Mama Needs a Minute! by Mary Catherine Starr is a refreshingly honest and delightfully humorous comic memoir that perfectly captures the chaos, exhaustion, and hilarity of modern motherhood. With sharp wit and relatable illustrations, Starr peels back the curtain on the daily struggles and small victories of parenting young children. Her candid storytelling—often told in quick, punchy comic panels—resonates deeply with moms who often feel unseen or overwhelmed. Whether she’s tackling the mental load of motherhood, sleep deprivation, or the emotional rollercoaster of raising tiny humans, Starr’s voice is both comforting and laugh-out-loud funny. A must-read (and gift!) for any mom needing a moment of solidarity and a good chuckle.

As a mom, I can commiserate with much of this book. Being a mom, especially when they are young feels like you are no longer you. Mary Catherine Starr’s book looks at the difficulty mixed with humor and illustrations. Should be required reading for anyone who asks what a mom did all day!

This book was very interesting! I am not a parent, so I couldn't personally relate to it. But I had heard of these things happening in relationships. I liked that the book went back and forth between narrative and comic strips. I also liked how the book addressed the disparities between mothers and fathers with both humor and seriousness. Thank you!!

I breezed through it! Felt totally understood. Knowing these struggles are universal makes motherhood feel more doable. Loved the comics, felt super relatable!

This is different from a lot of books I read, and I think this was a very thoughtful, insightful read. As I am in the part of my life where my partner and I are contemplating children, this brought up a lot of interesting perspectives and situations that you don't realize you're in until, well, you are in them, and even though I found myself saying 'that would never happen to us', so did the author at some points. Getting knowledge from someone who has been through similar struggles and seeing how communication can easily break down and cause resentment on both sides highlights the importance of taking time, making space, and being on a team together and not against one another. As we move towards our next stages in life, I plan to own this book and show it to my partner so that we can avoid falling into the same pitfalls others before us have, and I am grateful that this book came across my dashboard.

Thank you Mary Catherine Starr, Chronicle Books, and NetGalley for the ARC!

Reading this book as a mother is such a relief. It made me feel as i wasn’t alone in these feelings.

This is truly an insightful memoir about family, especially parenting. As the title has suggested, it’s mainly highlighting the mom’s experience. All the ups and downs with no details spared.

Even though I don’t have a a family of my own, the contents of this book still made me reflects on the family dynamics I grew up in. Mary Catherine managed to deliver the topic of parenting struggle in an easy and succinct way, brutal honesty peppered with humor, wrapped with illustrations and also analogies that make perfect sense. Highly recommended for moms, or soon-to-be moms, or anyone who wants to glimpse into life as a mom

So on point, from the cover to the last page. Even if I close the door, 9 times out of 10 there is a child on the other side of it carrying on a conversation with me, sliding pictures under the door, and rattling the handle asking when I'll be done going to the bathroom...In all fairness, my husband does all of the kids' laundry and most of the cooking so the division of labor is a bit better in my household, but it was still very relatable concerning the husband's reactions to daily life, and the emphasis on the mother's mental load!

This was a really honest look into the joy and difficulty of parenting as well as dealing with unbalanced responsibilities when it comes to parenting between partners. I really appreciated how honest the book was, as well as acknowledging that there are no easy answers to fixing this problem. I appreciated that it shared both the author and her husband's perspective.

I enjoyed the unfiltered view of what motherhood and co-parenting can be like. I wasn't familiar with the author before so this was a fun and unexpected treat to read. I do think it was a bit wordy, even some of the comics but not enough to stop me from reading the whole thing. I commend the brave author for putting herself and her family out there for all to judge. Her story also made me realize how lucky I am to have a husband that is truly a partner because not everyone is as lucky.

I've been a mom life comics fan for some time, and have laughed and cried and commiserated with Mary Catherine Starr's depictions of motherhood. I was delighted when she announced she was writing a book, and extra excited to get an advance copy of the book.

