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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Unfortunately the story felt disjointed to me, the characters didn’t make sense and felt mostly surface level. So many cool elements present, though
adventurous
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Motheater started out really strong for me. I loved the atmosphere--the descriptions of the woods and mountains were immersive. The writing fit the voice of characters from Appalachia. I loved the set up in the first 200ish pages of the book; the mystery of Motheater's past was predictable, but I was ready for the showdown between the powers of nature and industry. But switching between the past and present timelines dragged the momentum of the plot, which felt repetitive in the later half of the book. Bennie's feelings for Motheater felt mostly one-sided until they suddenly weren't. I also felt like the nature vs. industry aspect was hyped up by the book's marketing, but the story is more nuanced and varied in its approach.
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I found the story itself very interesting and it was well written. I like the dual timeline aspect of the story and the way it merged together. I did find the story slow at times. I found myself hoping something exciting and heart pounding was just around the corner but it never happened. I also did not see the need for the attempt at the love interest. Still not sure what it was supposed to add to the story. For the ending, I will admit I was hoping for something a bit more, "climatic" maybe. More then just mountains shifting. But I assume the author was going for something more subtle more atmospheric maybe. Overall it was an interesting read and story line.
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
here for the vibes
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC copy!
I have a lifelong love for Southern Appalachian, so I may be slightly biased! This was a delightful magical and queer story with strong anti-opression/ anti-capitalist vibes.
I ended up reading it in like two and a half days because I wanted to see what would happen. The author does a wonderful job of giving you an inkling of where the story will go while still throwing some curveballs on the specfics.
Overall I highly recommend it!
I have a lifelong love for Southern Appalachian, so I may be slightly biased! This was a delightful magical and queer story with strong anti-opression/ anti-capitalist vibes.
I ended up reading it in like two and a half days because I wanted to see what would happen. The author does a wonderful job of giving you an inkling of where the story will go while still throwing some curveballs on the specfics.
Overall I highly recommend it!
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
There's a brief scene of fairly graphic animal sacrifice, and another where we see other animals who have already been sacrificed by decapitation.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was an incredible letdown. The premise and concept sounded great, but this book felt so slow. At least 60% was a complete slog for me. I also absolutely hated all of the Christian scripture connected with the supposed witchcraft. Personal preference for sure, but it honestly ruined it for me.
I think this could've been a little better than it was.
I think this could've been a little better than it was.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'll preface this by saying this was my first time receiving an ARC from a publisher, rather than an indie author, and I'm appalled at the difference in quality.
The book is full of typos, including in the characters' names, with different spellings on one same page, missing full stops, missing words which make some sentences confusing/impossible to understand.
I think I'll give this publisher a pass in the future if this is their standard.
Now onto the story.
This was an okay read. Mostly, I felt it was trying too hard, and ended up being disappointing.
My first thought was that I expected, this being about a witch in the Appalachian, that the witch would be a native. Instead she's a white woman, daughter of a Pentacostal preacher. It rubbed me the wrong way that a white woman was the one centered in a book about magic connecting her so deeply to the land.
I didn't like Bennie. I found nothing compelling about her and just couldn't find it in me to care about her feelings or what happened to her. The romance felt forced and rushed. I think Bennie and Motheater spend two weeks together at most and they end up making big love confessions.
The whole thing with an alive mountain was the most interesting part to me, as well as the flashback chapters. I'd have been happy for this book to be a historical fantasy with chapters from Esther and Jasper's point of view, and more background on the magic, and how Esther became a witch. We only get a few lines about the pact she made with the mountain, when it's the centre of the plot.
The writing felt uneven. It was better in the flashback chapters, but had both many repetitions, basic sentence structure, and whole paragraphs accumulating metaphors when one would have done.
Overall, this read like a first draft, and not a book about to be published. I hope it got a good editing pass before then, but if it's just copy editing missing, I'm afraid that won't do the trick.
I read onto the 2/3 point because I was still intrigued about what would happen, but the plot was really slow for 70% of the book, and unravelled in the last few chapters really quickly.
Yeah, uneven would be a good word to summarize this.
I got an ARC from Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.
The book is full of typos, including in the characters' names, with different spellings on one same page, missing full stops, missing words which make some sentences confusing/impossible to understand.
I think I'll give this publisher a pass in the future if this is their standard.
Now onto the story.
This was an okay read. Mostly, I felt it was trying too hard, and ended up being disappointing.
My first thought was that I expected, this being about a witch in the Appalachian, that the witch would be a native. Instead she's a white woman, daughter of a Pentacostal preacher. It rubbed me the wrong way that a white woman was the one centered in a book about magic connecting her so deeply to the land.
I didn't like Bennie. I found nothing compelling about her and just couldn't find it in me to care about her feelings or what happened to her. The romance felt forced and rushed. I think Bennie and Motheater spend two weeks together at most and they end up making big love confessions.
The whole thing with an alive mountain was the most interesting part to me, as well as the flashback chapters. I'd have been happy for this book to be a historical fantasy with chapters from Esther and Jasper's point of view, and more background on the magic, and how Esther became a witch. We only get a few lines about the pact she made with the mountain, when it's the centre of the plot.
The writing felt uneven. It was better in the flashback chapters, but had both many repetitions, basic sentence structure, and whole paragraphs accumulating metaphors when one would have done.
Overall, this read like a first draft, and not a book about to be published. I hope it got a good editing pass before then, but if it's just copy editing missing, I'm afraid that won't do the trick.
I read onto the 2/3 point because I was still intrigued about what would happen, but the plot was really slow for 70% of the book, and unravelled in the last few chapters really quickly.
Yeah, uneven would be a good word to summarize this.
I got an ARC from Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.
Disclaimer: I reviewed this as an arc from Kensington
Linda Codega's "Motheater" is an absolute triumph. It is rich, decadent, and dripping in Appalachian culture and climate activism. Appalachia has long been storied and personified, but Codega's depiction is one so genuine and heartfelt that it bleeds with you. The plot pacing is stellar, each character real and true and individual, and the writing itself shows a level of mastery that is rare. Only someone who has lived and breathed and loved Appalachia their entire life could have written this story.
Linda Codega's "Motheater" is an absolute triumph. It is rich, decadent, and dripping in Appalachian culture and climate activism. Appalachia has long been storied and personified, but Codega's depiction is one so genuine and heartfelt that it bleeds with you. The plot pacing is stellar, each character real and true and individual, and the writing itself shows a level of mastery that is rare. Only someone who has lived and breathed and loved Appalachia their entire life could have written this story.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes