Scan barcode
A review by cassie7e
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth
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