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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
adventurous
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
I happened upon this book by chance at the library, and the premise was intriguing. Unfortunately, having gotten through the whole novel, I can't say that the ideas were executed very well. It was difficult to feel invested in the plot and the characters, and the pace felt slow and without direction. Thus, this book is only a 2-2.5 star read for me.
WRITING: Codega's prose isn't bad, but it's also nothing special. It flows ok, but it does rely a bit too much on telling, particularly when it comes to character emotions. As a result, it's hard to empathize with characters and feel invested in their struggles. I don't necessarily want to be told that our protagonist feels pain over her best friend's death - I want to experience that emotion with the character so their desperation to find justice feels real.
I also think this book could have been condensed in order to keep the plot moving forward. The story is told in two timelines, which is fine, but both timelines seem to drag and not enough happens to make it seem like events are building on one another. Sometimes this happens by not including enough plot, but sometimes this happens in other ways. For example, Codega has a tendency to elongate their sentences by writing repetitions such as "resisting the urge to run, to flee." They also write strings of description that can be nice flairs sometimes, but when used over and over, become more bloated (example: "an emptiness, a calling, a connection"). Paired with instances where more detail is used than necessary (example: explaining that Esther grabbed a fire poker because a knife or other weapon wasn't within reach, explaining that the town contracted police from the county, etc) and the whole thing just feels overwrought without real substance.
PLOT: The plot of this book is told in two timelines/perspectives. In the present, a Black woman named Bennie investigates the mysterious deaths occurring in the shadow of a mountain currently being mined by a negligent company. She finds a strange woman named Motheater, who claims to be a witch and has the power to stop the deaths for good. In the past, Motheater (real name Esther) tries to prevent industry from coming to her small Appalachian town.
I liked the idea of grappling with the dynamics of nature vs industry and tradition vs progress, but I ultimately don't think the plot did those tensions justice. Part of the reason has to do with the structure; though the dual timelines were fine, it was difficult to see a progression of events leading up to a climax. Most of the time, it felt like I was reading repetitive accounts of Motheater/Esther just being witchy.
It was also difficult to feel invested in the plot because Codega doesn't put much work into making the threats feel important. We don't see enough of the town to feel like they are real people doing their best; we're told that they are struggling and that mining would provide them with much-needed resources, but we don't see evidence of poverty nor does it feel personal. We also don't feel the pain of characters dying because they barely exist as more than a brief mention, so when characters claimed to be fighting on behalf of townfolk or murdered friends, it didn't ring true.
I also wish Codega had done more with atmosphere, especially since so much of the magic is rooted in the local environment. Not too much is done to make the woods feel wild and mysterious, and the magic system isn't really defined or explained. That's all well and good, but I think it would have been more compelling if the general mood and atmosphere of the setting was cranked up. It also would have helped if we could see vast improvements in Motheater's abilities as she pieces more of her past together, but her abilities are stagnant, even once we get to the big showdown at the end.
The romance was probably the weakest part of this book. In my opinion, there was little romantic chemistry between Bennie and Motheater. If anything, Bennie seemed drawn to the idea of Motheater's power rather than who she was as a person, and while that could have been some added complexity in Bennie's character, I don't think Codega had the writing chops to pull this off.
CHARACTERS: Bennie, our present-day protagonist, is fine, if a little boring. It was difficult for me to feel invested in her struggle and personal arc in part because her motivations, while clear, didn't feel personal. We're told that she wants justice for her dead friend, and we're told how she feels over and over, but all that telling means there's no room for the reader to infer things and the significance of all those feelings remains surface-level.
Motheater/Esther was even more bland, in my opinion. She is constantly using magic but isn't too purposeful about it, so she feels like a righteous force that can't check her emotions. I guess that's fine, but I didn't get the sense that she had flaws or even that she truly felt like she wanted to protect the townsfolk. There wasn't much to convince me that she truly cared about them or the environment, so she came across as someone who was simply just witchy. We also don't really get an idea of what her "bargaining" entails - we get references to her bargains, but we don't see what the bargaining looks like, what she has to give up, and how it affects her. She seems to just get power with no serious costs, which doesn't make the magic feel dangerous or dear.
Side characters were flat and didn't add much to the story. Zach, Bennie's ex-boyfriend, could have been used to explore the complexity of needing to work a dangerous and exploitative job in order to survive. Unfortunately, he seems to exist mainly for Bennie to be mad at, and to be honest, not all of her anger feels fair. Jasper, Esther's only friend in the past, is hard to get a handle on. One minute, he's friends with the witch and the next, he's fighting with her about the town. All well and good, but the change happens suddenly and without seeing the townsfolk, the desperation doesn't feel real.
