Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth

5 reviews

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense slow-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

3.5

UMMMMM THIS WAS.....SOMETHING!!!! Definitely not what I expected. The writing was stellar but also very harsh in a way that I appreciated, sometimes even funny. Like, VERY funny. I loved how unhinged these characters were. Our main character just descends into chaos after page one and every minute of it was pretty fascinating for me to read. However, I struggle to know where to put this book in my head because it WAS so deeply strange and not really what I thought it was going to be, so that is a bit of a let down. Still, I'm glad that I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gore, Vomit, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Murder, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Excrement, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Blood, Infertility, Self harm, and Death of parent

jillaay_h's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Suicide attempt, Blood, Suicide, Self harm, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Murder, Gore, and Emotional abuse

killmoore_'s review against another edition

• 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

This was not at all what I was expecting, and I'm not mad about it.

Abby is atrocious, but relatable - at least for me. I loved her inner monolog, and thought that she was a great depiction of the classic bpd black and white thinking and the obsessive love/hate relationships that come along with it - as minute as they might be. 

Her relationship with Ralph and Mrs. Bondy are a great example of this. The unwavering, self depreciating love for Mrs. Bondy as a motherthing that can never abandon her, and Ralph as the pivotal character in her life that validates her extreme emotions (favorite person, right down to the ability for her to "switch off" her total admiration once things get sketchy.)

I enjoyed the "scene setting" chapters quite a bit, and felt that they were a great way to add in Abbys disassociating with specific scenes of her life - painfully aware of every detail but unable to change the script. 

This was not a book about a haunting, unless you consider ones own mind to be the source of all the things that go bump in the night. I felt that the Motherthing evil of this book was a great way of navigating childhood trauma, and the delicate relationship between a mother and daughter, femininity, and the Big Bad bpd™️ diagnosis that has been demonized into something less believable than your undead mother in law coming back to haunt you. 

I will have to come back and add my thoughts on each motherthing character once I've had time to fully process them, as they each hit home a bit too hard for me, but all in all, this was a fun, gorey, slightly spooky and over the top read that had me wanting to make Chicken a la King for my beautiful, loving husband 🖤

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

paperknotbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a great ride! DARK!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Rape, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jourdanicus's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-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

5.0

Holy motherthing... Was this really a ghost story?

This author writes internal monologue excellently. She's also got a solid hold on the concept of an unreliable narrator, which is squarely in my wheelhouse. This is psychological horror told in a style that will leave you satisfied, not questioning your own sanity but maybe that of others' around you... Like your spouse...

A great read for horror lovers with at least mostly-resolved mommy issues. Check content warnings though, yeesh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Child abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Also content warning for

cannibalism

...