All the Other Mothers Hate Me
A mom will do anything to save her kid. Anything.
"The missing boy is 10-year-old Alfie Risby, and to be perfectly honest with you, he's a little shit."
Florence Grimes is a thirty-one-year-old party girl who always takes the easy way out. Single, broke and unfulfilled after the humiliating end to her girl band career, she has only one reason to get out of bed each day: her ten-year-old son Dylan. But then Alfie Risby, her son’s bully and the heir to a vast frozen food empire, mysteriously vanishes during a class trip, and Dylan becomes the prime suspect. Florence, for once, is faced with a task she can’t quit: She’s got to find Alfie and clear her son’s name, or risk losing Dylan forever.
The only problem? Florence has no useful skills, let alone investigative ones, and all the other school moms hate her. Oh, and Florence has a reason to suspect Dylan might not be as innocent as she’d like to believe...
"The missing boy is 10-year-old Alfie Risby, and to be perfectly honest with you, he's a little shit."
Florence Grimes is a thirty-one-year-old party girl who always takes the easy way out. Single, broke and unfulfilled after the humiliating end to her girl band career, she has only one reason to get out of bed each day: her ten-year-old son Dylan. But then Alfie Risby, her son’s bully and the heir to a vast frozen food empire, mysteriously vanishes during a class trip, and Dylan becomes the prime suspect. Florence, for once, is faced with a task she can’t quit: She’s got to find Alfie and clear her son’s name, or risk losing Dylan forever.
The only problem? Florence has no useful skills, let alone investigative ones, and all the other school moms hate her. Oh, and Florence has a reason to suspect Dylan might not be as innocent as she’d like to believe...
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Community Reviews
I went into this book expecting a sharp, witty thriller about the complexities of motherhood. As a 33-year-old mom myself, I am the target audience. Instead, I found myself trapped in the head of Florence, a character so profoundly self-centered and immature that unpleasant doesn’t even begin to cover it.
The book's title suggests a me against the world camaraderie, but two pages in, it’s clear why the other mothers hate her. As a former single mom, I know what sacrifice looks like. Florence, however, treats her child’s needs as an inconvenience to her own delusions of grandeur.
She clings to a five minutes of fame past with a poor me attitude that is exhausting. At some point, you have to put your big girl panties on and realize your child is the priority, not your faded spotlight.
Calling her own baby a "blob" and worrying that he wasn’t "cute" enough because it reflected poorly on her appearance was a low point. It’s not edgy; it’s just shallow.
The plot is a checklist of questionable life choices that feel forced rather than character-driven:
• Doing drugs with other parents from the school.
• Casual shoplifting.
• A bizarre, misplaced obsession with Mariah Carey.
Her treatment of men and friends is toxic. She claims a man as her "backup plan," shows no interest in him, but then throws a tantrum when her best friend sleeps with him? It’s high school drama in a 31-year-old’s body.
The tone of the book feels off—almost like a British caricature of what an American mother acts like. The obsession with plastic surgery and fixing people’s looks at 31 feels like it’s written from a different planet. It’s hard to root for a witty protagonist when her only personality traits are vanity and a lack of self-awareness.
If you’re looking for a thriller with a protagonist you can actually respect (or at least understand), skip this one. Florence doesn't need a mystery to solve; she needs to grow up.
The book's title suggests a me against the world camaraderie, but two pages in, it’s clear why the other mothers hate her. As a former single mom, I know what sacrifice looks like. Florence, however, treats her child’s needs as an inconvenience to her own delusions of grandeur.
She clings to a five minutes of fame past with a poor me attitude that is exhausting. At some point, you have to put your big girl panties on and realize your child is the priority, not your faded spotlight.
Calling her own baby a "blob" and worrying that he wasn’t "cute" enough because it reflected poorly on her appearance was a low point. It’s not edgy; it’s just shallow.
The plot is a checklist of questionable life choices that feel forced rather than character-driven:
• Doing drugs with other parents from the school.
• Casual shoplifting.
• A bizarre, misplaced obsession with Mariah Carey.
Her treatment of men and friends is toxic. She claims a man as her "backup plan," shows no interest in him, but then throws a tantrum when her best friend sleeps with him? It’s high school drama in a 31-year-old’s body.
The tone of the book feels off—almost like a British caricature of what an American mother acts like. The obsession with plastic surgery and fixing people’s looks at 31 feels like it’s written from a different planet. It’s hard to root for a witty protagonist when her only personality traits are vanity and a lack of self-awareness.
If you’re looking for a thriller with a protagonist you can actually respect (or at least understand), skip this one. Florence doesn't need a mystery to solve; she needs to grow up.
This book was one of the worst books I have read lately. Only gets somewhat interesting in the last 50 pages.
I had a terrible time relating to the main character. She was a generally horrible human being, but she loved her kid. And it made her redemption arc at the end a little more satisfying.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
I flew through this book. I loved the plot and how these two "outsider" moms teamed up to play detective, and the twist I did not see coming. And man, what a great first line.
Being a mom myself, I was questioning what I would do in Florence's shoes the whole time.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin Random House for this digital Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.
I flew through this book. I loved the plot and how these two "outsider" moms teamed up to play detective, and the twist I did not see coming. And man, what a great first line.
Being a mom myself, I was questioning what I would do in Florence's shoes the whole time.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin Random House for this digital Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.
I liked the premise of the story and the twists. Biggest complaint is that Florence is not particularly likable even to the reader.
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