I have recently decided that moths are not great. Maybe even worse than birds because at least there are some cool birds, like penguins and flamingos and such. Moths, nah. Anyway this book isn't actually about moths as such, so that is some good news! (Also, another positive thing is that most moth-related fare seems to know that the moths are not great. Self-awareness, we love to see it.)

What I Enjoyed:

Look, this is a weird book. I like weird! This is a good thing! It is dark, and a bit depressing at times, and David sure is a mess of a person. The reader cannot help but feel for him, since his beloved grandfather is missing or dead depending on who you ask, and the rest of his family seems pretty emotionally stunted at best. In this world, people go missing sometimes and that is just that. I don't fully get it, and I don't know if we're supposed to fully get it, but basically David is told that this is just the way things are but also, that Grandad really is dead so shhh. So, that is how David grew up, and now he is an adult but maybe not a fully productive adult? Anyway, it is easy to see how he is still dealing with these remnants of his childhood. Anyway my point is, I liked all the heavier emotional stuff, and David trying to figure out what is going on, and what happened to grandad, and all that jazz. Also, the drawings are lovely, and while things were a little weird, they were good weird!

What I Struggled With:

The weirdness veered a bit off course for me, I'm afraid, into confusing. I think I understand what was going on by the end, but since it wasn't explicitly spelled out, I doubt myself. That is just who I am. So when things got a little less interesting-weird and a little more confusing-weird, I liked this book a little less. I am going to add a spoiler here so someone who has read it can tell me if they agree, yeah? (view spoiler)

Bottom Line: Often good-weird, sometimes confusing-weird, the author's writing style and character development were definitely solid enough to keep me reading!

If nothing else, you should pick this book up for the writing. The writing in Mothtown has spellbound me; it's so incredibly engrossing, surreal, uneasy and gut-punching. It sweeps you up and engulfs you in one of those dreams where everything is just hazy enough to make it confusing and horrific. I can't really put my finger on it, but this book's writing is fascinating. It's a puzzle is still haven't figured out, even after finishing the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for my arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

"Mothtown" by Caroline Hardaker is a hard one to place because of Hardaker's ability to skirt between genres. It's fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and young adult all at once. We follow David from chapters that depict him as an adult and chapters that follow him as a child. Through this alternating chapters, we're able to really get a sense of David's background and the things that happened in his childhood that affect him as an adult. What we find out is that David is in search of his grandpa, believed to have passed away, David thinks otherwise. What entails is a horror filed journey of multiverse madness.

At first, I really struggled with Hardaker's prose. It's very simple, flat, and to the point. I think with a story like this, the prose works well to emphasize things like David disappearing into his mad search for the "door" but I think if you're not familiar with the style of writing, Hardaker's writing (I am not sure if she writes like this generally), or you're going in completely blind, the writing could prevent a new reader from getting invested in it.

Other than that, I thought the inclusion of illustrations on top of Hardaker's style worked together really well to tell this story of a young person's descent into madness while searching for a place of belonging. It was honestly very heartbreaking to read but I think a worthwhile one if you can get past the flat writing.

Definitely quite strange and unique. I highly appreciate that in today's world of homogeneous fiction. I highly recommend this book.

This was a very weird read, in a good way! Caroline Hardaker's 'Mothtown' is one of those books where the narrator's state of mind is reflected in the writing: very confusing, fragmentary, mysterious, and occasionally obscure. David, the central character and first-person narrator, makes it very hard to us readers to be sure what's real and what's his own interpretation of the facts. On the surface, this is a sci-fi fantasy tale blended with cult horror, about portals, people who disappear when searching for them, and a strange family history between the narrator and his grandfather (who appears to have found a portal and has disappeared, though noone other than David seems to believe this.) As the story progresses, however, and the myth of the portals gets more and more intricate and sophisticated, one starts to suspect that David, now an adult, is not an entirely reliable narrator. In fact, he starts appearing as someone who needs mental treatment. The ending was heart-breaking. I didn't love the writing, but I gave five starrs for that moving ending. Chris Riddell's illustrations were a bonus; an absolute delight!

Thank you so much Netgalley and Angry Robot for providing me an ARC for a honest review.