Listen, though many comics were repeats of things I've seen before, the way Starr synthesized all of these comics with the story of her relationship and motherhood was a beautiful work of art. I appreciate her honesty and I identify so deeply with her experience of marriage and motherhood.

Thank you Mary Catherine Starr for this lovely work. I enjoyed it so very much

A hilarious look at what motherhood is but also informative about what co-parenting could look like with sharing parental responsibilities. Starr uses her own adventures and learning to showcase a successful relationship. The book explores splitting household tasks, sharing the mental load. A valuable look at pregnancy through parenting for parents and parents to be.

I agree with many other readers when I say this was less graphic novel and more novel with pictures.

This author MISSED EVERY OPPORTUNITY to put humorous motherly situations into art. Instead we get a LOT of narrative. I was so bummed about that.

The book isn’t necessarily bad, it’s just not at all what I was hoping for or expecting.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this graphic novel, yet I was both surprised, but also felt a little...bored at times?

The thing about graphic novels, is the medium let's you really showcase things without the need to narrate a lot. I feel this title didn't do that well. A lot of things were told how hard life is as a mother. And as a husband who knows how much his wife does for both me and our daughter, I'd love to see that portrayed well in a graphic novel style. But in here it's just mostly told, and very very long winded. I'm not familiar with Mary Catherine Starr, so she might be a big author, but this felt like one of her first, if not first, comic/graphic novel. It doesn't read as well in that format IMO and felt like this maybe should have been a regular novel instead.

However, I did still enjoy the message. Some great parts, including the rough process for pregnancy, and of course the feeling of being alone when doing so many things by yourself, even if you aren't by yourself, that feeling can be rough. And I enjoyed those moments as well as the ending, which fit the themes well, and really turned me around on the family we got to know.

So overall not perfect, I think the format is new to the author, and she'll only get better at it for sure. But it's still a good book into the life of motherhood, which is NOT easy folks. A 3 out of 5.

Mary Catherine's book blends the tough narrative about parenting inequality with the more light-hearted feel of a graphic novel. While her illustrations were phenomenal, the content was serious and so relatable to anyone who is more Type-A and has experienced motherhood. I connected so deeply with this book. I'm so grateful to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC. I will definitely be purchasing the hard copy when it's released on March 11th. *I received a complimentary e-ARC exchange for an honest review.

Mama Needs a Minute! by Mary Catherine Starr is an honest, compelling and funny account of one woman's path to parenthood and what that means for her relationships, her children and most importantly, herself.

Told with a mix of humorous illustrations of Starr and her family as well as poignant essays on her personal path to parenthood., Starr discusses her early childhood, how she met her husband, their path to parenthood and what their lives have looked like since they had their children. She is very candid about her birth experience with her daughter and all the apprehension, worry and love that comes with being a first-time parent. She also emphasizes that despite all the planning you can do, life will inevitably throw you curveballs.

This is a book for the parent (both mothers and fathers) who finds that despite the myths of joyous bonding with their newborn, struggles with the workload of being caregiver. Starr is honest, almost brutally so, about her struggles with trying to maintain who she was before having her children and fulfilling all societal expectations that women especially are given once they become mothers.

She also addresses the inequities in shared parenting that she and her husband experienced and how they were able to work through it so that though they each handled parenting differently, it didn't mean one was better than the other.

Having discovered Starr's work through her Instagram account momlife_comics, I was very excited to see her illustrations combined into a book. This is the book I wish I had when I was a new parent, struggling with post-partum depression and anxiety and wishing that I could talk to someone about all of the feelings. While this isn't a how-to book, it is a a book full of parenting insight. I feel that's better than a how-to, which can make you feel judged, but more like a friend's hug, something you can lean on when you need it.

Note: I received a copy of this book for the purposes of review from NetGalley.

Through the use of both "comics" or illustrations, and written reflections, Mary Catherine Starr writes about her evolving relationship with her husband, the transition to motherhood, and provides a realistic account of what to expect out of motherhood.

