Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a creepy fantastic read up until like the last quarter of the book, when it got a little silly for me. Otherwise, though I saw one big twist coming, really enjoyed it. some seriously sinister and sick stuff going on here - a really fun but disturbing horror novel about postpartum and mother/daughter relationships.

i loved this! i commend the author for delving into all the grossness of postpartum life. i love horror centered on motherhood and this is one of the best i’ve read. even though some of the twists could be considered cliche, they felt gripping while i was reading. it was a great and intense experience.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This was great! The characters felt well developed, and I'm really glad it turned out the way it did. I had a few moments I was guessing where it was going and it continually surprised me. A great ghost/haunting story!

I am having a hard time putting my thoughts into words with this book- I guess that means it was thought provoking! Overall, it is GOOD. It's horrific, emotional, and crazy. As a 2 1/2 month postpartum mom, it was also sad (and many things were really relatable). I was on my way to giving this 5 stars until it got to the last 15% of the book. Things just got a bit TOO cray cray. Initially, I was also annoyed that I didn't get finality with whether the ultimate theme was psychosis or spiritual possession. I suppose maybe it was a little bit of both? Or maybe the author left it up to the reader's interpretation on purpose? Regardless, it is definitely worth reading! 4 stars for the overall book. 1 star for the beetles, hah!

Oooooweeee, this was not the book to read while pregnant! But oh well, it was a fun ride anyways. A surreal horror story set against the backdrop of the early weeks of first time motherhood, I had a hard time putting this down. Flora has recently given birth to Iris while her husband is deployed for another few weeks. Trying to juggle the first few days on her own after her father and stepmother leave, sleep deprivation seems to take a hold of Flora as she begins to hallucinate, have night terrors, and other grapple with other strange happenings in the house.

The story unfolds and evolves in crazy ways that I could have never imagined. I guessed a few twists, but on the whole, this book is super surprising and super creepy. It's a very intense book, and won't be for everyone, but if you're looking for a wild ride about early motherhood, it's worth checking out. A solid four stars!

This book was deeply fucking concerning in the best way. The pace is fast from the start, and when you can't imagine things getting worse, they do. Then you think that again, and it gets worse. And so on.

Let me clarify that by "worse," I mean batshit-bonkers-fucked-up-crazy. I haven't read a book this grotesque and exhilarating in quite some time. I think it's best to go in blind, but if you need a little info on what it's about, it centers around a new mom trying to take care of her newborn while her husband is deployed, who becomes overwhelmed with motherhood and decided to welcome her estranged mom into her home.

To say more would be a disservice to readers. Just know I have no interest in drinking milk anymore. (Jacquie Walters...are you okay girl?)

Strongly recommend this one when it publishes September 17, 2024!

New mom Flora is struggling with loneliness and sleep deprivation. Flora emails her estranged mother whom she hasn’t spoken to in year and the following day, she shows up at Floras door. At first, Flora is relieved to see her. Soon she realizes something sinister has arrived in her home and she can’t trust herself , her mother or anyone around her.

What a horror masterpiece. I would love to see this novel adapted into a movie!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you NetGalley and Mulholland Books for this ARC. This was so good! It was so hard to put this book down. I was invested in these characters from chapter 1! This book dealt with some very heavy issues such as postpartum depression, mother daughter dynamics, and premature babies, along with caring for a child while your husband is being deployed. This was such a scary, suspense and action packed book. I really hope this author writes more because I will definitely be reading them. Five stars highly recommend. I totally enjoyed this story. !!

There is just something special about postpartum horror that gets under my skin. When it was revealed that Flora was a new mom who had given birth while her husband was deployed, I immediately was hooked as I’ve been in that unique situation myself. Although never haunted personally, so much of the postpartum experience is unnervingly relatable in this story. I think that will make this story resonate incredibly well with mothers. On the other hand, it’s undoubtedly haunting regardless so others will also be able to enjoy it.

