from girls' night to school mom

Florence Grimes was a pop star. Well, almost. The band she was in, Girls’ Night, achieved some fame, mostly without her, but then she was blessed with a son. Now Dylan is ten years old and going to a private school in London. St. Angeles has a reputation for attracting wealthy families, and since Florence is still in her girl band era (at least in her head), all the other mothers hate her.

But when the kids come back from a school trip without Alfie Risby, and Dylan has Alfie’s backpack, Florence is concerned. Dylan has always had trouble making friends, preferring to spend time with adults or animals rather than kids his own age. And now that Alfie is missing, Florence isn’t sure what to think. Dylan isn’t talking about what happened, and all the other mothers hate her.

There is no mother who hates her more than Alfie’s mom, especially after her husband hit on Florence at a school fundraiser. The Risby’s have more money than anyone else in the school, so they have all the resources they need to make sure everyone is out looking for Alfie. Meanwhile, Florence is struggling to find resources to protect Dylan, so she does what she has to do. She send him to spend the weekend with his father and goes to work on the mystery herself. If she can find Alfie, then Dylan will be safe from speculation. And there is speculation, because all the other mothers hate her.

But the deeper Florence digs into the disappearance, the more questions she comes up against. And if she doesn’t figure out what happened on that class trip, she might lose custody of her son. Dylan is the most important thing in her life, so Florence will sacrifice everything to protect him, even if it means all the other mothers hate her.

This debut novel is darkly funny, subversive and thrilling. All the Other Mothers Hate Me is a twisty suspense novel with unconventional characters and a series of mysteries to solve. It’s already in development as a television show, so a lot of people are talking about this book.

I really enjoyed All the Other Mothers Hate Me, but I didn’t love it quite as much as I’d hoped. I love a really good subversive dark novel, and I was ready for the humor. But I’m afraid it’s not as funny as the packaging makes it seem. It’s still a really good mystery with a sound ending and unusual characters, and I had a good time reading it. I just didn’t think it was funny.

Egalleys for All the Other Mothers Hate Me were provided by G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley, with many thanks.