Unfortunately I couldn’t get into this at all and ended up DNF at about a quarter of the way in, I just couldn’t connect and didn’t like the writing style. I thought I would enjoy this from the blurb but that didn’t end up being the case.

I really struggled to get into this and ended up having to leave it unfinished. I think it just didn’t grip me and wasn’t what I’d expected when I first got the book.

I unfortunately had a very difficult time getting into this book and found that it wasn’t for me. I encourage other readers to read other reviews though to decide whether this is a book for you.

Overall My Mother's Love was a thought-provoking thriller and debut novel by Rishika Chopra. The plot was engrossing and made me want to learn more about Alicia. Some parts could have used a bit more organization, such as the police solving the case because it just seemed off that the end was resolved quickly. I had so many unanswered questions and hope they will be followed up with a sequel.

Unfortunately, I could not get into the story and found myself DNF'ing at 25%.

I was really looking forward to this book but the writing style was not my favorite.

My Mother's Love: Is Love Ever True or Is It Just a Trickery? is the debut novel from Rishika Chopra.
The story begins with an apparent suicide and moves through different characters and their relationships.
I was not a fan of the writing in this story. It felt a bit like the author was trying too hard to use words that wouldn't normally come up in conversation. It detracted from the story. There are several very good reviews so you might want to read an excerpt to form your own opinion. Remember tha every book is not for everyone and this book was not for me.

From the synopsis of this book, I was intrigued. The story itself is okay, but I REALLY struggled to get through this one. There was incest upon incest, rape, and murder.
There wasn't a single part of this book that I had an image in my head; it was just little bits of all sorts of things. The dates and POV changed so often, I didn't know if I was before the murder or after and it took me so long to realize who was even talking that I was just left feeling confused. The only parts that went into enough detail were ones that I didn't ever want to have an image of in my head, like the rape, etc. I also really disliked how the mom told the raped daughter that she wasn't a victim and that the guy who did it was. And how Alicia was just murdered and his friend is like, "you need to get over her." WTF. Who even says that to someone? Not realistic at all. gah.
With some serious editing this might be a book that the storyline can come through and be seen, just wouldn't recommend with so many horrifying triggers and moments.

My Mother's Love' by Rishika Chopra is a crime thriller where the story revolves around the mystery of the death of the protagonist Alicia.

The Story starts with Alicia Frankford, a world-famous artist committing suicide. This news took everyone by surprise including her husband Paul but more than anyone it affected Cliff, Alicia's student cum secret lover. While everyone thinks its a suicide even her husband and the cops, Cliff is very much sure that it's not a suicide. He tries everything possible to find out the mystery behind Alicia's death.

So what's the mystery behind Alicia's suicide?
Is someone else involved in this crime?
Will Cliff ever find out?

Looking at the cover pic and the title if gives a different perspective to the reader whereas the story takes you by surprise and has a lot of mystery and suspense to it. The twists and turns and the sudden revelations of Alicia's past will keep you wanting to read more.

The narration of the story is very good and the language used is simple and lucid. I liked the overall story but the ending kind of fell short for me. I felt it could have been better. Apart from that, it was a great read.

If you love mystery, thriller and suspense then this book is a must-read.

I just finished My Mother’s Love by Rishika Chopra which was published in May. The plot itself is very intriguing and interesting- Alicia, a world famous artist, is found dead from an apparent suicide. The book dives deeper into Alicia’s story and the idea that the suicide may be murder. The characters are all intertwined which I liked a lot. The dialogue for me was hard to follow at times. There are some strong trigger warnings here for you of violent rape and incest so if you read this one please be aware of that. I always appreciate any author and their craft so thank you to the author and NetGalley for a chance to read and review.

I really wanted to love this book but I just couldn't. It was hard to follow and the parts you could were filled with rape, incest and lies. The lack of official chapters made the switch of points of view confusing.

I was given a digital netgalley copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Mrs. Alicia is a famous artist, not only known for her emotionally painted canvas but also for her beauty itself. Cliff a struggling artist trying to make his way into world of artists,
meets Alicia on one fortunate night to become the most eye-gawking and a very bold twist of Alicia’s life.

