An aboriginal woman / new mom lives in the suburbs of Toronto with her white husband. As she tries to figure out this new lifestyle, you witness her point of view with her mental health. Alice is very isolated and lonely, even as her new task of being a new mother.

The first 2/3 of the book are very interesting, it focuses on a heavy topic. There is mental health issues, post-partum, and felling of isolation. All are heavy and important subjects that should be showcased. The last 1/3 of the book I was completely lost as I felt like it switched to a sci-fi genre.

Thank you to Netgalley, Alicia Elliott, and the publishers for this free ebook. This review is 100% my own and honest opinion.

First of all, this was written by a Canadian author. So that made me want to read this so badly. But there were times when I felt like I might not be able to finish it. It was so terrifying to read about because it made me think that this is how some people deal with life. They deal with is this actually happening or am I having visions. Which the main character was dealing with.
This isn’t for everyone so please read some reviews for the trigger warnings.

An amazing story written by an amazing author but just the wrong genre for me to really enjoy it. I thought I could get over my tastes a little bit considering the reviews and the plot but it just wasn't for me.

This intricately woven tale that deals with, racism, trauma, addiction, depression, postpartum depression with a dash of supernatural. You don’t know if the MC is going crazy, or if these creepy visions are real. Makes you want to keep a light on……… This indigenous tale was one I could not put down, I hope I get to read more from this Canadian author as I really liked the writing style.

This took me way too long to finish reading. There were times when I didn't think I could finish it because it was so challenging and terrifying and painful. I knew that the main character was suffering some sort of psychosis and a lot of what she was experiencing was in her head, but how much was imagined and how much was all too real? And even if some of it wasn't reality, did that matter when it was what she was experiencing, and the story is being told from her perspective? The casual and explicit racism, the microaggressions, the gaslighting, the cultural appropriation - all of that is real and horrible. But also real was the love and support and solidarity. When I thought the story was wrapping up, it went off in a direction I wasn't expecting. By the end, I was weeping from the sheer beauty and depth of the emotion. Yes, this book was challenging and terrifying and painful. But it's also so well written and engaging and really rewarded me for sticking with it. Highly recommend.

I recently read And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott, and I'm at a loss for words. By all appearances Alice has the ideal life. She lives in a wealthy Toronto neighbourhood with her husband Steve, and new baby girl. And then she fell... Into postpartum depression, spurred on by micro-aggressions and racism, from her neighbours, supposed friends, and even her once supportive husband. Dealing with overwhelming feelings of imposter syndrome and hallucinations/magic realism, all while having a hard time connecting to baby Dawn. Alice struggles to feel she is good enough... a good wife and mother, but also a positive representation of her Mohawk heritage and culture. What she really wants to do is tell the stories of her people in an authentic voice the way her father before her did, by writing a modern retelling of the Haudenosaunee creation story.

This novel speaks volumes about the pressures from society, and even loved ones, to be a better mother, wife, daughter, etc.

I highly recommend this for your 2024 #readbetter challenge! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Much thanks to @netgalley and @penguinrandomca for a digital review copy!

This is certainly the heaviest book I have read this year. The commentary on racism, sexism, addiction, motherhood, mental illness, family trauma, etc. left my head spinning, and this story stayed at the front of my mind for a long time. The writing is intensely creative and descriptive.

A few sections that really stood out in this novel include:
- The “Musical Interlude” dream sequence chapter, which was incredibly vivid, emotional and horrifying.
- When Edie looks through all of the possibilities Alice’s life could have turned out, each possible lifeline a consequence of one seemingly irrelevant decision. This part was so fantastic to read.
- The Condolence Ceremony at the end was so interesting and emotional

I feel like my words can’t do justice to this book. This book made me feel so many emotions. I loved Alice, her sense of humor, and I was rooting for her so much. I am completely in awe at Alicia Elliott’s writing! 5 stars, I highly recommend reading this.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reading copy.

I love when a book that I have considered a "must read" selection blows through my expectations. A story centered on Alice, a young Haudenosaunee mother, living in Toronto, and adjusting to life away from her family and friends, it is also a story of realities, and how realities vary by perspective.

