Stay at home mom Zoe and surgeon Ethan are seemingly happily married with a 4-year old daughter, Anna. Until one day 13-year old Micah shows up on their doorstep and claims to be Ethan's son and that his mother, Rita, has disappeared. Zoe welcomes him into her home at first but quickly becomes uncomfortable around him. But she sees an opportunity to be a "better mother" than Micah has ever had- if only she can figure out of Micah is a threat to her and her daughter!

Positives:
The book was a very quick read. I read it in a couple hours
The first half was very interesting and kept my interest
Told from both Zoe and Micah's perspectives
Character development kept me guessing
There is one interesting twist at the end

Negatives:
After awile I could not stand the character of Zoe. She said she had to talk to Ethan 15 times and as soon as he would get home, she wouldn't do it! So frustrating.  
There was not a lot of action
Not a very satisfying conclusion

This book is actually quite disturbing. It shows how people can have very twisted minds and behave extremely sane as though there is absolutely nothing wrong. Left me shaken

Zoe is a mum of a three year old girl Anna, happily married to surgeon Ethan and quite frankly her life could not be any better.
Until there is a knock on the door and a thirteen year old Micah announces that his mum is missing, and Ethan is his dad. But credit to Zoe, she welcomes this boy into their home and convinces Ethan that they must look out for Micah and make sure he has a nice home.
But quickly things start to get weird. Little incidents and Micah calling Zoe mom within 24 hours, make Zoe feel on edge and like something just isn't right with the boy and she realises that she has invited into he life someone, she knows nothing about. And when Police tell her, Micah's mum is found dead, Zoe swear she will protect her family at all costs.
This is a quick page turner. A little predictable especially since perfect Ethan is so squeaky clean and clearly has emotional superiority and control over Zoe, even is she doesn't admit that to herself.
Anyone that like a quick read thriller, will enjoy this book and the ending I felt was also perfect.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was a good domestic thriller. The storyline was fast paced and easy to read. The characters were relatable and some likeable. Overall an ok read

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Really good psychological thriller or domestic thriller. Easy and enjoyable read. A few surprises along the way. I enjoyed this book.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy of this psychological thriller. I enjoyed this one, at times, it didn’t feel like a thriller and I almost felt bad for Micah because of how mean Zoe was being to him and by the end of the book, I knew something was going to end up happening with Micah’s father. So while it was a good thriller, it was a tad predictable.

I ended up having to buy this because I failed to download it in time. It was worth it! It is completely weird and an easy read.
I love this author. Her books are a nice guilty pleasure.

This was a pretty good book. The story line was easy to follow and it wasn’t too deep/heavy. I enjoyed it and would read more from this author.

Thankyou to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read to this ARC.
I really enjoyed this title.
This title was a fast paced page turner which I would highly recommend to anyone.
This book literally had twists and turns that you don’t see coming that leave you questioning everyone.
Never a bad book my Emily Shiner she always delivers!
5/5 stars

This book was an absolute page-turner and I didn't see the final twist coming! If you like twisty, psychological thrillers that make you question everything, you need to read this!

A twisty domestic thriller - most of the main characters were likable and relatable and the story line kept me reading. Be prepared for anything!

The Better Mother follows the story of Zoe, who has the perfect life with her husband and daughter. One day a 13-year-old boy shows up at her door and says her husband is his dad. Looking at Micah, there is no doubt that he is Ethan's son. Micah says his mom doesn't take care of him and has been missing for days. Things start to get weird (Micah cuts up a photo of Zoe and glues her head on his mother's body in a photo from his childhood). Something seems off with Micah and Zoe fears his mother isn't missing, but is dead and she wonders if he killed her.

I'm a huge Emily Shiner fan. The books are always fast paced, thrilling and jaw dropping. This book was no different. The characters are likeable. The story moves quickly but is super easy to follow. The twists are great. My favourite thing is always the last chapter. Just when things are wrapped up, another twist happens.

I would definitely recommend this book!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read this for free. This was my honest review.

The Better Mother by Emily Shiner is a good, fast paced book with a compelling plot. Throughout the book I couldn't make my mind up about Micah - is he bad or just misunderstood. This dilemma continues right up untill the reveal in the end. Every twist in this book, lands perfectly and you don't see them coming at all. The plot was unique and characters- most of them were dubious. The book ends with a cliffhanger and I really wish it didn't - atleast not that way! Overall this book was a good companion on a long flight and certainly interesting enough to keep going even after the lights were turned off.

Thank you Netgalley, Inkubator Books and Emily Shiner for the arc!

I enjoyed reading this book, it kept going at a great pace with plenty of twists and turns. the ending was unexpected and I think I liked the book even more because of this! I would definitely read more by Emily Shiner in the future. thank you Netgalley x

I really wanted to shake Zoe for her naivety and foolishness! Then reminded myself it wasn’t real! Emily Shinner is a relatively unknown author to me, but I did enjoy this book overall, even if I guessed the ending. I will look for her other novels.

This was utterly amazing. I finished in 4 hours and makes me desperate to head into the authors blacklist

Thank you Netgalley, Emily Shiner, and publisher for allowing me to read an advanced readers copy of “The better mother” published on October 22,2023.

We follow Zoe, who seemingly has the perfect family.
She's married to Ethan, and they have a daughter, Anna. But everything changes when one night they receive a phone call that Ethan says was just a wrong number. The next day, a thirteen-year-old boy (Micah, who looks just like Ethan) turns up on the doorstep. Zoe takes Micha under her wing, hoping to be a better mother than the one he seemingly has. His biological mother leaves him for days, with little to no food, and is an addict. Micha very quickly begins to call her mom. which makes Zoe a little uncomfortable. Alarm bells start ringing, and Zoe begins questioning herself as guilt kicks in for having doubts about a child. Then things start coming to the surface of Michas past....

This book was so good I couldn’t put it down till I finished it!

The Better Mother by Emily Shiner
What if while living the perfect life with your surgeon husband and little girl, a 13 year old boy claiming to be your husbands long lost child shows up on your doorstep. What if he told you how his druggie mother was missing again and he didn’t know what to do anymore. Would you let him in or turn him away? Zoe, of course, welcomes Micah in with both arms. Ethan her husband is a bit leery of this ruining their ‘perfect’ lives but Zoe wants to do the right thing for Micah. What she gets isn’t exactly what she bargained for.
This was an easy, quick read. The characters were easy to get to know. I knew something was off but couldn’t quite get my finger on it.

A predictable read and unfortunately I guessed the ending which was a little too obvious for me. Not one of her best which is a shame. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this new thriller.

Zoe is your typical stay-at-home mom. She has a brilliant surgeon husband that she adores and a beautiful pre-schooler that she can't get enough of. She is living the perfect life until a strange phone call and a knock on the door rock her world. Her husband has a 13 year old son from a college fling that has found himself abandoned by his mother. The only other person in the world that can care for him is the father he never met and the mother that he wishes he always had. But then Zoe's suspicions of her new step-son become unbearable and she starts to uncover things that just don't add up.

This book was an easy, quick read. I enjoyed it as a time-killer (no pun intended). However, the reaches that Zoe takes to figure out this kid could only be made by Stretch Armstrong. She is leaping and bounding over common sense and arriving in "what the hell"-ville. I can't say that the twist at the end was a surprise. Frankly, it was quite predictable. Was the book a fun read? Sure. Was I blown away? Absolutely not. Is Anna my favorite character? 100% yes.