You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
I stayed up way too late to finish this book! After losing her infant daughter and watching her marriage fall apart Julie has hit rock bottom, with only her drinking habit and her dog, Depot, left to comfort her. When she is offered a teaching job in a remote island setting she hopes it will be the fresh start she needs to rebuild her life. Before long she suspects that life on Mercy Island is not what it seems...
I enjoyed the slowly unfolding mystery and the eerie suspense each time Julie had to wander through darkness or fog. And any time a dog gets to be a fully developed character and not just there in a story I put that in the plus column! I will definitely recommend it to my book club!
Thank you to BookTrib and Sourcebooks for the review copy!
I enjoyed the slowly unfolding mystery and the eerie suspense each time Julie had to wander through darkness or fog. And any time a dog gets to be a fully developed character and not just there in a story I put that in the plus column! I will definitely recommend it to my book club!
Thank you to BookTrib and Sourcebooks for the review copy!
I have the hardest time writing reviews for books that I don’t feel a strong connection to and, unfortunately, that was The Second Mother for me.
I think expectations make all the difference and what I expected was a suspenseful or creepy thriller. What I feel I got was more literary fiction with some creepy elements.
What I liked: The writing was great. The characters were perfectly written. The storyline was interesting.
What didn’t work for me: This was a very slow burn, with a lot of repetition and not enough to keep me engaged.
Final thoughts: I think if I hadn’t gone into this one expecting a thriller, I would have enjoyed the slower pace more. I would definitely recommend this one to those who like a slow burn with great characters.
I received an advanced copy in exchange for my review.
I think expectations make all the difference and what I expected was a suspenseful or creepy thriller. What I feel I got was more literary fiction with some creepy elements.
What I liked: The writing was great. The characters were perfectly written. The storyline was interesting.
What didn’t work for me: This was a very slow burn, with a lot of repetition and not enough to keep me engaged.
Final thoughts: I think if I hadn’t gone into this one expecting a thriller, I would have enjoyed the slower pace more. I would definitely recommend this one to those who like a slow burn with great characters.
I received an advanced copy in exchange for my review.
Julie is running away from her problems and starting her life over. She accepted a job as a teacher on a remote island off of Maine where there is no cell service, no wifi and the community is incredibly close with one another. As she settles in a few strange things happen and she begins to wonder what she’s gotten herself into.
The island itself seems like paradise but also very isolating. The author did a great job describing the island and making it feel welcoming but also a bit creepy at times. Julie would find random things in her house or her door locked when it was left unlocked and scenes like that that made me wonder what was going on.
As for the characters themselves you don’t know anything about them at first, like hardly anything besides their names. When you meet Julie there isn’t much distinguishable about her except she has gone through something heartbreaking and traumatic that she is working through. As she settles into life on the island you learn more about her as well as everyone else she meets on Mercy Island.
There were parts where things just didn’t make sense to me and I thought I missed something but didn’t. They are explained later on and I think that’s why I continued with the book, I needed to know why people/things were the way they were.
The story was pretty slow, definitely more of a slow burn than an action packed thriller. I didn’t know if anything was ever going to happen but I kept reading because I needed to know if anything would. I didn’t hate this book by any means, it was just kind of boring at times and too long. I appreciated the details of the island but at the same time nothing happened until the last 20% of the book so just prepared to wait it out.
Thank you to BooksForward and Sourcebooks Landmark for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The island itself seems like paradise but also very isolating. The author did a great job describing the island and making it feel welcoming but also a bit creepy at times. Julie would find random things in her house or her door locked when it was left unlocked and scenes like that that made me wonder what was going on.
As for the characters themselves you don’t know anything about them at first, like hardly anything besides their names. When you meet Julie there isn’t much distinguishable about her except she has gone through something heartbreaking and traumatic that she is working through. As she settles into life on the island you learn more about her as well as everyone else she meets on Mercy Island.
There were parts where things just didn’t make sense to me and I thought I missed something but didn’t. They are explained later on and I think that’s why I continued with the book, I needed to know why people/things were the way they were.
The story was pretty slow, definitely more of a slow burn than an action packed thriller. I didn’t know if anything was ever going to happen but I kept reading because I needed to know if anything would. I didn’t hate this book by any means, it was just kind of boring at times and too long. I appreciated the details of the island but at the same time nothing happened until the last 20% of the book so just prepared to wait it out.
Thank you to BooksForward and Sourcebooks Landmark for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Answering an ad on opportunity.com for a teacher on a small remote island off the coast of Maine feels right. Julie Weathers needs a fresh start. A start away from Wedeskyull, New York. The place where she lost her baby, and her marriage has just imploded….a fact she was unaware of until her husband informed her that he was not interested in joining her in Maine, but instead wanted a divorce. She soon discovers that although they may be diverse, this island has its own problems.
The landscape of this book was beautiful…..and the author did a great job painting the picture of a village in Adirondack and the island. I enjoyed the author's writing style. She was brilliant at making us feel the impact of how controlling money and the hierarchy of power can be anywhere….whether it's a huge city and fortune 500 company or a remote coastal island and gangs of lobster fisherman. That being said...this book was all talk and very little action. Seriously...so much dialogue, but little going on for long periods of time. It's hard to not lose interest. When I was almost to my limit the book pulled me back in and finished strong.
Check out my blog at: http://beachbumbookworm.com/
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Netgalley, the author Jenny Milchman, and the publisher for this opportunity.
