What if we hate what our mothers were but still create the same dynamic? Repeats through the generations of lack of love and focus on other things in life occur in this book. This was a great read and I loved the writing style and empathized with the characters as they all want more as women .

Like Mother, Like Mother by Susan Rieger is a story about women that covers three generations. It seems as though what started with Zelda continues through to Lila and then Grace. Lila is only a couple of years old when her father Aldo has her mother committed to an institution. Aldo was abusive toward Zelda, had her committed, then told Lila she had died.

Lila grows up and becomes a very successful, well known editor of the Washington Globe. She marries a wonderful man, Joe, who puts up with Lila’s success and becomes the main caretaker of their 3 children. Grace is the youngest and her two older sisters are twins. Grace feels abandoned yet she seems to be the most like her mother. Grace writes a fiction book based on her mother’s life which causes a lot of friction between her and her mother. However, it also leads Grace to wonder about her families background and what really happened to her grandmother Zelda.

Much takes place to bring Grace to the point where she searches for Grace but she learns a lot in the meantime. Thank you Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this pre-release.

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

Susan Rieger's Like Mother, Like Mother offers a compelling exploration of family dynamics. The novel follows Lila and Grace who are mother and daughter and are more alike than they think. Their intersecting stories reveal the truth about the family’s relationships and the sacrifices that are made by both parents and their children.
I thought it was a little bit slow at the beginning, but once I realized how important Lila and Grace’s internal struggles were developing the story, I wanted to keep reading. Another thing I struggled with was the back and forth of the timelines. For me, they were kind of all over the place at first, but after awhile I understood why. There are a lot of other characters in the book, and it can be hard to keep track, but the author included a “cast of characters” at the beginning of the book which was a huge help.
The different perspectives allow readers to appreciate the differences and similarities between the women's experiences. The author manages the tension and emotional depth between Grace and Lila in a way that provides both heartache and hope.
Overall, Like Mother, Like Mother is a thought-provoking, funny and emotional read. It's a worthwhile read for those who like family drama, humor and a little twist.

I wanted to love this so bad. I tried very hard to give it a chance to meet my expectations, but I missed the mark with this one. I love books exploring the relationships between mothers and daughters, so when I saw this book I requested it right away. From the description, I was expecting an overarching plot that dove deeply into the women in a family and how their relationships affected the relationships they had with their daughters. That, however, is not what I found with this book. Split into three sections, this book focuses separately on a mother and a daughter. They do not feel interwoven into each other, it feels like two separate stories that happen to have a mother/daughter in the story. I didn't feel like the mother/daughter relationship was explored any more than a book with that dynamic in it. I found that the dialogue heavy scenes that "told instead of showed" lacked a solid plot that I could follow easily. The mystery that was thrown in didn't feel like it matched the overall tone of the book. I think I was ultimately thrown by the expectations the title gave but didn't meet. The writing itself was fine but didn't quite achieve what I thought it would.

I fell in love and became fully absorbed with this novel. Such a cast of truly unique women. And what I loved about these women (three main characters; three generations of a family) was that none of the supporting family and friends were trying to change these very independent thinkers, but observed and ultimately admired their quirks. Great story, superb character study. I will be thinking about this one for quite a while. Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

Multigenerational fiction with flawed characters and women who break molds? It’s my kink as Chappel Roan would say. I loved this book. I loved the characters, the way the characters were unapologetically themselves, I loved the Jewish rep, the good and ugly. Gosh this may be a fave of the year.
4.5 stars.

In Susan Rieger’s Like Mother, Like Mother, Lila is the successful, high powered editor of the fictional Washington Globe Newspaper in Washington DC. We learn that she comes from an abusive home where her father committed her mother to an asylum many years before.

Grace, Lila’s grown daughter writes a barely fictional account of Lila’s life and grandmother’s disappearance and possible later life. Through alternating timelines we follow these characters and many of those who they love as the story asks us to consider: what impact do our mother’s choices really have? How do maternal bonds, whether or strong even painfully absent, influence our daily lives?

I wanted to like this more than I did. I thought the plot was interesting, but the story suffered from an over abundance of unlikeable characters. I also found myself looking forward to any part where characters were not speaking to each other, as much of the dialogue was stilted and followed the same odd mannerisms. I was also hoping the mystery of where Zelda was would be actively acted upon much earlier in the book.

All-in-all, this one just wasn’t my cup of tea.

I received this free advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and feedback.

Oh my god! I've always been obsessed with reading generational stories, but this was something else. I could not put it down at all. I absolutely loved the way the author weaved the similarities between all three women through time. It's one of my favourite books I've read this year!

I love a well-written character, and Lila will stay with me for a while. She just checked so many boxes - complicated, firm, lovable, but unlovable, self-aware, strong, yet lacking in some very important ways. I can’t say enough good things about how well-written Lila was as a complicated, three-dimensional character.

Like Mother, Like Mother is a generational story told mostly from Lila and Grace’s point of view. Zelda’s story defines these two women and who they become though, making this a three-generation book.

This book really dives into what it takes to be a mother, and what makes a good mother. With complex characters, I really feel the author does a good job of taking a critical look at the imperfect role of motherhood and how it can create a snowball down generations.

