Cover Image: Motherthing

Motherthing

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

This was an ultimately disappointing read for me. A little underbaked, though the characters were interesting.

Was this review helpful?

WHAT DID I JUST READ?!?!?!?!

Abigail has completely lost her mind. An unhinged female character with severe mommy issues, dealing with the grief of other people’s mothers. She is absolutely descending into madness while having no idea that she is doing so. That’s what this book is.

What it is not? It is not quite a horror story. It is also not a ghost story.

It was a wild ride and if readers are not disturbed by gruesome descriptions and bodily fluids, they may be into this one.

Was this review helpful?

“My Mother In-Law is driving me crazy,” is usually a figurative statement people make, but for Laura it becomes quite literal after the Mother In-Law’s sudden and extreme death. Motherthing is relatively tame for its classification as a horror story, but isn’t that how most horrific events happen? Seemingly normal until that penultimate moment of pure insanity.
The layers of normalcy slowly shed away as Laura slips gradually into insanity. The horror that is held back throughout the first ¾ of the story is unleashed in a tidal wave in that final ¼. The slow descent into the macabre allows for the atrocious ending to be more shocking and unhinged than I could have expected.

Was this review helpful?

"The Family Plot" is a darkly humorous exploration of the complex relationship between mothers and daughters, with a supernatural twist. When Abby and Ralph Lamb move in with Ralph's mother, Laura, Abby hopes it will provide an opportunity for them to finally connect. Abby, who had a traumatic childhood, yearns for a mother figure, especially as she and Ralph are trying to start their own family. However, Laura is anything but welcoming; she is venomous and cruel, particularly toward Abby.

Was this review helpful?

This book was so weird. I teetered back and forth in deciding if I like it or not. I think I enjoyed it for the most part. It was darkly funny and witty. In-laws can be a scary thing right? Hogarth seemed like she had such a blast writing this book and seemed to capture the daughter/mother in law worst case scenario extremely well!

Was this review helpful?

This is a book that is visceral and grimy in the absolute best way. The imagery is so striking and in your face kind of like how I assume Laura would have been. Though her spectre looms large through this book we get her more through Abby’s perception of her and I liked Abby as a character even after all she does.

I love the ‘Scene’ inserts, it seems like a perfect way to place bits of context taking place before (or separate to) the novel whilst not interrupting the main thread too much. They also added a humorous angle to a book in all intensive purposes about grief and the different responses to it. Would wholly recommend it.

Was this review helpful?

This is a crazy ride of a book. It's very well-written and that helped me want to continue reading to see what else was going to happen to poor Abigail.

Was this review helpful?

Motherthing stands out as an exceptionally potent work in the realm of Domestic Horror literature. Its striking uniqueness and strangeness instantly grab the reader's attention. Abby, the protagonist, craves nothing more than a stable and harmonious home life following a traumatic upbringing. With her new husband Ralph and their impending baby, it seems like her wish might come true until a tragic event takes place: her mother-in-law's suicide, which haunts them in multifaceted ways.

What makes Motherthing so exceptional is its remarkable blend of bizarre, grotesque, humour, horror, and tragedy. It navigates themes of marriage, motherhood, grief, and trauma in an entirely unhinged manner, providing readers with an intimate glimpse into someone's psyche and their unfiltered intrusive thoughts. The narrative is marked by its creativity and originality, taking unexpected turns at every juncture, making it impossible to predict the course of the story

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Grabbed this during a 2-for-1 sale for Spooky Season, coincidentally didn’t realize that I also had NetGalley waiting on a review (sorry)! It’s a little different as a domestic horror, but I enjoyed. The narration is well done, and the character’s voice comes to life.

First and foremost, this is kind of a dark comedy. Or at the very least, the artistic voice comes across as funny. A lot of the analogies and metaphors are witty, and something I have never quite achieved in my own writing.

In a way, I would liken this to a fictional “I’m Glad My Mom Died” as it shows a lot of the darker sides of motherhood: abuse, obsession, and dysfunction. It also goes into depression and delusion in a very atmospheric way.

Unfortunately the end did lose me for a bit, which is when it was supposed to be building to climax, but it did end with quite the surprise. Personally a 3/5*, a fun one.

Was this review helpful?

3.5/5 stars

This book is definitely not for everyone. It is a little bizarre and might be confusing at times, but goodness was the writing great! It was easy to read and I couldn't put it down!

Was this review helpful?

Adding this to my new favourite sub genre of Suburban Horror.

