A twisted take on grief and trauma, Motherthing is intriguing and at times provocative, but struggles to find its purpose.

Certain aspects of the novel were great, but others missed the mark. It might work better for other people, as my critiques of it come more from my personal reaction to things than more objective things like the prose or the story.

What did I enjoy?
The cover, first of all, is definitely in my top ten of the year. It’s fantastic.

I liked how weird the book was, that it wasn’t afraid to take a risk on something quirky and dark. The tone was also very foreboding and grim, which held steady throughout. That’s sometimes hard to do when a book has a lot of dark humour.

As much as I’m not super fond of first person, I liked the stream-of-consciousness aspects and how little things from earlier in the novel came back in amusing ways. The book is clever, and there are some provocative and imaginative metaphors and turns of phrase that I really enjoyed.

I also liked how we’re not sure whether it’s a ghost story or whether the entire thing is a manifestation of Abby's guilt and her husband’s deep deep grief. I do enjoy it when a book plays with “reality” in a way that doesn’t feel deliberate.

There are some moments of comedy that did make me laugh too.

What I wasn’t super into:
The main character shortly grows very annoying. I had no idea how old she was supposed to be, as sometimes she acted like she was barely out of her teens, and at others, she was my age (late 30s). I had no clue what to make of her behaviour at some points.

It’s not scary at all. The ending is a bit bonkers, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen before in horror at least. I’m not sure how Abby made the leap to doing what she did, in truth, but … it definitely didn't go where I expected from the start so that was refreshing and kind of funny in a gross way.

The “bad mother made me nuts” trope is getting to be a bit tired. We see it all the time in novels. There’s a junkie mother or a neglectful mother that we only see one side of, and it makes the grown daughter have severe issues that she doesn’t go to counselling for. Maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention or something, but I must have missed something about what the mother “did” to make her so bad. The thing Abby reveals later seemed to me to be a misconstruing of what the mother said, because there were no hints of that earlier on?

Abby’s obsession with “Cal” was so annoying and her misinformation about fertility drove me absolutely nuts. It got to the point where every time she said “Cal” I felt the muscles in my face just slacken with irritation. Rather than showing her to be obsessive, it almost felt like a mockery of those who deal with infertility. Perhaps it wasn’t intended that way, but I wasn’t sure how else to take it, as Abby was just so ridiculous about the whole thing it was hard to take her seriously.

Likewise, I wasn’t sure whether this book was supposed to be taken a face value (showing an unhinged woman’s downward spiral) or if it was a satire. If the latter, I wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be satirizing.

I’m not trying to say it’s a poorly done novel, because it’s not. I was very into it the first half, and I think the author is talented, but I just wasn’t sure what the novel was trying to say, and I couldn’t stand or comprehend Abby. This might not be the case for everyone, so if you’re intrigued, even by the cover, do check it out!

I was quite excited about this one and tried a couple of times to get into it, but unfortunately, I just don't think this book is for me

A dark and upsetting story of how parental relationships can haunt you both figuratively and literally.
The grounding of this horror in food and feeding/eating was grossly effective. I particularly like the types of food chosen. Using foods we associate with the suburban 50s and 60s really tied into the mother in law as a demon quite well. The dual role of comforting and harming was well established and unfortunately looks to continue on into the characters' children.

This is a very dark, horror story with a few flashes of very, very dark humour. Ralph and his wife, Abby, moved in with Ralph's mother to try to help her through her mental health problems. Mother, Laura, has always had issues with mental illness and on more than one occasion has threatened to take her own life. Despite the difficulties and personality clashes Ralph and Abby tried their best to help Laura but, sadly, one day she takes drastic measures and passes away from self inflicted injuries. I did say this story is dark. Laura may be dead but before long Ralph starts behaving oddly and eventually admits to Abby that his mother might not be completely gone from the house.

