initial thoughts: not for me. this book left me extremely confused and still unsure of what I just read.🙃

What a solid post pandemic novel! I whipped through this one so fast and really enjoyed it. I felt like I was able to relate to the pandemic isolation and mental health issues that ensued. Very well done and a fast read.

Books where people have trouble sleeping always put me on edge somehow. The pandemic focus on this one also leaves me a bit... Uncomfortable, but not in a bay way. Still, I was confused for most of the time, hence the three stars.

There were a lot of aspects I loved about this book. It was creepy, I loved the dream sequences and the not knowing who the trust. I was a little turned off by the way the disabled sister was portrayed but I get why it was done and it worked I got the story okay. The only thing that brought it down a star was the side plot of the pandemic but it wasn’t enough to deter me from really enjoying this book!

This is the first book I’ve read from her and yes it was slow in the beginning. I generally like it though. I plan on collecting all of her books now!

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Difficult to follow at times and a little slow. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Reading Between the Wines book review #84/115 for 2023:
Rating: 1 🍷
Book: Mothered
Author: Zoje Stage
Available now!

Sipping thoughts: I read Baby Teeth by Stage and really enjoyed it until the end. The end was just so ugh that it dropped my rating by like 2 stars. Mothered was so all over the place and just never took off. It was so repetitive and the ending- what was that?! I wanted to give this author another chance but I just don’t think the style of writing for me. But I know there are many people who this style of writing is for and will enjoy it!

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @ThomasMercer for an advanced copy of @Mothered.

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I really liked this. I was confused half the time, hating the characters half the time, and just enjoying the realistic elements of the plot half the time. I think a lot of the scenes were just mundane daily activities, but I love that in a book. None of those things make for a bad book! I really like Zoje Stage's writing, and I think that's what kept me interested. I still have no idea what Grace did or didn't do, how many of her dreams were actually dreams (that minor subplot with Miguel? the test?), but I'm okay not knowing because I feel like doing a 'wrap up' at the end would've taken away from the vibe of the story. Finished this in less than a day.

Liked it, but didn't love it. There were quite a few unsettling scenes that did give me the creeps, but I'm not sure how much I enjoyed the pandemic part of the plot. Overall, a good read!

**3.5 stars**

Zoje Stage certainly has a way of writing about mothers and daughters that makes me so glad I had the mother I did! I read Baby Teeth and liked it when it came out so was happy to receive this via NetGalley. I also listened to it and really liked the main narrator.

This is a pandemic horror-mystery story about an estranged mother and daughter who suddenly find themselves living together during a pandemic. At the start the author’s note says it is not our pandemic we went thru but the idea of being in lockdown is the same. The fear, paranoia, anxiety we all felt is certainly captured in this book. Overall I liked it. If you lost someone to Covid relieving that kind of fear and anxiety might be a little much for you.

**thanks to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the e-arc irecived in exchange for my honest review.**

I went into this book knowing nearly nothing and could not be more glad to have done it that way. Absolutely gripping, chilling, and heartrending. This book cut far too close to the bone, but I regret nothing. I have already recommended it to several of my colleagues. Now all I want to do is devour everything Zoje Stage has written. What a book!

Taking place during a pandemic, when the world is shut down around them, a woman who revelry bought a house allows her mother to move in with her. Their relationship has always been questionable and we learn more about it as we get glimpses into the last, also exploring our main character’s relationship and dynamic with her sister, who is no longer with us.
I found myself constantly guessing at what was real and what was not, and struggling to figure out whose side I was on.
The author always does a fantastic job at getting inside your mind and messing with it. Always highly recommend.
5⭐️

I am learning that horror just isn't my thing and that is okay. However, I feel bad for having requested this as an arc and not enjoying it. I have also decided that quarantine is not a fun setting to me.

With that being said this book may be more of a me problem and it was interesting in it's own light. I dislike the dreaming thing and it was slow.
I hope someone enjoys the ride!

MOTHERED is the third book I have read from Zoje Stage and it is my favorite of them all so far! There are elements of horror at play sprinkled throughout, but I dig this as a mostly psychological thriller. A pandemic-induced descent into madness...?

In a nutshell: Grace has her mother move in with her during the start of the pandemic due to a series of events. Grace has a twin. Grace is involved in catfishing. Grace has a GBF who has a cat. And there are so many dark moments and twists and turns that weave all of these elements together in a way that I can't fully explain. I found this unputdownable and could not fathom where it was going. There are some pieces that are left open to the reader, but I also wonder if... maybe not? Maybe that was all part of being inside our main character's head. A lot of things happen (and maybe don't happen in the way we think) in the past and present... it's just a roller coaster of emotions. I sensed a lot of paranoia, confusion, passive aggressiveness, claustrophobia / feeling trapped, etc. It's tense, stressful, mysterious, poignant, and heartbreaking.

Will Grace and her mom survive the pandemic? Will they survive each other? What is going on?!

I loved it.

I struggled with this one. I LOVED Baby Teeth, the first book I read by this author. I was super excited to get my hands on Mothered. It just fell short. The early part of the book felt repetitive and slow. The main character was unlikeable and honestly, a little boring. I didn’t feel much of a connection or a drive to keep reading and it took me probably twice the time it would normally would to finish a book this length. The ending was okay, not as satisfying as I would have liked. Mothered was just very middle of the road for me. It will not stop me from picking up another Zoje Stage book in the future, I was just hoping for the “unputdownable” feeling I got from Baby Teeth.

3.5 I'm rounding up for being deliciously dark. I often wonder, before I start books that take place during the pandemic, if it's still too soon. This was the first book to add to the plot but not center the plot around it. It felt right, like something I could easily read about without going back and feeling that hopeless fear that seemed to paint every day.

But this story is dark. I loved the dynamics of the mother and daughter. I struggling to detangle what was real and what was previous and I loved the ambiguity. It kept me wondering what would happen next and where on Earth the story would go. I loved it. I would say, that it did get a little long in the middle and I was so glad when we got moving to the surprising ending. Ooh, I loved that final chapter. So fun, I'll definitely look for more from this author!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

OH MY GOODNESS! I really enjoyed this book!. The ending gave me actual chills!! Will definitely recommend this to all my friends who love thriller books! I read this one by Zoje Stage in two days. TWO DAYS! I have read three of her books now and have loved them all! Thank you to #Netgalley for the arc and the publisher!

A slow burn thriller that takes awhile to pick up the pace but once it does you can not put it down. I didn't like the characters but the plot is well thought out.

The pandemic is a great setting for this book, it really helped bring the story to life. Started out a bit slow for my taste but once it picked up I couldn't stop reading it.

Another great thriller from Zoje Stage. I still can't decide if Grace really did the thing her Mother accused her of. Grace's mom Jackie is getting older and wants to move in with her. She can help Grace with expenses now that she owns her own home and the pandemic has made working as a hairstylist difficult because of the mandates. Jackie was not an attentive mother to Grace, just to her twin sister, Hope. Hope had cerebral palsy and needed assistance with everything. Grace and Hope were latchkey kids being that Jackie was a single mother. Grace looked after Hope while her mom was working but the way Grace told it she resented Hope. But was Hope really to blame or was Grace's personality off? Jackie had an alterior motive for moving in with Grace but could she get Grace to remember what she did? Who is doing the mothering Grace or Jackie? I think a little bit of both but in the end, Grace's true self comes to light.