Reviews

This book grew on me as I continued reading it. It starts off a little confusing in my opinion, but then sorts itself out. It reminded me of Stephen White's psychiatrist / patient relationship books.
Ruth Hartland is a psychotherapist dealing with trauma patients. She fails to admit to anyone that she has experienced trauma of her own - as her son, Tom, attempts suicide and then later, disappears without a trace. Ruth is consumed by guilt and anxiety. Her marriage fails, her relationship with her daughter, Carolyn who is Tom's twin, is a struggle. This spills over into Ruth's patient sessions, especially when she meets Dan Griffin who bears a striking resemblance to Tom.
All of this leads to devastating consequences when Ruth blurs the lines for proper patient / therapist relationships.
This is a taut psychological thriller. It starts slowly, but picks up speed - it was a short book, so a relatively quick read.
#AGoodEnoughMother #BevThomas

beastreader's review against another edition

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3.0

I dug into this book with both hands. This is the type of book that I really enjoy reading. It started out just great. I was really feeling it for the first several chapters. Than the story slowed down and I found myself struggling throughout the rest of the story. What was most sad is the ending. It was a bit of a let down in my opinion. There is nothing worse than to get to the end of a book to have a weak ending.

I got Ruth's view point of how she crossed the line when it came to Dan. She was missing that void with the disappearance of her son. So when Dan came along and he kind of reminded her of her son, she could not separate doctor/patient relationship with parent/son relationship. The story Dan shared was sad. It did allow me to feel sympathy towards him. Yet, this is one of the low points for me. I did not feel great sympathy for Ruth or Dan. In addition, where was the intensity?

Overall, this was a fine read but there was room for improvements. This again is my opinion. I would give this author and her books another try.

_tamara8464's review against another edition

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1.0

When I think of the definition of boring, I will think of A Good Enough Mother. Perhaps it is not my type of book. Usually l like books that have a story. This one seems to be overly detailed without much to the story.

bookswritingandmore's review against another edition

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5.0

Ruth Hartland is a psychotherapist with years of experience. But professional skill is no guard against private grief. The mother of grown twins, she is haunted by the fact that her beautiful, difficult, fragile son Tom, a boy who never "fit in," disappeared a year and a half earlier. She cannot give up hope of finding him, but feels she is living a kind of half-life, waiting for him to return.

Enter a new patient, Dan--unstable and traumatized--who looks exactly like her missing son. She is determined to help him, but soon, her own complicated feelings, about how she has failed her own boy, cloud her professional judgement. And before long, the unthinkable becomes a shattering reality....

This book was so creepy but in a good way. The story was told from Ruth's point of view. We got to read stories of her happier times with family life, her therapy clients and her life as it is now. She was a great voice to read. Her character was going through so much but still did her absolute best to hold it together.
A Good Enough Mother is a remarkable novel, and I expect it to be in my top books of the year. It is intelligent, ambitious and incredibly disturbing. It is also brilliantly written, completely human and so intense.

Utterly riveting and very very highly recommended from me.

katie_esh's review against another edition

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3.0

Even though this is marketed as a thriller, I would describe it as a mysterious family drama. It is well researched and gives readers information about therapeutic practices for trauma. I was intrigued from the start, but the cliffhangers at the end of each chapter made me groan rather than leave me wanting more. I feel distracted by the many subplots and struggled to find the relevance in some of them. Overall, it was just OK!

guylou's review

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4.0

QOTD: What’s one movie you watched over 20 times?

My Review:
Seventeen-year-old Tom has disappeared without a trace over a year ago and Ruth has been lost ever since. She misses her son so much and constantly think she sees him sitting at a café or standing on a train platform or walking on the opposite sidewalk. It is never him. Movie obsessed Dan is her new patient and he resembles a lot Tom. As a therapist, Ruth knows that she should pass on Dan’s case to another therapist but she can’t let go. Dan is a very disturbed young man who has just been traumatized. Ruth sees the signs of danger but is blinded by her desire to redeem herself. She is hoping to rescue him and erase the guilt of her failure with her own son. Dan in getting too close and Ruth has trapped herself in too many lies. When Dan discovers the truth, he unleashes his anger. Who will get hurt? Who will suffer?

This is such a great psychological thriller. It is a very emotional story which deals with mental diseases, the loss of a child and the inability to move on. Bev Thomas slowly paints the story and delivers a surprising punch, and completes the story with a triumph. Beautifully written, I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this fantastic book. A Good Enough Mother by Bev Thomas will be available at your favourite bookstore on April 30, 2019.

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paigepeploe's review

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Incredibly boring and hard to follow by audiobook. Too many characters and not enough thrilling aspects.

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