I was quite intrigued with the cover and premise, but unfortunately this one fell flat. I felt there were two stories; the first half lead right into Bree’s baby boy, Robert, being kidnapped. It was suspenseful and twisty because of the rules & tasks she had to follow. What extremes would mothers go to to get there kids back?! The second half felt different with new characters and mystery. It’s a bit confusing to follow and a bit long. Thank you to William Morrow, the author, and NetGalley for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.

Link to my Instagram review:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKb_XtuAktl/?igshid=1ts47p1ubaitb

I should have known after disliking Never Have I Ever that Mother May I would not be my cup of tea, but the premise sounded so promising!

But I don't like the voice and I don't like the main character, so I really don't care what happens to her or her family. That sounds awful when it's a book about a kidnapped baby, but this one wasn't for me. And I think I'm going to close the book on trying this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow through the Scene of the Crime book club for making this advance copy available for review.

This is the first Joshilyn Jackson book I have read and I will be reading more! Every once in a while I like to mix things up and throw in a good thriller/mystery book. Mother May I was such a good read. Starting off seemingly innocent, and then right away you are in the thick of things trying to figure our where the story is going. A very good read that kept me guessing.

Mother May I was a great Book. I really enjoyed it. I always enjoy books by Authors from my home State. Bree is strong women raised by a strong single mother. She will stop at nothing to get her son back. This book sucks you in and is chilling page turner. there are a lot of dark secrets in this book. I don't want to give to much away! It isa must read! I give it 5 stars. I could not put it down. Thank you for the opportunity to read the arc copy!

Wow - every time I had to put this book down, I couldn’t wait to pick it up again. A baby is abducted, and of course the mother will do ANYTHING to get her son back. She follows the abductor’s instructions, and things spiral out of control in a hurry. She is horrified to find out that an episode from her husband’s distant past is the reason that the family has been targeted. A lot of suspense - will they get the baby back? Can the marriage survive the revelations from the past? I’m giving 5 stars, though it’s really 4.75 — I could see early on how one thing was going to end up - though how the story would twist its way to that ending, I didn’t see. My favorite Joshilyn Jackson book.

Thank you @bookclubgirl, William Morrow and #netgalley for allowing me to read an arc of Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson. What a page-turner! I knew from the blurb that Bree was going to have to do something to get her son back, but what? And then I was OMG.
I loved Bree, who was doing her best to hold everything together and how her background gave her insight. I liked how Marshall was always on her side and involved in what she was doing.
While the story line was pretty typical, the writing was really great. I appreciated how the concepts of privilege and perception were woven into the story.
If you want a thrilling, roller-coaster of a read, this is it.

“Mother May I” is a thriller in which Bree Cabbat, who is married to Trey, a wealthy upper class lawyer, has her infant son abducted by an elderly woman while Trey is out of town on business. Expecting a ransom demand, Bree is surprised to discover that the woman wants her to go to a law firm cocktail party and spike the drink of one of Trey’s law firm partners, who also happens to be his cousin and fellow college alum. When things go awry after Bree follows the abductor’s instructions, using the drugs provided by the kidnapper, Bree turns for help to Marshall, a childhood friend, former cop and investigator for her husband’s law firm. What ensues is a race against time, as Marshall and Bree try to find out who the woman is, why she appears to have a grudge against Spence, and where she might be holding Bree’s infant son.

Although I have read and enjoyed most of Joshilyn Jackson’s YA books for their beautiful prose and well developed characters, her latest thriller, “Mother May I” is not up to her usual standards. Awkward, stilted prose with short choppy sentences, and uneven pacing make this a difficult book to enjoy. Another annoying aspect of the book is the confusing chronology, in which the narrative doubles back in time and repeats events from another character’s perspective. These different perspectives alternate between a first person account where the story is told from Bree’s point of view, and third person where Marshall is the focus. At the start of each chapter, it takes awhile to figure out who is the focus because there are no chapter headings to provide a clue.

This book had an interesting premise and would have been satisfying but for the issues with choppy prose, uneven pacing, and a confusing chronology. If the reader can set aside these issues, the storyline itself is entertaining.