As much as I love this book, there are a couple of reasons I can’t give it five stars. One of my pet peeves in fiction writing is when books get political. I read to escape that nonsense and this book definitely takes a left-wing approach. I don’t care what view it takes, I just don’t want it in my reading. This is a purely personal thing only.

My other conundrum with the book is that Grace, although a good character, just isn’t as strong of a character as Lila, and some of the scenes with her drag a bit. And Ruth…though I liked Ruth, she was almost too perfect. Maybe I just absolutely loved Lila?

I also found that I LOVED the layout of the storytelling. The three parts and the way the author chose to interweave present and past with a delicacy that didn’t pull me out of the story. I wish more books were written in this style, to be honest!

For anyone who loves a multigenerational family saga, you’re definitely going to want to get this October release on your radar. Rife with Jewish representation, LMLM snuck up on me as one of the best books I’ve read as of late!

And the hallmark of a good book for me? I’ve already forced my mom to start it 🤪

Be sure to get your pre-orders or library holds in now for October 29

4.5 stars!

I really enjoyed the characters in this novel. A little mystery, family saga and genealogy rolled into one. The last quarter of the book it was hard to put down and that rarely happens for me.

Lila Periera grew up with nothing. Raised by an abusive dad after her mother left, she marries into a wealthy family and becomes a successful newspaper editor. Her husband and nannies raise the daughters she never wanted. Now she has died and her youngest daughter, a writer, is searching for what really happened to her grandmother. Susan Rieger does a great job of telling the three women’s stories and weaving them together in a poignant, sad tale. I enjoyed this and thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Like Mother, like Daughter is a multi generational story. It had a good plot and character development. If you like stories that span generations, this book is for you.

OH MY GOD this. book. When @jordys.book.club said it was “REAL GOOD” he was not exaggerating. It reminded me, vibe wise, of two of my favorites from last year, Hello Beautiful and Tom Lake. The characters in this were just so so good. They were specific, interesting, unique but relatable, flawed but likable, I could go on and on. I was so sad to leave them and think they will stick with me for a while. The cast of side characters here was quite large, but in a way that I found to be enjoyable, and there is a list of all the players at the beginning which was clever to include. This book had so many insightful things to say on life’s various relationships and was a thoughtful exploration of trauma and survival. I also loved the way it touched on religion and the more secular Judaism exhibited by many of the characters. Cannot say enough good things about this one!

Special thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy. I liked this book, but it wasn't what I thought it would be. I'm a bit burnt out on multi-generational stories, which I didn't realize until opening this book. It's not that the book is bad (it's pretty good!), just personal preference.

Susan Rieger’s multigenerational story Like Mother ,Like Mother follows three generations of women from a Jewish family through a web of confusion, deceit, and domestic violence. One by one the women leave the family’s patriarch who is abusive and plain old repulsive, and each finds their way through career and personal happiness, though their measure of success is questionable and limited. The plot is clouded by a mystery when the patriarch’s wife disappears from her children’s lives. Without a mother’s influence, does one learn to nurture or are the limitations passed down? The characters in Like Mother, Like Mother are complicated and some are hard-edged making them less than ideal, but others have admirable qualities too, and they learn to navigate their lives to suit their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. A tell-all book written as fiction troubles family members and shakes bonds. Rieger weaves a story with lots of twists in interpersonal relationships and lets her characters make mistakes. The dialogue is snappy and smart, the writing is complex, and the ending is satisfying, though a bit convenient, but rounds out the story. Ultimately, I enjoyed Rieger’s guidance through this family’s life and how certain traits can be passed down through generations with a variety of results. In addition, her side characters have rich stories as well. Thank you to NetGalley and The Dial Press/Random House for making this eARC available for my honest review.

THIS NOVEL! One of the two best books I've read this year.... it was everything I needed it to be! A multi-generational family story with plot twists and nuanced characters who were likable and complex. I will be shouting about this one to everyone I know!

Three generations of strong Jewish women try to understand their family relationships and why they are so determined to make their lives a success, often at the expense of their husbands and children. Did it all start with their grandfather, Aldo, who beat his wife and children? He later committed his young wife to an asylum where he says she died eight years later. But is that the truth or just the truth each generation has chosen to believe? What if Zelda lived and was able to leave the asylum? Where would she go? Why didn't she return for her children who were being beaten in her place? It takes three generations before Grace is brave enough to investigate what happened to Zelda. Her findings set off a chain reaction throughout the generations and bring into question exactly who are they?
Engrossing, sad, horrific and at times humorous, "Like Mother, Like Mother" takes an in-depth delve into what makes a family.

Like Mother, Like Mother is a multi-generational saga which I tend to really enjoy. This book fell flat for me. It was difficult to care about any of the characters and I didn’t feel invested in the mystery of what happened to Zelda. I had high hopes, because I live near Detroit and I lean left, so while I enjoyed the setting and those political influences, it was difficult for me feel connected. I do think that others will enjoy it, as I can’t really put my finger on what it was about the book. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC of this book in exchange for my review.