As you begin this book you feel that you are sitting next to the main character Natalie. As you follow the story line I felt all of the characters emotions and the character that are so greatly described.

Part thriller part intense look into the mind of a new mother. As a mom of two, I found this incredibly accurate. The author describes everything about new motherhood to a tee- the incredible love, sleeplessness, hormones, and anxiety.

Natalie has a newborn in a new house/neighborhood and befriends her neighbor, Paul. Paul is exactly what she needs- a stay at home dad that has it all together and is a baby whisperer. Paul recognizes Natalie's weaknesses and takes advantage.

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of The New Mother by Nora Murphy.

When Natalie has her first baby, overwhelmed doesn't even come close to how she feels. She isn't sleeping, she feels isolated, and she is terrified that motherhood is not for her. But an unexpected reprieve in her new neighborhood finds her when Daniel comes knocking on her door. He's a stay-at-home dad with a magic touch for babies. He can calm her baby and her nerves, maybe this friendship in unconventional, but it's also life saving. Little does she know that it could also be life ending...

This was fresh, I liked it! I don't want to give anything away, but it was suspenseful without being too over the top. It also felt really relatable as a mother myself, I could almost see how this could happen to someone...almost.

I loved "The Favor", but don't expect this one to top it, although it did keep me in suspense. A murder in a suburbia neighborhood when you know who did it and can see where the plan is headed but nothing could tear me away. Now the uneasiness of the book is about a new mother that suffers all the side effects of giving birth to an 8 lb baby boy Oliver. The book doesn't touch on it lightly, but heavily feeds on the wide scope of bodily fluids, tiredness, irritability and second thoughts on why you would put your body through it.
Natalie is the new mother and complains throughout the book about her state of mind and body. She is skeptical about her capability when her baby cries often and her husband Tyler tries to find his place, but not sure how to intercept. He stays busy with his job as an attorney.
Natalie meets the next door neighbor Paul, who is a delightful companion during the day and knows how to help Oliver. When Paul's wife Erin is found dead in the neighborhood trails, the first one to question and suspect is Natalie. At a neighborhood party, Erin made sure she put Natalie in her place to stay away from her husband after she suspected there was more to their friendship.
The case is thrown off track with the husband because he had an agenda when he met Natalie.
The book deals with postpartum depression and how the coping skills are different for all, but mainly how isolated a woman feels after having a baby. It is a suspenseful book, but not one for everyone.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. Excellent job by the narrators Dylan Moore, and Lee Osorio!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audio book in exchange for an honest review. This was narrated by Dylan Moore and Lee Osorio, who both did a fantastic job! Really enjoyed listening to this one!

We have all hear the horror stories of infants and the ensuing sleep deprivation. But until you go through it, you may have a hard time empathizing. This is just that story. Natalie Fanning is an excited new mom of Oliver and can hardly wait, that is until Oliver arrives. But, after arriving, he cries constantly, wont sleep, has reflux, and eats most of the time. I truly felt sorry for Natalie, for her lingering pain from the delivery, for her sleep deprivation, her loneliness, isolation, and for her loss of identity as a new mom. She lost her mom and really does not seem to have another friend to reach out to.

And then we have Paul, the stay at home dad next door who enabled Natalie and Tyler to buy their new home by sleeping with the former owner's wife and causing their divorce. Paul loves his daughter and really would like to write his book that has a 0 word count so far.

Th bulk of this story is about motherhood and the trials you go through. Its about the importance of having a good support group surrounding you when you are going at it alone. I am not sure why this book is labeled as a mystery or psychological thriller as there really are no twists or turns. You can see where this is going very quickly but its an enjoyable read.

3.5 rounded up.

I felt like this would never end. There is such a thing as overly-developed characters. At 20%, we were still listening to Natalie and Paul whine in their respective chapters. It was overly descriptive and there was too much dialogue. I had to skim through a lot.

This book was preaching to the choir and I am not in the choir, as a woman with no kids. I knew it was about a new mom but I thought it would be some juicy neighborhood domestic drama where her and a new friend stumble into a mystery.

It was all about googoo gaga. "My boobs hurt. I'm too smart and educated to be a SAHM. I hate my husband for leaving the house." Omg, we get it. Shut up.

So anyways, Natalie is a new mom in a new house and she's having a tough go of it because I imagine it is really difficult and she doesn't have the best support system. Enter Paul, the devious, lazy neighbor dad. He decides he can use her vulnerability to do his bidding.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review. The audio narration was great. I loved this author's last book so I will check her out again but this one was a dud for me.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC!

This hit sooooo close to home in the beginning - watching the ceiling fan with the baby, seeing work as a “break”, the feeling of dread when your partner leaves… whew. While this is classified as a "thriller," I'd say to adjust expectations, it's more contemporary fiction with a slow-burn thriller element, as the first 40% is exclusively a look at a woman's postpartum experience. I thought that Nora Murphy did an incredible job of writing this - having a new baby is HARD and it's easy to want relief and some extra help and to just be able to depend on a friendly neighbor. I really enjoyed this one on audio, as Dylan Moore and Lee Osorio did an incredible job narrating.

