Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

For all its flaws, I really did love this book. I found the characters to be very compelling and the writing to be beautiful. The use of biblical scripture as spells was a not necessarily a new concept to me, but it was done so well! I also really did love the bond between Bennie and Motheater. It was very tender and believable.

Now, I do agree with many other reviews that the pacing was funky and that the magic system didn't make a whole lot of sense. But perhaps the biggest disappointment to me was the ending. The ending took this review from 4 stars to 3 stars, honestly.

SPOILER BELOW
There are two big reasons the ending did this for me: 1) I'm at a point where I am not down with unhappy endings for queer couples. I am TIRED of the bury your gays trope, and it's even more disappointing coming from a queer author. I'm not saying that Motheater couldn't atone in some way for her role in wakening Kire, BUT that atoning did not need to mean her dying. I think the story would have been far more powerful and relevant had she stayed alive. And 2) where is the accountability and justice for the mining company? We are told that they are looking into safer practices, but that is it. And somehow, Bennie is okay with them sticking around and continuing to mine? It doesn't make sense. The whole novel felt like it was leading to a bigger conclusion with nature taking back power from the corporations and Motheater and Bennie becoming more powerful together, but instead, all that momentum was destroyed. Very frustrating.
END SPOILER

I adored most of the book, I just wish that darn ending was more satisfying.

Thanks to the publisher for giving me an eARC of this title through Netgalley. Unfortunately, it didn't work for this particular reader.

Bennie is investigating mysterious death of miners in Kiron in Appalachia. In search of evidence against the corporation operating in the area, she finds a barely alive woman in the sludge, who turns out to be a witch buried in the mountain for past 150 years, before which she was also fighting the onset of industrial modernity.

What I liked: stylized language and the vibe of something natural-magical.

What I liked less: the interactions between Bennie and Motheater didn't really work for me; Motheater's subjectivity in the present timeline was very lacking; Motheater's-in-the-past stance against modernity seemed somewhat contrived (not that she has this opinion, but specifically how she expressed it - reads more like something of a critique from inside modernity).

But, most importantly, I just didn't feel interested enough to see what would happen to them next or to find out how they had ended up here. I have tried to get back to this read several times, but now I finally looked at other reviews, checked that things that are bothering me aren't going away in the remainder of the book, so let's call it a DNF.

A nice and interesting idea, not so much in execution as it was really a slog to get through the end. I probably would have liked it more as a novella or similar, as there was a lot of repetitiveness both of events and internal monologue, more so in the present pov.
All in all the past pov was the most interesting, as we had the mystery of how did Motheater end up in the mountain. The prose was also very evocative (though some similes/descriptions could be trimmed).
Benny’s pov had little in the way of events, and most were similar (the x times she accompained Motheater and then magical stuff happened where the witch suffered and so on); also the constant doubting after trusting Motheater that easy in the beginning.
I liked how magic was tied to both nature and scripture, and all the bargain aspect that made it so anyone willing/knowing could tap into it.
The romance was nice, though the reciprocation felt a bit sudden on Motheater side — mostly because we never got her pov in the present until the very end, so we had little insight on how she felt about everything since she woke up. Bit of a shame, as her voice in the past was very gripping.
I liked the bittersweet feel the ending left, as well as a sense of a new beginning. Then again I think I warmed up to it after letting it rest a couple days, sadly from the last third onward I just wanted the book to /end/.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC copy.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

What I enjoyed about this was that we had romance, mystery, and some historical fiction. What I didn’t;t enjoy was the pacing. It felt slow and I kept finding myself wanting to get to the point.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this at 44% after many, many attempts. I wanted this to work so bad but I just ended up being so confused between the romance between the two FMC and what was going on. I honestly was so lost. I was expecting an Appalachian eco-horror with queer MCs, and was more getting a queer romance with light eco-horror. Don’t get me wrong; I am a big sucker for a queer romance, but that’s just not what I was expecting out of this book. It’s lush and beautifully written so I may revisit.

I feel so sorry doing this, but I just can push myself to read it anymore. At the very beginning, I was fuelled with enthusiasm and interest, but then I started to feel how tiring and difficult it was to read for me. It is truly beautiful, but it's not my cup of tea and after a month of trying my best to stay engaged, I finally give up. I Hope there will be fewer people like me and more people who liked and enjoyed the story

Thanks to NetGalley, author and publishing for giving me an arc (and sorry again, everyone)

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an eARC!

I love a good fantasy-horror-witchy vibe book. Reading this did satisfy those loves but it was also a very slow paced read.

The book is very interesting but it felt a little dull? I love angry pissed off witches but it sort of fell off. Overall the book was enjoyable and I do think it gives the southern gothic horror vibe but I don’t know if it would ever be a reread for me.

Thanks to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing, and Erewhon Books for providing an eARC of Motheater by Linda H. Codega in exchange for this honest review!

🐦 Vibes
• Eco-Horror
• Anti-Industrialization
• Backwater Towns
• Big Witch Energy
• Nonlinear Narration

Big heads up! There are witch activities that may not be for everyone, such as animal sacrifices and self-harm.

Motheater takes place across parallel times in the Appalachian Kiron, a small town near the mountain of Kire. In the past, the Appalachian Neighbor Esther fights against the looming threat of industrialization and machinery coming to mine Kire while in the present Bennie and Motheater try to save Kiron from the vengeful titan that has been stealing away miners.

