If you’re looking for a last minute Mother’s Day gift, you should grab a copy of Aimee Molloy’s The Perfect Mother. This novel was released on May 1, 2018, and had me hooked from the end of the very first chapter!

The Perfect Mother is Aimee Molloy’s debut novel, and does not disappoint. It’s technically a thriller, but I found it had so much more than the typical, run-of-the-mill thriller that we’ve become accustomed to. While the plot line is full of suspense, I found myself becoming more and more enthralled by the main characters, and the overall theme of motherhood.

The story takes place over the span of a few days, in Brooklyn, New York. The crime? A baby, Midas, was kidnapped from his home while his mother, Winnie, was out with her mommy group, The May Mothers, enjoying their first night away from their newborns. By the end of the first chapter you know that someone has been accused and sent to prison for the crime, but you don’t know how they got there, or if they are in fact guilty.

From there, the story bounces back and forth between the four main characters: Winnie, Nell, Colette, and Francie. All four are new mothers, and desperately want justice for Midas. However, some of them are hiding secrets that derail the search for the missing baby. Each chapter will leave you reeling for more, and trying to figure out what exactly happened.

I usually try to figure out thrillers, but I didn’t with this one. Why? Well, I honestly couldn’t. The story flips back and forth between multiple characters, which is a little confusing. I had a hard time keeping track of who said what, which made it a very difficult mystery to solve. (This is not at all a bad thing; it kept me reading!) Plus, I was really invested in the mothers and their unique stories. The book focuses a lot on modern motherhood, and I was shocked at what these mothers were going through (missing baby aside).

Maybe it’s because I’m not a mom, and have never really given much thought to the amount of work that goes into raising a baby, but this book showed me what it’s like. The May Mothers are trying so hard to balance their new parenting duties, personal relationships, friendships, and work all at once, while also trying to find time for themselves. They all want to be a perfect mother (who doesn’t?), but it’s not as easy as it seems. They are being bombarded with parenting tips, advice, and silent judgement from others who think they’re raising their babies incorrectly. By the end of the book I wanted to give them all a hug, because there’s no way I could do all of that.

The Perfect Mother is a refreshing new thriller. It does a fantastic job of keeping you up past your bedtime, flipping pages, and interested until the very end. It’s a wonderful, suspenseful story that is jam-packed with emotion, and gives you a new perspective on the pressure that society places on new mothers.

I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for an entertaining, thought-provoking, and fast-paced read.

Thank you Harper Collins Canada for sending me a copy of this book to review through the HCC First Look program!