This is a story of racism, of micro-aggressions and blatant hatred, of mental illness and expectations, of personal and intergenerational trauma, of family and friends and fakes. It is a story about storytelling, about love and fear, about motherhood from the perspective of the mother and the child. It is a story about addiction and escape. And it is a story about hope.

I missed finishing this book by the publication date, so gladly purchased an audiobook copy. At one point, I set my earbuds down in order to check my own realities. This book has been described as horror, and for me, it was the horror of real life that set my spine tingling. In my work as a psychiatric nurse, I have seen psychosis, and I have talked to clients who live with hallucinations and delusions. Trust me, Elliott has done a spectacular job of bringing those experiences to the page. But even more, she has brought the racist and trauma and effects of colonization to this story in a way that is subtle, while slapping you upside the head.

Many thanks to Penguin Random House Canada, Doubleday Canada and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. One of the few books that I have read on NetGalley and promptly purchased a physical copy for my forever shelf.

A really interesting consideration of mental illness and racism. I loved the way it captured the struggles of urban Indigenous women interacting with the racism, misogyny and colonial structures inherit in our society.

As someone who has never suffered from serious mental illness like delusions, I liked the way Elliott shows the logic (however flawed) that led Alice to each of her decisions.

I did find the end of the book a little hard to follow and a bit of a sharp left turn from the rest, but the more I sat with it, the more I started to like it.

5 stars

Another excellent book from a skilled, passionate writer. I was drawn into the story immediately, and my attention didn’t waver. I loved the writing and storytelling styles, including the mix of serious content alongside some lighter-hearted (yet still pointed) moments. I was caught a bit off guard when the story’s trajectory seemed to change rather abruptly (if you’ve read it, you’ll probably know the point I mean), but I trusted the author, and her vision did not disappoint. This book is a beautiful and critical exploration of motherhood, culture, society, stories, and so much more. I really loved it and can’t wait to look for an opportunity to incorporate (an) excerpt(s) into one of my classes. I’ll be eagerly anticipating what the writer decides to share with the world next. (Bonus: the cover designs are gorgeous.)

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott

⭐️⭐️⭐️

* Thank you to @netgalley and @penguin for providing a digital copy of And Then She Fell in exchange of a honest review.

That was an interesting and definitely not a normal story. It center around Alice which experienced Postpartum Psychosis and tried her best to live her life in her new reality. The fact that Alice was in a psychotic state for the majority of the book made it for me hard to follow exactly what was going on, but that sure is the purpose. If you are looking for something different involving Mohawk storytelling and difficult family situation, I would recommend this one!

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This book was a real struggle for me. The first half was very slow, and I found myself constantly putting it down. I kept reading, hoping it would get better, but around 80%, things got super confusing, and it felt like I was reading a whole different book! I get what the author was going for, but the execution just wasn't great. I did read in the author’s acknowledgment that it was originally a short story and I feel like this would have been much better that way.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada and Doubleday Canada for an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

I really enjoyed this book. It was an eye opener about topics of racism and colonialism that need to be put out there. A very well written story with an interesting story line.

Elliot's story of a young Mohawk mother suffering from mental illness and post partum is so poignant. The way she tells the story makes everything that Alice is feeling and experiencing so vivid, that it makes the reader so aware and uncomfortable and commiserative.

As Alice tries to make sense of what she is hearing, she reflects on her parents, her culture and history, and how she wants to commemorate and lift her Mohawk ancestry high through storytelling as a writer. But feelings of inadequacy begin to creep in, compounded by her not being fluent in her ancestral language and having a hard time bonding with her newborn. Add in the fact that she is married to a rich white man living in a posh Toronto suburb and her struggle becomes a mountain.

Once I started listening to this one, I just could not stop. It highlights themes and topics that are still all too visible in Canadian society, exploring grief and feelings of failure as an Indigenous woman and mother, but Elliot does not leave our heroine without a way to rise and I was here for all of it.