There are many disturbing, and gross-out themes in this book, not just the opening suicide. If it were not for the lightness of the writing, dark humour and supernatural silliness, it would be an extremely depressing read throughout.

An undoubtedly entertaining book that is both extremely bleak and inappropriately hilarious in equal measures.

Abby hopes to become close to her mother in law, Laura, when she moves in with them. Laura is anything but friendly and loving though. When Laura takes his own life, her ghost comes back.

This was a strange read. It was written oddly and at times I was like.. huh? I think you’ll either love or hate this book. I like my stories a little more on the traditional side but it was certainly unique and definitely fun.

“He’s not like her. He’s not like his mother. He’s not like his mother because he has me, and I will save him.”

Motherthing comes out 9/27.

This is being described as horror. And I guess there's a ghost in it and people doing messed up things, so let's go with it. It honestly reminded me of this old Roald Dahl story about a woman that murders her husband with a leg of lamb (or something similar) and then cooks it and serves it to the police detectives for dinner. And I loved that story. Because it was really clever. So if you like your stories dark, and you don't mind a bunch of characters that all seem to be out of their freaking minds (the narrator cooks something out of a 1950s cookbook that sounds totally disgusting), I definitely recommend giving this a try.

What the actual fuck did I just read? But like in a good way?

Motherthing is more than just a typical horror novel, though don’t get it twisted- there are plenty of horrifying scenes in this book. Between body horror, paranormal scares, and even the horror of losing a loved one unexpectedly, I think there’s a little something for every horror lover in this book. Certain scenes genuinely spooked me while others left me feverishly typing my thoughts, feelings, and predictions into my notes app as fast as my fingers would allow, so you could say the story had me pretty invested.

I say that Motherthing is more than your average horror novel in the way that it does all of this while simultaneously tackling sweeping themes like grief, trauma, sexual assault, codependency, and complicated familial relationships. Come for the intriguing premise of being haunted by the ghost of your mother-in-law, stay for the surprisingly complex and thought-provoking characters, and the wild ride that unfolds along the way, of course.

I don’t know that everything in this book necessarily worked for *me* as a reader for various reasons- some of the body horror felt unnecessary/unearned, and motherhood just isn’t a theme in fiction that I tend to enjoy or gravitate towards. But I do think this book definitely has an audience, and I’m excited to see it find it’s people.

I think if you enjoyed Earthlings by Sayaka Murata (or really anything by Sayaka Murata) you might like this one. This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno and The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun also come to mind as far as comp titles, but overall if you like cosmic horror and aren’t afraid of a little gore, I’d say give this a shot!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book! Out September 27, 2022.

I thought this book was well written and had a really interesting concept, I just wasn't able to get myself to enjoy it. The writing style is pretty unique, with some really unexpected similes and metaphors that highlighted the strangeness of the story. I think it was more of a me problem that I just didn't enjoy it. This is marketed as "darkly funny" and I wished I didn't have this expectation going in. The humor of the main character I found disturbing more than anything, and I think I would have really enjoyed that fucked up, more unhinged element of it if it wasn't pitched to me that I was supposed to find her humor funny too. Like, a shit hot tub? Not for me. I also feel like this cover doesn't accurately represent the tone of the book at all.

The last 1/5 of the book was awesome though, but I found it a struggle to get there. There are a lot of interesting themes but at times the writing felt aimless and I was a bit desperate to get back to the plot. This book is already short. I thought it could have been even shorter. This is also a book where not a lot happens plot-wise, which didn't help. I will say though, the internal feelings and breakdown within the main character were written really well over the course of the book.

My brain is telling me this book was good. The writing is so unique and the way the author explores her themes through the main character and over the course of the book is compelling. But something just didn't fully click for me.

This is a unique horror novel that you must read to understand. Ralph and Abby Lamb move in with Ralph’s mother, Laura. When Laura unexpectedly takes her own life. Abby is hopeful that Ralph can now get out from under his mother's thumb. When Ralph and Abby are haunted my Laura, Abby has to figure out how to get out from under her thumb for good and turn their lives around.

