First of all, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

When I first stumbled on this book, I knew I wanted to read it ASAP. And I was not disappointed. This book is equal parts a testament to the general strangeness that is the Appalachian mountain region and the intricacies of doing something right for the wrong reasons—and doing something wrong for the right reasons.

Bennie, our first narrator, never hesitates from the moment she finds a woman face down in a river to the moment she lets herself take flight. Motheater, our titular character, is a wonderfully flawed human being flung out of time. Her motives are intentional but her journey through understanding that maybe she’s not doing things for the right reason is so deeply entrenched in what it means to be human. The love is there and it is flawed and sometimes life is about righting our well-intentioned wrongs. The way that her story wove together with Bennie’s made their gradual love and respect for each feel so much more wholly organic. Queer love is not the focus of this book, it plays a large, saving role.

I also need to be clear. This book is weird in the best way. It just goes deeper into Appalachian territory and never stops to apologize for the way that nature and man intertwine—and how one cannot exist without the other despite their individual best efforts to be free of the other. Snake handling and religion stand tall here, so be warned. And enjoy this book. I know I did.

Codega has such a unique voice and I found myself hooked from the first moment to the last. I was so satisfied with the ending and immediately found myself down a rabbit hole of the Appalachian mountain region, my dormant love for history woken up after reading this. Their writing style was clear and evocative and I am so looking forward to the rest of the world finding and loving this book.

DNF @73%

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

sigh.. where to begin? I feel the book had a lot of potential, but the characters didn’t allure me and neither did the story with how it turned out. While Motheater is a witch from the 1800s she already knows things about the current time which was annoying by someone who’s been reading a lot of history. However, I do want to give credit where it’s due regarding the author’s knowledge of Appalachian history and mythology.

With this said, I’m sure a lot of people will enjoy this but for me it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me early access to this beautiful gothic tale!

I appreciated how we got straight into the plot and action of the story and enjoyed all of the descriptive writing which made me fall quickly into this fantasy.

At some points I felt disconnected with the characters and the plot but would get hooked again immediately!

I would 100% recommend this to anyone looking for a magical, queer and well written gothic story.

"Motheater" is an enchanting eco-fantasy about animism, Appalachian witches, and stories that cross generations and time. What I most loved was the magic system, heavily intertwined with animal spirits, and the land. Some chapters were very densely written, which slowed down the reading quite a bit. Overall, an enjoyable book.

A beautifully descriptive, queer witchy fantasy. Highly recommend reading this book if you’re looking for a dark, well written book.

In a startling and nuanced queer fantasy set amid the beauty of an Appalachian mountain, the last witch of the Ridge and a newcomer investigating the coal industry must choose sides in a clash between nature and development that’s been 300 years coming…
After her best friend died in the coal mine that employs half of Kiron, Virginia, Benethea Mattox sacrificed her job, her relationship, and her reputation trying to uncover what’s killing miners on Kire Mountain. When she finds a half-drowned white woman in the dirty mine slough, Bennie takes her in because it’s right—but she also hopes this odd, magnetic stranger can lead her to the proof she needs.
Instead, she brings more questions. The woman called Motheater can’t remember her true name, nor how she ended up inside the mountain. She knows only that she’s a witch of Appalachia, bound to tor and holler, possum and snake, with power in her hands and Scripture on her tongue. But the mystery of her fate, her doomed quest to keep industry off Kire, and the promises she bent and broke have followed her 150 years into the future. And now, the choices Motheater and Bennie make together could change the face of Kire itself…

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!

When a woman is found inside the same mountain that Bennie is investigating in regards to her best friend’s death, she has to figure out what this means for her investigation and her life.

Motheater was a very fast read, though I felt it fell apart the closer I got to the end. I wanted a happy ending for the MCs, though the downer ending was telegraphed at numerous points in the story. I just felt an affinity to Esther, since that was my grandmother’s name, who came from Appalachia. Also, I felt that the magic system wasn’t as fleshed out as it should have been, especially since Bennie was such a sceptic for most of the story. All in all a four star read, and I might read Codega’s next book when she publishes it.

Magic, queer and great characters.
A very unique read

I like the premise of the story.
I wished the characters got more development but I enjoyed the story.

The language is facinating and beautiful. Love how we are directly into the plot on the first page, no slow warm up here. The main characters are well fleshed out and many elements show a lot of research into Americas past done by the author. I knew nothing about snake handling priests in Appalachia previously. The flow of the book is very goood exept for the part where the two main characters go from strangers to feeling passion for each other. That part is just slighhtly out of rythm for a second before it again becomes part of the natural flow in the story. Part of the backstory is our exploitation of the earth in minig and how capitalism seems to win over nature. All in all a very promising debut novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the privilege to read an E-ARC for Motheater. Codega’s work is immediately joining my list of “favourite books of all time”. My roommate, who also reviews ARCs, originally recommended I apply for this one because “it’s gay and has witches” and I was excited from that alone, but it only got better.

I am so thoroughly impressed by the clear labour of love that has culminated in a phenomenal piece of work. Codega’s prose is captivating and beautiful. There were a few times that I had to take a beat to just let their writing roll over me. They masterfully weave together magical descriptions in with expert storytelling to convey a mystifying adventure. My roommate and I were constantly saying we couldn’t believe this was a debut novel?! It’s so well written.

Beyond Codega’s phenomenal writing, I am astounded by their devotion to research and accurate storytelling. It’s clearly evident that they’ve spent hours upon hours researching and collating information to create the most authentic fictional story. Between their depictions of Appalachian history and folk magic practice, I can tell that Codega holds so much passion for the world they’re representing through Motheater and I am so impressed by the work that has been done here.

