Title: Mother May I
Author: Joshilyn Jackson
Published: April 2021, William Morrow
Format: ARC Paperback, 336 pages
Source: Publisher
Summary:
Revenge doesn’t wait for permission.
Growing up poor in rural Georgia, Bree Cabbat was warned by her single mother that the world was a dark and scary place. Bree rejected her mother’s fearful outlook, and life has proved her right. Having married into a family with wealth, power, and connections, Bree now has all a woman could ever dream of: a loving lawyer husband, two talented teenage daughters, a new baby boy, a gorgeous home, and every opportunity in the world.
Until the day she awakens and sees a witch peering into her bedroom window—an old gray-haired woman dressed all in black who vanishes as quickly as she appears. It must be a play of the early morning light or the remnant of a waking dream, Bree tells herself, shaking off the bad feeling that overcomes her.
Later that day though, she spies the old woman again, in the parking lot of her daughters’ private school . . . just minutes before Bree’s infant son, asleep in his car seat only a few feet away, vanishes. It happened so quickly—Bree looked away only for a second. There is a note left in his place, warning her that she is being is being watched; if she wants her baby back, she must not call the police or deviate in any way from the instructions that will follow.
The mysterious woman makes contact, and Bree learns she, too, is a mother. Why would another mother do this? What does she want? And why has she targeted Bree? Of course Bree will pay anything, do anything. It’s her child.
To get her baby back, Bree must complete one small—but critical—task. It seems harmless enough, but her action comes with a devastating price, making her complicit in a tangled web of tragedy and shocking secrets that could destroy everything she loves. It is the beginning of an odyssey that will lead Bree to dangerous places, explosive confrontations, and chilling truths.
Bree will do whatever it takes to protect her family—but what if the cost tears their world apart?
My thoughts:
I have loved Joshilyn Jackson’s books for quite a while now and this latest one is no exception. It was one of my anticipated reads for this month and it absolutely delivers in every way and then some!
I have to say this book might have the best opening scene I’ve read in quite some time and I still shudder when I think about it. Our main protagonist Bree wakes up to see a witch staring at her through her bedroom window. And if that isn’t enough to get your adrenaline running, later that same day, shortly after seeing that same woman again, her infant son goes missing. Is it possible these two events are related?
I loved how adrenaline-pumping this book was. While I am not a mother myself, I could only imagine what Bree must have been going through while her son was missing. And the author really does such a great job of showing not only how far we are willing to go to protect those we love but also how sometimes the sins of our past have a way of coming back to haunt us. There were so many twists and turns that really kept this book moving forward and I never knew just where things would end up. I really felt for Bree and also loved how we learned all the backstory that became really crucial to the why of what was going on.
This book is a very addicting, suspenseful read. If you enjoy a book that deals with secrets and revenge, this one is for you. It’s also a thought-provoking read, one that will have you looking back at the choices you’ve made in your own life, wondering if any of them could have unforeseen consequences. Joshilyn Jackson is definitely an auto-read for me and I highly recommend picking this new one up!
