Motherthing is a story about Abby, who's mother-in-law unalived herself. Abby does whatever she can to be a good wife to her husband, Ralph, and help him heal.
I loved this book! It was told from Abby's first person POV. It was a perfect blend of horror and literary fiction. Unhinged female narrators are always high on my list. The ending was great!
Thank you Netgalley for the arc, in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly I love anything this author puts out! I had such a good time reading this. It’s perfectly paced and I would highly
Recommend it to anyone :)

On the surface, this is a supernatural horror. Abby, scarred by her childhood trauma at the hands of her mother, is hoping to find a new maternal figure in her husband’s mum, Laura. However, Laura is not exactly a mother-in-law of the year, and when she commits a suicide, Abby becomes haunted on multiple levels.

I was not ready for the ride that speeds up from there. The writing is stupendously fantastic. It ranges from darkly lyrical beauty, such as:

"It’s unwise to stand out from quiet, middle-of-the-night dark. Like how your body has to imitate water to stay alive in it, arms and legs undulating with the waves to keep your head up and breathing. This quiet, middle-of-the-night dark could drown you if you didn’t conform to it completely."

- to sarcastic humour:
“I know from yogurt commercials that an epidemic is happening right now: constipated women, dangerously constipated, dying for probiotics. A perk of being a jellied salmon type is that I shit regular as clockwork every morning.”

- to: “C*UM-SH*IT-KILL” (if you know, you know, I won’t spoil!)

It is quite safe to say this is a study of mother- and motherhood- inflicted traumas, as well as an extremely graphic (!) portrayal of an obsessive mind’s descent into madness. It is superbly paced, maniacally vibrant and just gut-punching with its raw emotions. The ending made me gasp.

I absolutely recommend, this is a book I will not forget in a long while.
Plus, the cover is fantastic

One thing I really appreciate is the cover. I love the 80's slasher vibe it gives off.

Abby and Ralph have moved into Ralph's mother's home to be with her and help with her depression. It's supposed to be a temporary arrangement before they start their own life. Living with Laura is hell. So is having her as a mother and mother in law. But Ralph loves his mother and is devoted to her. When Laura kills herself things get super creepy. Even though she might be dead, Laura still has a hold on Ralph and it's up to Abby to break it. This takes mothering to the next level in every sense.

Motherthing is original, creepy, dark, funny, and a great horror story. It stayed with me long after I was done. I've never read anything like it. It's definitely not for everyone though.

At times I wanted to shrink back, but not too far because I needed to know what was going to happen. Things will happen. You know they will. Everything is portrayed so perfectly. Perfect. Perfect horror. Perfect Motherthing.

Very fun book that surprised me quite a bit. Started out really silly and thought it would just stick with that as the focus but it actually had a few good scary moments.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review. However, I could not finish this book. I had really been excited as the premise sounds amazing, but the writing was just not for me, The idea of being haunted by your evil mother in love sounds so creepy and interesting, and normally I wouldn't be too put off, but this book doesn't seem to be living up to the haunted house promise.

One of my favorite books of the year. An excellent and unsettling look at mothers and the ways they impact our lives. Funny, unique, and engaging, this book's voice is one of the best I've ever read. This is definitely a weird one, but I love a horror novel with unhinged female characters. Recommended for fans of Ottessa Moshfegh and A Touch of Jen.

This was truly a wild and haunting ride. This book was a combination of horror and psychological suspense that explored dark and disturbing subject matter in a way that was compulsively readable. The characters and the story were truly original and compelling. Not for the faint of heart.

MOTHERTHING didn't work for me, but it may work for others. Overall the story was interesting enough, not necessarily scary but I understand that it's categorized as horror.

This book has a great way of showing what grief can look like and I think it's very powerful and maybe good for someone that is also struggling with griefing someone.

When Abby’s mother in law moves in with her and her husband, Ralph, Abby is excited to finally have a mother figure in her life. But Laura is cruel to Abby, uninterested in bonding with her on any level. When Laura die, her ghost haunts Abby and Ralph. To break her mother in laws hold on their family, Abby has the most chilling plan. All it requires is a unique recipe for chicken a la king…

When a book has a slightly different pacing, tone, feel, etc it can be hard to get into. I desperately wanted to like this because I’m a fan of off beat and strange reads. Unfortunately, this one just went over my head and I felt dragged. I can definitely see this book as a polarizing title, you’ll either enjoy it or not. The synopsis calls it “darkly funny” but unfortunately there was no humour there for me, dark or otherwise.

I did think the writing and visuals were so well done but that just wasn’t enough to hold me. If you’d like to try something strange and unusual pick up Motherthing.

Thank you @penguinrandomca @penguincanada for sending me a copy of Motherthing in exchange for an honest review, 2.5✨.

I was so excited to dive into this book after reading the synopsis, unfortunately I didn't feel like the synopsis accurately described the story. This ending up being a let down for me and I don't enjoy reading about a grown man mamas boy. I think that this book is better suited for someone that ones to read about real life issues instead of creepy, dark stories. It's a mething (see what I did there? lol).

OK I loved this — spooky and unsettling and beautifully written. I thought a lot of the hype was coming from Bookstagram because of the cover, but it's worth it. This is a book about moms that touches on so much of the creepiness of motherhood and the spookiness of having a relationship with your offspring. I don't know how else to explain it. There were so many beautiful sentences. Well done.

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