Well written with good character development but very predictable to me. A woman’s baby is kidnapped and she is encouraged to do some unspeakable acts to get her baby back. But why? It honestly was a struggle to get through this. Too many twists and turns I was getting whiplash and confused. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

4+ stars

Bree wakes up one morning convinced a witch was peering into her bedroom. Later on her infant son is kidnapped and Bree must do something in exchange for getting back her son.

I have read several Joshilyn Jackson books and she has a great way of building characters. Mother May I was a solid mystery that made you want to keep reading.

I ended up reading half and listening to half with an audio book. I liked listening to the author reading her book.

A mother’s worst nightmare: Bree turned around and her baby was NOT THERE! It turned out to be far from a simple kidnapping, and nobody knew who’d be alive or dead at the end of this thriller.

The chapters alternate between Bree and Marshall, her friend (and best friend’s widower), and even though his crushing on her got a little annoying, I’m always a sucker for alternating perspectives. Her husband Trey was out of town for work, which we find out was by design because she wasn’t allowed to tell him, the police, or anyone else about the kidnapping. Luckily for her Marshall is a PI and former detective, and eventually he figured out something was going on. They went down a long and windy path to solve the mystery of why this seemingly nice old lady would kidnap her son and where she had taken him.

Jackson is an expert at describing characters from different classes and easily demonstrates the different filters through which they view the world. How one event could be the end of one person’s life as they knew it and at the same time mean nothing to the others. Reading this was worth all the lost sleep from staying up to finish it! Joshilyn Jackson’s writing is better than it has ever been!

Big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow what a premise! Take your kids to a school function or of them is kidnapped and in order to get them back you have to harm someone. The back story on why the victim and what in the past caused this to happen were fascinating. What you do in your past impacts your future for sure. I found myself feeling bad for Bree who just wanted her family back together. I really enjoyed this one and the happy-ish ending!

My first book from this author and I very much enjoyed it! Suspenseful from the start and kept me up way too late into the night trying to finish it. Four stars.

Mother May I sucked me in from the very first pages and kept me reading late into the night. The pace is a little different than I expected, but it worked, and I really needed to know how it ended. Perfect domestic thriller: not too gory, just the right amount of back story, and plenty of suspence.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️Review⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mother May I - Joshilyn Jackson

Rating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ohhhhh myyyy goooooodnessss! This book is one of the best books I’ve read in a while.
One of the reasons why I loved it so much was the fact that it reminded me of all my true crime podcasts that I love to listen to (especially #myfavoritemurder and #themurdersquad)! Yesterday I couldn’t wait to get off of work so I could finish it.

Thanks to @netgalley, @joshilyn_jackson and @williammorrowbooks for allowing me to review #mothermayi

Release date - April 6, 2021

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤 ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤

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This was un-put-down-able. I read it in one day and I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. I was hooked from the very start and did not see the twists coming. I always enjoy Joshilyn Jackson’s books and this one did not disappoint. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. 4.5 stars

Wow. This domestic thriller hit it out of the park! The psychological suspense kept me devouring until late in the night. A gripping storyline that will open your eyes more to #metoo. A"mistake' made while young can have vast ripples of consequences... Highly recommend. #n etgalley #joshilynjackson #mothermayi #upcomingthrillers

Page turning suspense. I have enjoyed Ms. Jackson's previous books and this one did not let me down.
I did not want to put this book down- I read it in one sitting!

I am a fan of Joshilyn Jackson. This book did not disappoint. I loved the twists and surprised in this psychological thriller. I will be ordering this book for the library and I am sure many will enjoy it.

I’m a fan of Joshilyn Jackson but this one just did not hit the mark for me. The first 1/2 was ok. I love the suspense of a good kidnapping story. But then the story took a strange turn and I honestly got bored and was not at all invested. There were a lot of descriptions of the rambling thoughts of the main characters that I found myself skimming through because they did not impact the plot in any way. I kept reading, thinking that maybe there’d be an amazing twist or profound, game-changing revelation at the end, but, sadly, that never happened.

An edge-of-your seat domestic thriller that will keep you turning pages!! The suspense and the mystery-solving were top-notch, but suspend your disbelief for the second half of the book, because it all becomes too good to be true. I was also holding out hope for a seriously jaw-dropping twist, given that so much was made of Bree’s acting abilities, and how great of a mother she is. Overall, the theme of sexual violence gives the ending some weight and outweighs the wild goosechase of the climax. An excellent and enjoyable book-highly recommended!!