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ClareR (6106 KP) rated Love Forms in Books
Mar 8, 2026
Love Forms was an enjoyable read - I liked it. It looks at the complex feelings Dawn has in the search for her daughter that she gave cup at birth. She now has two adult sons who are aware of their older sister, but Dawn still feels as though something, or someone, is missing.
She seems to have given up many things in her life all for the benefit of others. Giving up her daughter was to stop the scandal for her family; she gave up her career for the benefit of her marriage (it didn’t work) and her children. Being a doctor at the time was incompatible with motherhood for her.
This is a very melancholic read: Dawn appears to be lonely now her children have grown up and moved away. Her time is taken up with thoughts of her past, missed opportunities, and the search for her daughter. She has had failed attempts to find her daughter, and it sounds as though there were financial repercussions as well. There’s no mention of friends, as far as I can remember, just one male friend with benefits.
Should this have been on the Booker long list 2025 and now on the Women’s Prize long list? Why not, it’s an enjoyable, if rather sombre read.
She seems to have given up many things in her life all for the benefit of others. Giving up her daughter was to stop the scandal for her family; she gave up her career for the benefit of her marriage (it didn’t work) and her children. Being a doctor at the time was incompatible with motherhood for her.
This is a very melancholic read: Dawn appears to be lonely now her children have grown up and moved away. Her time is taken up with thoughts of her past, missed opportunities, and the search for her daughter. She has had failed attempts to find her daughter, and it sounds as though there were financial repercussions as well. There’s no mention of friends, as far as I can remember, just one male friend with benefits.
Should this have been on the Booker long list 2025 and now on the Women’s Prize long list? Why not, it’s an enjoyable, if rather sombre read.
Murder at Beechwood
9.0
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For fans of HBO’s The Gilded Age, explore the dark side of the alluring world of America’s 19th...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Mother May I in Books
Apr 15, 2021
A riveting and addictive thriller about the power of motherhood
Bree Cabbat wakes up in the middle night, convinced a witch was peering into her bedroom window. Surely it was just a dream, she thinks, trying to get over the bad feeling the dream leaves behind. But the next day she sees the witch again--a haggard old woman--at the private school her daughters attend. Minutes later, Bree's infant son, Robert, vanishes, stolen from his car seat while she watches her oldest daughter rehearse. There's a note left behind, and Bree is told she cannot go to the police or fail to the follow instructions whatsoever. A woman contacts Bree, and Bree learns the old woman is a mother herself. She has a task for Bree; Bree agrees to do it, for she would do anything to get her son back. But completing that request sets off a series of events that Bree could have never foreseen, unleashing buried secrets and disastrous consequences. And in the end, it comes down to this: how far will two mothers go to protect their children?
"I felt more than I thought, Something bad is coming for us."
Wow, MOTHER MAY I was an excellent thriller! I was sucked in from the beginning, and this riveting page-turner never let me go. It was surprisingly captivating and so suspenseful--Bree's son Robert is taken nearly immediately, and the rest of the book revolves around her frantically trying to get him back. As she does, she learns more about the woman who stole him. The relationship the two form over the phone is fascinating. Bree is one tough cookie, as is her friend from college, Marshall, a PI at her husband's law firm.
"If you ever want to see your baby again, GO HOME"
Bree was once a poor kid, raised by a fearful mother in rural Georgia, but she's now a wealthy wife and mother, having married an attorney with family money and connections. She's worked hard to push off her mom's fears and wariness and feels like that her picture perfect life has proved her right. But with Robert's kidnapping, she starts to wonder if her mom was justified all along. The novel deftly explores the theme of class. It offers some wonderful messages on the power of motherhood--no matter how wealthy you may be. It certainly makes you think: what would you do in Bree's situation? And the old woman's?
Perhaps not everything in this tale is plausible, but I could have cared less. I was here for all of it! It was incredibly suspenseful and twisty, with information oozing out and surprising you at every turn. I truly couldn't put it down. This is definitely a winning thriller in my book! 4.5 stars.
"I felt more than I thought, Something bad is coming for us."
Wow, MOTHER MAY I was an excellent thriller! I was sucked in from the beginning, and this riveting page-turner never let me go. It was surprisingly captivating and so suspenseful--Bree's son Robert is taken nearly immediately, and the rest of the book revolves around her frantically trying to get him back. As she does, she learns more about the woman who stole him. The relationship the two form over the phone is fascinating. Bree is one tough cookie, as is her friend from college, Marshall, a PI at her husband's law firm.
"If you ever want to see your baby again, GO HOME"
Bree was once a poor kid, raised by a fearful mother in rural Georgia, but she's now a wealthy wife and mother, having married an attorney with family money and connections. She's worked hard to push off her mom's fears and wariness and feels like that her picture perfect life has proved her right. But with Robert's kidnapping, she starts to wonder if her mom was justified all along. The novel deftly explores the theme of class. It offers some wonderful messages on the power of motherhood--no matter how wealthy you may be. It certainly makes you think: what would you do in Bree's situation? And the old woman's?
Perhaps not everything in this tale is plausible, but I could have cared less. I was here for all of it! It was incredibly suspenseful and twisty, with information oozing out and surprising you at every turn. I truly couldn't put it down. This is definitely a winning thriller in my book! 4.5 stars.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Little Fires Everywhere in Books
Nov 11, 2017
An evocative and complex portrait of suburbia
A highly readable, wonderfully absorbing tale about motherhood, secrets and lies, set in the affluent, verdant perfection of Shaker Heights - a purpose built suburb on the edge of Cleveland, Ohio.
The plot centres around two families, the well-heeled, comfortably complacent Richardsons - mother, father and four children - and the hard-up Warrens, single mother Mia and her daughter Pearl, tenants of the Richardsons with little known past. In between is a tug-of-love court case surrounding an abandoned Chinese baby adopted by friends of the Richardsons. This sparks high and conflicting emotions in Shaker Heights, forcing the town to take sides between the baby's birth mother, a desperate Chinese immigrant, and the McCulloughs. It leads nearly into the unwanted revealing of well-concealed secrets for both the Warrens and the Richardsons.
The story is skilfully told, weaving various narratives together. It is a character-led tale, well observed. The novel opens at the end, as the Richardsons' perfect home burns to the ground then takes us back to the beginning when the Warrens first arrive. The plot picks up pace as events take their toll and deeds have dire consequences. Lives begin to unravel and skeletons are revealed, and perfection of the family structure splits apart. It is a multifaceted novel full of interesting dimensions.
The plot centres around two families, the well-heeled, comfortably complacent Richardsons - mother, father and four children - and the hard-up Warrens, single mother Mia and her daughter Pearl, tenants of the Richardsons with little known past. In between is a tug-of-love court case surrounding an abandoned Chinese baby adopted by friends of the Richardsons. This sparks high and conflicting emotions in Shaker Heights, forcing the town to take sides between the baby's birth mother, a desperate Chinese immigrant, and the McCulloughs. It leads nearly into the unwanted revealing of well-concealed secrets for both the Warrens and the Richardsons.
The story is skilfully told, weaving various narratives together. It is a character-led tale, well observed. The novel opens at the end, as the Richardsons' perfect home burns to the ground then takes us back to the beginning when the Warrens first arrive. The plot picks up pace as events take their toll and deeds have dire consequences. Lives begin to unravel and skeletons are revealed, and perfection of the family structure splits apart. It is a multifaceted novel full of interesting dimensions.
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