Classic suburban drama for white women. I don't mean this as a bad thing, it's just what this is.

Katie Sise has written a thriller that follow the normal tropes of "Big Little Lies" and throws in twists and turns and affairs and kids.

It's good, but...eh, I've read it before.

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

Katie Sise has written a nivel with so many layers to the mysteties that fill the pages. The readers will not be able to put it down without knowing what happened and the secrets do not stop coming. The women that feature in We Were Mothers are complex and multidimensional. Little A has a winner on their hands.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley, as well as Amazon First Reads for allowing me to read this ARC. It is definitely in the vein of Big Little Lies, in that it is slow building. I could not connect, could not dive into it, and overall could not wait to put it down. The writing and dialogue did not do it for me, which makes me sad because I was eagerly anticipating this book!

'Mothers took their children’s behavior so personally, and Sarah thought it was a waste of energy, because when you’re a mother you have zero control, and having a child is a tremendous act of optimism bordering on magical thinking. It was the biggest chance you could ever take.'

It appears for the women in this novel, the second biggest, most dangerous chance they can take is on love. I don’t say that in the light-hearted ‘love is adventure’ way either. There are quite a few characters to keep track of, none of them seem happy with their love lives. Cora spends her time lusting over Jeremy, feeling ashamed for not being a better wife, for not yearning for her husband Sam more often. Jade can barely stomach Jeremy’s touch. There has been devastating loss, with the death of Maggie (daughter, sister, lover) years ago that no one has truly been able to get past. More painful still to her family was how she died, her own stupid fault as the drunk driver in the car accident that killed her the night of her sister Cora and Sam’s engagement party. Sam survived (Cora’s husband) and so did Jeremy, her friend who were both in the car. The wedding went on, Cora and Sam had twins George and Lucy and tried to make happy memories from the grief that remained. Everything seemed straight forward, Maggie made an irrecerseable stupid mistake, and it cost Maggie her life. Despite the facts, so much regret and shame reamins to share since that night, still so many secrets untouched that years will never be enough to bury. In deep sorrow, relationships formed, marriages happened, life moved along, children were born. Jeremy is married to Jade now, once very close to Maggie (devastated for deeper reasons after her passing) trying for a child, Jade barely feels a lick of attraction for him these days. As she struggles with the emotions she’s tried to close off, Jade fakes it hoping she can get through every moment of intimacy between them, shocking as he is very good-looking, charming and successful. She has her own secrets concerning her relationship with Maggie. Six years passing hasn’t made life without her any easier.

Children need babysitters, and Mira is a beautiful young woman, daughter of Dash and Laurel. What happens, though, when Cora discovers her journal describing a passionate encounter with Sam, her husband? Worse, what if that isn’t his biggest secret? How can she ever trust him again? Should she? Laurel is frightened when Mira turns up missing, and of course Sam is suspect. Worse, Laurel is dealing with her own marital problems with Dash’s increasingly aggressive behavior. His daughters, Mira and Anna, with the intense drama and confusion they cause bring his spiraling madness to head. Out comes the monster that Laurel has been cowering from, but is it too late to finally stand up for herself, her girls? To Sarah, who still grieves the death of her girl Maggie, Laurel seems pompous, with her ‘professionally blown out’ perfect hair. Disgusted by the ‘blame mothering’ as much as the one-upmanship game of women like Sarah, too she has to contend with her husband’s ‘not so new now’ wife. A friend once, of sorts, now by the side of the man she was meant to end her days beside. Then when they had a chance to try again, the shocking devastation of Maggie’s drunk driving accident. The panic attacks may have stopped, but there isn’t a day she doesn’t think of her girl until what she thought of as fact comes to light as a big lie. She will do anything, right or wrong, to keep her family safe, she can’t lose another daughter, she won’t!