Wow, what a moment this book is. It's completely dark and surprisingly funny.

I was whipped up in this domestic whirlwind of emotion from page 1 and it didn't disappoint throughout.

There are a lot of tough themes in here and I can imagine it might become a bit of a marmite read.

This definitely has some horror elements but it's not the overarching theme of this read.

I enjoyed the writing style, mostly an internal dialogue of our protagonist whose dark thoughts and humour make for a very interesting read.

Thanks to Atlantic Books and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

When I began this book I wasn’t expecting what I read. But, this turned out better than I had imagined! There were many twists, turns, and moments of gasping. There were also moments of eww, and I can’t believe this just happened! This book has been on my mind ever since I read it. I will be keeping my eye out for more books by Ainslie Hogarth for sure!

I don't really use the highlight feature on my kindle, and now I regret it! Ainslie Hogarth has some of the most unsettling turns of phrase I have ever read, and I'd love to quote some of them here. Those creepy, uncanny, inverted ways of seeing things are what make this book scary, even more than its ghostly plot. The premise exists in many genres: a young woman struggling to find a sense of self and a measure of contentment in the world is dragged off course by mental illness - whether her own or someone else's. But as strange and as off-putting as those stories can be when told by someone like Ottessah Moshfegh or Kelly McClorey, Hogarth adds the viscera necessary to push the tale into horror.

The title refers to the way that a rolled up ball of socks becomes a "motherthing" for a motherless ape in a scientific study, and certainly this story speaks to mother-child relationships, and the failures of some people to be parents to their children. But also: a ball of socks is not anything like a mother and it is heartbreaking and disturbing to pretend that it is. Similarly, in this book, things are deemed substitutes for normal/acceptable/love that really are not. As the reader we see it, but Abby does not, or she quickly accepts it as a version of a "motherthing" (a "lovething" a "friendthing" a "childthing" a "selfcarething" a "devotionthing" etc.) so that she doesn't have to face the alternative: being entirely without the "thing" at all.

This book chilled me, despite not being traditionally "scary." Creative and unsettling. Will definitely be reading more of this author!

I wouldn’t call this a horror book, in the traditional sense, even though it deals with the very real horror of parental rejection.

What I liked: The characterization is spot on. It shows three different people with three different relationships to their difficult, abusive mothers and how each child copes as an adult.

The book is told from Abby’s point of view, and I love how the author handles the nuance of personal perspective. We see everything filtered through Abby’s prejudice, emotions and mental illness, yet we are given enough information to build a more three dimensional view of the story world and characters.

Abby considers herself worthless, has low self esteem, is emotionally stunted, and lacks effective social skills to deal with people. She swings from thinking everyone hates and despises her, inferring every look and comment as a rejection, and then jumps quickly to love and devotion when given the slightest kind word. She tries to make herself necessary to others by seeing to their every need, ignoring the void within herself by filling the holes in others, most notably the lack of love and approval in her husband. Like many people who lack adequate parenting, she desires to have a huge family, seeking unconditional love and validation in children who have to need and want her.

Her guide book in life is a cook book written in the 1930s, which has chapters on how to be a good wife, mother, and woman.

She is excellent at examining the dysfunction in her husband’s relationship with his mother, while remaining oblivious to the issues with her own behavior.

As a character study, Abby is exceptional. The author perfectly captures the mindset, reveals the wounds, and highlights the petty squabbles that erupt while larger issues go ignored.

What didn’t work for me: Abby’s mother in law is only 55, yet she behaves much more like the octogenarians Abby looks after in the nursing home where she works. Her ‘old-fashioned’ names for things and behavior kept pulling me out of the story.

Midway through the book, the story ran out of steam. This book is about Abby and inter generational trauma, so there isn’t really a plot, and this became obvious near the end of the second act, where the entire treatise had been unveiled and the characters stagnated in repetition. This led to an uncharacteristic and poorly thought out third act ‘twist’, that failed to land literally or figuratively.