I really enjoyed the ecological horror aspects of this story, but the near-constant bible verbiage made it a struggle for me to stay immersed. I did find my mind reading Esther's chapters with the heaviest drawl ever, which I would definitely recommend doing 👌

The one thing Motheater does really well is create an atmospheric story. You can definitely feel the wilderness of the mountains, the desperation of the townspeople for their livelihood.

I don't have any particular strong feelings here; Motheater was a pretty middle of the road novel for me. The ending was inevitable, but not particularly satisfying. It also felt like there should have been much more urgency in the character's actions, but after almost every major revelation they go "well 🤷🏼‍♀️ time to eat and get a good night's sleep!". And the number of times Motheater says "I don't remember" regarding some part of herself or the past, I wanted to throttle her.

I just couldn't get completely into this book. There were times when it was fine, especially with the dark, witchy atmosphere of the book, but the overall pacing was a bit slower than I liked so I got bored quite a few times and it took me way too long to get through it. I was not a fan of Bennie, but Motheater was a bit more complex and I appreciated that, especially with the other POV that dives more into her character. The ending was also disappointing. The characters go through so much, only for there to be an ending that just falls flat, even after all of that buildup. The romance was also just weird. Bennie and Motheater's chemistry was basically non-existent and then somehow their non-existent interactions turned into them falling for each other? Its pretty unbelievable.

The atmosphere? 10/10. The magic system was earthy and interesting, and the setting felt so vivid that I could practically hear the rustling trees and smell the damp forest floor. Where it lost me a bit was the pacing. The beginning was strong, but the middle dragged, and I felt like some scenes got repetitive. I also wish the relationship between Bennie and Motheater had been explored more—it was compelling, but I needed more depth to really buy into their connection. And while I loved the themes (environmental destruction, religion vs. magic, systemic oppression), they sometimes overshadowed the characters’ development. That said, I did enjoy this! If you’re into atmospheric, folklore-heavy books with a slow-burn magical feel, it’s worth checking out. Just don’t expect everything to tie together perfectly.

I have always loved southern folk stories (such as the Raven Boys), and Motheater fit perfectly into this category. Although I did not connect very deeply with the romantic relationship, I appreciated the characters' depth and complexity. The theme of environmentalism felt very relevant, especially to our present day relationship (and lack of relationship) with the land we live on.

Currently catching up on reviewing my arcs so I will give a more detailed review in the future!

I really really wanted to like this book. The cover is gorgeous and the idea sounds right up my alley.
But it just felt too slow for me...the characters felt too flat and the mystery of the whole book was just...gone for me because of the flashbacks

I really enjoyed this slow story about Appalachian magic! The character work in this was really top tier.

This was a fantastic thriller. Twists, suspense, tension. The mystery was riveting. I . Right away, I was hooked with how odd this situation was, and things only increased, which had me on the edge of my seat.

DNF at 65% (chapter 25)

I liked this book in theory but I just couldn't connect or really get into it. I do think this is just an issue with me, I just couldn't find the time to really get immersed in the story. It was also just really slow, which I don't personally love.

There are a lot of good things about this story, first and foremost the setting and atmosphere were incredible. The writing really suited this aspect of the story as well. The characters were interesting, but I never really felt connected to them. The plot was good on paper but was dragged out, I don't think this book should have been 400 pages long. Being shorter and condensed down would have suited the story a lot more.

Maybe one day I will come back and finish this book, but as it stands I just don't think its for me.

Thank you Kensington Publishing for providing this arc for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Motheater is a beautifully written book. As we follow Bennie and Esther/Motheater on their journey to fight against the wakening of the Appalachian mountain their town is built on, as well as the mining company that threats to awaken it. This is such an interesting exploration of capitalism, class, and nature versus industry and progress.

I love Appalachian fantasy and this book definitely did not disappoint. It was beautifully and insightfully written.

Bennie lives in a small Appalachian town and investigates a series of shady mining accidents. A strange coincidence ties her mission to a forest witch who speaks in an old dialect and cites scripture. It seems that Motheater may be the key to figuring out what’s really happening in the mines. But with her memory loss, their first task is to help her reclaim her knowledge and power. However, the more they find out, the more connections appear between Motheater and the mountain where people keep dying…

I loved the vibes of Appalachian mountain setting and the folky witchcraft. My favorite aspect was the concept of absorbing moths to receive messages from past souls. I do wish we had gained more insight into Esther’s past before becoming a Neighbour and deeper understanding of her magic and spells. Overall, I found the storyline set in the past more satisfying. A lot of things have popped up but then just withered, e.g. the anti-mining corporation thriller thread. It often felt inconsistent or confusing. At times the pacing felt a bit slow, yet characters motivations shifted so quickly that I found myself lost. I don’t know, perhaps Benny was meant to be a person who cannot make up her mind and is all over the place. To me, it could have been more powerful as a shorter story with more focused narrative. The ideas were compelling but the execution was a tad rough around the edges.

Thank you to Kensington Publishing for providing this ARC for my honest review.

This was such a delightful read! I fell in love with the characters. It's diverse, and deals with important themes like what we're doing to the planet we live on. I'm so happy I got to this gem!