Author: Bunmi Laditan
Source: NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Goodreads Summary:
There are good moms and bad moms—and then there are hot-mess moms. Introducing Ashley Keller, career girl turned stay-at-home mom who's trying to navigate the world of Pinterest-perfect, Facebook-fantastic and Instagram-impressive mommies but failing miserably.
When Ashley gets the opportunity to participate in the Motherhood Better boot camp run by the mommy-blog-empire maven she idolizes, she jumps at the chance to become the perfect mom she's always wanted to be. But will she fly high or flop?
With her razor-sharp wit and knack for finding the funny in everything, Bunmi Laditan creates a character as flawed and lovable as Bridget Jones or Becky Bloomwood while hilariously lambasting the societal pressures placed upon every new mother. At its heart, Ashley's story reminds moms that there's no way to be perfect, but many ways to be great.
My thoughts:
This book cracked me up! Laugh out loud funny in places, there are times I could totally and definitely relate to Ashley, as all my own failed Pinterest projects will testify to.
Ashley is a wonderful mother - she is attentive, she loves her baby with all her being, she devotes much of her life to her, but like some moms, doesn't feel that she is doing a good enough job. She feels that she is not a perfect mom - she doesn't make her own baby food, she wasn't able to breast feed, her home is usually a bit of a mess, and Ashley wants it all, that big picture perfect shining example of motherhood. When her favorite mom icon has a Motherhood Boot Camp, with a grand prize of $100,000 she is ecstatic at having been chosen to participate. Each week has a theme that the chosen moms focus on, from hobbies to husbands to work outs to finding their mommy tribe to home design and decor. Ashley does her best, but her efforts don't seem to measure up as well against her fellow moms. In the end, Ashley realizes that no one is perfect, and that although she can't craft her way into her own Etsy store, she is a wonderful mother. I loved Ashley's evolution throughout this book, from losing herself to the ideal of what a perfect mom is, to finding her own voice and fully embracing her strengths, and gaining self-confidence.
This sounds awesome! I love that the journey the MC goes through, and it does sound really funny!
ReplyDelete-Lauren
It was very enjoyable! I appreciated it as a mother who tries lol. Some days are chaos, some are perfect, whatever that is.. :)
DeleteThis sounds like a potential read as I like the message it has. Have you seen Bad Moms? There is so much pressure for us to be perfect and for our children to be perfect. I get grrr sometimes and even have to remind myself I am who I am and I will do what I want to do in terms of life and raisin' my kids. We're human beings and I love marching to the beat of my own drum.
ReplyDeleteI loved Bad Moms! I think that the idea of the perfect together mom is perpetuated today, with social media. Before did we know? Did we care? Now we see that amazing beautiful cake that someone made and think to ourselves that we need to do that too, instead of appreciating we all have different talents and skills. And you are so right, we need to march to our beat. We are all different, with different needs and wants and ideas, raising our different kids. :)
DeleteThis sounds like the perfect read to help me laugh away all the mommy guilt I feel some days. Adding it to my TBR!
ReplyDelete