MOTHTOWN bounces between two different timelines. The first, referred to as “Before” follows our MC, David Porter, when he is a child and has recently lost his grandad, an important figure in his life. The second, called “After” when he is an adult and is on some kind of mission. If you aren’t used to this from me by now, I’m not going to go much more into summarizing the story than that because I prefer to go into a book based on vibes more than plot. And this is one that is much better enjoyed without too much information going in, in my opinion.

I found MOTHTOWN incredibly immersive. I felt a bit confused and conflicted as I read the story, which I believe was intentional. Hardaker goes between two different timelines throughout the story. Following the most unreliable narrator I’ve encountered in awhile, David Porter, MOTHTOWN effectively illustrates an intimate and chaotic portrait of grief, mental illness, and unhealthy coping.

Hardaker’s writing is lyrical, atmospheric, and heart breaking. I highlighted the most heart-breaking sentences because they sounded so beautiful and haunting. As I was reading, I really felt this sense of dread, hopelessness, and confusion that the narrator experiences at different points.

I still have plenty to process about this book but that’s one thing I love in a story. One that stays with you long after you’ve read the last page. There are truly so many ways to interpret this story, and even in listening to interviews with Hardaker, it seems this was the intent. And she’s not interested in imposing a “right” answer on readers. It gives you much to think about, specific to the story and beyond…

It’s hard to pin this one down to one genre, so if you like horror, sci-fi, and literary fiction, I feel like you would enjoy this novel. There are equal parts grotesque descriptions and character study as we delve into David’s mind and experience this world through his eyes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Angry Robot for providing an advanced copy of this singular story in exchange for my honest review, it was a pleasure!

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for providing me with a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

Mothtown is such an odd and unique story, spanning a variety of genres (speculative fiction, horror, literary fiction, and more!). It follows David during his childhood and adulthood. David is a quiet 10-year-old boy, who has trouble connecting with others. His best friend is his grandfather, a physics professor who believes there is a multiverse humans can access through hidden doorways. He publishes a book full of his theories and dedicates it to David, hoping that David will follow a similar path in life. Suddenly, David's grandfather disappears. David's parents tell him that he died, but David can't help but feel that there is more to the story - after all, David's parents seem to be hiding a lot from him lately. Did his grandfather finally make a breakthrough on his research and enter another universe? And what exactly is going on in David's village, where people keep disappearing? What is David's family trying to protect him from?

This is a book that I thought I would love, because it has so many elements I look for when reading; it's very surreal, features an unreliable narrator, and makes you question what exactly is real in the novel's universe. It's basically a giant puzzle! Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. I expect that it will be a divisive book - if the prose and style work for you, I imagine that you'll love it. If you're like me, though, and take issue with the writing or pacing, you may feel frustrated as you read.

The largest element that negatively impacted my enjoyment of Mothtown was the writing. I want to be clear, though - I don't think the writing is bad, but it's just not a style I enjoyed. The author uses simile after simile after simile. There are plenty of metaphors used, as well, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that, at least in the ARC (maybe it will change before publication), there were often whole pages with at least one simile per paragraph. Using imagery and metaphors can be extremely effective with horror, but here, I found it distracting. The similes were used in many unnecessary ways (for example, David would use similes to compare his thoughts and feelings to physical images, when I fully understood what he meant without the added imagery). The language throughout the novel is so detailed; usually I love that, but with this book, it overly explained details that never needed to be expanded upon. The horror elements were also written in a fairly unclear way... to me, it felt as if the author spent more time describing mundane parts of David's life (ex: there's an entire page describing instructions David found for using his library's catalogue and how he followed them) than the moments where David was experiencing something horrific. I think there are readers who will enjoy this type of writing, but I am not one of them.

Another element that didn't work for me was the pacing. The novel jumps around between "before" chapters largely detailing David's life as a child and "after" chapters describing David's present-day journey to find a door out of his universe. The "before" chapters do eventually catch up to the "after" chapters, but the "after" chapters were confusing and draining to read for the first 80% of the novel. They were so disjointed that they ruined the momentum that the "before" chapters were building. Additionally, there is a time jump in the "before" chapters that I found jarring. We follow David as a child, and then, suddenly, it skips to when he is 26 years-old. We missed so much character development by skipping formative years for the main character. It would have made more sense to maybe jump to David as a 16 year-old and then jump once again to when he's 18 or 19 - then all of the "after" action could have followed him at that age. Having him be 26 seemed like a bit of an arbitrary age, given that David hadn't progressed much after moving out of his parents' home.

