By: Victoria Jenkins
ISBN: 9781803148014
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Narrator: Anne-Marie Piazza
Publication Date: 11/14/2022
Format: Audio 🎧
My Rating: 3.5 Stars (ARC)
She’s there to keep your baby safe… Or is she?
I’ve always wanted a baby, more than anything. I never meant to do it alone, but it’ll be a fresh start. I can finally leave the past behind me.
I’m so lucky to have Jackie, my midwife, who understands how hard this is. She supports me more than anyone could have hoped or expected.
But as I sit in this cold white room, that was meant to be full of other mothers-to-be, a chill creeps up my spine. There’s only one other mother here, and she’s clutching her bump nervously. And as she squirms under Jackie's questions, Jackie can’t stop staring at me.
And then something clicks, and my blood freezes. She recognizes me, doesn't she?
For fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl, and The Housemaid, this is a psychological thriller that will have you reading late into the night and gasping at the final twist!
My Review
Victoria Jenkins' latest novel —THE MIDWIFE, is full of secrets, unreliable characters, and a strong sense of darkness coming. When you trust someone with your baby, you are giving up a lot of control, making for a suspenseful and intense psychological drama.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by Anne-Marie Piazza for an engaging and entertaining performance/listening experience.
We meet Lauren, a single pregnant via IVF, soon to be a mom. She has chosen this route and looks forward to being a mom. We will learn more about her tough traumatic past toward the end of the book, and you will have sympathy for her.
She is highly protective of this baby, as she should be, and meets her midwife, Jackie. She is there to support her.
However, Jackie is acting mysterious, and Lauren does not know if she can trust her. Mid-wives should be there to help you in every way.
Told from POVs Jackie and Lauren, we know that something is off. There are dark secrets on both sides and a mysterious man named Peter.
Lauren gets upset when a brick is thrown through her window with a note stating, "I know what you did!"
Throughout the book, you have no clue who is good or bad.
Slow-paced, and deeply unsettling, THE MIDWIFE explores the darkest side of motherhood. Visceral, provocative, and compulsive.
Readers have to wait until the end of the book to get all the answers as to what happened to Lauren many years ago, the other people indirectly affected seeking revenge and the others with a plan to help or hurt her.
I cannot quite put my finger on it, but because of how it was written, it is hard to get invested in the characters or connect with them since you are not given the full story until the end.
I think the audiobook was well done; however, this one was more suspense, mystery, and psychological family drama versus a gripping thriller. Maybe that is what some of the reviewers are referring to. However, it was a pleasant listen, and look forward to reading more from this author.
Thank you to #BookoutureAudio and #NetGalley for an e-ALC in exchange for an honest review.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pub Date: Nov 14, 2022
Nov 2022 Must-Read Books
About the Author
Victoria Jenkins is an English tutor and former secondary school teacher from South Wales who has been writing for years and day-dreaming about becoming a ‘proper’ writer for the past decade. She have an MA in Creative and Media Writing from the University of Wales, Swansea, where she wrote a lot of poetry while planning a lot of plots she hoped she would once day write. Victoria lives in South Wales with her husband.