The ending made my eye twitch. 😬 STRESSFUL.

This was a great horror novel . There is a lot out there right now about new mothers and the problems that can come along with it....this was one of the best ones.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of Dearest by Jacquie Walter’s. This was one of the creepiest books I’ve read in a long time. Walter’s storytelling was superb. She completely captured motherhood and the emotions of being a first time mom. Then she added the layer of complicated parent relationships and unexplained occurrences. I love books where you don’t know if the events are reality or a figment of the character’s mind. The book starts with events that could be hallucinations of an exhausted mother and then turn sinister. The book has a lot of twists and turns that keep you turning the pages. It was one that I couldn’t put down.

Flora is a brand new mother, whose husband is overseas on deployment. She struggles with all things new Mother’s struggle with like breastfeeding, not sleeping. Soon, unexplained occurrences start happening and she is concerned for her baby’s safety. Her childhood imaginary friend comes back to her and her estranged mother turns up on her doorstep. As more unexplained events start to happen, Flora needs to get to the bottom of it in order to protect her child from them and from herself.

This is a great mystery thriller with body horror gore that will make you squirm. Flora is a new mother grappling with the challenges of caring for her premature baby alone while her husband is deployed. When her estranged mother unexpectedly arrives to help, Flora must confront both her past and the eerie events unfolding in her home, leading her to question her sanity and the safety of her newborn daughter. I honestly couldn't put this one down and finished it pretty quickly. I loved the way the writer was able to make me feel uncomfortable in my own body along with the main character. I recommend this book for fans of films like Lights Out and Mama.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of "Dearest!" I am giving my honest and unbiased review.

I would say that reading Dearest is like an erupting volcano. It started with a semi slow build up for me-- to the point that I was struggling to get through a good half of the book. A good slow burn. But when it erupted, it became a book I needed to finish in one night. Whatever I thought I had predicted was always wrong.

This is an intense read, but in my opinion-- I do not think it is for everybody. There is a loooooooooot of discussion of postpartum depression, potential child abuse, loss of child, child neglect, talk of suicide, etc. I am not a mother, but I had to read Dearest in small sections because it sometimes was just a little too much for my taste.

It ended up being a fun read, but it is one that I do offer a cautionary tale on.

'Rosemary's Baby' meets 'The Exorcist.' This was sinister. A wild ride that tips into madness. I think any woman, mother or not, can relate to everything in these pages. And I think that deepens the fear of Flora's experiences. I had no idea where this story was headed, and by the end, I was blown away.

A KNOCKOUT!

This story paints a vivid picture of motherhood, especially early motherhood where things are beautiful and <i>you should be grateful, she’s perfect</i> and also so damn hard and lonely and you start to question was this worth it and then, right on time, here comes to guilt for even thinking that.

We this all unfold in our MC, Flora. She loves her newborn baby girl, Iris, fiercely. No, love can’t even begin to explain it. The word love just isn’t enough for this situation. She can’t help but feel, however, that life has been… less than perfect since Iris showed up. Flora is having a difficult time breastfeeding, she’s barely sleeping, and being a mother isn’t at all what she imagined it would be. Add to that that her husband is on military deployment so Flora is acting as a single mother while he is away. Severely sleep deprived and losing her grip on reality, Flora is desperate for help which winds up on her doorstep in the form of her mother who she hasn’t seen or spoken to in four years. But her mother isn’t the only visitors from her past that are beginning to pop up. Flora begins to wonder why all of this is happening now…

Liked:
-Look at that cover!
-Short chapters are a god-send
-The twists had me literally yelling out loud: <b>WHAT?! are you kidding me!?</b> They were so good.
-The writing is perfect; building and revealing in exactly the right spots
-Living inside of our MC’s mind. Even if she was going a little insane, I couldn’t look away.

Disliked:
-We hear an <u>awful</u> lot about the protagonist’s breasts and nipples and milk in the first parts of the book. Arguably too much but I can overlook it since everything else was so good.