The final major issue I had with Mothtown was its attempts to span so many genres. This could probably be debated (because the book is quite complex and leaves some questions unresolved), but I would argue that the core plot of the story fits more into the literary fiction and thriller genres, with a bit of horror sprinkled in. The sci fi/fantasy and mystery elements become less and less relevant as the book goes on. It felt as if the missing persons portion of the plot was mostly inserted to confuse readers and further muddy the story line, because it didn't play as big of a role (and wasn't resolved) by the end. So, as a reader who was expecting a horror/sci fi/fantasy novel, I was a bit disappointed. The story could have been less confusing and more successful if it tried to stick to a couple of genres, rather than inserting elements from so many different areas of fiction.

This novel does have a couple of positive elements I want to highlight, though. First, it's a really engaging character study and dives deeply into the theme of grief. I thought it did a great job of exploring how grief can impact children and families. It also explores mental illness, loneliness, and isolation in thoughtful and unique ways. I couldn't really root for any of the characters (we're stuck in David's mind for the whole novel, which makes it tough to fully learn about the rest of his immediate family), but I did want to know what would happen to each of them. Caroline Hardaker excelled at creating an immersive atmosphere and pulling me in. Even though the pacing dragged, I still wanted to keep reading to see how it all would turn out.

I also applaud the author for inserting many breadcrumbs throughout the story and leaving the ending up to interpretation. Mothtown is a book that pays off if you read carefully, tracking every little detail as you go. It would probably be rewarding to re-read. Unfortunately, since the writing frustrated me, I wasn't having fun reading all of the details. However, if you like the metaphors and imagery, I think you could find a lot of enjoyment out of reading this closely and even flipping back and starting over at page 1 after the ending to see everything in a new light. I appreciate strange books that make you think long after finishing them. Even though Mothtown didn't work for me, I'm hoping there are readers out there who will have a ball with it.

So, all in all, the writing, style, and pacing just didn't work for me here. I do believe there is an audience who will enjoy Mothtown, but I'd recommend you to go in expecting a confusing literary fiction novel, with thriller and horror elements added in. The vibes and atmosphere of this story reminded me of Liar, Dreamer, Thief and The Last House on Needless Street (though, the plot is very different from those two books); if you like either of those novels, you might enjoy this one. If you're looking for a scary or sci-fi/fantasy-heavy book, though, you may want to skip this one.

2 stars out of 5 stars. The illustrations were really lovely, though!

This is such a bizarre book.

If you love weird speculative fiction and horror with unreliable narrators this is perfect. At no point did I know where this was going, I was trying to piece it together but really couldn't uncover anything. Mothtown is super unsettling and filled with such gross, visceral imagery that I loved. If you had bugs this book isn't for you. I loved the illustrations throughout, especially the ones at the end. They really added to the story.

Rating: 5/5 stars

“No. This was a truth that I couldn’t swallow, and it rolled around my mouth, heavy on my tongue. I knew I should be sad, but I felt empty instead, as if something had been scooped out and not replaced. But in that hole, something lived and breathed, and it was flapping for attention.”

Caroline Hardakers sophomore novel had the honours of being my final anticipated release of 2023. Despite its purposefully enigmatic synopsis that only lifts the very tip of the veil of mystery that surrounds this story, I’ve been intrigued ever since its announcement. I can happily say, it lived up to the long wait. With its stunning prose that echoes the authors past work in poetry, its disorienting spin of events and its wonderfully resonant emotional core, Mothtown is one of the most haunting stories to come out this year.

