"The New Mother" starts as a slow burn. The first half of the book relates to the struggles of being a new mother, breastfeeding, postpartum depression, sleepless nights, etc It can be redundant for some and does bog the story down a bit. However, the second half of the book really picks up! We learn there has been a murder in the woods behind Natalie’s house. Enter the detective on the case questioning all of the neighbors and you now have my full attention Nora Murphy!

I would categorize this book more a domestic drama than a thriller. I think it would get better ratings if it was marketed differently. Especially to thriller lovers who may be expecting something a bit different.

I enjoyed this book and will look for future books from this author. A big thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this book and introducing a new author to my list. 😊⭐⭐⭐⭐

To be quite honest I could not get myself to finish this book. I read a lot of books featuring unlikable main characters, but man Natalie is hard to even read. While I appreciated the reality of how hard being a new mom is (current first time mom of a 9 month old!), I couldn’t stand the way that Natalie thought and did things. She was so horrible to everyone around her and I was just completely uninterested in anything she was doing.

A new baby…the joy of blissful days and nights unless it isn’t.
Natalie is a new mother. A mother with a colicky baby that won’t sleep, which means that Natalie isn’t sleeping either. In steps a friendly neighbor. A stay at home dad that sympathizes and draws Natalie into a web of deceit.
The first half of this book is terribly slow. So much so that I almost put it into the DNF category. I felt the author could have said just as much with a lot of less wording. However, I did finish this book and did enjoy the last half. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press and Minotaur Books for an early copy. This review is my honest opinion. 3.5 stars.

I loved the last Murphy. Novel and was excited to start this new one. Firstly, I am nor a mother having never given birth to a child. However, I have read hundreds of psychological/domestic thrillers so I’m basing my knowledge on these. Having said that, this book tops the list for scary motherhood. The New Mother makes the other similar novels a walk in the park. In this book, a simple walk with a stroller is terrifying. Natalie is a successful attorney, excelling in all areas of her life, brought to her knees by a demanding five pound child. Three quarters of this book is dedicated to her daily routine of not sleeping, forever feeding, always watching, never eating, resenting her husband and constantly filled with dread. It’s written so well, I felt I was there with her and was never bored with the constant repetitive minutiae of the first month or so. Fortunately, she has a new neighborhood friend, a stay at home dad who helps and supports her during the day. We know this is going to end badly. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Genre: Murder Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub. Date: Minotaur Books.

Itsy-Bitsy Review
Not much of a thriller, this is more a long and dreary description on how hard it is to be a new mom. The story reads more like a case study in postpartum depression with repetitive dialogue. The thriller part was way to over the top to be taken seriously.

This first part of this book was an accurate portrayal of the struggles of being a new mom. Natalie is having a hard time with her son who is colicky and doesn't sleep. Her lack of sufficient rest, forgetting things, anxiety, feeling like a lousy mom and a lousy employee upon her return from maternity leave all take a toll on her. She's forced to take a longer sabbatical than she planned. Her husband doesn't understand her mood swings, her unhappiness and the pressure she is under, no one does...until finally she becomes friends with her neighbor, Paul, who is a stay at home dad. She feels seen. Unfortunately, he has an ulterior motive. As a mother, I really connected with this main character. My only real complaint is that I was expecting a thriller or even a mystery but it wasn't either of those things to me. What was going on was laid out by Paul's POV so there wasn't anything to figure out as a reader and it wasn't tense enough to call it a thriller. I did finish this in one day because it was really well written and I felt invested but I wanted more from it.

I really enjoyed The Favor, so I was glad to be allowed to read an early copy of this one. A really good psychological thriller with a few twistS. The first half kept me wishing this new mom would get some help. The help she finds puts things into a spin for twists and turns. I also enjoyed the authors notes on her experience as a new mother. Thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the ARC

This is a tough one for me to review since I felt like I had a love/dislike relationship with this book. I like the main plot of the book, but I just got so tired of reading page after page about how colicky the baby was, she was not getting any sleep, was hallucinating and the graphic parts about breast feeding. I kept wondering why she would not take that baby back to the pediatrician and have a workup done for the colic, or get some medication for it. Also, no bottles??? I have to admit, the last part of the book was very good and the ending was good.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for the ARC of this book.

