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We Were Mothers cover art

We Were Mothers

Written by: Katie Sise
Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
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Publisher's Summary

A brilliant, twisty novel about a missing woman, an unfaithful husband, and the dark secrets that will destroy two perfect families.

A scandalous revelation is about to devastate a picturesque town where the houses are immaculate and the neighborhoods are tightly knit. Devoted mother Cora O’Connell has found the journal of her friend Laurel’s daughter - a beautiful college student who lives next door - revealing an illicit encounter. Hours later, Laurel makes a shattering discovery of her own: her daughter has vanished without a trace. Over the course of one weekend, the crises of two close families are about to trigger a chain reaction that will expose a far more disturbing web of secrets. Now everything is at stake as they’re forced to confront the lies they have told in order to survive.

©2018 Katie Sise (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

What listeners say about We Were Mothers

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Jenn
  • 2018-10-06

Very Solid Story, Entertained Throughout

I rated this book 5 stars all-around because I think it is already rated far too low, too soon and will unnecessarily deter some from a good book that was much better than so many I have listened to lately. My real rating is close but would more accurately be: Overall: 4.25 | Performance: 5 | Story: 4

I read reviews for this book from Amazon, and many were confused by how many characters and side plots there were –– and there were a lot of people in the story but the character development for each person was done quite well, and I know this is very hard to do. Usually, with these many people in a story, some character's end up being irrelevant but in this book overall, the stories were all significant and solidly intertwined. The reason I think this is because we actually get to hear the point-of-view of almost everyone (it switches back and forth) and how they feel about the other characters and gain insight about what they think and feel and this really contributes to the story. However, even with that said, I can name one storyline/character that could've been removed without too much impact on the plot. I think the only real confusion I felt was how everyone was referred to by name...so for example, if Sarah was identified and started narrating, I would forget she was Cora's mom and think, and it would take me a second to remember that so I did have to pay extra attention, but it was worth it (also, Cora called her own mother Sarah so that could've been why I got confused).

What I was most impressed about in the book were the events that drove the story and the way it affected each person –– there was definitely a central pull to everyone's actions which brought the plot together nicely. It wasn't flawlessly written, but it was better than a lot of domestic thrillers by more experienced authors. The story was easy to get into, and I was thoroughly entertained until the end.

I think the summary was a little misleading. The book really is NOT about a neighbor/daughter going missing – that was not the driving element of the story whatsoever, if anything that was just something eventually realized. In the summary, the "crises of two close families" is not centered on the disappearance of the girl, I think the author tried to do this with voicemail flashbacks, but I don't think it contributed to that aspect of the story – although they were helpful in dropping the perfect amount of clues throughout the book without giving too much away. I think a more accurate title for the book could be: "Maggie and the Mothers" because Maggie was the glue that really bound the characters and thus storyline, together.

Judging the book on just character behavior or personality, there were, of course, some more likable than others and what happens to them at the end may not be how you want and I can see how it might not make the audience feel satisfied. But as a story as a whole, I think it works.

92 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • sdhofmann
  • 2018-11-22

Story Line Interesting - BUT

The story line was enough to keep me reading. However the authors need to tell us everything single thing that went through the minds of the characters was carried overboard. Having the characters thoughts repeat over and over at the worst times made me want to throw my iPad.

68 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Martha
  • 2019-03-12

Worst book in months

Tedious and misanthropic. Theme is essentially men cannot be trusted. They only exist as progeny producing sperm donors and monetary providers. Lead character is too insecure to inspire. Plot twists can be seen a mile away. Only thing worse than weak writing is poor vocal performance which prevents us from differentiating one character from another...not that we should bother to try...

37 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • night owl
  • 2018-11-01

Good ,but too long

Interesting plot but way too but characters thoughts are way too long. Almost gave it three stars ,except the multiple story lines kept my interest and kept me listening. I notice in all these psychological thrillers, the men are all jerks if not down right sociopaths.




19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Virgo AF
  • 2018-10-12

Horrible

A book full of narcissistic, self-obsessed and unlikable characters, droning, long-winded chapters and seriously lacking in the so-called "big twists" it promises, made exponentially worse by the shrill, positively unbearable overacting of the Audible narrator.
One star solely for the fact that the plotline HAD enough potential to show that the author can hopefully do better in the future, with a SERIOUS editor and a different narrator - but I won't be finding out. First and last book I will ever read by this author.
If you haven't read it yet - don't bother.
What a waste of an Audible credit.
Now that I've hopefully helped someone else not to waste their time on this, I'm off to find an actual good book...

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Christina Pedone
  • 2019-02-12

Terrible Narrator, mediocre book.

The story's climax was a bit disappointing; the description of the book misleading and the narrator was horrible. I almost didn't finish the book because the narration was so bad. Skip this one.


13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Deborah Root
  • 2019-01-14

Great story!

I loved this book! So many interesting characters, excellent execution of the individual stories. Lots of great suprises and twists and turns. Highly recommend!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Kindle Customer
  • 2019-03-09

engrossing from the start. Loved it

engrossed from the start, flowed nice, not to many characters. would recommend. My kind of book!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Bulldogge
  • 2019-02-26

awesome mother love

I would recommend reading for any mother and daughter relationship good or stressed. loved it.

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Tonya Teresa Bills
  • 2019-01-17

Captured my attention

Lots of twist and turns, wasn't predictable at all. Dramatic but not unrealistic.
Loved it!

5 people found this helpful