Characters:
Alicia: Artist
Cliff: 22yrs struggling art student

Weak Points:
o Grammatical flaws.
o Abundance of capitalization of words & sentences.
o Difficulty to connect with the characters and story.
o Lack of real story and more of representation.
o Improper and incomplete character development.
o Dragging the story by repetitively writing about characters emotions that were not even written in a way that reader can connect with them.
o Puzzling representation of the story.

Strong Points:
o New concept and fresh story.
o All dramatical elements with the motive to make the story interesting.

Conclusion: Frankly, my most disappointing book of the year. The story was being narrated by the author in a manner that the reader can’t visualize anything in the story at all. The story was just words and words simply, no connection was made to the reader. There were characters and plots which were left incomplete and played a very unsatisfactory role to make the story whole. Writing was weak from the beginning till the end of the story. The book was just not meant for me but may be someone who has gone through exact same emotions as shown in the book can read and relate to it better.

Thank you #netgalley for the #arc!!

Alicia Frankford, a famous painter with a successful career and a loving husband, shockingly commits suicide one day. This opens a lot of questions regarding her personal life and whether there was a foul play involved or not.

I was truly intrigued by the blurb of this book.
The author has done a good job of tackling difficult subjects like sexual assault and it's after effects on the victim or being in a toxic relationship and the mental and physical strain that it puts on an individual. The author has discussed about the changing and fragile nature of humans and how good things can turn sour because of it.

Alicia's character was complex and layered. It was difficult to see her go through some very traumatic experiences. We get to see how these events have created a long lasting impact on her life as she struggles to maintain her relationship with her husband and her friends.
Alicia was the main highlight of the book for me.

But sadly, the plot for this was very predictable. Due to this I was not very engaged with the story. The characters other than Alicia irritated me. They seemed very stereotypical and there was no growth for them in the story. Also, there was a lot of telling rather than showing in this, and that does not work for me. At times, the time jumps in the story became confusing to me.

At about 62% in the book, there is a major twist in the relationship between Alicia and a supporting character. I definitely did not see that one coming. While this did shock me, it did not work for me at all! Infact it decreased my enthusiasm to read further. This along with the predictable ending made me give a low rating.

The readers who don't see the ending coming and who don't mind the dark and serious topics discussed in the story will definitely enjoy this book.

Thank you for providing me with the review copy. The above words reflect my honest opinion. I will be posting this review on my bookstagram handle.

Thank you to Rishika Chopra for reaching out and providing me with a net galley copy in exchange for an honest review.
This fast paced thriller keeps you guessing with plenty of plot twists and cliffhangers throughout. The book is a tough read at times due to the triggering nature of suicide and rape. The author uses the story to send the message that rape is not and will never be ok.

Famous artist Alicia is found to have commit suicide at the start of the story but her lover Cliff stops at nothing to uncover the truth, leading him to discover more than he bargained for.

My Mother’s Love is the debut of Rishika Chopra. This is the kind of story that will keep you hooked from the first page, and will make you keep turning the pages with sub-plots and twists that you would never see coming. Some of the sub-plots are quite unsettling, and may trigger negative response from some readers, but the writer actually showed what is indeed happening in the society.
The book follows the story of Alicia Frankford, a renowned painter and art teacher, who commits suicide in the beginning of first chapter. The investigation follows, but it is clearly declared that it was a suicide without any evidence otherwise. Alicia, who went through an extremely disturbing childhood at the hands of her uncle, grew up to be an excellently well-renowned and rich woman. She married her high-school love, Paul, and a ridiculously famous lawyer, Trisha, was her best friend. One could ask that what more such a blessed woman ask for? But, as Shakespeare said, ‘all that glitters isn’t gold.’ In fact, Alicia’s life was not what it looked on the outside; she resented her husband, and fell for her student, Cliff. Moreover, there were dark secrets hovering in Alicia’s life. Dark, dark secrets and regrets that could lead any person to commit suicide. But then she was immensely affluent woman, and a few people could profit from that money if she died, like Trisha, Paul, or a missing child. Was she really murdered, or was it a suicide? Was Erica, who claimed to be Alicia’s daughter, really her daughter? What was the real identity of Cliff?
My Mother’s Love is a crime thriller book. The writer, Rishika Chopra, has done an excellent job in organizing the entire story. Almost every chapter ends with a cliff-hanger or twist that I definitely had no clue about. All the characters are dealt with adequate depth, but I had a bit of difficulty connecting with any of the characters. My only problem with the book was that I felt like the conversation between Alicia and Cliff was a bit digressed and immature. Also the conversation about art description was not well explored. Keeping in mind the explicit intimate scenes and dialogue, I would only recommend it if you don’t mind such explicit content.