Overall, an insanely great debut that is definitely worth the read. Thank you Mulholland Books and NetGalley for the digital copy! Out 09/17/2024!

Thank you to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for an ARC of Dearest.

Wow! This was a wild one. If "The Push" and "The Exorcist" had a baby, it would be Dearest. I had a difficult time putting this one down and was always telling myself "one more chapter" because I had to see what would happen next. My biggest complaint would be that the ending felt a bit rushed and unfinished. I also think it would be difficult to enjoy this book or connect with it if you aren't a mother, since so much of the book focuses on the struggles new mothers face.

Overall, a good quick read! 4 stars.

Dearest was the mother-daughter horror story of my dreams. Vivid story telling that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight. Flora might just be my new favorite unreliable narrator. Nothing could have prepared me for where this story was heading and where it ended up.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for this e-arc!

This book was bonkers y’all! If you’re a fan for some crazy happenings in the horror genre, I recommend you adding this to your TBR.

Okay, let’s talk about Dearest. First, look at that striking cover ya’ll. LOVED IT as soon as I saw it pop up.

Flora is home alone with her new baby girl, Iris. Her husband Conner is away on deployment. Flora really loves Iris, so much so that it starts to scare her. Motherhood is starting to get to her. She begins to see hallucinations and wild happenings begin to transform. Scared she will hurt Iris, she calls to her estranged mother for help.

With her mother to help with Iris, Flora gets a little relief. However, Flora will soon find out RELIEF is the LAST things she’s gonna get. We begin to spiral down a psychological thriller trope of messed up mother and daughter relationships….. to transform into supernatural horror. Things get wonky.

This was balls to the wall! I noticed another review compare it to Nat Cassidy’s Mary and I would concur. Some dark humor with some messed up sh** …… you just can’t look away. I will definitely be looking out for Jacquie Walters from here on out. Solid disturbing story I really enjoyed.

Thank you so much for the opportunity NetGalley, Jacquie Walters and Mulholland Books! Expected publication date September 17, 2024.
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Is it the baby blues or are you being stalked by a creature called the Night Hag which has plagued you since childhood? Is this a commentry on post partum depression and the difficulties new mothers face or a spooky supernatural tale of possession? Surprise it's both! With echoes of Mary by Nat Cassidy and Rosemary's Baby what starts out as a pretty creepy domestic themed horror quirky spirals into a nightmarish supernatural possession- esque? story, this was equal parts disturbing and witty, I was in a constant pendulum swing of feeling unease one moment and laughing the next, Walter's has an uncanny ability to write biting commentry on issues pertaining to post partum depression and motherhood, there really is a need to cry over spilt milk in Flora's case as she navigates being a new mother and all the complications that come with it, nursing being one of them, I love ambiguity in horror but I didn't realise the narrator was *possibly* unreliable (or is she?) untill past half way, I was SHOOK, this kept me on my toes and I thought the author done a fantastic job of meshing reality with the supernatural
.

TW: postpartum depression/psychosis

This is a book about the horrors of early motherhood. Your life is no longer your own. You’re leaking all kinds of fluids. You’re not sleeping. You might be possessed…well, this character might be. (But if you experience the kinds of things that this character does after giving birth, please go to your OB and talk about it. Flora is having a singular experience- modern medicine can help us real people.)

As the story begins, Flora is a new mom settling in for a few weeks alone with her new baby between her dad and stepmom helping out and her husband coming home from being deployed. Things quickly start taking a turn. It’s so interesting how much mothers will be able to relate to this woman’s experience within a horror story. In my opinion, the portrayal of Flora’s feelings of isolation is one of the great successes of this book. So much so, that you could remove the horror/fantasy elements and still have a powerful and thoughtful account of a mother’s experience with postpartum depression or psychosis.

Thanks for the ARC, Mulholland Books! I raced through it in an afternoon.