Motherhood is nothing like Natalie imagined it would be. Her newborn baby Oliver is colicky and difficult, constantly hungry and never sleeping for more than an hour or two at a time. And her husband Tyler is little help. As Natalie spirals into loneliness and despair, her neighbor Paul enters the scene. Paul is so kind, so helpful, so everything that Tyler isn’t. But Paul has his own motives, and things are about to turn deadly.

The New Mother leans more toward a character study than suspense, so this might not be for readers looking for a twisty thriller, but if you’re looking for a nuanced, sympathetic portrayal of new motherhood and how someone could take advantage of this vulnerability, this book will resonate. I’m a huge fan of mental health representation in books, and Nora Murphy does an amazing job of rendering Natalie’s postpartum depression: the isolation, the frustration, the apathy, the dull monotony of the infant days. If you have ever been there like I have, you will feel so *seen*.

I read the audiobook version, and it’s very well done. There are two narrators, one female for Natalie’s sections and a male for Paul’s section, which is a nice touch. Natalie’s sections are particularly compelling, with the narrator’s tone perfectly capturing Natalie’s anguish and anxiety.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me an advance copy of this audiobook.

🎧Song Pairing: Baby Mine - Bette Midler

💭What I thought would happen:

I loved The Favor, I trusted this author to write a quality dark twist but knew based on the title this one would be risky…

🗯Thoughts:

If you have about as much sense as myself (lacking) and peaked curiosity AND are about to be a new mom or already are…maybe run far far away from this book. That being said, I really enjoyed it! Binged right through due to sheer curiosity + need for it to end and be out of my head!

This book is 70% postpartum depression 30% mild thriller. Brace yourself for this. To me as I can go into labour any day, any hour from now this read was 100% terrifying 😂

After speaking with a couple friends who are also reading this and are also mothers, the content is RELATABLE as fuck. Nora knows what is up for new mommas and wrote the scaries of what happens after birth throwing in a psychopath just for extra kicks. Scary enough to keep my cervix closed another day or 2.

As I start my review, I have to admit that I am child-free. Don't get it confused because even though I'm child-free by choice, I don't hate children. I love them in fact, and I'm really good with them. I just like them when I can return them to their parents. I am very happy being the beloved aunt and godmother to a whole hoard of children. Reading The New Mother: A Novel by Nora Murphy made me very happy about my choice.

Look, this one is billed as a mystery-suspense book. It's not a mystery at all; well not in the traditional sense anyway. We know who committed the murder, and we know why it was committed. The whole mystery is all about if they will get away with it or not. The only real mysterious part for me is wondering if Natalie or her husband will get a clue about what is going on with Natalie. While I thought the endless descriptions about breastfeeding and colicky child would be overkill, it was actually a really great tool used to highlight just how far gone Natalie was. I found myself shaking my head in dismay that she wasn't getting the help she so clearly needed.

I listened to an early Audiobook version of this one courtesy of NetGalley and Macmillan Audio. The narrators did a superb job on this one. It was just the right amount of desperation and psychopathy they managed to convey about Natalie and Paul respectively. All in all, The New Mother: A Novel by Nora Murphy is a good read and above all demonstrates that motherhood is not a one size fits all experience.

This was an interesting slow burn story. I felt it was dragging and finally picked up half way of the story. This story also talks about postpartum depression after having a child so it may cause some triggers. Overall I can’t say I like it or hate it but I wish it wasn’t dragging.

Isolated. Lonely. Tired. It's hard being The New Mother. Sometimes it's murder.

Nat is having a rough go at adjusting to motherhood. Her husband has gone back to work, her son is not sleeping through the night, and she is at her breaking point! I’ve certainly been there. So when Nat is approached by a kind neighbor who is a stay at home parent, she is SO relieved to finally have some help! Except… something is not quite right with this helpful neighbor, and his appearance in her life is no mere coincidence. When someone ends up dead in their quiet suburban neighborhood, all eyes are watching the new family on the street very closely. As the investigation ramps up, with the cards stacked against her, and sleep deprivation adding to her confusion, Nat must fight like a mother to prove her innocence.

I enjoyed this book. As a parent, I know that Nat’s experiences transitioning to motherhood are very realistic for many new parents, and I appreciated how accurate and poignant her struggles were. Though marketed as a thriller, I thought the first 50% of the book was a bit slow-paced as the groundwork is laid for the story- but the details that seemed minor in the first half of the book come roaring back to the forefront in the second half of the story and tie into the devious plot of the killer.

I would recommend this book to mystery and suspense lovers, and particularly to readers who are parents. Though I know from experience that the depiction of Nat’s experience is realistic, it’s also a life phase that is best understood, and reading about it for ~150 may feel tedious to some. Overall, I thought this was a great mystery read. Big thanks to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my review. The New Mother will be published on May 30th.

