Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Just Like Mother

I received an eARC copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I am so conflicted about my feelings towards this book because the ending (and I mean the epilogue) was one of the eeriest things I have read in a good while. The beginning of the novel (and I mean the prologue), while we get to know our protagonist Maeve and her cousin Andrea's history and upbringing, was also incredibly interesting. The entire plot of the book was super interesting and Heltzel's writing is extremely quick paced - I definitely felt like I could not put this book down because I really wanted to know what was happening. The first 30% of the book is a lot of buildup to the overall cult/thriller vibes and I really enjoyed that. But - you really need to suspend your disbelief. The novel very much hinges on the fact that Maeve is straight up naive and oblivious (and also, that the reader is too tbh). Without going into details, there is so much that does not make sense and if you have even an ounce of awareness of what is going on around you, you pick up on the plot and exactly what is happening verrrry early on. The mystery then became a chore to read because I just wanted it to be over; I knew exactly what was going to happen. I do want to give credit to Heltzel because I trusted exactly 0 women from the reveal of the cult to the ending of the novel and I still did not expect that ending at all.

Content Warnings

liblibby's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.75

I read this whole book thinking that it was either supremely predictable OR there was going to be a wild plot twist that I never saw coming.
There was no plot twist.

Content Warnings

booksteastories's review

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Maeve escaped the Mother Collective one fateful night on her birthday and has been searching for her cousin ever since. When Andrea, now a rich founder of a successful company called NewLife, reaches out to her and wants to reconnect Maeve is overjoyed -- finally, her family has found her. But Andrea isn't struggling with what happened like Maeve is and adamantly refuses to talk about it -- something that becomes more and more difficult to do as their shared past seems to keep resurfacing.

I would describe this book as "mildly unsettling". You're always second guessing your suspicions and are curious to find out more about what happened. That aspect of it was brilliantly done, however, I feel like it swerves into... almost campy territory at some point. It's like most of the book was this inescapable, high pitched buzzing near your ear and then it suddenly turned into a deafening plane engine roar.

The plot was kind of predictable: you suspect something and then it happens, and almost exactly in the way you expected it to. Which isn't a bad thing -- it can be done done great effect but it lacked impact here. There is plenty of material for this book to be, well, horrifying but it isn't. We never really delve into the events of the book. If we had lingered, if we had really seen Maeve react it would have been guttural. Instead it almost feels like we're expected to be horrified because a bad thing is bad, you know, morally, which yes, we are indignant at that but not horrified because we never see the effect of the events, if that makes sense (sorry for going overboard with the italics).

The characters were developed -- every time someone appeared on the page, you would get curious as to what impact they would have on the story. The sense of intrigue about the past was also well executed.

Overall: brilliant concept, great tension but lackluster pay off.

Content Warnings

iamnita's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Please note: I am not a fan of the horror-genre and was accepted for this ARC prior to realizing what I'd requested. That being said, I worked my way through this and enjoyed the experience.

This book is so twisty and intense, it made me regularly have to take breaks. That being said, the writing was superb, the plot overall was really well laid out, and the depth of the characters was apparent. Again, if I was a fan of horror, perhaps I would give this a 5 star, but as I'm not its a solid 4, and I would recommend it. Please note if you have issues surrounding motherhood this book is ABSOLUTELY not for you. The cult aspects were fantastic and I enjoyed the glimpses we got into the past just after Maeve was adopted.

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