Mother May I is Joshilyn Jackson's newest thriller. The audio version was spellbinding in its intensity; I listened over the course of one day. The main character, Bree, has the life she has always dreamed of: a wealthy, loving husband, two talented, beautiful daughters, a new baby son, and a worry free life.....until she wakes to see a witchy- looking apparition peeping into her bedroom window.
Her life literally changes forever from that point on: her son is kidnapped. How far would you go to rescue your child---whom would you be willing to sacrifice ? Do you really know your family and friends? The characters and situations drive this racing plot through the darkest emotions of power, privilege, and revenge. The ending was satisfying, as I like all the loose ends securely tied.
*Trigger warnings* include rape, drug use, binge drinking, murder, suicide, child murder, and profanity.
Thank you #NetGalley#Harperaudio#MotherMayI for an Audio version ARC of this book. My honest opinions are my own---I review books I enjoy so that others may enjoy them, too.
The narrator, the author, does a great job reading this book.
COMING APRIL 6, 2021

This book had me hooked from the get go. The story is an absolute Rollercoaster, the characters well written and intriguing. I couldn't put the book down.
I will be recommending to everyone I know when the book is released!

This book was so good I actually dreamt I was living the story. When a story can invade your dreams you know you are invested. I listened to the audiobook (the narrator is the author so she understands the characters very well) it was a fast paced thriller. I was terrified for the characters and parts (as a mother) were super hard to listen to. The story is very realistic to the point I had to remind myself this was not based on real events. (I live where the story is based so I think that was messing with me too) I highly recommend reading or listening to this book.

The audio is fantastic and kept me engaged the whole time. I appreciated the narration and it paired well with the pace of the book. The story itself threw me for a loop in a good way, I enjoyed the characters and appreciated all the threads of the story. The ending surprised me and I greatly appreciate being able to listen to an audio early, Joshilyn Jackson is talented.

This was a good thriller. There are some trigger warnings for sure in regards to rape but overall I thought it was well written and one of her better stories. Even when you think it's over there is still quite a lot left!

I have always enjoyed Joshilyn Jackson's fiction, but I think she has really gotten her grove on with her more recent forays into the mystery/thriller genre. The first book in this vein was Never Have I Ever, which was solid. But, the upcoming Mother May I is even better!!! And, I long ago began to exclusively listen to her novels because she's a delightful narrator. Trained as an actress, she puts her talent to good use on her own books. If you enjoyed Gin Phillips' Fierce Kingdom, you will like Mother May I.

I listened to this over the course of two days. I couldn’t put it down. Joshilyn Jackson wrote and narrated Mother May I, her latest thriller.

A wealthy, stay-at-home mother discovers her baby was kidnapped while she turned her back for a moment. In his place was a note instructing her to go straight home if she ever wanted to see her baby again. She and her best friend’s widower (a detective, conveniently) race to find her baby before her wealthy husband and in-laws find out he’s missing. Along the way, they discover a horrifying incident in her husband’s past that led to the kidnapping.

The story is well paced and captivating. The reader is going to have suspend disbelief a few times. Why didn’t they just call the police? There were plenty of opportunities. The ending was nice and tidy.

The author as narrator isn’t always the best choice, but in this case Jackson was a great performer. I recommend the audiobook without reservation.

A baby is kidnapped and this story is what Brie her mom will do to get her baby back. There are themes in the book about a mother’s love and how far they will go for their child. There are possible triggers for people who have been sexually assaulted in this book. The voice of the witch I’m pretty sure I will be hearing in my nightmares for a long time. This is my 2nd Joshilyn Jackson book and I’ve enjoyed them both. I received this book through Netgalley thank you Harper Audio for allowing me to have access to this book.

Mother May I

The book started out with a compelling creepiness, but it lost me just as quickly as it grabbed me.

I felt like the narrator was constantly reminding me of what was happening and how she felt about it. Some of this did seem necessary for added impact, but it mostly felt overdone and artificially dramatic. It felt like filler and suggested to me that the author doesn’t trust her readers to think and feel on their own. I find this very unappealing, as I don’t need my hand held as I’m led through a story.