In conclusion, I think this would have worked better as a novella. There are no simple answers or quick solutions to the problems depicted in this story, so it makes sense that there’s no conclusion for these characters. However, I think the author missed an opportunity with making more of the metaphorical possibilities of the speculative elements in order to produce a more satisfying narrative.

This book was strange, intriguing, weird, gross, funny, out there, and the list could go on and on. I contemplated a few times not finishing it, because I just couldn't get into it. But ultimately I got to the end, and was not super impressed.

This was a DNF for me at 16%. After a whole chapter that talked mainly about diarrhea and then taking entirely too long for me to even realize that they were at the hospital because the mother-in-law killed herself I could not continue.
This book was hard to follow and understand. Missing quotation marks many places and then throwing in script writing to show a fantasy? I wanted to stick it out but Abigail was very immature and Ralph was such a push over and kind of a jerk. I couldn’t stick it out.
If there is one bright spot it was this amazing cover! However, I though the cover was misleading because what I read did not match the vibe of this amazing cover!

This was a wild and twist ride that this FMC take you on whether you want to or not.

Abby wished for a great relationship with her mother-in-law, Laura but it was less than ideal. Then after a tragedy that left Laura dead she will never be able to have the relationship she dreamed of. In the wake of Laura's death everything around Abby starts to unravel. Her husband, Ralph, is slowly losing it after his mothers death, Ms. Bondy, Abby's favorite person in her care in the old folks home is in danger of leaving, and Abby is haunted by the past trauma her own mother left her with. But Abby is no quitter and she sets out on a path to fix everything.

This is wonderfully twisted. Between the writing and the characters I was cringing (in a good way). The path that Abby takes you on is both surprising and at the same time completely predictable. She's both a character you love and are rooting for and also a character that you wish would get a grip.

While these are all good things it's also the reason I didn't care for this book as much as I could have. The writing, the characters, how twisted it is are all good things in my opinion. However, you are basically just hearing what's going on inside Abby's head for the whole book. While this was wonderfully done by making you questions certain aspects of the plot, it also left me a bit bored (or I should say more tired of hearing Abby). This left this book being just okay for me, however I am happy I read it and would read more from this author!

Oh boy, this book is weird(complimentary)! It's dark, funny, gory, unsettling, ominous, and at times a little mind bending. A grimly humourous exploration of unconditional love and the desire for it. 'Motherthing' is such an exceptionally well done domestic horror that I scarcely know where to start with the praise. If you like weird, fun, gross horror, you will adore this mother-in-law from hell story. If you're squeamish, or particularly bothered by gore or by treating some heavy subject matter with levity, you may find it an utterly repulsive piece of fiction. For fans of movies like Shaun of the Dead, Re-Animator, Dead Alive, Little Shop of Horrors, and American Psycho.

I loved this! Dark and funny at the same time! Perfect read for October abc I can’t wait to get a copy to read again next year!

What a strange…intriguing book this was…at times I couldn’t tell what was real and what was imagined. The story starts out pretty simple, a wife wants to have the perfect life with her husband but his mother dies and her spirit refuses to leave…I think. The side story about the nursing home was very interesting as I have worked in a NH and I can relate to having a favorite patient. The last 30% of the book felt off the rails and I really wasn’t satisfied with the ending…I guess it just wasn’t for me.

4.5 rounded up - thank you to vintage/penguin and NetGalley for the ARC!

Frankly this is one of the most disturbing stories I’ve ever read (specifically the last ~40%), but I couldn’t stop thinking about it whenever I put it down - I think it more fits in the psychological thriller category than horror (big Midsommar/Us vibes), but that could be just me. I loved how you couldn’t ever really tell what was imagined and what was actually happening, and my jaw was unhinged for the last 30% with the unexpected ending. Anyone who loves an anxiety-provoking narrator will eat this up.