Heavy Cream

by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright

Landing in New York’s high society and underground art scene after her mother abandons her, street-smart 16-year-old Geraldine struggles to survive the efforts of three glamorous women to save her. Growing up on the road, it has always been the two of them, locked in dysfunction. Homeschooled, Gerry hasn’t learned much math. Instead, her mother has taught her how to spend the day at a motel’s swimming pool without being a guest or how to dodge paying extra for the chicken on a Caesar salad. When her mother ditches her, Gerry finds herself in the care of three very different women, who each try to remake her. First, there is her mother’s old college friend Bonnie, who lives in a world of country clubs, The Bachelor binges, and whipped mochas. Then there is Nell, her mother’s estranged sister and a successful artist who pushes Gerry to be ambitious. And finally Finley, an old-money socialite who ushers Gerry into a rarefied world of Manhattan privilege. A coming of age novel that explores unconventional forms of motherhood and caretaking, Sarah Blakley-Cartwright's new novel is both a charming comedy of manners and a deeply probing look at the complexities of love, mental illness, and one young woman’s eccentric path to selfhood.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction

304 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication September 29, 2026

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parentified and enmeshed with a mentally ill mother, our homeschooled teen protagonist adapts her personality in response to her mother’s chaotic behavior and unpredictable moods, believing that her only purpose in life is to make her mother laugh……and then her mother leaves.

Heavy cream is the story of a young woman’s journey to find herself for the first time, in the chaos of New York City and under the guidance of three eccentric, inadequate substitute mother figures. It is also a portrait of extremely flawed womanhood, all the weird ways women choose to exist in the world, and the parts of our identities that we do, and do not, choose. These characters are richly written, alive, vibrant even in their dysfunction (the representation of the mother’s mental disorder was particularly spot on). I really enjoyed following Gerry’s journey and felt like as a reader I got to be a kind of mother to her too, worrying for her and rooting for her to figure it all out.

Minus one star because all of the adults in this book were so emotionally immature and failed this kid so bad, I kept wanting a moment of redemption that never came.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC! This is an honest review.

[Delilah Twersky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received early copy from NetGalley for review.

What a lovely read. I usually don’t like stories about young women in their adolescence but this one felt quite different from the rest. Seeing how a woman’s mother or mother-figure inspires her upbringing and her outlook on life is pinacle to understanding and absorbing a book of a young women’s adolescence. Wonderfully written.

“At the same time, was furious at the feeling, and wondered how long I would be burdened with missing her.”

[Mary in the sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much for the ARC.

Such a beautiful book that starts as a punch in the stomach. The mother-daughter relationship is so intense and triggering at times. I loved all the nuances of Geraldine, sometimes I forgot she was only sixteen.

Some people are not meant to be parents, but we really can’t choose that. We do, however, have a say in who we keep in our lives.

[RUTH Maus]

I really wanted to connect with Heavy Cream. The premise is genuinely compelling—a sixteen-year-old raised on the fringes, taught how to scam her way through motel pools and dodge upcharges on salads, suddenly abandoned in New York and pulled between three women each trying to mold her into different versions of herself. That's a fascinating setup for exploring identity, class, unconventional motherhood, and the ways we become who we are.

But I just couldn't get into it.

I tried. The writing wasn't the issue—Sarah Blakley-Cartwright clearly has skill, and there are flashes of sharp observation throughout. But something about the execution kept me at arm's length. I never found my footing with Gerry or felt pulled into her world the way I needed to be to stay invested. The pacing didn't work for me, and I found my attention drifting rather than sharpening as the pages went on.

Sometimes a book just doesn't click, and this was one of those times. I think readers who vibe with literary coming-of-age stories and comedies of manners will find a lot to appreciate here—the bones are interesting and the premise is unique. It just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heavy Cream by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright had such a unique voice- it was witty and humorous and serious all the same. There were moments when Geraldine’s isolation felt so palpable that I felt I was experiencing a certain isolation of my own alongside her and her gripping dark humor was almost a necessity for survival. Despite being continually surrounded by a mother figure she was still constantly left to her own devices - such an intriguing juxtaposition! Thank you to NetGalley as well as Simon and Schuster for the ARC!

