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barelyalex's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Beautiful and artfully horrific. A psychological horror with elements gore and dark humour. This book is drastically underrated on here, I think due to people having read this and being unsettled by it/not expecting the more grousome parts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Pregnancy, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Self harm
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Infertility, Cannibalism, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Violence, and Alcoholism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Rape, and Vomit
jelkebooks's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm not going to lie, it took me quite some time to wrap up head around my own thoughts around this book. It's just so unlike anything I typically read (yay me, venturing out of my comfort zone), and I've got such mixed feelings on this book that I don't really know how to put it all into words. So I'm sorry if this review sucks (more than usual).
Anyway, overall I did like this book. I thought it was a very compelling read, and even though not a whole lot happens in it, it is an incredibly quick read that I just didn't want to put down. There is this eeriness to the story that just keeps you curious enough to try and figure out what is actually happening. On top of that I also could not say that I could ever predict anything happening in this book. However, the events felt natural, not completely out of pocket, for the story. So there's no complaints there.
However, I don't think this book was succesful at what it tries to do for me. It is described as a funny horror novel, and it was not really either for me. I mean, I do have to say that some disturbing things happen in this book (so definitely check content warnings for this one), and like I said there is some eeriness to this book, but I didn't really think it was that horrific. Does that make sense? I also did not think this book was funny at all, and I truly do not understand where people see that within this book. So yeah, that made it fall a bit flat for me.
I also think the book went on a few random side tangents at times, that I was hoping would become relevant later on but it never did. I think that's mostly because the writing is very stream of conciousness, and the main character is very unhinged. So it would make sense a bit for her to go on constant side tangents that do not matter, but it just didn't make for the most entertaining reading experience. I also feel like the author had some sort of cursing quota to hit in this book. I truly do not give a fuck (see what I did there?) about cursing in books, but in this book there were several times were there was just a really long string of curse words without any purpose, and it felt extremely out of place. The only reason I could think of them being included is that the author had a minimum of curse words they wanted to hit.
So yeah, I did quite like this book, and I would recommend it if it sounds like something you might enjoy, but it definitely didn't really work super well for me. Do you understand now why I'm having a hard time explaining my thoughts on this book?
Anyway, overall I did like this book. I thought it was a very compelling read, and even though not a whole lot happens in it, it is an incredibly quick read that I just didn't want to put down. There is this eeriness to the story that just keeps you curious enough to try and figure out what is actually happening. On top of that I also could not say that I could ever predict anything happening in this book. However, the events felt natural, not completely out of pocket, for the story. So there's no complaints there.
However, I don't think this book was succesful at what it tries to do for me. It is described as a funny horror novel, and it was not really either for me. I mean, I do have to say that some disturbing things happen in this book (so definitely check content warnings for this one), and like I said there is some eeriness to this book, but I didn't really think it was that horrific. Does that make sense? I also did not think this book was funny at all, and I truly do not understand where people see that within this book. So yeah, that made it fall a bit flat for me.
I also think the book went on a few random side tangents at times, that I was hoping would become relevant later on but it never did. I think that's mostly because the writing is very stream of conciousness, and the main character is very unhinged. So it would make sense a bit for her to go on constant side tangents that do not matter, but it just didn't make for the most entertaining reading experience. I also feel like the author had some sort of cursing quota to hit in this book. I truly do not give a fuck (see what I did there?) about cursing in books, but in this book there were several times were there was just a really long string of curse words without any purpose, and it felt extremely out of place. The only reason I could think of them being included is that the author had a minimum of curse words they wanted to hit.
So yeah, I did quite like this book, and I would recommend it if it sounds like something you might enjoy, but it definitely didn't really work super well for me. Do you understand now why I'm having a hard time explaining my thoughts on this book?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Rape
Minor: Cannibalism
Depression is also a major theme within this book, and therefore could be a difficult read for people not in the right headspacecassie7e's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Dark and obsessive and disturbing.