I enjoyed the previous novel by this author. I enjoy her writing style as she makes you feel the emotions of her characters. Unfortunately, I had to stop this one about twenty percent of the way through. This is not due to the authors story, but rather due to my own dealings with PPD/PPA. Nora went into so much detail with the main characters postpartum that it was a bit triggering for me.

This one is for the mothers for sure.

It was semi difficult to decide, but I went used a 3.5 star rating.

The twist was fantastic and the build up between Paul and Natalie was so well developed and played out, I didn’t predict it. I found their relationship very interesting and I wasn’t sure what to expect. It seems every character kept you invested and intrigued with their potential role.

However, it felt like 50% of the book was the constant back and forth of Natalie dealing with and breast feeding her colicky newborn. I understand it’s very natural and normal to speak of the obstacles a new mother faces, but I personally could have done without reading about Natalie’s raw nipples every other page. I was stressed for her, but after the first 100+ pages of reading the same thing about Natalie I was in a hurry to get to the Paul chapters.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Minotaur books for the ARC

I was a big fan of Ms. Murphy’s last book The Favor so I was excited to read this follow up. This book moved a bit slower for me. The first half is claustrophobic and relentless but I understand why. I am not a mother so I have not have had the experience of dealing with a newborn — and a colicky one at that — but emphasizing Natalie’s struggles and isolation felt bother necessary to set up the plot and also a bit brutal.

Enter, Paul, an empathetic neighbor who’s a stay-at-home dad and perhaps too good to be true?

I would say this book is good, but maybe not the most thrilling mystery. It’s almost more of a character study and cautionary tale, but I’d still recommend.

I was lucky enough to win an e-ARC of THE NEW MOTHER by Nora Murphy through a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thanks for the early look, and have a safe and happy spring!

I'm not totally sure what genre this book is supposed to be, and because of that it is tough to fully review. On the positive side, Nora Murphy hits a home run in terms of portraying the post-birth/newborn experience. I mean, honestly, it was very difficult for me to read because it took me back to that place in such vivid detail. Murphy does not shy away from every little detail of life with a newborn but also every fear and every struggle. For me, whether it was intentional or not, this is where the truly terrifying and titillating parts of the book were found.

I'm assuming this book is being marketed as a thriller, though, and, well, it just isn't very thrilling. It moves extremely slowly, which, again, I didn't mind in terms of just watching Nat as a new mom, but for a true thriller or domestic suspense novel I needed more to happen. The actual action or conflict was not very exciting, and I anticipate many readers will not find the ending satisfying at all.

I certainly liked many aspects of this novel, but I"m not sure I actually enjoyed it in the way I was supposed to! Murphy does a stellar job of depicting the struggles of a new mother in every possible capacity, but the actual thriller or suspense portion of the book really fell flat.

The New Mother starts off by Natalie giving birth to her baby boy, Oliver. Natalie is married to Tyler, and they will be bringing their baby home to their new larger house they just bought to start their new, larger family. Since they are new to the neighborhood, they haven’t met any of their neighbors yet. However, when Natalie takes the baby outside her neighbor Paul introduces himself. Paul is a stay at home dad, and he understands Natalie and everything that she is going through with the new baby and the many sleepless nights…

This book is broken down into Four Parts, and if I’m being honest I almost threw in the towel after Part I and II. Part I is basically a course on Breastfeeding 101. All we learned was how Natalie’s breasts were engorged, aching, and leaking. We also got pages upon pages of Natalie breastfeeding baby Oliver, and of Natalie using her breast pump to pump milk from her breasts. Now, I don’t have anything against breastfeeding, but I certainly didn’t need 100 pages of a thriller book going into detail about breastfeeding. Part II of this book also had more breastfeeding scenarios, but it also went into detail on how tired and stressed out she was because she never got any sleep due to the baby not sleeping (totally understandable). We also learn how Natalie is starting to resent her husband Tyler, thus she starts growing closer to her neighbor Paul. Paul is such a wonderful help to her with the baby, while her husband is not.

Now, Part III is where this book finally picked up the pace! We learn that a murder has taken place in the woods behind Natalie’s house 😳. There is a detective on the scene and she is questioning all the neighbors, including sleep deprived Natalie.

