Book Review: The Surrogate Mother - A Suspense Psychological Thriller by Freida McFadden

How I Found It

After reading The Inmate, I went back to Amazon to search for another one of Freida McFadden's books to read. Freida had a lot of books to comb through, and when I finished, I finally decided on The Surrogate Mother, a suspense psychological thriller. The book description was engaging, and I was curious about the plot.

I purchased the ebook on February 25th, started reading on March 7th, and finished on March 13th. I was sad that the book didn't hold my attention like the last one. When I put it aside for a few days, I wasn't clamoring to get back to it. I didn't miss it. I only went back to the story to finish what I had started. And that brings me to my review.

What It's About

The Surrogate Mother follows a woman, Abby Adler, who suffers from infertility. Abby has a loving husband, and she wants so badly to have a baby—to the point of agreeing to let her assistant Monica be the surrogate. Monica is not what she seems. But Abby is too thrilled by the possibility of having a baby that she overlooks how methodical, deceptive, manipulative, and devious Monica truly is.

What I Loved/Didn't Love

As usual, the story started out great. The characters were interesting. The plot was semi-good. The chapters were quick reads. And of course, I loved the twist at the end.

However, the book stalled twice for me. It wasn't the usual page-turner. The lead FMC (Abby) got on my nerves a bit. She acted as if she couldn't tell the difference between her imagination and reality. She was too trusting, which led to Monica always being one step ahead of her. The lead MMC (Sam) left a lot to be desired. He was willing to believe the worst about his wife Abby, and that bothered me.

The only thing I felt was left unanswered was why Monica and her mother set out to take what Abby had. Outside of them both being psychopaths, it was still left unexplained.

Themes

Deception, manipulation, drugs, murder, infertility, and family dynamics.

Who Would Enjoy It

Anyone who loves a good suspense psychological thriller and is a big fan of Freida McFadden. So far, most of her books are great reads, and some are not so great but doable.

My Rating

3½ out of 5 stars

I gave The Surrogate Mother three and a half stars. It was good from the beginning but even better once it got to the end.

👉You can find the book HERE if you are interested.