[Emily Chavez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not know why people are hellbent on cosplaying poor/telling stories about orphans without any basis in reality (15 year old lives alone in an apartment with a phone paid for by????)/acting like living in New York City is the desire of the entire human race. This happens to do all of the above and I hated it, with all the glimmers of promise of motherhood, caretaking and coming of age shredded to bits. The "chosen family" arc doesn't apply to the abandoned and being in poverty is not chic....I'm tired !

The writing itself is very good

Thank you to the the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5-⭐️ this is a coming of age that felt like walking on eggshells the whole time. Gerry is a character anyone living/has lived with an unsuitable adult could empathize with. The womanhood and girlhood in this story felt so lively and intoxicating. With 4 very distinct women that jumbled up into one girl. A girl who has a long way to go with learning acceptance and who she is; while unlearning the qualities that makes her feel even smaller than she could possibly imagine. Where lies the toxic, complex, push and pull relationship with her mother, still lies a crucial part of the unconditional mother-daughter relationship. It is touching, intoxicating, and dumpster fire you can’t look away from. There were many holes in the story. Our narrator, Gerry, can be unreliable. Some parts really meandered, and I thought really wasn’t essential for the story. I still found myself rooting for Gerry.

[Patty Tomsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

If you like coming of age novels, this one will hit your sweet spot.

If you are triggered by monstrously selfish moms I would skip it.

I was entranced by the characterizations in this book. All of the women that try to help the FMC Gerry get through abandonment. There’s Nell, the artist, whose independence and commitment to her own life and goals teaches our protagonist to respect their own boundaries and to love and invest in the things that she loves. The NYC art scene sections were among my favorite parts.

Bonnie is a lovable n’er do well who allows her to be exactly who she is and shows up with a scatter brained empathy that really moved me. She’s a pleaser but is honest about her motivations

She tells Gerry, “Sure I’m a pleaser but don’t they understand it makes things more enjoyable for me?”

As far as the mom— she was completely toxic and over enmeshed with her daughter, whose character arc has a lot of illuminating and inspiring things to say about becoming a whole person when you’re shattered by loss. “When anyone asked me about my mother, I felt like a witness in the stand,” she tells us, so used to protecting her childish, immature mother and so obviously loving her despite herself and despite the cruelty.

“We were two cats in a bag all teeth and claws. We couldn’t find our way out,” Gerry says after a harrowing scene where her mother tells her, “You don’t deserve to be loved.” You see this child at nine is completely unaware that, as a child, even if she said mean things to her mother, her mother’s complete disregard for her emotional wellbeing is abusive.

It becomes clear through the book that the mom has bipolar disorder and that she rarely takes her medication. Her manic episodes put everyone in her family through hell.

What I didn’t like? The middle was a bit meandering and I felt a little adrift (maybe I was supposed to?) and there was an awful lot of privilege on display throughout— I didn’t buy it that a filmmaker would hire this young girl to read scripts based on guilt from a bad relationship with her mother. I also didn’t buy that the girls in her new private school in Manhattan would just, “stay in their own lanes” and that it was a low drama environment. I mean, I was once a high school prep school girl. There will be drama.

All in all, I enjoyed the journey, especially getting a very short chapter from mom’s POV which showed just how mentally ill she remains. The end really just wafted off into not a lot, which was disappointing.

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coming-of-age story looking at motherhood and how it helps in determining one’s vision of womanhood.

