Every real life mom meme rolled into a package ( )

Some of this made me feel seen, but most of it just made me supremely uncomfortable. Like, daaaang just let me get through this and not have to also read it.

For example: The soul-crushing loneliness of motherhood.

Anyway, I love Honest Toddler, but this wasn’t quite what I had hoped for. ( )

Thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audiobook. ( )

I loved this book! I just had a child so it was the perfect light, fluffy read as I was feeding the baby or whole baby napped. I could absolutely relate to so many of the feelings and experiences in the book! Have already recommended and passed on to friends!

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.* ( )

Synopsis:

Ashley is the mother of a nine month old baby. Being a stay at home mom is new territory for Ashley and she is struggling with it. Ashley becomes a fan of Emily who is a mommy blogger and ends up entering a competition Emily is hosting in hopes of becoming a better wife and mother.

Ashley is not totally successful in those endeavors.

At the end of the competition Ashley is able to spend time with Emily and learns that she isn't as perfect as she appears.

My rating:

4/5

I found this book entertaining and relatable. I am a mom and far from a domestic Goddess on the best of days. This book has the tone of chick lit so if you enjoy that style of writing you will probably enjoy this as well.

There were some places where it goes a bit over the top though I think that was done intentionally by the author for entertainment reasons but it made the book feel a bit unrealistic.

Ashley's husband isn't helpful with the baby and honestly I was kind of annoyed that we have another portrayal of a father who is clueless. I would like to see more men in media being shown as good and involved fathers as I believe that is more of the norm. Ashley and her husband are both educated people who are devoted to their family. I feel like he would take a more active role in parenting. Instead, we get some comic moments when he has to care for their daughter while Ashley is away with Emily. This also hugely impacted Ashley and her feelings of being overwhelmed. Honestly, if her husband had been more helpful she wouldn't have had half the struggles she did.

My four star rating is mostly based on how entertaining the book was. It didn't quite go how I was expecting. I was okay with how it went but I didn't love many of the authors choices. I felt like there were openings for many things that needed discussion that just were never discussed. Emily and Ashley's situations are very different yet I felt that Ashley failed to recognize that Emily had money and help that she was lacking. Those things make it easier for Emily to be amazing but that isn't really delved into as I would have liked.

I had a hard time feeling sympathy for Ashley because I felt like she made poor choices in the book over and over which really dug herself into a hole. I often felt frustrated with her and didn't understand why an obviously intelligent woman would make those choices.

I think I was just a little frustrated because I really loved the authors voice. I loved how entertaining this book was. I also related to many of Ashley's struggles as a mom. I also thought the book was quite funny. If a few things in the book had gone differently this could have easily been a 5/5 read for me instead of a 4/5.

I would recommend this book to those who are mothers and who enjoy chick lit style books. ( )