I am so thankful to Mulholland Books, Jacquie Walters, Libro.fm, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this galley before publication day. I really enjoyed the dialogue and plot of this book and can’t wait to chat this one up with my friends!

Every woman’s worst dream is becoming her mother, right?

I really enjoyed this- good combination of body and psychological horror. I did think it got a little confusing at the end in trying to separate the different “versions” of Jodi, but I appreciated the nuance.

*Dearest* by [Author] was an intense, gripping read that had me hooked from the very start. Flora’s struggles as a first-time mom doing it all on her own, while navigating the sleepless nights and overwhelming emotions, felt so real. The loneliness and isolation she experiences are palpable, making it easy to empathize with her as she tries to keep it all together.

Then, enter her estranged mother, and things take a chilling turn. The creeping sense of unease and the dark secrets unraveling around Flora create a tense atmosphere, especially with the unsettling, creepy happenings that leave you questioning what’s real.

I really felt for Flora, torn between wanting help and being unsure of who to trust. The mix of psychological suspense and family drama was perfect for anyone who enjoys a good thriller with a touch of the eerie. This one kept me on edge the entire time and left me a little sad.

This is hands down TOP 3 of the year. I don’t know what is but this year has been a theme of “mother” books for me. This one takes the freaking cake! Holy cow. I had to look up the author to see if I knew this woman because some of the conversations, self thoughts of the main character, and even some of childhood trauma was so similar to my real life. It was eeeeerie, but made me not feel so alone when it came to the postpartum depression/anxiety. You can tell some of this was written from experience & I connected so freaking hard with that. The horror aspect was also a 10 in my book. A total fever dream I couldn’t escape until I was finished reading this. How this author combined my own mother & step-mother into one person, I may never know but it hit HARD. The twists were fantastic. I can’t wait to check out more from this author. If you’re a bug girlie, got kids, and love horror. This one is for you. You won’t regret it!

Thank you SO MUCH to the author, publishers, and NetGalley for this read in return for an honest review.

Wow wow wow; can’t get enough!

This was so good! Especially as a mom, I found this very relatable and scary. The lost control of your own faculties due to giving birth has been always my fear, and this depicted that in a very realistic way. Sleep deprivation is real, and a scary thing to live through. However, that said, the end was a miss for me. Taking it to a paranormal level (though I kind of understand why) was a bit much. Giving it a reason other than post partum depression took away that horrific feeling that the beginning brought on. You couldn't tell if it was real or just imagination, and boom we have ghosts. Loved the final couple twists though, Zephie and of course the Epilogue.

Kudos to the author for this debut, this was such a great read and I want to recommend it to all of my friends.

This was a refreshing, creepy story that cleansed my palate after reading a few other titles that claimed to be creepier than this. They failed, this exceeded my expectations. The cover and blurb alone piqued my interest and for this to be Jacquie Walters' first novel has me excited tor read more.

The overall pace of those book is slow at first with a lot of new parent talk that I could have done without, and honestly is about the only reason I rated this 4/5 stars. Once things get going, I was hooked and the twist...I should have seen it coming, but alas, I didn't. Again, this is why I rated this 4/5 and not 3/5.

If you want a read that will have you yourself guessing if our main character is really out of her mind and has a sense of overall dread...add this to your TBR now!

Sadly I had to DNF this one. I’ve realized that reading about a mother struggling with ppd is not something I’m interested in.

Thank you so much to the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

Jacqui Walters' debut novel, "Dearest," is a gripping and intense read that reminded me of "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle" and "Rosemary's Baby." From the very first page, the story delivers a hard punch, immediately drawing readers into its dark and twisted narrative.

The novel delves deep into the complexities of motherhood and the harrowing experience of postpartum depression, offering a raw and unflinching portrayal of these themes. Walters doesn't shy away from the gory details, including vivid descriptions of nipple infections and other unsettling aspects of new motherhood, which add a layer of gritty realism to the story.