Geraldine or “Gerry” is sixteen and living a vagabond life with her mother. Gerry describes her childhood “We lived solidly outside of other people’s systems, of structure and belief. No routines. No carpools. . . . I came to see other mothers as deceptive enablers, committed to blinding their children with false beliefs that kept them dependent, and easier to control.” So when Gerry’s mother sends her to stay her hippie college friend Bonnie, in Connecticut, Gerry doesn’t realize this unstructured event throws her into another person’s idea of motherhood - “I felt like a child in a movie, in the snug, mellow bedroom with upholstered canopy bed.” Abandoned by her mother who ghosted her, and feeling suffocated with Bonnie, Gerry calls her Aunt Nell, her mother’s sister, and travels to New York City. Nell’s idea of motherhood is to ask Gerry: “Do you think you could dedicate yourself to something? . . . do you think you have the dedication that the life of an artist requires?” And then she comes to meet Finley Bickford, a friend of Bonnie’s who a successful film producer - “She was attentive, listening to my concerns and answering precisely.” - and offered the life of a debutant. Gerry’s mother returns after six months and now Gerry must decide which kind of mother does she want.

This is a thought provoking story - a young girl is offered four types of worlds: unstructured do as you please, suburban domesticity, uptown high society, and the downtown art scene. In each of these worlds she can mold herself into who she wants if she can escape what each of these women see as their vision for her. I won’t ruin the story as you have to read the book to find out what Gerry’s choice was.

The book is well written and paced and is perfect for readers who enjoy stories of girls becoming women and the challenges they meet along the way.

My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for granting me access to this ARC.

[Aysia · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75/5 stars rounded up

Heavy Cream by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright is truly what I am forever looking for in a book. There was something both enlightening and heartbreaking about Gerry's story that drew me in immediately. It felt like I knew her; it felt like I could have been her. She was raised attached to the hip with her mother, Helene, in a way that was codependent and enmeshed. When Helene sends Gerry to stay with an old friend and provides no information about her return, Gerry is left to figure out who she is on her own. Disrupting that time of self-discovery are three women, each with independent and conflicting ideas about who Gerry should be.

Mother-daughter relationships in novels always draw me to a book, and this one truly did not disappoint. There was something so real about how Gerry moves from being pliable to slowly finding her backbone, only to have that growth disrupted when her mother returns unexpectedly. Hoping for a certain relationship with a parent, not getting it but holding onto hope anyway, and then finally letting go of that hope is such a real part of growing into adulthood. I couldn't have described it before reading this, but I felt it completely here.

I pulled back slightly from a perfect 5 stars for one reason: I would have preferred never getting a glimpse into Helene's POV. There was something powerful about experiencing this story purely as a daughter, never having access to the mother's inner world. It made Helene feel like she could have been anyone's mom, including mine. Saving that single chapter for so late in the novel made the interruption hit even harder, and I'm not sure it was worth it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

[Kelli Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can easily read a book, love it, and then immediately forget everything about it as soon as I put it down. But not this. This is one of those books that I think will stay with me for a long time. I loved the writing style, and the characters felt so alive–flawed and often super unlikable, but real.

Geraldine is sixteen and alone, abandoned by her flighty mother whose only real commitment has always been to following her own whims. In Heavy Cream, we follow the girl’s struggle to find her footing as she tries on lifestyles that are wildly different from the one she’s been conditioned for.

When Helene leaves, we are visited by three could-be mother figures who play with Gerry’s life like she’s a Barbie doll, never truly understanding her or considering what she might actually need. She is intensely alone, even when she is surrounded by people who want to claim her. Soon, Gerry is living all alone in New York City, with three benefactors and an absent mother who could come back to claim her at any time… or never be seen again. All of them want credit for molding her into something special without ever taking responsibility for her actual wellbeing.

I was so invested from the first page. Every character in this book is deeply lonely in their own way, desperate for connection. But the author has an interesting way of transforming complexity into something beautiful, somehow approaching the canyon of solitude with humor.

Thanks so much to the author and NetGalley for the ARC!

