The Mothers by Brit Bennett

With the cancellations, conflicts, rainy weather, and low headcount, we debated whether to have the meeting - and after bantering it around for a bit, Syreeta (pictured on the left), Chanell (pictured below on the right), and Phyllis decided to meet at Winter Park's Bulla Gastrobar to discuss Brit Bennett's debut novel, The Mothers. Syreeta, our moderator, facilitated a great discussion despite our many misgivings about the book.

Final Thoughts & Ratings

Group Rating: 1.3

Despite receiving critical praise and many literary accolades, NCBC strongly disagreed with their assessment of this debut offering. It failed to resonate (on any level) with our well-read group and struggled to find any redeeming aspects surrounding the writing, plot, or characters. It was not a pleasant/enjoyable reading experience for most of us; it is not an offering we would recommend. We wish the author continued success.

Davita: 1.20 - The same as what it was when I first read it several years ago. Based on her memory, she thought the characterization was a little weak and the plot did not seem plausible in many areas. She was really waiting on more substance from somewhere.

Seante: 2 - Thought the story started well but lost focus/purpose. It never really went anywhere; wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Syreeta and Chanell are both parked at a 1-star rating, Phyllis rated it 1.5 (rounded up to a 2 for Goodreads) from three years ago. Needless to say, we felt the author failed on many levels. We *think* we understood the premise based on the title: mothers who left, wannabe mothers, Church mothers, surrogate mothers, etc; but the execution was poor, in fact, some felt the writing and concept was "juvenile" in some aspects. The angst of teen pregnancy and the aftermath of abortion was lost to us and in our opinion failed to carry the story. Other plot lines failed to flush out, supporting characters were dropped from the pages, in general, there was simply poor character development throughout, and other basic literary failures led to a disappointing ending. All struggled to finish this book and had difficulty understanding the many accolades and praise of this debut novel.

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