Ugh. This book was so disappointing.
First of all, I freaking love Bunmi Latidan, so I had high hopes despite the fact that I almost always disappointed by “Confessions of a…” books. They’re never what I want them to be. They’re always unsatisfying.
Having read a non-fiction humor book by Latidan (and having loved it) and being aware of her hilarious online presence, I was expecting way more.
What I got was a half-baked novel about a new mom who isn’t coping with her life and has absolutely no awareness of that fact that most moms are not as perfect as they seem on social media. Do people really not know that? Is that a thing? I felt like there was so much to say about that topic that would have been nuanced and useful (like how even when you know good and well that it’s not a good representation of real life, the self-doubt still creeps in) and this was so oversimplified. I don’t get why such a funny and insightful writer went this route. There were so many missed opportunities. Like…actual “mom culture” has kind of reached a point of self-awareness where we know that everyone’s life isn’t perfect and everyone is trying to be “real” but even that is curated in a sense.
Anyway, she joins a “mommy boot camp” that her favorite mommy lifestyle blogger is running. The rules of this boot camp are weird and vague and none of it feels real. It ends in a very predictable way. The main character is super obnoxious. It limps along using tired mom stereotypes – moms wear yoga pants, they want adult conversation, they drink wine, blah blah. Ugh.
I’m giving it two stars solely because I do not see this as being a well developed genre yet – fiction that really focuses on the inner lives of moms. There’s plenty of Jodi Picoult style stuff about moms whose kids get kidnapped or leukemia or switched at birth, but there’s not a ton for a stay at home mom with a normal life to connect with. I’d be interested in seeing a similar concept done well, but personally I have not seem much that’s similar and I guess we have to start somewhere…it just feels like if Bunmi Laditan is the one taking a swing, it should’ve been way better.