This story is sometimes all over the place but it isn’t bad. The men aren’t worth a damn, sadly. Narcissistic, violent, criminal, selfish but good-looking. Is good looking a quality? No? Some of the characters worked for me, I liked Jade but would have preferred a little more meat to her and Maggie’s past. Jeremy I could take or leave, he was sort of just there. Sam, well he’s a real nightmare isn’t he? Dash goes from calm to hurricane at the snap of a finger, which is the point when dealing with abuse. Mira is naive, a bit stupid but that’s youth sometimes. Laurel is the perfect example of women who put on a persona to hide the destructive lives they suffer behind closed doors. I don’t think there could be a sadder bunch of women in one story, nor men who will do nothing but turn you off men in general. I think there are some characters that could be worked on, but it was a decent story. You think it’s going to be the typical young girl, affair, murder… it isn’t. The mystery is buried in Maggie.

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Little A

This was a delightful dose of suburban melodrama! The author did a great job capturing each individual storyline and writing it so that the reader did not get them confused.

I was so interested in this book that I even bought it through Amazon First Reads - I had it sitting on my Kindle for about a week before I received the opportunity to preview this book. I started it last night and tried to read it. I tried. I gave it more chapters than I usually do when something doesn't capture my attention. I just couldn't connect with the characters. Cora? Too abstract and insecure. Jada? You married someone who slept with your best friend? Sarah?Get over it - he fell in love with someone else. Live your life - not the one you had with him.

Loved this story about motherhood,and the different mothers it portrayed.
Very interesting storyline,and liked the way each chapter was dedicated to different characters,heloed the reader a lot to get into the character of the mother and the way they acted.
Definetly a book on everybodies reading list.

So... I was going back and forth between a 2 and a 3 star for this one. BUT, I've been told that apparently I'm very critical of my books and am hard to please SO... I'm looking at the positives of this one my friends :)

This reminded me a little bit of Big Little Lies but unfortunately fell flat to that comparison. But, I loved the neighborhood mamma drama scene here and love the neighborhood gossip! :) If you love the lies, gossip, and drama with neighbors this book is THE book for you :).

I was a bit confused at the first start of the book especially with the opening scene... was scratching my head a bit.

It's a bit of a slow burn... but the last 40 percent of the book was definitely a page turner! There were PLENTY of twists in this book... but I think it was a tad bit of twist overload. I felt like the author was just throwing twists left and right just because. Some of them were thrown in from left field and the others were predictable.

The action scenes between the mothers and neighbors were well done filled with action! But, I was hoping for more build-up and the tension for the reveal.

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

3 stars!

Published to GR/Amazon: 10/6/18
Publication date: 10/1/18

What a fantastic book! I loved every page. I was a bit sad when it ended. Hopefully we will enjoy more books from Katie Side! #netgalley #weweremothers

I received an advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
This one throws out every clichés of suburban melodrama, which is a far more accurate label for this book that mystery or thriller , but somehow it works . The tropes keep coming and none of these women ever feel truly 100% believable but the book is a very passable way to entertain yourself for an afternoon. Three stars out of nothing at all.

How many characters can you keep track of? This book will put you to the test. Let me help you: there's Cora and Sam O'Connell with their twins George & Lucy, Cora's mother Sarah Ramsey, Cora's father and step-mother Clark & Abby Ramsey, Jade & Jeremy Moore, Laurel & Dash Madsen with their girls Mira and Anna, the Finch family, Isabella and Terrence Washington, and Cora's dead sister Maggie who ties them all together.

Think Desperate Housewives, but instead of living on Wisteria Lane, four of the families (the O'Connells, the Moores, the Finchs & the Madsens) live in the Ravendale neighborhood. They all have secrets that others never would guess. Told from 4 points of view ( Jade, Laurel, Sarah and Cora), Katie Sise paints all of the characters with a bold and talented brush which makes them come alive in this book about marriage, friendship, the secrets we keep and the lies we tell.

There's nothing new here, but that doesn't make it less entertaining to read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Little A for allowing me to read an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a quick read and it did keep me guessing until the end. I liked reading from the different points of view of the female characters. The ending wasn't as satisfying as I'd expected or hoped. One main plot point was not fully explored, which I will leave vague to avoid spoilers. I am a big fan of Liane Moriarty and this book held glimpses of her style, but wasn't quite as compelling to me. I would read more by this author, but probably not her previous work in YA.

Sort of a Stepford Wives meets missing teenager mash up. Lots of pretty perfect suburbia until a girl goes missing. Well written and interesting but nothing new.