If you are a fan of psychological thrillers with supernatural elements, you'll find Dearest's blend of postpartum depression, trauma, and a hint of the unknown to be a compelling and unsettling read.

Read this if you like American Horror Story: Delicate, The Push, and The Haunting of Alejandra.

Thank you Netgalley, Mulholland Books, and Jacquie Walters for the eARC.

Dearest is out now!

**3.5-stars rounded up**

💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙❤️💙

Dearest is a unique take on the New Mother story and an impressive debut. I really enjoyed the topics explored, as well as the Supernatural bits and Body Horror.

In this story we are following, Flora, who just had her first child, a girl, Iris, 6-weeks ago. Iris arrived a little early and unfortunately, Flora's husband is still deployed, so she's left to navigate these early stages of 1st-time parenthood alone. As adorable as Iris is, it's not an easy thing. As time passes, Flora feels herself slipping. Her sleep-deprived brain is playing tricks on her and she's struggling navigating the endless lonely days.

When it reaches the point where Flora feels like she's losing it, she receives an unexpected visitor; her estranged mother. Even though her mom hasn't been a part of her life in years, Flora hesitantly accepts the help being offering. Her mother agrees to stay with her and Iris, at least until her husband returns. Even with her mother around, Flora is still experiencing odd occurrences that cause her to believe something is going on in the house, or like someone is after her and Iris. Is it in her head, or are there actually much darker forces at work?

I enjoyed this quite a bit. The audiobook was fabulously narrated by the author herself, which I felt was a nice touch. It felt like experiencing the story exactly how the author wanted it to be told, and I think she did a great job with it.

Stories of new motherhood are sometimes tough for me to relate to, or become invested in. NGL, I've had a few that have annoyed the heck out of me, but I never felt that way here and had no problem becoming invested in Flora's story. I did love the overall mysterious vibe and how in depth it explored feelings of isolation, as well as the oftentimes complicated mother-daughter relationship. Additionally, Walters's Horror descriptions were great, including some stellar Body Horror, which I always love to see.

I would recommend this to Readers who enjoy women-centered Horror, or weird 'is it supernatural, is it not' stories. I would also highly recommend the audiobook format, should you have that available to you.

Thank you to the publisher, Hachette Audio and Mulholland Books, for providing me copies to read and review. If this Walters debut, I cannot wait to see what's up next!

I've tried for a few days to think about what I want to say about Dearest. Did I finish it? Yes. Was I riveted? Also, yes. So, using those standards, it's a spooky season perfect read, but it's also disturbing. There is one scene (no spoilers), that had me completely freaked. So much so that I actually put the book down and debated whether I would finish, but, ultimately, I was in a need to know situation. IFYKYK. I also went down a bit of a rabbit hole researching birth tusks, which I had never heard of, but play a big role in the last parts of Dearest. All in all, I really did enjoy it, and maybe the mark of great writing is that it makes you feel, whatever those feelings are. Will I pick up whatever Jacquie Walters writes next? Absolutely.

Dearest was a wild ride! A lot of body horror, like A LOT, and I loved the supernatural aspects too. I was very sure of "one thing" and then I was proved wrong. Really enjoyed it, will definitely pick this author's next book.

I can’t stop thinking about this book. This book was either a fever dream or a metaphor for postpartum psychosis. Either way i related to this a lot and it was creepy and entertaining. But also sad and a gut punch (esp the end)

Jacquie Walters' [Book Title] is a mind-bending thriller that'll keep you up at night. It's like The Push meets The Yellow Wallpaper with a sprinkle of supernatural weirdness.

Flora, a new mom whose husband is away, is drowning in loneliness and exhaustion. She's desperate for help and turns to her estranged mother. But things take a dark turn when Flora starts seeing ghosts, hearing voices, and having some seriously creepy dreams.

The audiobook, narrated by the author herself, is a total knockout. I listened to it in one sitting! It’s like January LaVoy, but even better (shhh, don't tell anyone).

The ending felt a bit abrupt for me, but I loved the crazy plot twists.

