Jenry's search for his missing parent moved me in some many ways. There were parts of it that wrecked me... I'm writing this review over a year after listening to this one and when I saw the title Miley Cyrus started singing "You wre-e-ecked me." I'm not even joking.

“…the truth is a foreign concept in a family, but such a thing does exist.”

THE OTHER MOTHER is a devastating, revelatory novel about queer family making, artistic creation and fame, and the cost of keeping secrets. The story starts with Jenry Castillo, a freshman at Brown University with a mission to learn more about the father he’s never met. As the narrative unfolds we encounter different members of his family, Black and Cuban, biological and otherwise, known and unknown by Jenry himself. I loved the telescoping nature, providing context for both Jenry’s life and the messy, interconnected people who surround him. There’s many twists in the narrative that keep you captivated, but it’s not sensationalized; it’s a deep, intimate look at a collection of beautifully flawed people. Harper slices open decision making expertly, showing the complexity of motivations and how choices compound across generations. Jenry’s biological mom and his “other mother” are both lesbians, and I thought Harper captured the nuances of their relationship so well: the push and pull of commitment and independence, the challenges of queer family making in the 1990s, how Jenry gets tangled up in the affection between them, the effect of their families’ reactions to his birth. I was especially struck by the vulnerability of children, how they so often become representative of something other than themselves, how many things are done in their name that aren’t actually for them. There’s so much more here, about musical talent, growing up mixed race, the access wealth brings and the love it cannot, children differentiating and rejoining, the way memory shifts with age - and it’s all laid out so strikingly. A truly beautiful book. Thanks to Counterpoint Press, Recorded Books, and Libro.fm for the ALC.

Content warnings: homophobia, lesbophobia, family rejection, parental abandonment, alcoholism, cancer, death, grief, racism

Absolutely beautiful novel examining families, communication, expectations, with occasional allusions to Christian stories and rituals.

I love a generational story and this was so well written. The Other Mother is a story of family and love.

I really liked this book. The narrator was exceptional. Rachel Harper asked what it means to be family? Is it your biological father? Is it the people who raised you? Is it the grandfather you don't remember? Is it the father you do remember who never accepted you? Is it the son you lost when he was young? Is it the daughter you spent decades misunderstanding? Harper just layers it on, over and over again. It's an excellent read.

Many thanks to Netgalley, RB Media, and the author for the ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The other mother follows the story of a 18 year old black-Cuban boy named Jenry moving away from home to join college. The college, where his mom and dad met. Only that isn't the story at all. This book is nuanced tale of generations of what hope, sacrifice, pain, rigid heteronormative architype does to relationships. The story starts off with Jenry reaching Brown university following in the footsteps of his mom and dad or so he believed. His real intentions here is to find more about his father and live a life away from under his mothers wing, only to meet his paternal grandfather and learn that the parent he never met, the parent he is searching for is not his father but his other mother. From there the book is divided into 6 POV's, of the son, the birth mother aka the Mom who raised Jenry, the other mother, the 'paternal grandfather', 'the maternal grandfather' and the 'the other son'.

The story is jam packed with pain and the strain of living up to parental expectations and societal structures. The internalized homophobia was unbearable at some points, but very true to how this world was and still is. The beauty of the story is that it is raw, every character is to be blamed for every thing that happened. And them realizing and accepting their drawbacks was cathartic. My heart broke again and again for Jenry and what could have been his life, if only the people who molded his life made better choices and better decisions.

The structure of the story is highly impressive with each POV divided as small books with each person telling their side of the story and making the point that they did the best they could for themselves and their children, Jenry being the sun around which all of them revolve. What shook me was how each of these parents went behind their child's back and made decisions because they thought they knew what's best for them till the very end of the story without even stopping to wonder may be they are messing up their kid's life for good. And this is not just true for the older generation but also for the mothers who in spite of having suffered because of their parents still makes the same mistakes.