An exercise in intrusive and spiralling thoughts; the prose crisp, visceral, and lyrical in a way that's both beautiful and repulsive.
Many verbs so clear and evocative yet unusual as if it's part of staccato poetry- examples:
"Hook a smile"
"[the dog began to] bark fog on the window"
"Cup darkness around my eyes"
Abby's lack of sense of self and need for external construction of it are heartaching; she doesn't seem in love so much as obsessed and, as she says so often, "nothing" outside the context of relationship. She sees people as symbolic, as roles and values, not individual personalities, and that includes herself.
"You have to be real for a man to love you" her mom says - instead of this meaning men love women who are already real, Abby (and maybe her mom too?) believe that a man's love MAKES you real. Proves you're real.
An exercise in intrusive and spiralling thoughts; the prose crisp, visceral, and lyrical in a way that's both beautiful and repulsive.
Many verbs so clear and evocative yet unusual as if it's part of staccato poetry- examples:
"Hook a smile"
"[the dog began to] bark fog on the window"
"Cup darkness around my eyes"
Abby's lack of sense of self and need for external construction of it are heartaching; she doesn't seem in love so much as obsessed and, as she says so often, "nothing" outside the context of relationship. She sees people as symbolic, as roles and values, not individual personalities, and that includes herself.
"You have to be real for a man to love you" her mom says - instead of this meaning men love women who are already real, Abby (and maybe her mom too?) believe that a man's love MAKES you real. Proves you're real.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Grief, Body shaming, Gore, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, and Self harm
Minor: Medical content, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Vomit, Sexism, and Stalking
cesca_natalia's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
TW : Suicide, Grief, Gore, Sexual content, Rape, Cannibalism, Violent thoughts, Emotional abuse.
"Motherthing is an unhinged story about woman's obsession of creating a perfect family due to the failed relationship between a mother & a daughter"
Sentence above is practically what sums up Motherthing. After months of pausing and collecting will to read about Abbie and her journey of "saving" her husband from great depression after her mother's sudden passing, I decided to spent last few days of 2023 trying my best to finish this book.
What attract me first from Motherthing is how unique and eye-catching the cover art is. It's giving 70's retro theme and at first glance, you would've known that this book has dark, gloomy, depressing bits inside; somehow, it's giving old Hollywood movie poster which make this book also more proper to read on Halloween (I tried but for some reasons which I'll disclose later, I read this on Christmas). The uniqueness doesn't stop there; Ainslie, on this book, raised an issue of parents-child especially mother-daughter complicated relationship which left an open wound and intergenerational trauma. She also breached topic on the negative effect on depression and mental health disorder such as NPD and BPD, so if you're someone whose been diagnosed or having any experience with it, there'll be lots of triggering scene inside.
In some of these chapters, you'll find chapters where it's structured like script format; it's unique, I love how there's some variation between those long narrative but it's kind throw me off balance, especially after I read Ainslie Q&A session with Big Issue North where she said that the script format is a symbolization of Abbie's growing detachment from reality. It makes me thinking 'is everything happened between Abbie & Laura are real? Or it's just Abbie's imagination to create Laura as "evil" type of mother so she can put herself forward as a savior for Ralph?'
How I love when a book makes me questioning the lead's intention.
Anyway, Ainslie open Motherthing with sentence of "The night Ralph's mother flayed her forearms," and it's enough sentence to provoke my curiosity and delve into the content of the book. Though I might regret it later because the fun and suspense stops on Chapter 1, the rest of it is a long & long journey of watching a narcissistic with savior type complex try to reasoning her action; my main reason of pausing this 'til Christmas.