Finally, I just have to comment on how captivating Codega’s characters are. Through Bennie’s eyes, I fell in love with the enigma that is Motheater and all her little quirks, between teasing Bennie and terrorising her adversaries. I adored the gradual progression of trust between our main girls and how this is reflected in their mannerisms and jesting. I also really appreciate the way Codega handled Bennie’s connection with Zach and how he develops across the story.

Just wow. Can’t wait until January so I can buy myself and everyone I know a hard copy of this masterpiece!i

Codega! What a debut novel! This queer fantasy was not what i expected at all, although, I don't really know what I expected to be fair.
It was wonderfully written, strong and powerful.
The characters were three-dimensional and emotionally resonant with their accents and the two timelines.
I was wholly endeared to Bennie, she was realistic, compelling and deeply layered.

I'd almost describe it as Gothic Fantasy. A mashing of genres so beautifully achieved and refreshing... well, refreshing in a terrifyingly witchy way.

There wasn't an overwhelming amount of romance in this book, but what there was, was artfully done. It was sweet and charming, and although I wanted more (because I always want more romance), I did love how it was done.
The romance and comic relief throughout the book was elegantly curated to balance the much darker elements.

I watched a documentary once about the effects of mining in the Appalachian mountains. Whilst that is the only reference I have to the irreparable damage done to the ecosystem there, I felt an authenticity in this book for the place and the lost and remaining beauty and mysticism.

Overall I found Motheater to be a very unique and immersive read.

Truly thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book had a queer romance, esoteric magic, and horror elements. I enjoyed the connection of the magic system to nature and the general witchiness of the story. I didn't connect with the ending, but did enjoy the read overall.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! I thought this was well written and loved the nature themes and atmosphere throughout. That being said, I think it was a bit slow and repetitive at times, and I was a little confused by the biblical references and quotes. I had a good time with this and am very excited to see what the author does next!

This book was really hard to get into. The beginning was so chaotic and hard to follow. However, at about 30% it started to kind of pick up and make more sense. I loved how they took us back and forth between present day and past in order to get the whole picture of what was happening. Will I re read or recommend this book? No. That being said, I did find it entertaining.

‘Motheater’ is a queer fantasy novel that introduces Benethea ‘Bennie’ Mattox finds an unconscious woman and decides to help her. Bennie is in for a surprise, and she finds out that this mysterious woman is a witch from the 1800s. The eponymous character is known as ‘Motheater.’ The narrative switches between the present day (the perspectives of Bennie and Motheater) and the past (the perspective of the character Esther). I felt that some chapters felt disjointed from the chapters they preceded.

While I found myself intrigued at the beginning of the novel, my interest slowly deteriorated the further I read on. The novel’s premise is an interesting concept to explore. However, the story and characters fell short. Even the romance between Bennie and Motheater did not make sense to me. Don’t get me wrong, I love having sapphic romances at the forefront of a narrative. This relationship did not feel developed and instead felt rushed. Both characters barely interacted in a way that would lead to the development of a romance. 

This story does have some beautiful moments, especially with one of my favourite scenes being the ending. I felt like many filler scenes could have been discarded and interfered with my interest in wanting to continue the book. 

Overall, I did enjoy the setting and the concept of an Appalachian witch from the 1800s who has to navigate the present day. I wish there were more scenes from the past and conflict explored within the story.

[Thank you to Kensington Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC]

3/5 stars I loved the eerie vibes of this one!! It got a little slow towards the middle and end so I was a little bored. I was confused by the world building but I loved the characters and the writing was haunting and beautiful. Thank you Net Galley for the arc. Fantasy fans should totally check this one out!

Motheater is a queer fantasy book with horror elements sprinkled in. There was magic and love and also retribution. The characters were strong and relatable, I definitely felt for them and rooted for them! The magic was interesting, strangely esoteric, but very intriguing. Definitely give it a read if you like atmospheric magical books with queer and BIPOC characters.

Motheater, an immersive story about witchcraft being brought into modern life. We follow our main character Bennie who is a queer black woman, investigating the disappearance of the surrounding mining operation in their town.

My expectations revolving around bringing up the mention of queerness, race, etc- it only stuck to the surface level of those ideas. Bennie needed a little more development as a character, she could have been more connected with her town and the region including a set of different ways to strengthen certain themes within the story. Other characters are fine in the story, but they had a way of feeling more NPC-like in comparison to Bennie and her personality.

One complaint would be that the story itself could have been set in the 1800’s and follow after the mountain witch as opposed to the followings of Bennie and trying to figure out the mystery following the disappearance of the people in the town.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to Arc read this book.

dnf at 60%
this book has so much potential (old appalachia, nature vs industry, sapphic) and a great basis but ultimately i did not feel attached to this story or the characters :/
a lot of the language was hard to understand which is partially on me bc i'm too lazy to google old Appalachian phrases and language. i think this book could be really good but just needs some editing and could lose some of the filler scenes. this book was in no means badly written, i actually think some parts are really beautiful but it wasn't enough for me personally to want to finish it

thank you netgalley for this ARC

I unfortunately didn't enjoyed this book. I thought it would be more about the struggles/protests of mine working but it was mainly fantasy with magics that didn't speak to me. I still think it can interest readers who like magical things happening linked to the nature but it didn't work for me because it is not really in my field of interest. Thank you Kensington Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Not usually my cup of tea (supernatural) but this is an intriguing and suspenseful story. I really got into it and I highly recommend it.