David has always been an odd kid. A constant sense of displacement, and “otherness” has kept him from ever feeling completely at home in this world. His solid anchor, his home and kindred spirit, is his likeminded granddad, who’s eccentric interests and ideas fascinate young David. Especially Granddads work on multiverse-theory that even got him published once, has an electric pull on David.
Mothtown tells David’s story, as it is split into two time lines by an event that irrevocably divided his life into before and after; the death of grandfather. Without warning, without goodbye, Grandpa is gone and the world around him starts to take on strange and unsettling shapes. Unnerving events around town, missing people, bodies are showing up with wings, or bones in nests if you believe the rumours from the kids at school… And then, there’s the clues that Grandpa left behind; clues hinting that he didn’t die, but went away to another place. With increasing desperation, David sets off on a quest through a hostile landscape, piecing together the breadcrumb-trail Grandpa left behind, in hopes of finding that place where he doesn’t feel out of place.

Many of the events of the book remain shrouded in mystery and ambiguity, yet plenty is offered for the reader to understand what’s happening before them. Mothtown has strong themes of mental health, grief and trauma, and used magical realism to depict them in a way that almost feels “truer than life”. The way I interpreted the story (view spoiler). The way David's world splits following an event so horrible his mind cannot accept the reality of, is heartbreaking, harrowing and eerily resonant to read.
From a technical point, the authors writing is impeccable throughout. From the characterization, to the environmental descriptions, to the intense atmosphere; everything works synergistically to create this masterpiece. Although the book is tagged as “horror”, there are very few outward moments of fear throughout. Instead, the entire story is drenched in an unrelenting feeling of dread and displacement that, to me, was far more effective than any in-your-face-scares could be. Dread surrounding the unexplainable events happening, dread from a protagonist who’s desperately trying to make sense of a world that has fractures all around him, and the dread from you as the reader watching these events unfold, knowing the outcome likely won’t be a happy one.
All in all, I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Comp-titles aren’t easy to find with something as unique as this, but Piranesi by Susanna Clarke comes to mind.

Many thanks to Angry Robot Press and Dreamscape Audio for providing me with both an audio- as well as a regular ARC in exchange for an honest review. Both formats add in unique ways to the story: the audio with its superb narration, and the physical/e-book by the stunning illustrations by Chris Riddell sprinkled throughout.

A great book, with atmospheric writing, initially mind-boggling intrigue, and enough surprises to keep readers' attention.

What a wild and bizarre novel! This was an interesting piece of speculative fiction with horror aspects and a little sci-fi. This reminded me of the vibes I got watching DARK on Netflix. Inventive and kind of mind boggling.

This is a book you have to go into blind. And I’m certain it will be either hit or miss. You will either love it or hate it. If you like stories that keep you wondering what is going on and stories such as Vita Nostra and Parensi (not for the story but the strangeness) this is probably a book you’ll love. The illustrations are also an absolutely wonderful touch! This is a very layered story. It’s deep. It’s sorrowful. It touches on depression and mental health and the way the author uses imagery and symbolism in a way that allows this story to unravel very slowly made it an enjoyable read. A story about transformation and knowing where you belong told through a bond between grandfather and grandson. The story is told alternating between the “Before” when David is young and loses his grandfather and “After” when he is an adult. Wildly unique, beautifully told, this is a raw, dark, and haunting story.

The description for this book was quite off in my opinion (A24 Midsommar); it implies this is a horror novel. I finished the book, but I would not really classify this as a true horror book. It was actually reminiscent of Celeste Ng's recent book "Our Missing Hearts" and the classic "Girl Interrupted" by Susanna Kaysen. People disappearing and no explanation, but ominous vibes throughout. My biggest qualm with the storyline was very little explanation for anything that occurred, and the ending was so disappointing, and in my opinion-just lazy. This is the ending most book lovers hate! The author built up this crazy, dark world and we got no good resolution from it. The entire book was entirely depressing (echoes of Cormac McCarthy's The Road). I just did not connect with it. I think others experiencing a dark night of the soul might be into this book, and the writing style I did not have a problem with (which is why I gave it 3 stars). I just think the marketing of the book was off.

Immersive and entertaining. A recommended purchase for collections where upmarket horror is popular.

Was frustrated at first by the back and forth jumps and wished for a more linear read. While I liked many of the elements of Mothtown I just did not get the story — felt like there was something missing.

As a child, David could tell something was wrong.
The kids in school spread rumours of missing people, nests of bones and bodies appearing in the mountains. His sister refused to share what she knew, and his parents turned off the TV whenever he entered the room. Protecting him, they said. 