Perhaps the most underutilized character was Esther's father, Silas. Silas is a preacher, and while I understand the mixing of Christianity with folk magic, Silas was not used to interrogate this connection or how it affects the plot or setting. For example, there's a moment when Esther asks him to preach to the townsfolk to try to sway them away from mining investors, but we don't see Silas do that so we have no idea what kind of sway he has over the town or what changes between then and the time the townsfolk begin considering offers from the mining company. Even his personal hatred of Esther and her magic feels shallow and not prominent enough to feel like a complimentary theme.
TL;DR: Motheater is an Appalachian fantasy that doesn't quite know how to build a plot or create a character arc. While some of the individual elements are neat, I didn't enjoy the writing style, nor did I find the character motivations compelling.
WRITING: Codega's prose isn't bad, but it's also nothing special. It flows ok, but it does rely a bit too much on telling, particularly when it comes to character emotions. As a result, it's hard to empathize with characters and feel invested in their struggles. I don't necessarily want to be told that our protagonist feels pain over her best friend's death - I want to experience that emotion with the character so their desperation to find justice feels real.
I also think this book could have been condensed in order to keep the plot moving forward. The story is told in two timelines, which is fine, but both timelines seem to drag and not enough happens to make it seem like events are building on one another. Sometimes this happens by not including enough plot, but sometimes this happens in other ways. For example, Codega has a tendency to elongate their sentences by writing repetitions such as "resisting the urge to run, to flee." They also write strings of description that can be nice flairs sometimes, but when used over and over, become more bloated (example: "an emptiness, a calling, a connection"). Paired with instances where more detail is used than necessary (example: explaining that Esther grabbed a fire poker because a knife or other weapon wasn't within reach, explaining that the town contracted police from the county, etc) and the whole thing just feels overwrought without real substance.
PLOT: The plot of this book is told in two timelines/perspectives. In the present, a Black woman named Bennie investigates the mysterious deaths occurring in the shadow of a mountain currently being mined by a negligent company. She finds a strange woman named Motheater, who claims to be a witch and has the power to stop the deaths for good. In the past, Motheater (real name Esther) tries to prevent industry from coming to her small Appalachian town.
I liked the idea of grappling with the dynamics of nature vs industry and tradition vs progress, but I ultimately don't think the plot did those tensions justice. Part of the reason has to do with the structure; though the dual timelines were fine, it was difficult to see a progression of events leading up to a climax. Most of the time, it felt like I was reading repetitive accounts of Motheater/Esther just being witchy.
It was also difficult to feel invested in the plot because Codega doesn't put much work into making the threats feel important. We don't see enough of the town to feel like they are real people doing their best; we're told that they are struggling and that mining would provide them with much-needed resources, but we don't see evidence of poverty nor does it feel personal. We also don't feel the pain of characters dying because they barely exist as more than a brief mention, so when characters claimed to be fighting on behalf of townfolk or murdered friends, it didn't ring true.
I also wish Codega had done more with atmosphere, especially since so much of the magic is rooted in the local environment. Not too much is done to make the woods feel wild and mysterious, and the magic system isn't really defined or explained. That's all well and good, but I think it would have been more compelling if the general mood and atmosphere of the setting was cranked up. It also would have helped if we could see vast improvements in Motheater's abilities as she pieces more of her past together, but her abilities are stagnant, even once we get to the big showdown at the end.
The romance was probably the weakest part of this book. In my opinion, there was little romantic chemistry between Bennie and Motheater. If anything, Bennie seemed drawn to the idea of Motheater's power rather than who she was as a person, and while that could have been some added complexity in Bennie's character, I don't think Codega had the writing chops to pull this off.
CHARACTERS: Bennie, our present-day protagonist, is fine, if a little boring. It was difficult for me to feel invested in her struggle and personal arc in part because her motivations, while clear, didn't feel personal. We're told that she wants justice for her dead friend, and we're told how she feels over and over, but all that telling means there's no room for the reader to infer things and the significance of all those feelings remains surface-level.
Motheater/Esther was even more bland, in my opinion. She is constantly using magic but isn't too purposeful about it, so she feels like a righteous force that can't check her emotions. I guess that's fine, but I didn't get the sense that she had flaws or even that she truly felt like she wanted to protect the townsfolk. There wasn't much to convince me that she truly cared about them or the environment, so she came across as someone who was simply just witchy. We also don't really get an idea of what her "bargaining" entails - we get references to her bargains, but we don't see what the bargaining looks like, what she has to give up, and how it affects her. She seems to just get power with no serious costs, which doesn't make the magic feel dangerous or dear.
Side characters were flat and didn't add much to the story. Zach, Bennie's ex-boyfriend, could have been used to explore the complexity of needing to work a dangerous and exploitative job in order to survive. Unfortunately, he seems to exist mainly for Bennie to be mad at, and to be honest, not all of her anger feels fair. Jasper, Esther's only friend in the past, is hard to get a handle on. One minute, he's friends with the witch and the next, he's fighting with her about the town. All well and good, but the change happens suddenly and without seeing the townsfolk, the desperation doesn't feel real.
