Reviews

Motherhood by Sheila Heti

binchsensei's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

3.25

“For a woman of curiosity, no decision will ever feel like the right one. In both, too much is missing.”

This was an interesting read! Could have easily been cut down to a novella and gotten the same point across, but it didn’t drag much. Coin flipping & tarot card divination were fun bits to include.

carlyshoo's review

5.0

BOOK REVIEW: MOTHERHOOD BY SHEILA HETI

I read Motherhood on the recommendation of a friend (olive) who read Pure Color and raved about it. I downloaded the audiobook and was surprised / excited that the author decided to read it. In the end, I’m really glad for it. It felt like she was too young-sounding, girlish, and immature to read for the narrator.

Fuck, it fucked me up. First off, the narrator (I’m pretty sure Sheila Heti herself) is of Hungarian Jewish descent. Her grandmother, Magda, is a key, distant character in the book. It’s haunting. She spins a story out of ancestral threads. Which, in a spiritual / god way, I like. That’s how I also like to imagine :god / the universe / an Other Power:

The crux of the book felt validating in a taking-antidepressants-every-day-at-an-extremely-low-dose kind of way.

I won’t spoil whether or not the narrator comes to the conclusion of whether or not she will have a child. It is imperative that anyone who has even remotely thought of child rearing as a possibility or people who are generally interested in the questioning of “our biological drive” (her words) should read this. Not just creatives/artists-really, anyone. It’s universal like that. And she does such a snarky, relevant job of mulling over the age old question of What A Woman Is With and Without Children? It’s a thesis statement I’ve wondered at all my life.

I want to address comments made in other reviews that are a sort of disclaimer. The narrator is an esoteric person (to say the least, lol, she flips coins to make life decisions-but a revelation occurs when the narrator questions decision making and actual doing of said decision-I promise it’s good). But, yeah, she can come off as really selfish and says uncomfortable things to the reader. It’s something I personally enjoy, but I know that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

I’m definitely going to read Pure Color. And I know I constantly tell everyone this *insert book, meal, etc.* has changed my life, but, seriously. This book has changed my life.

Thanks for reading this!

kdahlo's review

Uuuh, I don't know about this one.

wordswoods's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Rape

vlreads's review

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

meeshelleuh's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

tomisin's review

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.75

cametoconquer's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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? No

4.5

Last sentence packed a punch. Sure, parts of the book felt a bit too meandering and repetitive. But so is life, and this book felt like a faithful enough representation of life for meandering and repetition to be expected.

nicnatreads's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Highly recommended especially to those questioning whether or not traditional motherhood is in the cards, or the coins, for themselves. It didn’t necessarily help me make a decision for or against myself having a child, but it provided an extremely relatable perspective and I think regardless of what I decide, this book brought some me comfort to know that either decision will be a-ok. Probably my most marked up book of the year. So so quotable and even had some audible laughs. Sooooo goood ✨

jbogerhawkins's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book is a slog, which makes sense considering the themes. It honestly feels the most like reading an actual person's diary of any book I've ever read- there are flashes of great insight, but also whole sections where you feel like you're beating you head against a wall. Ideally it could be 100 pages shorter, but I do think you need the full length of the book to really get a sense of how unwell the main character is. It's interesting because, at least to me, it never felt like she was actually conflicted about whether or not to have kids. Motherhood felt like a sort of cover that she was using to conceal her mental illness and generational trauma from the readers and from herself, so I don't know how much people who are actually on the fence about having kids would get from this book. Also, justice for Miles, she put that man through the WRINGER.