Worse, the only person who shared anything at all with him, his beloved grandpa, disappeared without a goodbye. Mum and Dad said he was dead. But what about the exciting discovery Grandpa had been working on for his whole life? 

Well, this is a strange book. I didn’t really enjoy reading it as it seems so disjointed. There are descriptions aplenty which are difficult to interpret. It keeps flipping between before and after, making it rather difficult to follow. It is almost impossible to decide which genre this book is. It’s a mixture of Sci-Fi, fantasy and mystery too. I must give an extra star for the amazing illustrations in the book. It is well written but it didn’t work for me.

Caroline Hardaker's Mothtown is a truly remarkable and unique novel that isn't easily classifyable.

From the first chapter the reader quickly catches that something is a little off as the main character David sets out on a dangerous journey. We don't know what that journey is or where he is going. Told in two time lines "Before" and "After" we find that 10 year old David is grieving over the death of his grandfather. Since David never sees his grandfather's body, he believes he is still alive just in a different world. This begins the obsession of preparing a journey to find his grandfather.

Hardaker slowly provides hints to the reader that David is mentally off and brilliantly conveys this in pieces as the reader goes on this journey with David. I couldn't help but care and get invested in this character, along with how his mental illness affects his immediate family.

Hardaker's writing style is unique with beautiful prose. The drawings are unexpectedly moving and really enhance the storyline. At times it felt a little long and redundant, but overall I encourage an adventurous reader to take on the odd journey.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Mothtown follows the metamorphosis of David as he discovers who he truly is. This is a beautiful novel of one's journey through grief and mental illness. This one is a slow burn, but totally worth it.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced readers copy in return for my honest review.

First, thank you Angry Robot for this eARC

Love the illustrations and I wish horror had them more often.

I'll admit that I was confused a bit but I'm not going to have any grief over that because in the end I enjoyed it for what it is.

Was it weird? Absolutely. I think when you create something that is so genre-fluid it is expected. The elements of horror and speculative fiction melding with Gothic and sci-fi notes notes wrapped up in a lyrical narrative is an experience for the senses.

Gotta love a good plot twist 🤌🏼

"Mothtown" by Caroline Hardaker, is a story that revolves around David Porter, a young boy caught in a world plagued by unexplained disappearances, eerie phenomena known as "The Modern Problem," and a growing sense of dread. David's only refuge is his enigmatic grandfather, Francis Porter, who shares a unique bond with him. When Francis suddenly vanishes, David's world unravels, and he embarks on a quest to find the grandfather he idolizes.

Caroline Hardaker masterfully employs a dual timeline, switching between 'Before' and 'After' to provide an immersive view of David's life. Through young David's perspective, we witness the loneliness that surrounds him as he struggles for acceptance in a world that doesn't seem to understand him. His relationship with his grandfather is portrayed as something truly special, a haven from the harsh reality of his everyday life.

The narrative pulsates with emotional intensity as David's journey unfolds, and his fixation on discovering doorways to other worlds intensifies.

David is a character who elicits profound empathy, as one can't help but wonder how his life might have been different if someone had reached out to help him, to make him feel seen, heard, and loved.

David's struggle with being different, with thoughts and perceptions that set him apart, is a powerful allegory for the often-dismissed issues of mental health, autism, and hidden disabilities, offering a unique perspective on societal neglect of mental health/awareness.

In addition, the book is replete with vivid descriptions, from the bright orange of David's grandfather's jumper in an otherwise drab setting to the evocative smells of rust and coffee.

Chris Riddell's accompanying illustrations add an extra layer of immersion, visually representing the light and darkness in David's life. The use of Moths as a recurring motif throughout the story adds to the enigmatic atmosphere and invites readers to interpret their symbolic significance.

In conclusion, Hardaker's narrative weaves a beautifully poignant tale of the connection between a grandson and his grandfather, the search for escape, and the journey of transformation. "Mothtown" is ultimately a story about the quest for belonging.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Angry Robot for providing me this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. The following opinions are my own.

This felt almost like videogameish? I don't really know how to elaborate on that more. I'm not mad about it but it made the experience different than what I was expecting.