As a historical fiction fan, I was immediately drawn to the synopsis of this book. 1960s timeline, rural midwestern setting, two teenage girls, two unplanned pregnancies, one maternity home. I absolutely loved the first half of this novel. The reader learns the backstory on the two pregnant girls, and about their experiences at the Holy Family for the Wayward. This was so fascinating to me. It was also frustrating and a little difficult to read about. I couldn’t believe how these young women were mistreated and disrespected. It broke my heart. Unfortunately, once they both gave birth and then left the home, I quickly lost interest. The aftermath was rather uneventful, and just couldn’t hold my attention. My mind began to drift as I was listening. The writing just didn’t match the first part of the book, and it wasn’t as strong. Something was off. It almost felt like two different people wrote the book. For that reason, I had to knock my rating down quite a bit. 3.5/5 stars

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was a interesting book, something i would reread. definitely will recommend.

I was very excited to read this book, but couldn't do so because the book got archived before I had a chance to download it. I am still very interested in the premise and plot, so if I ever get a chance to read or listen to this, I will do so.

Thank you Netgalley and Highbridge Audio for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

I could not get into this book. I really tried. I listened to over half of it before giving up. DNF at 55%. I couldn't relate to any of the characters and that made it so I couldn't connect with the story. The Baby Scoop era is fascinating. I've read true stories about it. This book really encapsulated the misery and cruelty these women faced. I was an unwed mother when I had my first child. I couldn't imagine being forced to give her up. What happened to these young women was shocking and horrific. That being said, I just couldn't connect the true stories I've read with this fictitious account.

I am definetely not saying that this is a bad book. This is not a bad book. There will be many readers that will love this story, hence the high Goodreads rating, but I just didn't like it. The book was well written, but the prose was too poetic for my tastes. I would recommend this book to those who like historical fiction and intense dramas. Those are not really my genres. The audio was perfect. I think that's what kept me listening for so long. I just knew it was time to give up when I realized that I didn't care what happened to Doreen or Margie.

I will not be posting this to Goodreads or any other platform as I did not finish the book. I normally give DNF's one star, but because the writing was so good, I will give this one two stars.

Though this is fictional, it tells the story of two young women who represent many thousands who had this very experience and if we are not careful where we will wind up again. Two young women from very different worlds wind up in the same place when they become pregnant. The Holy Family home for “wayward’ girls. As if they got pregnant by themselves and yet they has zero say in what happened to them or their children. It’s an emotional and moving listen as both of these young women (really girls) move through their experiences at the horror of a home, face abuse, one had their child taken away, while the other struggled to raise a biracial child at a time when it was not even a little bit acceptable and the emotional impact it had on both of them forever. It’s an important story to read or listen to as though we’ve come so far, some young women aren’t in a terribly different place now and if we aren’t careful and not mindful of the past we are going to wind up right back there. My thanks to the author for this interesting and important

This is a beautiful novel about women sent to a Catholic home for unwed mothers and forced to sign away their babies in the early 1960s. This book deserves a wide readership, so I am disappointed to see how few readers have rated this on Goodreads (though glad to see the reviews are so universally positive). I think the cover might not be that appealing, but I hope people will look past that.

This novel tackles lots of hard issues (racism, sexual assault) while telling an engaging, heart-wrenching story about "the baby scoop," a term coined to refer to the period when young women were coerced into giving up their babies, another Catholic atrocity committed against its young members, but one that gets far too little attention.

The women at the heart of the book are richly drawn characters who I felt deeply invested in while reading about them. Of the two central characters, one has her baby taken and the other manages to keep her baby. Both women suffer in different ways as a result. But there is never a doubt which one got lucky, as while having a child weighs a woman down and short-circuits her choices, the pain she experiences is nothing compared to the anguish suffered by the woman who had her child stolen from her. I appreciated that there were good and bad men and women struggling with their moral choices in this story, only a couple of cardboard villains.

The novel also does a wonderful job of evoking the era in which this story is taking place. I highly recommend it!

Thanks to Netgalley and High Bridge Audio for giving me a free audiobook version of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and for giving me a free audiobook version of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

4.25
to anyone who is a fan of celeste ng or brit bennett, i definitely recommend reading this

there are many ways to tell a story about pregnancy and women's agency, but there are also many ways to fall into a same, repetitive mold. mcnees takes on the baby scoop era and gracefully avoids telling us a story we have already heard a million times.

she touches on topics of racism, sexual assault, and most importantly, the aftermath of motherhood whether that baby is in your arms or not. the writing was really good. the two main characters were fleshed out and i loved seeing their development. i really liked the ending and how the storylines were shown in parallel. and there is a relationship that forms around the halfway mark that truly has my whole heart.

my only reasons for not giving this a full 5 are some of the side characters that were slightly flat and were only there to aid the plot (which i totally get, but i would've loved for them to be a little fuller) and the n-word was used once in the beginning. i get that this is historical fiction, but i didn't think it was necessary (it was especially discomforting having a white person narrating the audiobook and saying it).

overall, this is a book that i made its impact and that i will remember which is all i really need from the content i read. i highly recommend!!

Books are funny. Some you connect with, some you don't. Sometimes you cannot figure out exactly why you do or do not connect. I DNFed two books in three days earlier this week. They were a struggle. I knew on the first page that this book was different. It was kind of like a slow sigh took over me- I knew this book was for me.

Set in the 60s, The Myth of Surrender tells the story of two teenage girls, sent to home for unwed pregnant girls. Margie and Doreen are very different- their paths leading to the home and after are very different. Yet, they are deeply bonded over a shared experience.