I love this book, it’s a haunted house story…but also not. Our protagonist Abby is delightfully descending into madness and you are along for the ride. You are so far into her psyche that you have no clue which is reality and which isn’t.

I loved this book so much. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

I found this book weird and hard to get into. Not really sure how to review it. Very dark and well written though. I feel other lovers of horror would really enjoy this book.

Was this review helpful?

4.25 - I could write a whole ass essay on how much I enjoyed this book - it’s depictions of mental health, generational trauma and manipulation and most of all, the conceptions of motherhood: what it takes to be a mother, what ‘good’ mothering even looks like and how the conflations of womanhood and motherhood blur to create monsters out of us all

(Also this cover is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen so that knocks it up so many points)
Edit Review

Was this review helpful?

I am not sure what I just read. Chaos. Absolute chaos. Sometimes in a good way, a funny and self deprecating way. Sometimes in a way that had me scratching my head and wondering what the.... was going on.

The narrator was less than reliable, and that added a whole new level to this story. It was so entertaining, and had me googling recipes with a salmon mold out of morbid curiosity. Overall I enjoyed it, and would gladly read the next release from this author.

As to who I recommend it to, that would be only a select few. I don't think it is for everyone.

Was this review helpful?

TW: death of parent, suicide, language, drinking, toxic family relationships, gaslighting, infertility, mourning, depression, anxiety, toxic relationships

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:When Ralph and Abby Lamb move in with Ralph’s mother, Laura, Abby hopes it’s just what she and her mother-in-law need to finally connect. After a traumatic childhood, Abby is desperate for a mother figure, especially now that she and Ralph are trying to become parents themselves. Abby just has so much love to give—to Ralph, to Laura, and to Mrs. Bondy, her favorite resident at the long-term care home where she works. But Laura isn’t interested in bonding with her daughter-in-law. She’s venomous and cruel, especially to Abby, and life with her is hellish.When Laura takes her own life, her ghost haunts Abby and Ralph in very different ways: Ralph is plunged into depression, and Abby is terrorized by a force intent on destroying everything she loves. To make matters worse, Mrs. Bondy’s daughter is threatening to move Mrs. Bondy from the home, leaving Abby totally alone. With everything on the line, Abby comes up with a chilling plan that will allow her to keep Mrs. Bondy, rescue Ralph from his tortured mind, and break Laura's hold on the family for good. All it requires is a little ingenuity, a lot of determination, and a unique recipe for chicken à la king…
Release Date: September 27th, 2022
Genre: Horror
Pages: 288
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Oh gosh that cover is perfect

What I Didn't Like:
1. I hate the writing style
2. Saturated words that ramble about trivial things
3. The way suicide is portraited as light hearted fun to get rid of your evil mother-in-law
4. 45 uses of the word salmon!!

Overall Thoughts:
Wtf is this writing? Rambled sentences coating other rambling sentences. Sigh. I really struggled to get through this book enough and to even care about the characters. I found Abby pretty annoying. I hated this book. Normally I'd write this big review but for this book I'm keeping it simple. I. Did. Not. Like. This.

Wtf is with 45 uses of the word salmon????

Final Thoughts:
How can only 288 pages feel like an eternity? Did not enjoy this book at all.

Recommend For:
• Loss of parent
• Marriage issues
• Depression
• Infertility

Was this review helpful?

This was a really weird book. I’m not sure how I feel about it. There was a lot of repetition that felt like fodder to increase work count. That may not have been the intention but how it felt to me.

Give it a try if you like strange metaphysical stories.

Was this review helpful?

This book was implied any domestic horror I had read. I finished with a sense of foreboding and confusion that I am not sure I will get over easily.

Was this review helpful?

That was a fever dream of a book.

I feel duped by reviews and the description because I was thinking the book would have more of a haunting than it did.

This reminds me a lot of “Bunny” and “Maeve Fly” if you are into this books this is for you, it sadly was not for me.

Was this review helpful?

This book was nothing like I expect and I loved every second of it. It was dark, twisted, and unhinged.

Was this review helpful?

I am surprised how much I loved this. The writing was beautifully weird. I didn't want to stop reading and when I did I just kept thinking and thinking about it. The story was weirdly thought provoking and to is really just about getting through grief with a dash of cannibalism. I really didn't even know if what I was reading at the end was really happening or one of her imaginings. I was shocked reading that and I need to know what happens next which I think makes a great book when you want it to keep going forever!

Was this review helpful?