Abbie, as the lead, is twenty something woman, were a perfect example of NPD mixed with savior type complex where she thinks her husband won't be normal again if she didn't do her job as a wife. She's one-sidedly picturing her late mother-in-law as someone whose been doting his own son for practically his entire lifetime, creating these depressing space for Ralph to grow up and assuming her as rival for Ralph's attention. Why I said she's one-sidedly making her own mother-in-law as her rival? because this book were told from Abbie's POV from the start 'til the end, you don't get any other perspectives trying to explain their own side of the story. Usually, I don't have any problem with lead character's POV but in Abbie's case, her own narrative of trying to explain or rationalize her own action or thoughts tickles part of my brain and the more I read about her, the more uncomfortable I feel.
As a lead, she has no development whatsoever, kind of one dimensional but if deranged & getting more & more unhinged can be called a development, then she sure as hell has some development though for the worst. Though one dimensional, her character kind of makes the story works the way it is (probably due to her own POV of everything).
Story wise, it takes me for a while to actually embrace Motherthing and stay focus on what's happened. Though the factor of my virginity when it comes to psychological supernatural drama kind of being number one reason, the unhinged-ness which were shown in this book, is another supporting factor. The plot, though it's interesting, it's painfully slow and dragging; I feel like I've been stuck in maze and there's no way out. I'm also a bit confuse on where Motherthing stand as a genre because in my opinion, it clearly fall on psychological & thriller drama with a sprinkles of supernatural bits while the official genre stated on Google is horror fiction; for me, the horror part is only takes up 20% of the whole book while the rest is me trying to stop myself from cringing and shake those uncomfortable shivers due to Abbie's unhinged thoughts.
Hogarth's writing style, which a combination of hyperbole and metaphor with script format peeked between narratives, is amazing. Motherthing is my first Ainslie Hogarth's experience and as gore as it is, I love how she introduce me to her world.
Ending-wise, it's give me mixed feelings. For better purpose, I won't disclose what happened but it sure will make you gagged and dropping your jaw to the floor. I know that Abbie girl is unhinged, loose screw and all that but what she did almost make me throw my guts out. If I could ask Ainslie Hogarth, I would ask how she wrote those scenes so well and so dedicated it almost felt real.
Originally, I give three stars at first because those painfully slow felt like torture narration and the feeling Motherthing gave me but as I write down my in-depth question and review, I realize this is my very first experience to read a book that makes me cringe deep down in my skin yet quirky, gruesome and has an original ideas. And I'm glad Motherthing able to give me that hence I give this four stars (I drew the line on the ending).
Has this book altered my perception or change me as a person? The answer is no, it's not. But it, at least, teach me a lesson that every human being has a dark side -not Emperor Palpatine kind of dark side- but wild, vile, cruel side, which could be dangerous if it doesn't maintained carefully.
I do recommend this book for anyone whose into dark thriller fiction or want to read something different from what they usually read.
"Motherthing is an unhinged story about woman's obsession of creating a perfect family due to the failed relationship between a mother & a daughter"
Sentence above is practically what sums up Motherthing. After months of pausing and collecting will to read about Abbie and her journey of "saving" her husband from great depression after her mother's sudden passing, I decided to spent last few days of 2023 trying my best to finish this book.
What attract me first from Motherthing is how unique and eye-catching the cover art is. It's giving 70's retro theme and at first glance, you would've known that this book has dark, gloomy, depressing bits inside; somehow, it's giving old Hollywood movie poster which make this book also more proper to read on Halloween (I tried but for some reasons which I'll disclose later, I read this on Christmas). The uniqueness doesn't stop there; Ainslie, on this book, raised an issue of parents-child especially mother-daughter complicated relationship which left an open wound and intergenerational trauma. She also breached topic on the negative effect on depression and mental health disorder such as NPD and BPD, so if you're someone whose been diagnosed or having any experience with it, there'll be lots of triggering scene inside.
In some of these chapters, you'll find chapters where it's structured like script format; it's unique, I love how there's some variation between those long narrative but it's kind throw me off balance, especially after I read Ainslie Q&A session with Big Issue North where she said that the script format is a symbolization of Abbie's growing detachment from reality. It makes me thinking 'is everything happened between Abbie & Laura are real? Or it's just Abbie's imagination to create Laura as "evil" type of mother so she can put herself forward as a savior for Ralph?'