[Amee · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC review. Thanks to NetGalley for the Heavy Cream ARC, my opinions are always my own so take them with a grain of salt. Heavy Cream is a coming of age story narrated by Geraldine, a young girl being dragged around the Country by her mentally ill mother’s whims, living a less than ideal life for a child growing up. Gerry’s mom has some pretty high, highs as well as low, lows, and she walks around like she is owed something from the world. I can’t stand people like this, riding the coattails on their family, friends or our government instead of working hard for all they get. Unfortunately this bled into Gerry’s way of thinking, her mother keeping her alienated from any family or making friends. It’s so sad when Gerry is 16 and makes her first lasting friend, she eventually feels it’s too much upkeep. Her mother only using people around her for what she can get. When Gerrys mom takes off, its seen as a blessing and a curse, poor Gerry flailing in a normal school and environment, being shuffled after 3 very different, but caring women who want you help so much, they may do more harm. There are some very pretty passages and I swear I highlighted most of the book it seemed at the time. There is a happy ending in that we se Gerry finally finding her footing at 17 with a life to finally look forward to. I’d recommend for Women’s Fiction fans or coming of age stories for young girls when you have less than ideal parents. It made me appreciate my upbringing and that of the upbringing I’ve given my sons.

[*TUDOR^QUEEN* · Rating 4 out of 5]

For years it's been just Geraldine and her mom, living by the seat of their pants. Her attractive and quirky mother taught Gerry how to get away with so much- such as cheating eateries out of included food "extras" and freeloading at hotel/motel pools where they were not renters. Their life on a shoestring existence made homeschooling a necessity where the only permanent thing Gerry could count on was riding in their old Mitsubishi Diamante. Then one day Gerry's Mom bolts to Australia, leaving sixteen-year-old Gerry in the care of an old friend in Connecticut. Weeks turn into months with no communication. Gerry must harness the life skills she cultivated during her chaotic existence with her mother. Her immediate future is shaped through the care of three different women: Her Mom's old friend Bonnie in Connecticut, Aunt Nell, an artist in NYC, and Finley, a wealthy widow in NYC. In her mother's absence, she is tended to and offered opportunities/life paths by these three very different women. Gerry must look inside herself and decide who she is and which way she wants to go.

The writing was excellent. I highlighted many passages that turned a beautiful phrase, or rang true with its profundity. The mother was hard to put in a box and figure out (mental illness?) and to understand the effect this had on her daughter. An interesting and thought-provoking book.

Thank you to the publisher Simon & Schuster for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

[B K178 · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Heavy Cream* is the latest novel by *Alice Sadie Celine*’s Sarah Blakley-Cartwright. Like her previous work, this novel is a quipp, character study with a feminine coming-of-age focus.

This novel feels like a modern take on a fairy tale. A sort of Goldilocks meets Cinderella by way of choose your own adventure. In this story, we follow Gerry. At 16, she has spent her childhood with her grifter and manic mother. When her mother abandons her, Gerry goes to live with her mother's college friend. She is then passed off to her black-sheep aunt before befriending a socialite in NYC who takes her under her wing.

These three women step in at times to provide some version of maternal support. The level of care and interest varies wildly, though for all four women, it may be the best they can offer. What we see is Gerry using her mother's street smarts to navigate this unusual predicament. She may fawn or adapt to each surroundings as she copes with a narcissistic/mentally ill family of origin.

The writing is sharp, observant, and witty. While there are certainly elements of neglect, no one is truly vilified. It is a thought-provoking look at external influences, motherhood, coming of age, and mental illness.

*Spoiler Warning* My main critique would be regarding the mother's POV. I liked that chapter, AND I wish it were the final chapter, and/or even more significant.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Megan Magee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Geraldine is born to a mother who is committed to living her life on a whim, motherhood be damned. They grow up everywhere, together and not at all- for how can someone who has never grown themselves raise someone in their own image, but differently? This one was so interesting- so vivid and real, relatable and shocking in its regularity. I mean, mothers like our FMC's exist- and at the end of the day, they were just a woman with a dream first, just like all of us are at our core. Heavy Cream follows Geraldine at 16, living in NYC with an aunt and two "others" who are tasked for being our caregiver. She begins her journey with Bonnie, our lover of Housewives and all things cozy. We venture to Geraldine's mom's sister, who is an artist and has the scent of turpentine following her everywhere. It hurts her nieces senses, not an ideal scent for her to be surrounded with. This one is full of transforming prose and delicate balances of humanities and people- I enjoyed some parts, or at least the majority of the parts. I wish there had been a touch more of the childhood mentioned- some of the time gaps confused me or tripped me up. Thanks so much to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the digital eARC! All opinions are entirely my own.

