obsessing over her divorce and death of her daughter, this often makes her forget her living daughter. Cora is the most confused character. She isn't sure what she wants and tends to care about everyone else's opinions. Dash and Laurel have an unfair power based relationship. Dash is aggressive and Laurel appears weaker and willing follows him for the safety of her children. Jeremy and Sam also have a power struggle of a friendship. They both share a major secret in common but have very different reasons for either wanting it to come out or keeping it under wraps.

The expositions starts off perfectly normal while creating some suspense but also adds lots of mysteries and introduces all of the relationships. The rising action leads to secrets and a mystery, it explores the flaws of characters. The climax reaches a peak when both mysteries reach the height of suspense and blend together. The resolution closes off both mysteries but also shows how the characters have moved on and evolved.

I enjoyed the author's use of power and secrets and adding the effects it has on relationships, friendships, family and all aspects of live. This book was chosen because of the synopsis accessed on NetGalley. Readers who enjoy a mystery, multiple character growth, multiple problems going on at once, mind tricks and changing storylines. Readers who do not enjoy failed justice, use of BDSM, secrets amongst friends and spouses and impaired driving accidents.