I tried several times to get through this novel.

I was sold on it being a mystery/thriller with perhaps a controversial bend.

It was a difficult subject matter (postpartum depression) but its execution was NOT mysterious or thrilling.

My two star review reflects that disappointment.

Had I wanted a character portrait of a mother’s depressive struggles perhaps I could have geared my expectations appropriately.

I didn’t.

So I haven’t.

The kind of book I kept wanting to sneak back into during my workday.

The New Mother was wholly absorbing. After a slow start, I found myself not wanting to put it down. And, once I had, I wanted to pick it right back up again.

It centers on Natalie, who's recently given birth to a difficult baby -- a frequent crier who will only be soothed by her. On leave from work and married to a busy lawyer, Natalie doesn't really have a support system to help her through these tough days. That is, until she meets the neighbor who's been through it himself, and is suddenly there with a kind word.

My biggest critique with this one was the pacing, which I'll put behind a spoiler tag (perhaps overcorrecting after someone spoiled a major plot point for me). Even still, I'm always going to want to read a thriller that I find this hard to put down. Nora Murphy is now 2/2 for me, with enjoyable books incorporating real issues (that too often go unnoticed).

I thought Dylan Moore and Lee Osorio were well cast. Moore was easier to understand at 3x speed (I think her diction?), but I didn't have problems with either at 2.5x.

Natalie Fanning and her husband move into a new house and a couple months later they welcome their first child. Natalie is struggling being a first time mom, thinking she can go back to work after 8 weeks, having a newborn is harder than she thought, especially when Oliver is so hard to settle. Natalie’s relationship is also not the best after having the baby.

Then enters Paul, the neighbour. He is her saving grace. Paul is a stay at home dad and can relate to Natalie. He is able to soothe her baby, he’s always there to talk…what an amazing neighbour. Until Paul thinks he can use Natalie in his master plan. She’s the perfect girl for it.

This was a very slow burn book, and the end fell flat for me. There just wasn’t enough. I also found that the secondary characters in the book were incomplete. They were present in the book but could have built them up more, as there wasn’t enough about them to really make the story. There could have been a bit more suspense


Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for a DRC. The New Mother available May 30.

I am so over books that make new mothers out to look like the crazy ones! It's not original. If I would have known the author was going to make the main character look like a deranged lunatic, I wouldn't have read this.

Natalie Fanning is finding motherhood to be much more than she expected. She never sleeps, she’s lonely, and quite frankly her brain has never been less stimulated. Not to mention her baby cries. All. The. Time. Then she meets her neighbor Paul. Paul is a stay at home dad and somehow he always seems to understand or have just the solution Natalie needs for her new son. But Paul has his own plans, and he needs Natalie for them- will she figure it out in time? “The New Mother” by Nora Murphy is a game of cat and mouse until the last page!

WHEW. This book was emotionally heavy. Immediately it’s apparent that Natalie has postpartum depression. She’s constantly anxious and stressed and overwhelmed and emotional, but it goes further than that. Her brain is spiraling, and I was stressed just reading it. (Not me, screaming at the book for her husband to NOTICE…).

As for the actual thrill parts of the novel, I feel like Murphy set us up in a good way. We can see all the moving parts and can guess how they will play out, but it’s only once Natalie begins to engage that we see the true game at hand.

This book was good, but emotionally taxing. In the end, I gave it a solid 3 star rating. Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book comes out May 30th!

The New Mother by Nora Murphy was a great read! Natalie seems to have the perfect life. She’s got a nice husband, they have just bought and moved into a new home in a really great neighborhood and she has just gave birth to her son Oliver. But Oliver is a difficult baby. He never sleeps and is always cranky and crying. Natalie is stressed, she misses her job as being a lawyer and her husband just doesn’t seem to be much help or understand what she is feeling. Then she meets her neighbor. He’s a stay at home dad who supposedly is writing a book. He seems to get Natalie and is very good with calming Oliver. But he has a motive behind his madness! Will Natalie continue to stay in this phase of postpartum depression or will she come out of it in time to save herself from the accusations that are about to come her way? This was an exciting read for me and one I really enjoyed. I could relate to a lot of what Natalie was feeling after giving birth. It’s a book I’d recommend and I believe any mother out there would connect with the emotions this new mother was going through. I’d like to thank Stephen Erickson, Associate Marketing Manager at St. Martin’s Publishing Group for the invite and widget and NetGalley for the arc. I thought this was a great read and I’m giving it a 5 star rating!

The New Mother is a spot-on story about a woman with a newborn and her experiences with postpartum psychosis and how her life gets intertwined with that of her married male neighbour. I had postpartum depression with both my kids and although it wasn’t psychosis, the author’s description of many of the symptoms ring so true. She builds the feelings of loneliness, feeling overwhelmed, isolated and unprepared for the changes that motherhood actually brings, very well. I applaud the author in helping to raise awareness of postpartum mental health - read her Author’s Notes as well

The domestic suspense part of the novel was somewhat predictable and there could have been more development of the secondary characters. However, the pacing was good, the topic interesting, and the writing engaging, making this a satisfying read for me.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for this complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

Short synopsis: Natalie is struggling with her life as a mom to a colicky baby, when she meets the stay at home dad Paul who seems to take a load off her shoulders.