The landscape of this book was beautiful…..and the author did a great job painting the picture of a village in Adirondack and the island. I enjoyed the author's writing style. She was brilliant at making us feel the impact of how controlling money and the hierarchy of power can be anywhere….whether it's a huge city and fortune 500 company or a remote coastal island and gangs of lobster fisherman. That being said...this book was all talk and very little action. Seriously...so much dialogue, but little going on for long periods of time. It's hard to not lose interest. When I was almost to my limit the book pulled me back in and finished strong.
Check out my blog at: http://beachbumbookworm.com/
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Netgalley, the author Jenny Milchman, and the publisher for this opportunity.
Julie Weathers has been stuck in a life she never thought she would be leading and is in desperate need of a new beginning. When she finds an ad for an opportunity to be a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse on a remote island in Maine, she knows she has found her chance to flee her old life. The island is home to a close-knit community filled with lobster fisherman. As Julie starts her position as teacher she comes to suspect that life may not be so idyllic on this remote island. There are secrets here that may just put Julie’s life in danger.
THE SECOND MOTHER is an atmospheric, slow burn mystery that transports the reader to an island filled with intrigue and deception. I absolutely adore the way that Milchman was able to bring this community to life and turn the island into the perfect setting. I was completely swept away with the claustrophobic feelings I felt while reading this story both in terms of the island as a whole and the isolated house Julie has taken residence in.
In addition to a fantastic setting, THE SECOND MOTHER offers up a great cast of characters. Our main character is Julie, who has quite a few horrible things in her life that she needs to overcome. It was refreshing to see a narrator who was working to better their lives instead of someone who was simply portrayed as unreliable because of their life events. In addition to Julie, the island has some fantastic, multilayered characters that help to build the tension of this story. Shortly after Julie’s arrival it becomes clear that there are a lot of secrets being hidden on this island, but it’s not clear what they are. Oh and did I mention there’s a creepy kid who could possibly be terrorizing Julie? Yep! One of my favorite ways to be creeped out are weird child characters in crime fiction.
The pacing of THE SECOND MOTHER is on the slower side, but something I felt matched perfectly with the actual plot. This isn’t a thriller, but more of an atmospheric suspense story. I do think knowing this going into the book helps to set expectations. There are also a few parts that felt repetitive at times, but overall I felt the story flowed and progressed quite smoothly. THE SECOND MOTHER is perfect for fans of atmospheric crime fiction!
A huge thank you to Books Forward PR and Sourcebooks for my gifted copy!
THE SECOND MOTHER is an atmospheric, slow burn mystery that transports the reader to an island filled with intrigue and deception. I absolutely adore the way that Milchman was able to bring this community to life and turn the island into the perfect setting. I was completely swept away with the claustrophobic feelings I felt while reading this story both in terms of the island as a whole and the isolated house Julie has taken residence in.
In addition to a fantastic setting, THE SECOND MOTHER offers up a great cast of characters. Our main character is Julie, who has quite a few horrible things in her life that she needs to overcome. It was refreshing to see a narrator who was working to better their lives instead of someone who was simply portrayed as unreliable because of their life events. In addition to Julie, the island has some fantastic, multilayered characters that help to build the tension of this story. Shortly after Julie’s arrival it becomes clear that there are a lot of secrets being hidden on this island, but it’s not clear what they are. Oh and did I mention there’s a creepy kid who could possibly be terrorizing Julie? Yep! One of my favorite ways to be creeped out are weird child characters in crime fiction.
The pacing of THE SECOND MOTHER is on the slower side, but something I felt matched perfectly with the actual plot. This isn’t a thriller, but more of an atmospheric suspense story. I do think knowing this going into the book helps to set expectations. There are also a few parts that felt repetitive at times, but overall I felt the story flowed and progressed quite smoothly. THE SECOND MOTHER is perfect for fans of atmospheric crime fiction!
A huge thank you to Books Forward PR and Sourcebooks for my gifted copy!
Oof. This was a lot. And it was a lot of things that didn't work for me. I went into this expecting something a bit more thrilling and a bit more heart-racing and it just didn't deliver. This book is LONG. Given there are a lot of descriptions of the island, a lot of repetitive incidents and a lot of buildup for a plot twist that could have been introduced 200 pages sooner.
The writing isn't bad - this book just suffers from trying to accomplish too much, and in the end accomplishes very little. I also felt that the ending of the book didn't uphold the overall vibes of the beginning. For how long the book is, the end wraps up a little too fast and a little too neatly.
The writing isn't bad - this book just suffers from trying to accomplish too much, and in the end accomplishes very little. I also felt that the ending of the book didn't uphold the overall vibes of the beginning. For how long the book is, the end wraps up a little too fast and a little too neatly.
I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
CW: loss of a child (off page), violence towards animals, enmeshed families, deception, small town closeness, alcoholism, and manipulation
What a big old mess of meh for me.
I'm going to keep this review short. It wasn't for me. That's basically it. I felt like for 80% of the book, there was nothing going on. It was laying the groundwork for 80% of the book. Then, for the last 20% there was suddenly stuff going on. By that time, I had spaced out and literally had no idea what was going on. It was just boring.
That's really all I can say. This wasn't for me, but I'm sure that others will like this super slow burn.
CW: loss of a child (off page), violence towards animals, enmeshed families, deception, small town closeness, alcoholism, and manipulation
What a big old mess of meh for me.
I'm going to keep this review short. It wasn't for me. That's basically it. I felt like for 80% of the book, there was nothing going on. It was laying the groundwork for 80% of the book. Then, for the last 20% there was suddenly stuff going on. By that time, I had spaced out and literally had no idea what was going on. It was just boring.
That's really all I can say. This wasn't for me, but I'm sure that others will like this super slow burn.