I truly appreciate the difficult questions that were brought up through out the narrative. It made me think and ask a lot of questions about how my life, how my parents and their parents lives are ruled by expectations and decisions that were never in any of our control. The way a parent's 'love' hurts and suffocates children, the way 'sacrifices' are held as a life debt over the children!! will these ever end? will we ever resort to gentle parenting and independent growing up, will we ever take our lives as ours and not a by product of our parent's expectations and sacrifices. Will we as humans ever consider the decisions we made to be purely ours and not a consequence of a 'sacrifices for the generation to come and the generation gone? The extent of healing, unlearning and relearning required for a more mentally healthy generation is as vast as the sea. Even though the story didn't exactly give us any answers to any of these questions, it does show us where it can all begin, how accepting the past, the mistakes and seeking forgiveness is the first step to a long, long journey.

This book was as beautiful as it was painful, I truly enjoyed the writing style, the structure, the flow of the story. The narrators were brilliant and they added an extra layer of drama. I will recommend this book to people who are interested in. family saga's and drama and history.

TW: Homophobia, parental separation, Cancer, AIDS, Addiction, Alcoholism, Neglect, Suicide

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This is a story about a young man who goes in search of more information about his father. When he applies at Brown University where his mother went and where his Grandfather(his dads dad) works he gets more than he bargained for. Some answers and more questions. He learns that his dad was a donor and his aunt(his dads sister) his actually his other mother who left when he was 2 years old.

I like how it is written from multiple POVs. Let’s you get into their head and know what they are thinking at the moment.

Will he get the answers he’s looking for?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who wants to read an LGBTQIA+ book about finding family.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Homophobia, Racism and alcohol addiction.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received an audiobook copy of The Other Mother by Rachel Harper from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Overall, I found listening to this book to be a bit emotional and thought provoking at times. The various perspectives of the characters allowed for a more three-dimensional look at how the same event affected everyone and the interconnectedness of it all.
However, it was very slow paced, which at times, made it a bit harder to hold my interest. Overall, it was an interesting read, that I recommend looking up the content warning for before reading.

This book explores issues of same sex parents and what family means. It's told through numerous points of views, which gives the reader an understanding of each of the characters motivations and information is slowly revealed throughout the book, then is subsequently explored further in the following section.

The writing was excellent, and is detailed enough to make me feel like I fully understand the motivations and back story of each character, but it's also easy to follow the story line throughout. We see how the decisions made by each character impact on the others and how this develops over a long period of time, which I felt was very interesting. The voices of each of the characters were distinguishable and individual.

My only negative is the ending, which I felt was slightly too ambiguous for my liking. I understand that most plot points where wrapped up and I can imagine how things might pan out for most of the characters with the exception of Marissa, whose fate was left up in the air.

I listened to the audio and the narration was excellent throughout and I enjoyed the reading of all of the narrators.

Overall I really enjoyed my time with this book and would recommend to anyone either looking to consider LGBTQ+ issues and their impact, or anyone who enjoys a family drama.

3 ½ stars

“Yes, of course. It is always him they want to know about—the father, not the other mother.”


The Other Mother is an affecting and nuanced multigenerational tale unearthing long-buried family histories. The author's interrogation of motherhood challenges the heteronormative archetype of the nuclear family, as she focuses on the experiences, choices, and parenting of single-women and same-sex couples. Throughout the course of the novel, readers will witness how parental love is not dictated by blood and the complexities that arise from that. Within these pages, motherhood is a multivalent term, one that changes from mother to mother. The two mothers that are at the chore of the story are flawed and imperfect individuals, who make mistakes believing that they are doing what’s best for their child. The author however is never not sympathetic towards them, nor does she condone their behaviour, allowing instead her other characters within her narrative, and readers as well, to reach their own conclusion about some of their choices. We are made to understand their states of mind, the events leading to them making those choices or the circumstances that aggravated certain ‘bad’ habits. The ‘democratic’ structure of the novel allows for all of the people connected to Jenry Castillo to be given a perspective, to give their side of the story and the rift between his two families, the Pattersons’ and the Castillos’.

“What Jenry does know is that he doesn’t belong here, which is how he’s felt about almost every place he’s been. Call it the mark of illegitimacy. But somehow this campus feels different. He’s come here to find something; more specifically, to find someone, which alone gives his presence a purpose. He has come to find his father.”


