Review by herelieshenry - Motheater

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

herelieshenry 's review for:

Motheater by Linda H. Codega

4.25

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

In the interest of full disclosure, this review is specifically regarding a DRC copy of the book from Net Galley, so while I imagine this eBook was pretty close to finalized, some details may have been changed between my copy and the official release.

If you’re looking for nuanced portrayals of Appalachia with a diverse cast, seamless incorporation of Appalachian labor politics, and a heavy dose of magic, Motheater is my recommendation for you. The strongest aspect of this book is the passion and love poured into it that makes it feel incredibly lucid and unique. The weakest aspect right now is in the technical sphere, and I’m assuming that will be taken care of via copyediting by the official release. I do wish the book were longer, while it’s already pretty meaty at 400-some pages; I would love to have more time with these characters and in this compassionate, well-rounded portrayal of Appalachia. I’m interested in seeing what Codega publishes in the future, especially if they write a sequel to this book or set in this world. I hope there’s an audiobook edition of Motheater at some point, because that’d be an instant buy from me.

The narrative here is crafted lovingly with a sense of heart that pours through the words, showing the author’s passion for the story and its subject matter. The plot feels Appalachian to its core, with a focus on radical ideas, the connection of a land to its people, and the oft-overlooked diversity of the region. There is a great love for Appalachia in this book, the kind that is genuine and earnest enough to be willing to critique elements of it even while crafting such a tender narrative about it; altogether this creates a complicated love letter to Appalachia, a quality I find in many Appalachian works and that resonates with me deeply. This story effectively maintains its thematic throughlines around the connection between people and place, roots extending from the past to the present, the line between societal progress and industrial excess, and the deeply entwined stories of a land and its community.

Because this is so far out from release, I’m going to give slack on grammatical technicalities on the assumption that it’s still in the process of line editing and put my focus on other elements of the writing itself. The writing style is distinct and consistent throughout the book, with a vivid tether between the characters, the environment, and the atmosphere. Description is very lucid and clear, creating an interesting stylistic quality. Exposition is well peppered throughout the chapters; it’s employed most effectively within the flashback scenes, but it’s also pretty well-incorporated in Bennie’s early chapters. I really liked the pacing; the story always has something happening even in downtime between major plot beats, and the dual timeline helps to keep anticipation up. The structure, switching perspective and often time period per chapter, is interesting and overall, character voice within the close depth of perspective and atmosphere helps distinguish them very well. Depth of perspective is relatively close and the point of view stays locked in on each chapter’s anchor character well, making them both feel natural and appropriate.

The cast is very memorable and lovable; Bennie and Motheater, of course, are the most striking, but supporting characters like Jasper and even tertiary characters like Delancey are vibrant and add a lot of texture to the setting. Character dynamics in this book are consistent and nuanced, but also very deeply felt and impassioned. The relationships of all stripes—platonic, romantic, and antagonistic—are all quite intense and vivid. I do wish there were a little more screentime for secondary narratives, but first and foremost, this story belongs to Bennie (and, to an extent, Motheater), so I understand why subplots around other characters and dynamics don’t get as much development here. I like that the author was operating from a diverse baseline with the characters; often times people still portray Appalachia as a one-note, all-white, all-conservative, all-cishet region, and that is so far from the truth. There are so many people from different walks of life in our mountains, and Codega clearly understands that and takes the time to portray that.

Content Warnings