Genre: Literary Fiction/Horror

Format: Audio

4 stars - I liked it!

Lit fic meets horror in this outlandish and wild ride of a book! I’ve been loving unhinged lit fic this this one fits the bill!

This book is dark, provocative, disturbing, but also so funny! I appreciated the commentary on motherhood, life, relationships, and enjoyed the complexities of all the characters throughout the book.

If you’re looking for a weird, razor-sharp, lit fic book definitely check this one out!

The summary is such a lie! The mother-in-law is dead from page one and there's no ghost haunting situation going on, it's all a metaphor for something I didn't care to find out. The wife (Abby) is a psycho and not one that's likeable or interesting to read about. The husband is such a mama's boy that I don't understand any woman would want to spend any more precious time married to this idiot- I know I wouldn't! And there's the "obsession with getting pregnant" trope, which I loathe. The writing style is not for me. It's similar to "Nightbitch" but worse, it's got these flashback scenes written in theater play mode. Nope. Not for me. Oh, and it's not horror! ☹️ For scary stuff: zero stars.

The writing in this book was phenomenal and I was sucked into the story of this woman trying desperately to help her grieving husband, even if his actions are getting more and more bizarre.

Loved and hated this title. Body horror is something I struggle to read and the end of this book was especially cringey to me, so it was hard to get through but I was constantly wanting to finish it. I read about this title a while back and it was not what I expected at all based on reviews.

I enjoyed this bold writing style even if the story was terrifying. It will shake you to the core.
Many thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was funny, yet weird. Do not go into this one thinking it is a horror novel. This seemed more like a weird fiction/comedy to me. It was funny, but not a new favorite. I think if you like weird fiction you should definitely pick this one up.

I received this copy in exchange for a review on Netgalley.

unhinged woman with an even more unhinged dead mother-in-law? sign me up

this book was so weird...but in a good way. i support women's wrongs. 3.5

Motherthing was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 and it was as everything I hoped it would be. Motherthing was the perfect blend of humerus and dark. Gross and bizarre.

Abby just wants to connect with her mother-in-law, Laura, hoping for a loving mother figure to help guide her. Laura returns Abby’s kindest with cruelty and makes Abby’s life a living hell. When Laura dies she comes back to haunt and terrorize Abby.

This book was bleak and disturbing and I loved every minute of it. I was enthralled from the very start and I did not want to put it down.

That being said, this novel was not a “scary” horror novel. It was more disturbing and gross.

In the interest of keeping this podcast spoiler free, I won’t tell you too much about Ainslie Hogarth’s newest book, Motherthing, but what I will share is that it’s a feminist horror story, and even sort of a love story.

It follows protagonist Abby Lamb immediately following the death of her overbearing, and maybe even a little bit evil mother-in-law Laura. Abby feels like she must act to prevent her depression-prone husband from following in his mother’s path, but her methods of protection are… suspect at best.

I recently spoke with Ainslie Hogarth about the multiple perspectives of motherhood, the efforts women make to protect their families, and why the horror genre shouldn’t be overlooked.

Here’s our conversation.

Where do I even begin with this book. It definitely took me on a rollercoaster of emotions. My rating went from two stars til four stars and back, so finally I just landed on three stars.
The writing style of the book and the twisted plot reminded me very much of Mona Awad writing and her famous Bunny. I won't be surprised if Anslie Hogharth was inspired by this book.
There's no way I can describe what was happening in this book without spoiling, and also because I still try to understand it myself.
The hole time we are comfortably sitting in our main characters head and , boy, how strange it is. The main character is completely unreliable and you get to the point where you start to question her (or maybe yours) sanity.
If you have a weak stomach - be wornd, the ending might test it.
I think this book can be a perfect bookclub book, so definitely reccomend it.

I featured this book on Instagram on my “Preorder Rec” list! It’s funny, disturbing, and gross! I devoured it! And the cover is absolute perfection!!

Interesting mix of comedy and horror. I liked watching Abby descend into madness and trying to decipher what was reality and what was in her head. I wanted more in the ending. The climax felt rushed and therefore fell a little flat and I would’ve loved to see the repercussions of the actions of the final chapters.

Another unreliable narrator that made me think, wtf did I just read? Motherthing is not just a horror/ gothic genre for me. About a couple, Ralph Lamb and Abigail who moved in to take care of his mother, Laura Lamb. The relationship between Abby and Laura was difficult. Laura always pummeled her with insults. While Ralph insists that Abby misunderstood and her mother's intentions were pure. Both were raised by a single mother.