The narrative opens with Jenry starting his 1st year at Brown University after earning a music scholarship. Jenry was raised by his mother, Marisa, a nurse. While thanks to his grandparents he feels a connection to his Colombian heritage, neither they nor Marisa can fully understand his experiences growing up Black in or fill the absence of his father, Jasper, who died when he was two. He has learnt that his paternal grandfather, Winston Patterson, is none other than a renowned professor of African American history at Brown, so once on campus Jenry sets out to find him, wanting to know more about the kind of person Jasper was. When he does speak to Winston, the encounter is far from the bittersweet reunion between two estranged family members. Winston seems not particularly interested or surprised by his estranged grandchild’s existence, and is unwilling to reveal more about Jasper. In fact, he asks why Jenry is so focused on Jasper when it was his sister, Juliet, who was involved with Marisa. Upon learning this Jenry is shocked and confused, angry at Marisa for having hidden the truth from him, and unsure what it even means that at one point in his life he had two mothers. The following sections, focusing on Marisa, Juliet, Jasper, Winston, and Victor, Jenry's maternal grandfather, give us a retrospective of what occurred between Marisa and Juliet, their love story and the eventual dissolution of their relationship. We know from the start that Marisa took Jenry away from Juliet without any warning, leaving her with no way of contacting them. Since then Juliet has struggled with addiction and has only in recent years been able to find a stable relationship and job. Her career as a musician seems to have gone astray soon after Marisa left, leaving Juliet bereft and alone. And what role did Winston and Victor play in their daughters' stories? Both men disapproved of their relationship and their ‘unconventional’ family, but, did they eventually try to do what’s right by them and Jenry?
I really appreciated the uneasy questions this narrative raises in terms of doing right by others and yourself. If you do something terrible (whether it is taking them away from a parent, pressuring them academically, or forcing them to deny who they are) but you have convinced yourself it is the best thing for your child, can you and should you be forgiven?
The narrative shows the many ways in which parents hurt their children out of ‘love’ or because they are unable to accept them and their choices, without exonerating them or villainizing them. Other characters may blame them but thanks to the book’s structure we can’t really favour one perspective over another. If anything, the author is able to show the justifications and fabrications some of the characters make in order to justify to themselves, and others, their actions. I appreciated how imperfect and messy the characters were and the different forms of love we see in this story. The author captures the longing, heartache, and regret experienced by her characters in a melodious prose.

“The loss of him fills her body, courses through her veins. And now, as her memories replay over and over, she can’t help but feel it all—the sadness, the loss, the love she had and perhaps still has for him—flowing into her limbs, making her skin twitch, her fingers ache, till it spills from her eyes as tears.”


The uneasy character dynamics that are at play within the story were deeply compelling and enabled the author to incorporate larger discussions on gender, sexuality, race, class, motherhood, cultural and generational differences. Additionally, grief underlines much of the narrative. It may be grief at the death of a loved one (Jasper) or grief resulting from physical and emotional separation (Jenry being taken away from Juliet, the unbridgeable rift between Marisa and her mother, the distance between Juliet and Winston and eventually Jenry and Marisa). I loved much of the story and found myself particularly moved by Juliet’s portion. The author beautifully articulates her sorrow, without romanticizing her struggles or painful experiences. Initially, I found myself also feeling sympathetic towards Marisa, despite her choice to take Jenry away from Juliet. We see how unrequited love and rejection can eventually alienate you from the ‘object’ of your desire. But then in the latter portion of the book, any affection I held for Marisa perished when she behaves in a really crappy and unfair way to her son. Jenry, upon learning that she had lied to him for years, is obviously angry and upset. She is initially shown to be desperate to make amends, and I really felt for her especially given what she is going through. But then when she eventually reaches Jenry she tries to force him into forgiving her by threatening to make him leave Brown, saying that this place had clearly ‘changed’ him and he’s clearly not ready or something…and cristo dio. Wtf?! What a f*cking stronza. Really. When she said that sh*t and the narrative glosses over it I just could not move past it. It infuriated me beyond measure and soured the remainder of my reading experience. Additionally, there was a predictable soap-opera reveal that was hinted at earlier on that just made me roll my eyes. The ending sequence was tonally a lot different from the narrative so far and struck me as mawkish and really jarring.