Part IV of this book brings us to the hopeful conclusion that I was waiting for. Will Natalie and Tyler’s marriage last? Is Paul really the friend that she thought he was? Will baby Tyler start to sleep finally so that Natalie can start to feel human again?

I am so glad that this book ended up redeeming itself after such a slow start. I also appreciated the author’s note at the end of the book about postpartum depression. I found it to be both beautiful and inspiring. I wish I would have had help with both of my newborns- especially my son who NEVER slept until he was five years old. It’s encouraging and wonderful to know that there are more resources and help available now for those who might need it.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, NetGalley, and the author for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. Publication date: May 30, 2023.

3.5 Stars

The New Mother takes readers on a journey with first time parents Natalie, her husband, Tyler, and the dangerous friendship Nat develops with her neighbor, Paul, a stay-at-home dad. Overwhelmed by new motherhood and devolving from post-partum depression into post-partum psychosis, Natalie becomes the perfect prey for her seemingly well-intentioned neighbor. As her attachment to Paul increases, she equally withdraws from her loving husband and her legal career. And that's when things go very, very wrong.

The New Mother is well written and has good character development. I would have liked the novel to offer an additional subplot to give the tale more depth, since most of the story focuses on Natalie's struggle to care for her newborn, Oliver. Mothers might identify with some of Nat's issues, and empathize with her fears of inadequacy, though she clearly does her best to nurture her child. The story is brought to a straightforward, but satisfactory conclusion.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for offering an ARC to read and review. This review will post to Bayside Book Reviews at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. Follow us! *NetGalley Top Reviewer*

While the first half of this book is relatively slow, the second half picks up! I am not a mother, but I think the depiction of motherhood and the first few months postpartum is real from what the reviews I've seen mothers write. This book is gritty. I appreciated that the author really dove into the challenges new moms face. I also think the writing was really great. By the last 50% of the book, I was on the edge-of-my-seat trying to figure out what was going to happen.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 5
Pace: 5
Plot development: 5
Characters: 4
Enjoyability: 5
Ease of Reading: 5

Overall rating: 5 out of 5

I really wanted to love this one but unfortunately it fell very short. The first 184 pages were glimpses into the life of a new mother with postpartum depression. This is a case of a book being incorrectly marketed as a thriller/mystery. There’s a murder, yes, but after it happens, it’s discussed abruptly in a few chapters and we’re back to the 2 suspects discussing her infant’s sleep schedule. The plan for the murder was just predictable and downright ridiculous. The repetitive storyline of an “overtired, sleep-deprived” mother (so-she-must-be-going-crazy) is so played out and tired. I did not connect with the mother MC and found her obnoxiously annoying.

This just was not the book for me. If you want to read about postpartum depression and are looking for a domestic drama (NOT a thriller), you may enjoy this book.

The slowest of slow burns! But also…if you don’t go into this book expecting a fast-paced thriller it’s actually super interesting to get involved with these characters and understand their journeys. That being said- if you don’t like character-driven reads, this one probably won’t be for you. The first ⅔ of the book feels heavily character motivated, but I really enjoyed understanding what it was like to be a new mother from Natalie’s point of view. The twist isn’t necessarily hidden, but because I’d gotten to know the characters so well, I was still dreading it when it came. I enjoyed the resolution and the epilogue- leaving me with just enough questions to keep thinking about the book!

This is described as a thriller/mystery read, and while there is definitely that element to it, I enjoyed how this book was multifaceted in that it actually spoke to issues affecting new mothers. It was entertaining, and yet it had a real message surrounding mental health and our health systems including general and personal care for new mothers.

An enjoyable read for sure!

Clap clap clap! This slow burn twisted thriller had me turning the pages late into the night. A huge nod to Nora Murphy for capturing the hardship and challenges that is motherhood especially during the first few months of a newborn life. I felt very seen and I am ecstatic she did not hesitate to showcase the gritty. The unfold of the twisted intentions are natural and clever, and I rejoiced at the ending.
I felt any one of us could be the protagonist Natalie, Murphy did a wonderful job having us relate and root for her.
The insights from other POV’s also added great value to the story. I am excited to read more from this author.