How I love when a book makes me questioning the lead's intention.
Anyway, Ainslie open Motherthing with sentence of "The night Ralph's mother flayed her forearms," and it's enough sentence to provoke my curiosity and delve into the content of the book. Though I might regret it later because the fun and suspense stops on Chapter 1, the rest of it is a long & long journey of watching a narcissistic with savior type complex try to reasoning her action; my main reason of pausing this 'til Christmas.
Abbie, as the lead, is twenty something woman, were a perfect example of NPD mixed with savior type complex where she thinks her husband won't be normal again if she didn't do her job as a wife. She's one-sidedly picturing her late mother-in-law as someone whose been doting his own son for practically his entire lifetime, creating these depressing space for Ralph to grow up and assuming her as rival for Ralph's attention. Why I said she's one-sidedly making her own mother-in-law as her rival? because this book were told from Abbie's POV from the start 'til the end, you don't get any other perspectives trying to explain their own side of the story. Usually, I don't have any problem with lead character's POV but in Abbie's case, her own narrative of trying to explain or rationalize her own action or thoughts tickles part of my brain and the more I read about her, the more uncomfortable I feel.
As a lead, she has no development whatsoever, kind of one dimensional but if deranged & getting more & more unhinged can be called a development, then she sure as hell has some development though for the worst. Though one dimensional, her character kind of makes the story works the way it is (probably due to her own POV of everything).
Story wise, it takes me for a while to actually embrace Motherthing and stay focus on what's happened. Though the factor of my virginity when it comes to psychological supernatural drama kind of being number one reason, the unhinged-ness which were shown in this book, is another supporting factor. The plot, though it's interesting, it's painfully slow and dragging; I feel like I've been stuck in maze and there's no way out. I'm also a bit confuse on where Motherthing stand as a genre because in my opinion, it clearly fall on psychological & thriller drama with a sprinkles of supernatural bits while the official genre stated on Google is horror fiction; for me, the horror part is only takes up 20% of the whole book while the rest is me trying to stop myself from cringing and shake those uncomfortable shivers due to Abbie's unhinged thoughts.
Hogarth's writing style, which a combination of hyperbole and metaphor with script format peeked between narratives, is amazing. Motherthing is my first Ainslie Hogarth's experience and as gore as it is, I love how she introduce me to her world.
Ending-wise, it's give me mixed feelings. For better purpose, I won't disclose what happened but it sure will make you gagged and dropping your jaw to the floor. I know that Abbie girl is unhinged, loose screw and all that but what she did almost make me throw my guts out. If I could ask Ainslie Hogarth, I would ask how she wrote those scenes so well and so dedicated it almost felt real.
Originally, I give three stars at first because those painfully slow felt like torture narration and the feeling Motherthing gave me but as I write down my in-depth question and review, I realize this is my very first experience to read a book that makes me cringe deep down in my skin yet quirky, gruesome and has an original ideas. And I'm glad Motherthing able to give me that hence I give this four stars (I drew the line on the ending).
Has this book altered my perception or change me as a person? The answer is no, it's not. But it, at least, teach me a lesson that every human being has a dark side -not Emperor Palpatine kind of dark side- but wild, vile, cruel side, which could be dangerous if it doesn't maintained carefully.