But hey ho, I did love most of the book so I would still recommend it to others. If you are a fan of multigenerational sagas, such as the ones penned by Brit Bennett, Ann Patchett, and Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, or authors such as Hala Alyan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Danielle Evans, and Francesca Ekwuyasi, you should definitely not miss The Other Mother.

This was probably the most solid book that I have read this year. Harper makes you care for and understand the characters even if you disagree with them, and you can't help but want the best for everyone involved. I was very pleased with how the family problems were resolved in the end and how while there was no fairy godmother to go back in time and fix mistakes of the past, you could really feel that the future was going to be okay. Overall the book was such a great read that left you with one question to ponder in the end:

What is it that makes someone family?

The Other Mother is a poignant look at a family: a mother, the other mother, a father, a son, two grandfathers… We follow their story over the course of many years and see how secrets and choices made often had a great affect on their relationships. This book is one that will stay with you long after it’s over. Lovers of family dramas will enjoy this one.

Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for this ARC.

This will be one of my favorite books of the year. Its a family saga, so the twists will keep you glued to the page, but more than that, its an examination of parenthood and loss. It is beautifully written and the audio narrators are fantastic.

Okay this was creepy and a whole lot of know from me. I normally love creepy Gothi vibes not this one. It was just very generic and fell very flat and I feel like I’ve read this and see this 1 million times better

Gorgeous story following a family trying to make the best out of difficult choices.

This book follows a young man on his search to find out about his father. In his quest for knowledge he uncovers a multitude of secrets that have been hidden from him.

Complex characters and complicated relationships keep this story moving at a nice pace. It's told in two parts- past and present, and at times there were some issues for me with the switch between the two.

Overall, this is a heartfelt story about love and family.

Ok, so I really appreciate this book and the awareness that it raises on issues of abandonment, lgbt relationships, the struggle with alcohol, parent/child relationships, and acceptance.

However, the book was a little slow for my tastes. At first I didn’t like the way the multi perspectives and multi timelines jumped. Just as I was getting accustomed to one character and the tone of things, we changed. I did get used to it after a while but I was well over halfway at that point. That is a more personal reading style situation though.

I also pulled a star because of no pre content warnings. This covers a lot of possibly triggering content, especially in regards to lgbt and minority familial situations. CWs for something like that are extremely important.

I would recommend this for someone wanting a more slow and thoughtful read, but if you need some speed then this might not be your taste.

I received a digital arc of the book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Things that I did like about the book:
Each part of the book is told from the perspective of a different character in the book and how all the povs were interlaced with each other
The first 50 percent of the book were we got to know about the past
Things I didn't like about the book:
A lot of telling and no showing, especially when it came to the racial issues
Thinly lined homophobia, which I understand why it is there but it made my overall reading experience not so enjoyable hence it counts for me and it's definitely subjective
Too wordy and long and unnecessary stuff that could've made the book shorter at least 100 pages if they were not present.
Things I'm torn about about the book:
Way too many twists
All of the people of the same family are somehow prodigal.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for the advanced listening copy of The Other Mother.

The Other Mother is the story of a freshman college student searching for information on his late father who he never knew. He arrives in Brown University to find his grandfather is still a professor there. The rest of the story is told in perspectives of different people involved in his origin story. Overall this ended up being an okay read for me. I had trouble connecting with the characters motivations. Also half the people just happened to be prodigies in what they did. History professor, amazing ballet dancer and musical prodigies all in a single family. Also the book did a lot of telling instead of showing when it came to the racial issues it was discussing. I really did enjoy the style of telling the story from different perspectives.
The audiobook is narrated by January LaVoy and William DeMeritt and I enjoyed their narration.

Jenry thinking he's learning about his father who died years, only to find out that his mother was with a woman not a man. Now Jenry's on the hunt to find his other mother. I liked Jenry, I felt sorry for him. I liked hearing about Jenry's mother's background. I got lost listening to the background, it was so relaxing. This book was long but good. As much as I liked this book, I don't think i'll be reading anything else by this author.

Thank you Net Galley for an audio ARC of The Other Mother by Rachel Harper. This woman's fiction novel is centered around Jenry, from his birth to his college Freshman year, as he searches for family.