I am notorious for wanting books because of the cover and most of the time they work out, this one did not.

Julie is a teacher who is looking for a place to escape her grief of a child. She finds that in a position offered off an island in Maine where cell service is non existent.

She has a dog, a dog that is persistently mentioned in every other word she mutters and initially I thought I was wary about reading this since it says it’s a “Thriller”.
Y’all the dog is fine and I have no clue why he was mentioned so much and I also wouldn’t classify this a thriller, or a mystery nor a SUSPENSE book.

The characters were boring and there wasn’t really any riveting plot, except the obvious…People go to the island to escape from a variety of reasons but none of those reasons come back.



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This started off so strong and then nothing happened. I wanted to keep pushing through but I just could not keep my interest. DNF around 50%

DNF ( )

Jodi Picoult and I agree, Jenny Milchman’s The Second Mother is an American gothic thriller. Check out my review at Booktrib.com. https://booktrib.com/2020/08/18/want-ad-lures-grieving-mom-to-island-of-intrigue... ( )

Thanks to BookTrib, Loves To Read (FB group) for this book.

What a tangled web we weave. So much going on and it was such fast reading that I probably could have finished it even sooner without all the distractions I put myself into.

Life in a small island is not an easy one especially when a family owns and runs and rules it. The grandmother made sure of it too. I liked the life of this small island in Maine with it's one room schoolhouse and all grades into one class. Julie moved from another small town in NY to this one trying to get away from her past life. What she didn't know is what she was getting into that's for sure and I had no idea what was coming towards me either. ( )

Julie has hit rock bottom. She is still grieving the loss of her baby and still blaming herself, she cannot function unless she has had a whole bottle of that amber colored scotch, her husband only seems to add to her alcohol issue but pouring her drinks every night after he gets home from work, and now he wants a divorce.

Getting enough energy, she decides to play around on the internet, and spots a job opening. Something is calling to her to apply. Can she really be around children again? Will it remind her everyday of Hedley or is this what she needs to get back on her feet and moving forward with her life. She applies before she can change her mind and before she knows it, she has accepted this position and is getting ready to move forward in life.

This teaching position is on a very remote island, hardly any cell or internet service and the people rely on each other for a lot of every day things. She is ready for the change, and doesn’t feel it will be much different than the remote mountain town she grew up in. She will be in charge of all grades of children in that school, and it’s something to give her drive again.

After Julie arrives on the island, it soon becomes clear that things are run by one powerful family, and they will stop at nothing to keep their hands on land, money and whatever else may benefit them. She has been warned numerous times, not to meddle in the Hempsteads business, as they own and run everything on this island. This is how this place survives as it does.

But Julie feels there is something sinister that happened, and is determined to find out the truth of the secret they are keeping as well as not be intimated off the island before she can solve the mystery. But every step of the way, Julie is met with warning and odd things happening to her dog and the house she is staying in. Can she get to the bottom of the truth of what happened on this island, or will she be run off like other outsiders?

Thank you to Sourcebooks for the free book I won in a giveaway. I look forward to searching out other novels written by Jenny. ( )