I honestly did not like this book overall.

Things I liked:
The plot twists (where they were placed and the actual content- some didn't like it but I thought it was ingenious) the various characters, flashing from past to present.

However, the writing itself was really hard to get past. The dialogue for a lot of the characters is really immature and I found it confusing since the content is the exact opposite. "Spouse-hole" is used as a euphemism for vagina was pretty odd to me, and the rape scene was pretty triggering. There are some well-written parts, but it's intermixed with the stuff that isn't so great. It has the effect of Ms. Chopra taking writing from when she was a teenager, then pasting it in between really well-written stuff she's written as an adult.

If you read the synopsis and get confused, its ok.. it gets good with reading. The story is fast paced, controversial and alters between past and present alternate timelines. The characters are cryptic, but they also lack depth with was bothersome. Overall a nice, short read.
3.5/5 ⭐️
Thank you Publisher, Rishika Chopra and Netgalley for the arc. This review is my own honest opinion.

First of all, we would like to thank the author for giving us a free copy of her book.

The book starts with the death of Mrs. Alicia Frankford, a very famous painter who commits suicide. She had a so-called ‘perfect life’ with a loving husband and an amazing love affair, however it might not have been as perfect as people thought. The note she left behind was almost as a confession: she had a son. For some, it doesn’t seem as a suicide. So, who loved her for real and who killed her? That is a mystery for the readers.

The main idea is intriguing and even breathtaking. The whole affair which messed with her mind for the wrong reasons, the not so loving husband and all the secrets she so hardly tried to hide until her last moments. ‘My mother’s love’ is a great idea for a book, it has treason, love, murder and a very powerful message.

But that is just the idea.

The main message of the book follows you from the beginning and it can be a bit exhausting at times, but we understand it is a VERY important thing we have to discuss. Rape shouldn’t even be a word. We should not have to invent a word for things as awful as this one. We love that the author tries so hard to keep this in the reader’s mind, but it was too much by the ending. It is important? Obviously. But we also need to continue the story.

The characters are the ones you’ll find in this type of books, not much to say about them.

The writing is quite weird. We didn’t understand why it suddenly changed into cursive nor why some random words were in bold or capital letters. It just doesn’t make much sense… Another issue was with some sentences at the beginning of a passage: “(Inside the premises of Laurence School of Art)” (Up. 19). This works for a play, not for a novel.

All in all, the writing is not great, in fact is the main issue with this book, but the idea in general is very good. We would’ve loved it if it was a bit shorter too.

-L & Ali

ESPAÑOL/SPANISH

Antes de todo, muchas gracias a la autora por enviarnos una copia gratuita de su libro.

El libro comienza con la muerte de Alicia Frankford, una pintora famosa que se suicidó. Tenía una vida perfecta con un buen marido y una aventura maravillosa, pero podría no ser tan perfecta como se creía. La nota que dejó antes de morir era casi una confesión: tenía un hijo. Para algunos no fue un suicidio. ¿Quién la amaba de verdad y quién la mató? Es un misterio que resolver.

