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A review by shafnut
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
- 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
4.0
I usually actively decide not to read books about motherhood mainly because it's always such a painful thing to read about and it always gets too real for me almost immediately. The entire concept of motherhood is just pain after pain and I don’t know what other pursuit in life even comes close. Like with this book even, I always saw myself as someone who would never have children, and Nightbitch’s struggles just cemented shut that already very closed door. But Noelle and Sunny BOTH recommended this book so I decided to give it a try.
I was very pleasantly surprised by the role of the husband towards the end of the book but at the beginning damn I wanted to punch him in the face so many times.
"Why couldn’t her husband say something kind or comforting, I’m so sorry or Thank you for all you do? Why did he not grasp the transactional emotional norms of customary human interaction?"
I feel like Nightbitch needs to be studied as a feminist text - there’s so much conversation around the perception of motherhood, even the term “working mother” as opposed to just “mother” is motherhood in itself not work? Why have we as a society made that distinction? The descriptions of childbirth and its violence *chef’s kiss*. I loved the mother's voice so much, like not only did she convey the suffering that was her experience with motherhood but she was FUNNY. loved that.
I would have confidently given it a 4 star up to the ending, not sure if everything that she went through or was feeling throughout the entire book could be solved so simply?
So many highlights from this book putting them here would be essentially asking you to read the book here (seriously go read the book) but here goes -
"who isn’t a working mother?... Imagine saying working father."
"Bitch just had a ring to it, that condemning, inescapable ring, a ring that fucker or asshole could never fully conjure for a man."
"And no matter how much she cleaned, the place never felt clean." - I felt this.
"Sure, her mother was saying, it’s bad, but since you are a woman, this is your lot in life, your work, to do what’s hard, what’s unspeakably painful, and then to keep this covenant of silence."
"what should a woman fight for? Given her limited resources, limited time and energy and inspiration, what is worth fighting for?"
"How evil to praise women for giving up each and every dream."
"her tale of That First Job and The Excitement of It, her new office-ready clothes that made her feel so grown-up, the working lunches, the thrill of a promotion, that sense of being a vital part of a system,"
"who isn’t a working mother?... Imagine saying working father."
"Bitch just had a ring to it, that condemning, inescapable ring, a ring that fucker or asshole could never fully conjure for a man."
"And no matter how much she cleaned, the place never felt clean." - I felt this.
"Sure, her mother was saying, it’s bad, but since you are a woman, this is your lot in life, your work, to do what’s hard, what’s unspeakably painful, and then to keep this covenant of silence."
"what should a woman fight for? Given her limited resources, limited time and energy and inspiration, what is worth fighting for?"
"How evil to praise women for giving up each and every dream."
"her tale of That First Job and The Excitement of It, her new office-ready clothes that made her feel so grown-up, the working lunches, the thrill of a promotion, that sense of being a vital part of a system,"