The way that Starr addresses topics such as burnout, managing the mental load, and the transition of shared responsibilities as they shift from married-without-children to married-with-children was my favorite aspect of the memoir, as I appreciated the way that Starr incorporates her perspective as a woman and a mother, as well as including her husband's perspective. I personally related to Starr especially because, as Starr describes, I am an anxious and type-A person who likes to plan everything in order to get a grasp on my anxiety! Additionally, Starr presents and normalizes frustration, disappointment, resentment, and the resounding experience that occurs when a life event does not go at all the way that you expected. For mothers-to-be, Starr provides a very candid account of pregnancy, child birth, postpartum, as well as balancing marriage, parenting, and being a mother.

One topic I appreciated was the "peanut butter" metaphor addressed early on, where Starr illustrates the importance of your partner showing that they want to improve your life, that they're thinking about you, and demonstrate it through "the small things". I also appreciated Starr's reflection on topics such as the way that she and her husband planned for the arrival of their first child, and the things that they would have done differently if given a second opportunity to work more collaboratively and be equally prepared and educated prior to baby's arrival. With situations such as these, the way that Starr both writes and illustrates the examples are done in an easy-to-digest way that would allow any reader to share with a friend, a therapist, or a partner in conversation and implement into their own life after the reader has done their own reflection.

By reading the cover and title alone, I was expecting this memoir to be almost entirely, or entirely comics/illustrations. That being said, I was surprised to find so much text and written information with maybe about half of the book being comics/illustrations. Another important note is that this book is not to be considered "parenting advice" (and isn't trying to be) - so, the reader should consider why they are picking up this memoir before opening it before making a judgment! Not all of the choices that Starr's family made will work for everyone, and that's completely okay. This is Starr's story and personal experience, not an advice column.

Thank you to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When I saw this title, Mama Needs a Minute, I knew I had to read it. This graphic novel uses humor to highlight some of the issues mothers face. The author shows her journey into motherhood, how her marriage was impacted, and the adjustments they need to make as a family

I related to a lot of the topics discussed in the comic. As a default parent, I was able to relate to some of the struggles she faced. It validated some of my feelings surrounding parenting. The comic approach was relatable. I would highly recommend this to anyone who would like to understand parenthood and being the default parent. I also encouraged mothers to read it if they wanted to feel seen.

**ARC provided by NetGalley for honest review**

Mama Needs a Minute! by Mary Catherine Starr was unfortunately not the light-hearted and funny comic book about parenting that I was hoping for from the cover. This is definitely more of a serious memoir about one woman's relationship and parenting struggles and came across really negative to me. Nothing wrong with that of course, it just wasn't what I was hoping to read about. I got maybe a third of the way through before I gave up, knowing it wasn't for me. This could be a really healing story for some, but I wouldn't go in looking for laughs.

This is a graphic novel/memoir about Mary Catherine Starr's life from a single woman, to a wife, and now a mother/wife/business owner. I'm glad this book is being published; parents (and soon-to-be parents) everywhere will benefit from hearing this story. Maybe it'll just be validating for you, maybe it'll be informative and helpful either as you prepare to be a parent, or if you have loved ones that are parents. Most of all this story needs to be told because for so long mothers were suffering in silence with the heavy physical and mental burden of managing a household alone without support from their partners, family members, and community. There came a movement where mothers were speaking out about the struggles of parenthood and lack of support instead of just pasting on a smile. This has been very freeing and validating as a mother myself to read about Starr's struggles and the dynamic between her and her husband and how they are working on reversing that narrative that mom has to do it all. However, this book was too wordy to keep my attention. Almost every other page was a full page of text without illustrations, and when there were illustrations, the talk bubbles were packed full of long sentences and rambling thoughts. I can see the reason for these decisions, but I had a difficult time getting through the long blocks of text and ended up skimming certain parts that didn't resonate with me. Overall, I'm very glad I read this book and would recommend it to others!