[Alison (Carney) Carlson (McKittrick) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked- the premise was appealing: a parentified teen daughter left behind by her wayward mother and taken in by three wildly differently women who want to mold her.

The writing was beautiful and descriptive, if a little overdone at times. The author created distinctive characters through their homes and belongings that made them memorable.

Finley’s character was my favorite and the only benefactress whose level of investment in Geraldine made sense, matched to her underlying need for redemption. The other two women seemed to mostly have a reluctant responsibility driving them.

What I didn’t love: Geraldine didn’t have much agency and barely reacted to all the things happening to and around her. She lacked the emotionality of a teen forced to grow up fast and then thrust into a variety of age appropriate roles by women she didn’t know.

The Harlan storyline just kind of ended and Gerry didn’t question why she lost a job she was very good at. Everyone just moved on.

Twix was such an interesting and illustrative character that also sort of just disappeared. I loved how Twix’s portrayal juxtaposed Gerry’s mother and illustrated how wealth (or lack) change how people view mental health. If you’re privileged, you’re eccentric. If you’re not, you’re unfit.

There was a single chapter toward the end from the mother’s perspective that was strange and confusing. I didn’t want to hear from her. The whole rest of the novel was in Gerry’s voice, so this choice struck me as odd and disruptive.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heavy Cream follows Geraldine's path as she navigates through a coming of age. Up until age 16, she's exposed to the loose cannon life of her mother Helene, a woman who exemplifies an alternate lifestyle, and whose backstory is rocky at best. When Helene heads off to Australia with a love interest, Gerry is parked with an old school friend in Connecticut, and at this point finds herself increasingly under the influence of three very different women, each of which wants to protect her through exposure to a more conventional life. Gerry's attachment to her mother surfaces at times, but on the whole she is loose in New York, and thanks to a deus ex machina effect, is afforded a choice. Wise beyond her years, she recognizes that teen years are filled with discovery and possibility, but "...your life was supposed to set, like Jello in a mold." With references to Mamdani's staff, this is a novel firmly rooted in today, and I wonder at Gerry's future.

[Stacy40pages · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heavy Cream by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright. Thanks to simonbooks got the gifted arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️

When sixteen year old Geraldine’s mother leaves to follow a lover to Australia, Getty is passed along to three different women, all of who show her different ways of coming of age.

If you’re into quieter and slower coming of age stories, give this one a try. The author is definitely talented and it had beautiful prose, but it was a little too quiet for my personal tastes. There were moments that I loved and stuck with it, but not throughout the entire story.

“There was nothing that discomforted people more than a child - like me, like the girl my mother must have been - who knew exactly what strings she was pulling.”

Reading you like:
-Dysfunctional mother/daughter relationships
-New York art scene
-Coming of age

Heavy Cream comes out 9/29.

[Candice Jent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a little bit of a hard time finishing this book. I went in blind and was excited for the story within the first few chapters but quickly became bored with the lack of events that happened along the way from that point. I found myself very confused by the end wondering if key points were missing or if I had been forcing myself to read it to the point I was forgetting things. I feel this book had so much potential and loved the aspect of following Gerry around in a world where she felt like she couldn’t find where she belonged, I just couldn’t bring myself to get excited to read it. I think I’ll think about this book for a while and eventually grow to miss it, which had me considering four stars, however the dread I felt picking the book up landed it with three stars.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Geraldine has had an unconventional upbringing, traveling the country with her mother, enrolled in and half-heartedly attending homeschool classes and learning to play the system. When her mother disappears, Geraldine is suddenly left alone with three very different women doing their best to influence her into a better future.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. The concept was compelling but I just didn’t enjoy the writing style and couldn’t connect with the characters. It was also a bit hard to believe three grown women (four of you count her mother) would allow a young teen to live as described in the story.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Sirenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher for this ARC. My opinion is my own. This would make for a great summer read as it's messy and gossipy, the kind of paperback you toss into your tote on the go to the beach. Feels reminiscent of White Oleander, except not as dark. It was nearly perfect for what it was except the change in POV for one chapter randomly towards the end which took me out of the story completely. It felt out of place considering the entire rest of the novel was in Gerry's POV. While shaped by her mother, I do not feel we needed to hear from the mother. So, thematically it felt odd that way too. Overall, still recommend.