Some of the things the readers are expected to believe about the villain are so far-fetched: She slips away with the baby after Bree looks away for just a moment and no one notices, even though most of the people present would have known Bree and her baby. The culprit is supposedly too sick to carry out the deed she asks of Bree, but she is not too sick to kidnap a baby and make a fast getaway. Sometimes when I’m already so disillusioned by a story, suspending disbelief is just too difficult.

All of these factors are making this reading experience incredibly unenjoyable for me. I’m going to leave my thoughts on Goodreads as me simply not being the right reader, rather than hashing all of this out for a book that other readers will be able to positively promote. I won’t share these thoughts publicly on my Facebook page or Instagram either since sharing will not benefit the author. I am abandoning this at the 30% mark.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my audio review copy. All opinions are my own.

Bree doesn't want to be like her mother, scared of everything, so when she sees the "witch" outside her window, she thinks she is going a little crazy. She sees her again when she is at her children's school and it's then when she realizes she does have the right to be scared. Bree's 10 week old son is taken and she has to do whatever this woman tells her so that she is able to get him back.
Secrets are unearthed that have been buried for years and she feels like she is in over her head. Luckily, her friend Marshall is there to help her solve the mystery of the past. She must sift through all the clues from her husband's past to figure out what this woman wants.
As she learns these secrets, she has to decide what she is willing to live with and what she will do to get her child back. This book left me on the edge of my seat and I wasn't planning on finishing it in one day, but I HAD to know what happened. I loved the ending here, I would have been mad if it came out any other way.
The audio was fantastic and the voices were on point. Thank you to Harper Audio, Netgalley and Joshilyn Jackson for and early copy of this audiobook.

3.5 stars

Full disclosure: I LOVED _Never Have I Ever_, so I came into _Mother May I_ with very high expectations and was thrilled to receive access to the audio arc. While I enjoyed this work overall, there are a few elements that really hampered my excitement over time.

The m.c., Bree, experiences the kidnapping of her child in the beginning of the novel, and I still struggled to feel sympathy for her based on all other aspects of her personality. She is very serious about her acting life, which is...weird. I felt like she referenced it so regularly, and it actually started making me laugh with subsequent mentions. You're no Daniel Day Lewis, Lady. I don't think your acting chops are getting you through or out of some of these circumstances. On a distinct but related note, Bree and other characters spend a lot of time thinking and talking about rape. I really struggled with some of the language, portrayal of, and pontificating around this subject, so much so that it detracted from my overall enjoyment of the novel as a whole.

I do think many readers will enjoy this thriller, but it didn't give me the kinds of twists and turns I was hoping for from Jackson.

Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson is a crazy, suspenseful thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat until the last page.

Bree’s infant son was taken from next to her when Bree looked away for a few minutes. In Robert’s place is a note saying Bree needs to fall all the instructions she will be given and not contact the police. Bree is provided a burner phone to talk to the woman that stole her baby. Bree learns the mysterious woman is a mother trying to get revenge for her daughter. Bree still has no idea who this woman is. What lengths will this woman make Bree go for revenge? What will Bree do to get her son back? Why is Bree involved?

Mother May I grabbed my attention from the beginning. This is a great thriller that I highly recommend. Bree would do anything for her family especially after an unknown woman took her son. Bree ends up doing things she would never usually do. Bree is given directions that will cause her to lose her son or someone else. Bree is struggling with what to tell her husband. Bree turns to Marshall, an old friend, for help. Marshall is a genuinely good person. He is an ex-cop so has useful skills to help Bree. I loved the story and could not put this book down.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Joshilyn Jackson and loved it. I love when the author narrates the book because the reader really gets to experience the author’s emotions.

Thank you William Morrow, Harper Collins, Harper Audio, NetGalley and Edelweiss for Mother May I.

