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dumb_library's review
3.0
this was fine tbh interesting concept but nothing to write home about 3.5***
jinxei's review
4.0
Handmaid's Tale meets The Stepford Wives with a dash of Rosemary's Baby.
As children, Maeve and her cousin, Andrea, were born into the cult 'The Mother Collective,' a commune with extremist views in regards to motherhood. Due to their upbringing, the two girls are inseparable and make a pact to never leave the other behind. But after a game of Bloody Mary goes wrong and Maeve leaves her cousin in the woods, a rift begins between them. Maeve ends up discovering a dark secret of the Mothers' and flees, taking the male child she found locked away with her but leaving Andrea behind.
As adults, Maeve unexpectedly matches DNA with Andrea and is shocked to find they both live in New York. Andrea's lifestyle is the polar opposite of Maeve's: successful, wealthy, and boasting a large social circle thanks to her career in the tech industry designing dolls for those grieving infertility and loss of a child. Being around Andrea brings to the surface memories of The Collective long forgotten and not everything is what it seems.
A fast paced and exhilarating thriller, Just Like Mother kept me on the edge of my seat. To elaborate at all on that shock of an ending or anything on the pages would take away from reading it first hand. Go in with little information. Anne Heltzel has become an author to watch for me.
Thank you to Tor Nightfire for the advance copy!
As children, Maeve and her cousin, Andrea, were born into the cult 'The Mother Collective,' a commune with extremist views in regards to motherhood. Due to their upbringing, the two girls are inseparable and make a pact to never leave the other behind. But after a game of Bloody Mary goes wrong and Maeve leaves her cousin in the woods, a rift begins between them. Maeve ends up discovering a dark secret of the Mothers' and flees, taking the male child she found locked away with her but leaving Andrea behind.
As adults, Maeve unexpectedly matches DNA with Andrea and is shocked to find they both live in New York. Andrea's lifestyle is the polar opposite of Maeve's: successful, wealthy, and boasting a large social circle thanks to her career in the tech industry designing dolls for those grieving infertility and loss of a child. Being around Andrea brings to the surface memories of The Collective long forgotten and not everything is what it seems.
A fast paced and exhilarating thriller, Just Like Mother kept me on the edge of my seat. To elaborate at all on that shock of an ending or anything on the pages would take away from reading it first hand. Go in with little information. Anne Heltzel has become an author to watch for me.
Thank you to Tor Nightfire for the advance copy!
bookish_withsky's review
3.0
It’s a 2.5 that I’m rounding up. There was quite a bit about this book that I liked but also just as much that I didn’t really like or just didn’t care about. The characters sometimes seemed inconsistent and I’m left with more questions than answers - which can sometimes be a good thing but not for this one. I can’t even really say it creeped me out. Sure there were unsettling bits and moments that I knew were supposed to be spooky/creepy but there was never anything that had me spooked. It was fun to listen to in order to get me through work, though.
laineyb's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
jeniwarren's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mrsthesbas's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.5
ametakinetos's review
3.0
This was a two-sitting read for me that kept my attention with its originality and slowburn descent into horror, but all-in-all came across as half-baked. The cult is a critical driver for the plot and yet does not receive the exposition it deserves - I just couldn't quite grasp the appeal, why it had these women in such grips, and even less so why the men go along with it. In the present storyline, the dolls/AI/technology factors similarly did not have their moment to shine where I understood how that worked in to the master plan.
Riveting and creepy, but incomplete.
Riveting and creepy, but incomplete.