[Madeline Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars! Heavy Cream was better than I even expected! I have never read this author before, so I was not too sure I was going to enjoy this. The premise was done with extreme thought. The mother-daughter relationship was hard to read at times, but it was thoroughly fleshed out. This is what literary fiction is about. In addition to this, the exploration of mental health was interesting. Overall, all of the themes and plotlines in this story was what pulled me in. The author's writing curated this with ease!

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, & Sarah Blakley-Cartwright for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Heavy Cream is released on September 29, 2026!

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC of 'Heavy Cream' by Sarah Blakley Cartwright - expected release date of 09/29/2026

ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was chock full of literary writing, it was poetic and very descriptive/metaphorical. A coming-of-age story based on a street smart teenage FMC with a mom that would rather be a friend, rather than a parent, and what results from that. Overall it was a quick, easy read, it wasnt very deep. Since the daughter was the main character, the author could have given more from her and really opened her up, emotionally.

[ari · Rating 1 out of 5]

For such an interesting plot, this was actually really boring. I didn't like the writing style. The dialogue felt stilted and like it was from an older era even though it was set in present day. It was strange to have the characters speaking like they were in a 1940s movie and then a cell phone would be mentioned. We are in Gerry's mind for practically the whole book, but it's also written in that style, which is confusing since she is supposed to be 16 years old in present day NYC. It just didn't read much like a coming-of-age story and I found all the characters boring.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC.

[Patty Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gerry's Mom decides to leave one day to go after a guy and ships her to stay with her friend, Bonnie, in Connecticut. Gerry is then bounced around between Bonnie, Nell and Finley, who in their own ways try to step up and do right by her.

I loved this one! Gerry finds herself immersed in the lives of these women, and sometimes you found yourself wondering who was taking care of who. Also loved that the story was mainly set in New York, which gave Gerry new challenges to navigate.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and the author for providing a free copy of this book through NetGalley.

[Rachael Pawlak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. It comes out September 29th.

Heavy Cream follows 16-year-old Gerry, who is left behind by her fleeting mother and bounces between three very different women, each of whom influences her in a different way.

I spent so much of the book anticipating her mother’s return, and when it finally happened, it felt a little underwhelming. Which makes me think the author did a fabulous job putting us right into Gerry’s shoes… or Crocs.

[Carolyn Linehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the writing in this offbeat coming-of-age story. It’s smart and witty, balancing some darker themes and moments with a little humor.

At times, I found myself thinking of Janet Fitch’s White Oleander, with the dysfunctional, erratic mothers, the transient existence, substitute caregivers, etc.

This story left me feeling sad at the end, but I can already tell it’s one that will stay with me for a while.

Thank you to Sarah Blakley-Cartwright, Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC.

[Mara Yeager · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for this ARC! To start, I loved the description of this book and I think the cover is gorgeous. The author is a beautiful writer and there were many references through out that I appreciated. That being said, the story itself was just not clicking with me. I felt it had so much promise but just didn’t hit the way I had expected I guess. I couldn’t get into the characters and the storyline was just a little too slow.

[Ronnica Fatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coming of age story exploring our motherly influences and our choice to follow their models or to find our own way.

I did find the timeline confusing (the mother was grown in 1987, but a young mother to someone born in the 2010s, a decade after 9/11?) but if I focus on the emotional heart I enjoyed it.

Thank you Simon Books for the review copy.

[Mama K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on description I thought I would--and WANTED to--love this book. I did not.
Though I 9ften sympathized with the main character, I did not like the style or pacing. The narrative file scattered, and i never felt invested in what happened.
I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review