The conflict occurred after Laura died by suicide. In Abby's wild imagination, her mother-in-law's house was filled with evil, crawling grime that wants to get and infect Ralph with misery. Poor Abby has always been scared to lose her husband and childhood trauma that eaten her alive and never been buried.

An underrated and disturbing read for me. My rating: 5 ⭐️

Thanks to @netgalley and @aaknopf for the review copy. Opinions are my own 💙

📚

#donereading #motherthing by #ainsliehogarth #vintagebooks #emabaca #malaysiamembaca #igbooks #igreads #kindlepaperwhite #goodreads #bookstagram

This story follows a woman after the death of her overbearing mother-in-law. Funny and hard to put down at first, I felt that the story lost its bite halfway through. In the beginning, we are thrown straight into the action which makes the parts discussing her job or the time it takes her and her husband to talk through the bizarre thing that happened seem quite slow.

A very unique, fun read for fans of Grady Hendrix and campy horror movies. Personally, some of the formatting (mainly, the script format), didn’t work as well for me, which was a disappointment, but it was still fun and I would recommend it.

Who hasn’t had a monster mother in law? Or been one. Interesting premise. Wildly imaginative. Darkly funny.

She's creepy and she's kooky, mysteriously spooky. She'll haunt you in your dreams and turn you into a maniacal monster, your Mother-in-Law-thing!

Be careful the family you marry into. You never know what you might get out of it. In MOTHERTHING, the bizzare and brilliant new novel by Ainslie Hogarth, we meet a woman named Abby desperate for maternal affection, a mother in law who refuses to hand any over, and, well, also, the mother in law is dead, and she's basically a poltergeist in her own home, and the only way to get rid of her is an unforgettable Chicken A La King recipe. Like I said, bizarre. In MOTHERTHING, Abby and her husband Ralph are grappling with the loss of his mother, Laura, to suicide. Laura's death is not the end of her, though. Cold, cryptic, and self-centered during her lifetime, Laura's ghost is even more vicious and twisted, blocking Abby from helping Ralph heal. And Abby sure does have some unique perspectives on how to make people heal. Just ask her favorite resident at the eldercare home she works for. When Abby sets her sights on caring for someone, she'll stop at nothing and no one to make it happen. Not even a ghost.

The plot is convoluted. MOTHERTHING involves the reader understanding what a Motherthing is (you'll find out), the challenges of living with someone who struggles with Borderline Personality Disorder, the nostalgia for recipes popular in the 50s you'd never make today, and the idea that ghosts take many forms. MOTHERTHING also jumps between first perso and third-person scripted narration. It's, bluntly, bonkers. And it's absolutely wonderful. I'm not doing it justice. You've not read anything like it. The ending is truly off the rails. Those who like their literary fiction plot-forward will find much to savor. Be prepared for cursing. For gore. For WTF moments. Though, ultimately, I don't think you can really be prepared for this one...

What the heck did I read?? I tried over and over but I just could not get into this book. I don't think it should be marketed as horror. There were shock factors, sure. Overall this was not the book for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3/5 stars
Genre: Horror
Received ARC from Netgalley

First of all thank you Nicholas Alguirre for that gorgeous and intriguing book cover! Did not know much about the book but that cover caught my eye almost IMMEDIATELY! Loved the Frankenstein green, the creepy fingers and that 1950’s retro vibes.

“She’s dead in the basement. And she’s refusing to leave….” Ok, you got me there too. A monster-in-law (mother in law) vibes is what I am getting and who doesn’t love that? The mother is haunting this couple and we have an unreliable narrator which leaves me questioning throughout the novel.

This book surrounds itself with all things of mother. Narrator has mommy issues. Narrator is obsessed with becoming a mother. Narrator has a terrible mother in law. Narrator attaches herself to an elderly woman who she calls her baby. Narrator is jealous of a soon-to-be mother. And narrator even describes things as a mother-like figure.

I understand the author’s writing style of writing but I am not the target audience for this novel.

The script-like novel find hard to read and throws me off my reading rhythm. The obsession with Cal and the topic of infertility triggers me and makes me cringe every time I read about it.

The intro caught me, the middle of the novel kept me steady (but on the verge of DNF), the climax had my mouth open and the very end left me questioning. Solid 3 stars for me!

Thank you Netgalley and Ainslie Hogarth for the ARC and the opportunity to review the novel!

I will be reviewing a physical copy of this book on my social media platforms but thank you agin to Vintage Anchor for the digital arc