La idea principal está llena de intriga y a veces te sobrecoge. La aventura que juega con su mente por las peores razones, el marito no tan bueno y todos los secretos que apenas consigue ocultar hasta sus últimos momentos. ‘My mother’s love’ es una gran idea para un libro, tiene traición, amor, asesinatos y un mensaje muy potente.

Pero eso es solo la idea.

El mensaje más importante del libro te persigue desde el principio y puede llegar a ser agobiante en algún momento, pero entendemos que es MUY importante y algo de lo que debemos hablar. “Violación” no debería ser una palabra. No deberíamos tener que inventar un término para algo tan horrible como esto. Nos encanta que la autora se esfuerce tanto por mantener esta idea en la mente del lector, pero fue demasiado una vez que llegas al final. ¿Es importante? Sin duda. Pero también necesitamos que siga la trama.

Los personajes son del tipo de los que encuentras en estos libros, no hay mucho que decir sobre ellos.

El estilo es algo raro. No entendimos por qué cambiaba a cursiva o por qué había palabras en negrita o en mayúsculas, de repente. No tiene mucho sentido… Otro problema fue con algunas oraciones al principio de algún pasaje: “(Inside the premises of Laurence School of Art)” (p. 19). Son más parecidas a las acotaciones de una obra de teatro que a lo que debería haber en una novela.

En resumen, el estilo no es fantástico, de hecho es el fallo principal de este libro, pero la idea general está bastante bien. También, nos habría gustado si hubiera sido un poco más corto.

-L & Ali

Thank you, to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital copy.

I gave this book 2 stars...and here’s why:

Honestly, I didn’t finish the book. I could connect to the story and some of subject matter was too much for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My first impressions of this My Mother's Love was that it would be a murder mystery that I could post on my blog and talk about how if you were interested in this genre you should pick it up. However I can't do that.

I DNF'ed this book at 63% when I discovered that there was in*est in this book and I was uncomfortable and deeply disturbed by this, pushing me to not be able to move on further into this book. There was also a rape scene earlier in the book that I - while have seen rape scenes in other books - was very disturbed as to who had raped the main character.

My first thought was that maybe it was actually a ruse, that it was not in*est (who the main character had a relationship with) and that was one of the reasons I went further into the book, but the person who raped her was unexpected and to learn that she was having a relationship with a man in which she later finds out was actually an in*estuous relationship was something I cannot continue reading.

This book definitely shocked me and saddened me that I could not love this book.

And while I probably got an uncorrected copy, I found that this book was a more tell and not show. The whole time I was reading it there was nothing that would paint a picture in my head and I was merely reading words on a page. And perhaps it was the uncorrected format but I found that there were a lot of caps happening. All of a sudden you'll be reading a part of the book and then be reading words that have unnecessary caps lock on them. Maybe it was just my copy but that was not appealing at all. And the characters seemed to yell at each other too often and even when the time to yell was unnecessary.

I wanted to love this because murder mystery is one of my favorite sub-genres of mystery and thriller but this did not hit any of the boxes and left me feeling ill. I could not bring myself to finish this.

Thank you again to NetGalley for providing me an ARC.

Thank You NetGalley/Publisher & Author for this gifted ebook.

Summary--
Welcome to Whiskerson, the gullible town where nothing is as blissful as it appears. Known as the residence of the famous artist, Mrs. Alicia Frankford who one day got fed up of her impeccable life and took it away. But did she? She had the Perfect Life, The Perfect Husband and a Perfect Lover! She was fortunate enough to have had a love that made her go weak in the knees and one that compelled her to break the restraints of her heart. But which one of these was True? Is Love Ever True or is it just a Trickery?

Unravel the conundrum of her death along with her loving lovers, not so loving friends, her town and most essentially her Secrets, which Alas, never vanished like she did! Revolving in two time zones, uncover the lies covered so well and unveil the Sin which was unheard and unknown to the world, till now!

Review--
This was a crime thriller book. One of my most favorite genres ever.
This book was amazing.
Started out strong and lasted to the very end.
Love that.
It will keep you on edge through out it all.
You dont want to miss this book,
I loved the story...... I loved it all.

Rating-- 4/5