Perhaps the most underutilized character was Esther's father, Silas. Silas is a preacher, and while I understand the mixing of Christianity with folk magic, Silas was not used to interrogate this connection or how it affects the plot or setting. For example, there's a moment when Esther asks him to preach to the townsfolk to try to sway them away from mining investors, but we don't see Silas do that so we have no idea what kind of sway he has over the town or what changes between then and the time the townsfolk begin considering offers from the mining company. Even his personal hatred of Esther and her magic feels shallow and not prominent enough to feel like a complimentary theme.
TL;DR: Motheater is an Appalachian fantasy that doesn't quite know how to build a plot or create a character arc. While some of the individual elements are neat, I didn't enjoy the writing style, nor did I find the character motivations compelling.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Blood
Minor: Child abuse
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
It felt like a bunch of southern Appalachian novelties were messily thrown together in this book and it ruined the imagery for me since none of it made sense put together. The audio book accent wasn’t even real(why not just hire someone from Appalachia???) I was originally excited for this one, and the concept was good, but execution of it was frustrating.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Coming close off the heels of Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White, I was ready for another tale in Appalachia. Sadly, this one just could not hold my attention.
The premise of this novel is exciting but just not well executed. I don’t think the timeline split between past/present is bad, and I wouldn’t change it. However, neither time was paced well enough to feel like we were moving forward; everything was slogging along on either end. It was hard to stay invested when the book started off so strongly.
Bennie and Motheater/Esther feel decently developed but even then they don’t feel fully baked to me, except for maybe Bennie. The rest of the characters? Even less so, which is disappointing. The romance is the worst bit though; I can absolutely see Bennie and Moth holding reverence for each other, but not romantic love. It felt contrived and a convenient way to move the story along.
With how deep Bennie and Moth’s respective convictions are, the conclusion of this novel is a horrible letdown. It all happens so quickly too, even if I was ready for something to happen.
There are going to be readers put off by how much Christianity is interwoven into this book and Moth’s magic. However (from what I’ve research so far), this feels authentic to folk magic and the Christian roots of Appalachia, so to deviate would risk being inauthentic. It’s fair to know that religion will be central to this novel but it feels unfair to knock it without understanding. Which I will say is a credit to this book and Coedga in how it has led me to research further into Appalachian culture and history. I did also appreciate the Historical Notes at the end.
The premise of this novel is exciting but just not well executed. I don’t think the timeline split between past/present is bad, and I wouldn’t change it. However, neither time was paced well enough to feel like we were moving forward; everything was slogging along on either end. It was hard to stay invested when the book started off so strongly.
Bennie and Motheater/Esther feel decently developed but even then they don’t feel fully baked to me, except for maybe Bennie. The rest of the characters? Even less so, which is disappointing. The romance is the worst bit though; I can absolutely see Bennie and Moth holding reverence for each other, but not romantic love. It felt contrived and a convenient way to move the story along.
With how deep Bennie and Moth’s respective convictions are, the conclusion of this novel is a horrible letdown. It all happens so quickly too, even if I was ready for something to happen.
There are going to be readers put off by how much Christianity is interwoven into this book and Moth’s magic. However (from what I’ve research so far), this feels authentic to folk magic and the Christian roots of Appalachia, so to deviate would risk being inauthentic. It’s fair to know that religion will be central to this novel but it feels unfair to knock it without understanding. Which I will say is a credit to this book and Coedga in how it has led me to research further into Appalachian culture and history. I did also appreciate the Historical Notes at the end.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
This book was meh. It's very slow paced, the entire book takes place over one week.
Liked:
Takes place in Appalachia, which I don't know much about, so this was interesting to me.
Queer, though the falling in love felt rushed.
The magic is cool
Disliked:
None of the characters are fleshed out except for motheater, but we still don't know what she's thinking mostly. It's hard to care about characters you know nothing about.
The flowery language is very nice at first, but got tedious by the middle of the book.
Hard to follow why people are doing what.
Way too much usage of scripture. It doesn't make sense most of the time.
Liked:
Takes place in Appalachia, which I don't know much about, so this was interesting to me.
Queer, though the falling in love felt rushed.
The magic is cool
Disliked:
None of the characters are fleshed out except for motheater, but we still don't know what she's thinking mostly. It's hard to care about characters you know nothing about.
The flowery language is very nice at first, but got tedious by the middle of the book.
Hard to follow why people are doing what.
Way too much usage of scripture. It doesn't make sense most of the time.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Some nice atmospheric moments but just didn’t cohere or hold my attention — there are so many interesting ideas here that just got dropped or rushed. The story needs focus and a more mature voice.