Trigger warning: There's a lot of breastfeeding talk and a scene that'll make your jaw drop. Plus, it delves into postpartum depression, so be prepared.

Dearest follows Flora a new mother who’s beyond exhausted. And it doesn’t help that her husband is currently deployed. Eventually Flora’s exhaustion becomes so deep that she starts to doubt what is and isn’t real in her surroundings. She grows so desperate that she begs her estranged mother to come and help her with the house and her baby. But although her mother does come to help and Flora is able to get more rest, her reality continues to shift and blur and she still feels like her energy is being drained. She believes that there’s an evil presence in her house and no matter how unwell she may be she has to fight to protect herself and her baby.

… This was fine. It was certainly… a horror book. I’ll give it that. The beginning was slow, which made me think the book was building up to something cool. And I will say the first big reveal really got me and made sense to me. Those are the reasons I gave it two stars instead of one.

But after the first big reveal everything fell apart in my opinion. Zephie. The tusk. Belinda. The Mother. It all felt so chaotic and a couple of the things I listed were unnecessary and made the story feel so much less streamlined. This is harsh but in the end the book just felt like… a mess. It had an intriguing start and ended as a mess.

I’m sure it’s clear that I don’t recommend Dearest at all.

This was scary! Honestly at first I was like ok where is this going but after part 3 when THAT TWIST happened I was shooketh. I gasped. Jaw on the floor. And then I had to finish!!

Spooky season reading is in full gear for me now. When I saw the cover of Jacquie Walter’s Dearest I knew I wanted to read it so I was thrilled to receive a gifted e-book from @netgalley.

This book intrigued me from the very beginning. Flo is a brand new first time mother whose military husband is deployed. Overwhelmed and sleep deprived, she is drowning in the anxiety of first time parenthood. Then help arrives unexpectedly in the form of her estranged mother. Where this tale of supernatural suspense and family trauma goes next is weird, wild and completely unexpected. To say more would deprive the reader of all the great surprises this eerie novel contains.

There is something going on right now with pregnancy and motherhood as the catalyst for horror and I am loving it. This book fully embraces that theme and those anxiety riddled days of first time parenthood are perfectly captured and a great jumping off point for this tale.

This book is strange and has somewhat of a fevre dream quality to it which I found intoxicating as I was swept into this suffocating and surreal experience. The novel takes unexpected twists and turns and I was kept continually off kilter with no inkling of where it might go next. From where the story started to where it ended up was a bit mind blowing in a good way. My only quibble with it is that the ending was so abrupt and I was left wanting more but perhaps that was the intent. Overall, this was a compelling spooky season read.
#bookstagram #horrorbookstagram #horrorbooks #horrornovel #horrorlover #horroraddict #spookyseasonreads #fallreads #scarybooks #dearest #novelsuspectsinsiders

Breastfeeding horror. Why so many descriptions of breastfeeding? Most of them were not necessary to the plot.

Heart wrenching, post-partum nightmare meets the paranormal and had me veering all over the place. It was dark and heartbreaking and you can feel her struggles echoing in your own heart.

Spellbinding and frightening, Jacque Walters debuts with a humdinger of a horror novel. I felt for Flora every step of the way and still think about the Night Hag. Big recommend! Especially for spooky season.

Thank you to NetGalley & Mulholland Books for the ARC.

I really rated this a 3.5 stars.

I liked this book, and I appreciated that it showed the struggles of new motherhood and postpartum. But there’s a part of me that wishes it had delved more into that.

The writing was good, there were some interesting twists that weren’t super easy to predict, but it just ended up falling a little flat for me.

<spoiler>truthfully, I feel like this book would have hit stronger if in the end there wasn’t an actual paranormal element or it was left more ambiguous. So that at the end we truly didn’t know if Flora was hallucinating or truly being haunted. I think that’s a big part of what drove the first part of the story. Wondering if she wasn’t haunted or suffering a mental breakdown.</spoiler>