My thoughts: The first half of this book was rough! It was giving me postpartum anxiety, even though my baby is 4! All too relatable in the struggles a new mom goes through, the mom guilt, the hormones, and trying to sleep and comfort a difficult baby all at the same time. It was very candid, and accurate.

The mystery side was a little predictable in my opinion, but I did enjoy watching it unfold. And the epilogue was done so right, in diagnosis and seeking help.

If you’re a new mom struggling, please go talk to someone and help yourself out! Nothing is wrong with you, and you’re not broken!

Read if you love:
- Domestic thrillers
- Motherhood
- small town setting with nosy neighbors

3.5 stars

The New Mother was good, it took a little bit to get into but ultimately I liked it. The narrators did a great job on the audio.

I felt there were times I was questioning what the plot was, but early on you learn. And guessing what will ultimately happen does keep you on the edge of your seat.

I didn’t love this book, but it definitely was bad. Just so-so. I would probably recommend it to another reader.

Book : The New Mother
Author : Nora Murphy
Release Date : 30, May 2023

Thank you Net Galley, St Martins Press — Minotaur and the author of this book for an opportunity to review this ARC.

This book cover is thrilling, makes you want to guess what’s going to happen in the book. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to expect when reading this book but what I read was an amazing story about a mother whom I absolutely relate to. I felt that the fact this character was so relatable, the storyline was so incredibly relatable, this made the reading experience even that much more.

Parts of this book made me emotional, made me laugh & smile. I enjoyed every second of this book. Watching Natalie and the dynamics of the relationships in this story unfold. It’s a twisty little thriller that kept me turning pages not knowing quite what was going to happen.

Such a great read and I can hardly wait for the authors next book to come out.

Race and put this on your TBR NOW!

The New Neighbor

Sad, suspenseful, and fast moving. This is a story that will keep your attention throughout. You will feel sad for Natalie, angry with Paul and wonder why her husband isn't more aware of what is going on.

A new mother suffering from post partum depression, overwhelmed by the care of her newborn and missing her career falls under the spell of a shady neighbor who befriends her with an ultimate plot in mind.

Only Natalie's intense love for her new son and her realization of what is happening will save her. At the last minute she wakes up and realizes she is in danger and that Paul is not really her friend but is trying to destroy her life.

I listened to the audio book and the author did a great job with the narration. I enjoyed reading the book and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Nora Murphy for writing a great story, to St. Martin's Press for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of the audio book to listen to and review.

This book was so hard to get into. It just went on and on and on with absolutely nothing happening. I get that we were supposed to feel lost in her psychosis and depression, but it just felt like we could have captured those feelings in way less time. When nothing has happened at 50% in, it's way too slow a burn for me to stay invested. I really loved her first book, so am disappointed this one fell flat for me.

2 stars at best. I wanted to take the story seriously, but just couldn't. I understand that postpartum depression exists, although I'm not sure this was the right way to focus on it. Very repetitive throughout the story focusing on Natalie's sleep deprivation. Definitely not the thriller/mystery I was expecting.

An enthralling novel of a new mom who's struggling after the birth of her son, and of the neighbour with an agenda who comes in to help her out.. Quite an enthralling read.

This was okay. Story took a lot to really get into. Her last book I got into it quickly but this one was nothing I was super sold on.

The book was decent. It kept my interest but didn't knock my socks off. Its my ffirst-time reading a book by this author and I will definitely pick up another.

I loved this author's last novel but unfortunately this was a miss for me. I do not like novels of new mothers and their struggles, its really depressing to me. LOL so this was a me problem, not the books issue.

I was under the impression this book was a thriller when requesting it. I soon discovered it was very much about a new mother's crippling postpartum depression instead. As a mom to two young kiddos my heart was breaking for Natalie and I had to call it quits before finishing. It was just too sad and not enjoyable to read for me. Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel.

I think I am landing on a 3.5 for this one.
I enjoyed this book for the most part. The first 60% or so made me think of books like The Push or other novels about women who become mothers and aren't sure that motherhood is for them. I felt like it totally could have taken a turn in that direction and that would have been ok. Then something happens at 60% that really changes the tone and turns this into a pretty standard psychological thriller. I liked the overall story. I didn't mind the different POVs. We get alternating chapters from Natalie and then from her neighbor/friend. My complaint with this one is that I feel like it should have been organized differently. The big event that happens at 60% could have happened right at the beginning and then we could get kind of flashback info leading up to that. I just feel like we spent a whole lot of time with Natalie struggling with becoming a mother and very very little time resolving the big conflict. It felt like it just happened and then it got resolved and that was the end. The short amount of time that we were dealing with that conflict was pretty tense so I think had it spent more time with it it would have been a really tense, unsettling story.

I’ve come to realize that sleep deprivation as a plot point is my most hated trope. This book was disappointing to say the least. I loved her debut book and expected more greatness. This was more like eye rolls and predictable plots.