🌟🌟🌟
Nora Murphy’s debut novel was gripping and suspenseful so I was excited to give this one a try. I was pleasantly surprised when “The New Mother” didn’t head in the direction I was expecting.

Nat’s struggles as a new mother are very relatable. I had many myself but Nat was the only character I connected with. It was frustrating that no one around her was concerned about her struggles so it was understandable to see how she leaned on Paul when he offered a helping hand and kindness.

I felt like the book was slow in many places and could have been easily shortened. I alternated between listening to the audiobook and reading the ebook. The audiobook had great narrators and was very engaging. I recommend it over reading a copy. The author is a promising writer, but I think I would have had difficulty staying focused if only reading the book. This one wasn’t my cup of tea.

Sincere thanks to Macmillan Audio and Minotaur Books for the gifted ARC’S. All opinions are my own.

#TheNewMother #NoraMurphy #macmillanaudio #minotaurbooks #netgalley #giftedARC #honestreview #audiobook #ebook #edelweiss #thrillerfriendsunite #mysteryandthrills #readwithme #bookaddict #thrilleraddict #thrillersofinstagram #bookstagrammer #lovebooks #bookreviewersofinstagram #lovetoreadbooks #cantstopreading #fortheloveofbooks #ad #thrillerbooks

I enjoyed Nora Murphy’s The Favor so was excited to read her newest book The New Mother.

MC Natalie is a new mother and having a hard time adjusting to that role. Her and her husband just recently moved into the new house in a new neighborhood; and now she has just had her first child.
After being overly tired from lack of sleep with the new baby, Natalie finds solace in her new friendship with the neighbor, Paul. The twists and turns start from the very beginning of this relationship! At times I wanted to reach into the book to tell Natalie to stop talking or don't leave him alone in your house! The rollercoaster ride that happens with all the twists is fast happening and once you get into this book you will not be able to put it down!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio & Netgalley for allowing me to read this book

Sometimes I strongly suggest readers go into books blind and sometimes I think expectations should be set so readers can best enjoy the experience. In this case, I think some expectations should be set, mainly that this is more domestic suspense than a thriller. More specifically, it's a walk through the first couples months of motherhood with a side of murder (LOL). If you go in expecting an edge-of-your-seat thriller, you will be disappointed. I know we're supposed to think every cover with a window with a yellow light on is an intense thriller though, we've been conditioned well. (LOL)

While I don't think everyone will be the ideal reader for this one, I think I probably was the target audience and I really enjoyed it. So much of what was written was relatable as a mom of two young children. In some ways, this book may help validate the feelings of new moms, but in some ways it also could be triggering- I fell on the side of validation.

I think this one was pretty on par with The Favor which was Murphy's debut novel and I'll definitely be looking out for what she writes next!

I listened to the audio version of this and it really helped having two narrators to keep the story interesting and to keep me intrigued. Both narrators did an excellent job|!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the ALC! This book will be available for purchase on May 30th!

This book was an interesting one! It was a slow burn mystery and a way to explore how awful the first months of motherhood can be especially if you don't have a support system and you're dealing with PPD. Having had a baby somewhat recently, I struggled hearing how hard everything was for the MC. And that was mostly because it was so realistic. I like how the author combined the mystery part of it as well. I thought the narration was done well. Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this one.

Reviewed for NetGalley:

Natalie, an attorney on maternity leave illustrates the very real and trying first few months of motherhood. Half way into the book, I was curious to see where the thriller aspect would start, as the author did such a nice iob of setting the scene of new motherhood.

Then enter the overly helpful, Paul, with a shady past, that infilitrates Natalie’s daily life. When Paul sets his trap into play, I was surprised at how clingy and weak Natalie was portrayed. In the end, the author made it all click.

I listened to the narrated version of the novel. The dualing narrators did a nice job of transitioning the perspectives.

This book really gives you a look at what new mothers go through and just how serious and common post partum depression is. I liked the accuracy of that part of the book. I liked the narration and short chapters. That's about it though. I was so bored the whole way through. This wasn't thrilling at all and didn't have any big twists.

Really disappointed in this one. It wasn't much of a story or mystery as it was more so a continuous whining about being a mom. DNF at 70%

At its core, this is a story about motherhood and postpartum depression/ psychosis. While I am not a mom myself, I found the perspective quite interesting though extremely detailed and at times, repetitive. Also, the mystery itself did not play a part until well into the second half of the book and the marketing misled me, especially after reading The Favor. If you plan to pick this up, I really enjoyed the dual audio narration and thought both narrators did a great job portraying all the emotions as well as building some suspense.

Read if you like:
-Domestic suspense
-Stories about motherhood
-Small town setting

Thank you SMP and Macmillan Audio for the ARC/ALC. Pub date: 5/30/23