The narrator of the audiobook, Carlotta Brentan, is not one I am familiar with, but she did a good job. Well paced, clear, decent voices for dialogue.

I received an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of the Audiobook the myth of Surrender from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Overall I enjoyed listening to this book. The narrator Carlotta Brentan read with a lot of emotion which helped getting invested in the story. The characters developed a lot through the story and I found the plot really well thought-out. I will suggest looking at trigger warnings as a lot happens in the book. Finally I think this book is a great learning experience For anyone wanting to learn a bit about the history of adoption and how it can affect the women and girls who were forced to give up their babies.

Thanks #netgallery for this book in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed the two main characters and their story during different times of their life. For me, the later years were as important as the earlier years. How they adjusted, coped and grew during that time impacted my enjoyment of the story. Great book.

A time that seems so far away, but so eye-opening. This was a very well written book about two girls (chapters go between Margie and Doreen) who found themselves both young and pregnant. Their pasts were much different, but they became friends through their paths of being sent to a “home” to then eventually give their babies away. But, Doreen went a different path.

Later their paths crossed, they grew up, and created lives for themselves. I enjoyed seeing the two different paths that they took based off of their decisions and what was forced upon them. There was a lot of hurt, a lot of love, and a very deep novel.

Honestly, I would recommend! I think I would’ve enjoyed this novel if I read it vs listened to it. I wasn’t a big fan of the narrator, but it doesn’t deter me from recommending it. In fact, I may read it again!!

I LOVED this Audio Book by Kelly O'Conner McNees, She did an awesome job at writing in this book, I felt connected to the characters, I felt like i was part of what was going on. This takes place in the 60's, Unwed Mothers were looked at in a very harsh way, Doreen and Margie were teenagers, both Pregnant, without being Married, they were sent away to a place called Holy Family's Home For The Wayward, just the name lets you know what it must have been like for these women, The place is not what it appears to be, both are treated awful.
The hurt that they go through is heartbreaking, I would recommend this book to everyone. I am so glad I received this book from Net Galley, This is my honest opinion .
Thank you so much for letting me read this book, It is one of my new favorites

Margie and Doreen are two unwed and pregnant teens in the 1960’s. Their lives intersect forever after meeting in a home for unwed mothers. Each girl leaves the home with a very different outcome. This story follows both Margie and Doreen as they try to reconstruct their lives after leaving the home. Told with historical biases in mind, like sneed mothers, racism, etc., this was a well told novel with wonderful characterizations. I highly recommend!
**huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

I keep listening to this one for 20 minutes at a time. Sometimes I get really into it, but other times it is just slow and drags. I got about 50% of the way through and I expected it to have had more touching moments or things that would keep me going by now. It's a kind of drawn out coming of age and I don't think I can keep on little at a time.

The Myth of Surrender by Kelly O'Conner McNees takes place in the 1960s and tells the story of free-sprit Doreen and quiet, book-smart Margie. The two live in Chicago but their lives have never crossed until they are both sent to Holy Family because of unplanned pregnancies and quickly become friends. These two women have lived different lives financially, personally and emotionally. Their lives continue in opposite directions as they navigate their pregnancies and what comes after.

Publication Date: March 1, 2022

This book was beautifully written. Told in both POVs, I was fully invested in both Doreen and Margie's story and did not favor one more than the other. The novel tells the difficult decisions, or lack there of, women had at the time and follows the consequences that life's obstacles have for each woman. This book is heart-wrenching and will definitely pull at your heart strings. I will definitely recommend this book to everyone.

The narrator, Carlotta Brentan, does a fantastic job brining both stories to life. A 4.5 star read bumped up to a 5 because of the narrator.

Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

I almost didn't pick up The Myth Of Surrender because it was out of my comfort zone genre-wise. However, I am so glad that I decided to read this title because it was absolutely fantastic. The author's writing was beautiful and the story itself was both thought-provoking and heartwrenching. Once I started the story, I could not put it down. This will be a title that I recommend to everyone, regardless of whether they usually read historical fiction or not.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and the narrator. I found the characters compelling and the story thoughtfully told.

Ugh… this book tears at your heartstrings! 🥺
4.5⭐️ The Baby Scoop Era — I knew nothing about this, or maybe I did without the name. The story is told in both Chicago and Milwaukee. (In fact, one of our MCs attends Mt Mary College, where I received my Bachelor of Arts.)
The story starts out with our MCs as teens. Both become pregnant, but under very different circumstances. These differences also play out in a tragic and tortured way for 5 years after the birth of the babies. It’s a story of unconditional love, forgiveness and doing the right thing.

Thank you to #NetGalley for an advanced audio experience.

This is a beautifully written story. It was eye-opening to learn more about a time in history in which young women were forced- or at least pushed into maternity homes. It also uniquely ties into the current headlines regarding how much control a woman should have over her own body. This theme spans decades and demonstrates a relevance across multiple generations. I appreciated the way this book explores life after the girls' time in the home. It is ultimately a story of strength and survival. I would highly recommend this book.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #HighBridgeAudio for the opportunity to review this ARC of #TheMythofSurrender in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Doreen and Margie are two young, unmarried girls in the 60s who find themselves pregnant and meet at a maternity home. Here, girls can go through their pregnancy away from home and the nuns that run the maternity home adopt the babies out. From there, the books follows Doreen and Margie in their lives 5 years after meeting at the home. Overall I enjoyed the book though I felt that it started off slow and that the parts at the home were not as gripping as once they left. The narrator was great for the story and I felt she did an excellent job.
I'm rating this a 4 because I do believe its better than average but if given the choice I would rate 3.5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the ARC of this audiobook.