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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I should have started listening to the the audiobook of this alongside reading it from the beginning lol. The slow SOC-ness and lightness on plot made it hard to get through at times. I'm also a bit mixed on the self deprecating dry sarcastic yet still self pitying tone. I understand that the Mother is supposed to be a stand-in, every-mother type character but I found discussions of her art and her back story esp. With her Appalachian mother the most compelling. I think the magical (realism?) thread of mystery from Wanda White were the most interesting parts for sure. Much more enjoyable if you read it as part creative non fiction / critique; I feel that most of the time it engaged my brain instead of my heart despite Yoder's gorgeous, visceral prose, though importantly it lacks much of an intersectional exploration of its themes due to the narrator's privilege
i really dont know how to feel about this……rating may change……hmmmmm
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5?
Narration style was too distanced for me to get into it, but parts were funny and it's definitely ambitious.
11/15/2021
This book follows an artist who gave up her career to raise her son full-time. Her husband travels for work and is only home on the weekends, leaving her to care for their child full-time, dreaming of the days when she used to make art and have passion. Then one day, she wakes up to find fur sprouting all over her body and sharp fangs instead of teeth. Convinced she's turning into a dog, this mother explores this terrifying/exhilarating new possibility and christens her dog-self "Nightbitch."
Absurd and occasionally comical, this book has an ambitious premise but the narration style was too distanced from the protagonist for me to fully get into it. I like how Yoder conveys the soul-crushing need to protect and love your child alongside the equally soul-crushing desire to rip them apart sometimes. If I was a mother, this would probably have been more relatable. I'm also wary of books with titles like this because they turn the very act of reading into white feminist performance and I'm not sure how I feel about that?
Narration style was too distanced for me to get into it, but parts were funny and it's definitely ambitious.
11/15/2021
This book follows an artist who gave up her career to raise her son full-time. Her husband travels for work and is only home on the weekends, leaving her to care for their child full-time, dreaming of the days when she used to make art and have passion. Then one day, she wakes up to find fur sprouting all over her body and sharp fangs instead of teeth. Convinced she's turning into a dog, this mother explores this terrifying/exhilarating new possibility and christens her dog-self "Nightbitch."
Absurd and occasionally comical, this book has an ambitious premise but the narration style was too distanced from the protagonist for me to fully get into it. I like how Yoder conveys the soul-crushing need to protect and love your child alongside the equally soul-crushing desire to rip them apart sometimes. If I was a mother, this would probably have been more relatable. I'm also wary of books with titles like this because they turn the very act of reading into white feminist performance and I'm not sure how I feel about that?
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A blunt expression of feral rage in modern suburban motherhood - this will probably not be as enjoyable to readers who cannot identify with or relate to that experience. It is gnarly and edgy, tempered with glee and release. Kind of an emotional roller coaster. Major questions go intentionally unanswered, so be prepared to accept some open-ended mystery. I liked it but I can see why others might not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dysphoria
Minor: Pregnancy
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Am I in a slump or just picking up bad books?
It’s like fifty pages too long but ultimately worth it for how genuinely effective and unsettling it is and while it doesn’t necessarily say anything particularly unique about feminine rage or motherhood or the intersection of those things; it absolutely says something about them in a unique way. Definitely one where you just have to lean into the unhinged premise or else you’ll absolutely hate it.
“An entire ruined kingdom as manifestation for one woman’s rage. A crushed and crumbling room. Anything to put what she felt outside her own body, for she had borne it long enough and did not want it anymore.”
“An entire ruined kingdom as manifestation for one woman’s rage. A crushed and crumbling room. Anything to put what she felt outside her own body, for she had borne it long enough and did not want it anymore.”
this was entertaining enough it just felt kind of random while reading? it felt jumpy and the book was weird but she went for it