So decking raw and emotional yet funny and insightful. Alice is an indigenous woman who’s had a baby with a colonizer husband and slowly spirals into a life she isn’t sure is reality or teachings. As Alice cracks a little she can’t trust anyone but a voice not in her head but outside it tells her to write the Creation story I. Her works as she is a storyteller. A modern day look at post Natal depression and psychosis, a hard to read complexity of a native girls trying to live in a world where micro aggressions are the Norm ANC’s it seems like everyone want to take your stories and your self respect and basically everything. Her battle to be the perfect person did not feel best aligned to this worl. This one made me ponder. my interactions and how they could be perceived. Such a beautiful book

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

This kept me trying to understand what was happening throughout the entire book. I kept bouncing between believing Alice and what she was experiencing, to thinking that maybe it really was just in her head and that she needed to go to a doctor. I liked how it had me questioning not only Alice and what she was thinking, but also what I was thinking. The way things played out was great, and was definitely something I didn't see coming.

Even though it got a bit slow in some parts, it never lasted and I found that something would happen to catch my attention again pretty quickly. The Native stories told throughout were really interesting, and were a fun way to learn some of the culture while also adding a lot to the book itself.

I will read whatever Alicia Elliott writes so I was very excited to get an e-ARC of this book! I've been waiting to read it for years and I absolutely loved her book of essays, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground (published in 2019).

I feel like I don't have the words to do this book justice. I was hooked right from the premise and loved the intro section told in the third person. I also really liked the Sky Woman interstitials and Alice’s modern take on the creation story.

I am not a mother, but as I reflect on if that’s a path I want to take, I thought it was refreshing to read a story about the hardships of being a new mom (at all, but especially if you are isolated from your support system). I won’t spoil the twist, but I look forward to rereading this book in a year to better catch the clues that were laid earlier on in the book.

Perfect pairings
- If you haven’t already, definitely read her first book. You’ll appreciate her novel all the more for having read her essays (she's pulling from some of her own life experience in the novel) plus you’ll get to enjoy more of her excellent wit.
- If you enjoyed the premise of thrillers based around motherhood and mental health, check out “The Possibilities” by Yael Goldstein-Love (2023), where a new mom takes on the multiverse to find her missing son.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me an e-ARC of this awesome book!

This follow-up to Alicia Elliott's memoir A Mind Spread Out on the Ground covers a lot of the same topics as her debut, but confronts those realities in challenging and surprising ways.

I struggled with how slow the first half was. It was slowly building to something, but I was impatient to get into the horrific and the shocking. It deals with some heavy topics like post-partum mental health, Indigenous motherhood being intensely scrutinized, MMIWG2S, and academia's fascination and appropriation of Indigenous knowledge and stories.

The second half really takes off and I was both *here for it* and also very confused. It is full of twists and turns and definitely held my attention as its pacing sped up. Those topics that were introduced in the first half fall to the wayside a bit in exchange for gory body horror.

The book jumps from domestic fiction with a graphic, horror twist to a confusing sci-fi conclusion. I wish it had kept its horror genre throughout and maintained its clear message because I felt the last 10% fizzled out. I'm not quite sure where it leaves the protagonist and her family.

I can feel the influence of Cherie Dimaline in And Then She Fell's dark, urban fantasy vibes and fans of her work will want to check this out.

content warnings :
Graphic: Alcohol, Body horror, Cultural appropriation, Pregnancy, Blood, Drug abuse, Racism, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Child death, Child abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder

This book started off quite promisingly, a young First Nations woman, who has recently given birth and is married to a white man, feels alone and alien in the middle class neighbourhood in which she now lives. There were glimpses of her previous life on reserve, of her upbringing and her interactions with her relatives, her nostalgia and regret of the life and those she has left behind . It soon becomes clear that she is suffering from post- partum depression and psychosis and this is where the narrative lost me. Between the frequent denunciation of the white population and the increasingly wild visions and delusions, I had a difficult time following this story and beyond the halfway point, I was simply looking for the story to end. Clearly, I am not a part of the target audience for this one as other reviewers seem to have quite different opinions but this is simply one reader’s view. Thank you to Net Galley and to Penguin Random House for the opportunity to access the uncorrected proof in exchange for an honest review.

I was hooked from the very beginning. Got a little lost in the last 80 pages though but still, so well-written.