I do recommend this book for anyone whose into dark thriller fiction or want to read something different from what they usually read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Rape, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Suicide, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Grief
isabezza's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
5.0
I could NOT put this down. I am a sucker for weird books and this hit the spot - but definitely check the content warnings before you read! I have never experienced anything as extreme on paper. The language was captivating and our main character used totally unique hilarious metaphor to describe the world around her. The settings were cleverly manipulated into the central plot so everything had importance. The discussion of paranormal activity and mental health distress was totally activating - causing a lot of responses in my body and world (gasping, tearing up, chills.) Ultimately, I loved the pace, plot, and mind styles in this novel and would recommend to anyone brave enough!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Rape, Self harm, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, Murder, and Vomit
carbinara's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Blood, Cursing, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Self harm, Mental illness, Violence, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pregnancy, Death, and Rape
Moderate: Pedophilia and Vomit
atthediscotech's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Definitely disturbing, but the voice and dark humor was incredible. Definitively worth a read if you don’t mind some gruesome content.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Eating disorder, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Death, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Miscarriage, Murder, Suicide, and Violence
allietriestoread's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
One thing about me is that I love an unhinged female protagonist. Just take a look at my reading list and you’d see at least five books that make you question my insanity. Anyway, I was very excited to read this one and I finished it faster than I thought. But not because it was so amazing that I couldn’t put it down. I was actually desperate to get out of the main character’s head.
I read a lot of gore so I might have let my guard down just a tiny bit. But learn from my mistake and do check the trigger warnings, because this book contains a lot, and I mean A LOT of those (listed below). It tackles so many heavy topics and as the story progresses, everything becomes so much more unhinged. If you want to read something outside of your comfort zone, I wouldn’t choose this to be my first horror book.
I did *kind of* enjoyed the plot. The premise is very interesting and the author’s voice is so unique. It reminds me of Mona Awad’s ‘Bunny’, another unhinged book, my all-time-fav. But the reason this book doesn’t get more than 3 stars is because it took a completely different route from what I expected. I could not care less about Abby’s boring husband or how much she’s obsessed with him. I’ve lost count of the number of times I rolled my eyes at her praising his bare minimum. I would love to see more of her backstory and the discussions of motherhood and being a wife. After all, the book is called MOTHERthing, is it not?
I read a lot of gore so I might have let my guard down just a tiny bit. But learn from my mistake and do check the trigger warnings, because this book contains a lot, and I mean A LOT of those (listed below). It tackles so many heavy topics and as the story progresses, everything becomes so much more unhinged. If you want to read something outside of your comfort zone, I wouldn’t choose this to be my first horror book.
I did *kind of* enjoyed the plot. The premise is very interesting and the author’s voice is so unique. It reminds me of Mona Awad’s ‘Bunny’, another unhinged book, my all-time-fav. But the reason this book doesn’t get more than 3 stars is because it took a completely different route from what I expected. I could not care less about Abby’s boring husband or how much she’s obsessed with him. I’ve lost count of the number of times I rolled my eyes at her praising his bare minimum. I would love to see more of her backstory and the discussions of motherhood and being a wife. After all, the book is called MOTHERthing, is it not?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Cannibalism, Rape, Suicide, and Violence
gracesullentrup's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Suicide, Blood, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Excrement, Violence, Cursing, Child abuse, Vomit, Self harm, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Rape, and Emotional abuse
coryyalva's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
From page one I hated Abby with all my being, but I absolutely loved what Ainslie Hogarth was able to do with her character.
This is probably the weirdest book I've ever read with the worst characters I've ever read, but Ainslie was able to write a story so compelling and describe their world in such a way that I could not stop reading despite wanting to. And even though I had predicted the first part of the ending, the second part threw me for a loop and made me endlessly glad that I had decided to finish the book.
I wouldn't exactly recommend this book to anyone, but somehow it was still a four star read for me.
A round of applause for Ainslie Hogarth - a genius in her own weird way.
This is probably the weirdest book I've ever read with the worst characters I've ever read, but Ainslie was able to write a story so compelling and describe their world in such a way that I could not stop reading despite wanting to. And even though I had predicted the first part of the ending, the second part threw me for a loop and made me endlessly glad that I had decided to finish the book.
I wouldn't exactly recommend this book to anyone, but somehow it was still a four star read for me.
A round of applause for Ainslie Hogarth - a genius in her own weird way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Rape