Bree Cabbat has come a long way from her humble beginnings in rural Heard County Georgia. She is married to a man she never could have imagined growing up. She has 3 beautiful children. She lives a charmed life until one day her whole world is thrown off it's axis. Bree's infant son is kidnapped right under her nose. How could this have happened to her in her perfectly insulated world? The woman who took her son says she can have him back... if she performs a simple task. Bree agrees. She would do anything to get her son back. ANYTHING.

We follow Bree as she sets about completing the task given to her by the kidnapper and as she tries to figure out why her? Why her son?

Joshilyn Jackson has a way of making her readers examine just how far they would go to save someone they loved. The pacing was just right. I didn't want to put it down. Would definitely recommend.

I have to say I went into this book expecting something completely different; the synopsis we are given is only a very small portion of the story and about 25% of the way in, it takes a completely unexpected turn. It got darker than I was expecting (which is not at all a bad thing) but I think readers will be misled if you’re expecting a book all about a mother following orders to get her baby back.
I had a lot of fun with this one, it was definitely very entertaining and fast paced, but there were times when I felt like there almost ~too~ many reveals being crammed in. Just when you think everything is wrapped up and solved, there’s still 70 pages left of the book.

Bree Cabbat is a Georgia stay-at-home mom who locked down what appears to be a perfect life. She married into a powerful, wealthy family much the opposite of her difficult upbringing by a fearful and struggling single mom. Her charmed life now includes a lawyer husband she deeply loves, two thriving teenage daughters, a baby boy, and the quintessential trappings of a southern woman of privilege.

That is, until the day Bree's infant son vanishes from his car seat and she is left with only a note and a set of instructions to follow. To save her son, she must do one harmless little task to satisfy the kidnapper's cryptic demands. But as Bree will discover, nothing she is being asked to do is what it seems and the consequences of her actions may destroy her family forever.

________________________________________

As expected by the title, motherhood is at the heart of Mother May I. As a person who does not have children, the beleaguered and angry suburban mom trope often fails to connect with me. That's not to say I don't feel for characters put into desperate situations, but it doesn't send my anxiety into overdrive like it will for people who can relate more strongly.

In spite of the main premise not being a good fit for my personal tastes, I was engrossed by Mother May I and finished in just one day.

The author, Joshilyn Jackson, deftly kept up the pace of the story by weaving more than one mystery into the overall narrative. Yes, it's about a mother trying to get her child back from an evil person. But moreover, this is a story of the secrets people keep, the false fronts maintained and cultivated, and what revenge looks like to someone who has nothing left to lose.

There are times while reading I feared Bree would become conveniently stupid, simply to make it easier for the author to manipulate the outcome. Luckily, Jackson doesn't ever fully commit to that kind of misstep so tempting to thriller authors and their woman characters.

Instead, Bree struggles between staying in a bliss-filled lie, or confronting reality head on. The reader is drawn into her struggle and I found myself relating to her Catch-22 instead of writing her off.

At the end of this book, all readers are faced with the same moral dilemma as the main character: How much collateral damage is acceptable in the pursuit of fairness, truth, justice, and revenge? In her narration, Bree frequently reminds us that two things can be true. Mother May I lets readers weight the scales themselves about some very important and timely themes, without providing the answers.

4.5 stars, with my only quibble being parts of the conclusion. I understand it can be hard to wrap up things in a satisfying way, but the sudden stop and then a fast-forward so far ahead felt a bit abrupt. Still, a highly-enjoyable read I would recommend for anyone who enjoys fast-paced thrillers with a mystery component.

"Mother May I" by Joshilyn Jackson, Expected Publication Date: April 6, 2021.

My thanks to William Morrow, Harper Audio, and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Mother May I is one of Joshilyn Jackson's best! It's a dark domestic suspense novel that will have you dying to find out what happens next. It is based around the sentiment that a mother will stop at nothing to protect her child. A very unique and thrilling plot, with well developed characters and an engrossing storyline. I highly recommend this bone chilling novel!