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A review by clovetra
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

this was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024 and i was…. disappointed.
the entire book feels like it is a book trying so hard to be weird girl fiction, to the point where it feels like a parody with no further depth. weird girl lit isn’t just a book where the female mc goes fucking bananas and murder and death and eeeee crazy lady! no. there is more to a weird girl book. and although this book addresses the fundamentals of weird girl literature, it fails to expand on that and grow. it stays stagnant for most pages. i am a firm believer in meta-commentary is very fun and interesting, but it only works if the book itself is fun. i understand that the repetition of certain phrases, events, days, etc. for the mother is essential to the plot, as it exists as a mirror to her life — a repetition of her days exists due to being a stay at home mother, where every day is full of nappies, naps, cartoons, trains, and no time for her art. i get that. but in order to pull that off your book still has to be interesting. and this didn’t feel like that. it felt like it wanted all the glory of weird girl lit without the work.
every character in this book felt flat. the husband being flat? sure i get that one, meta-commentary her husband is useless blah blah blah. the other mothers? sure i get it, meta-commentary, she lacks friendships beyond the surface level small talk mhm. but the mother should have had more depth as the plot progressed, as she grew. and the son seemed to only exist as a plot device, where his change felt… random? unnecessary? odd in the context of the book? 
where was the plot. i was waiting for some tension. something to drive the story. surely there would be something! i told myself. the answer? not really. by the end sure, we had the performance driving the narrative. but even then, that felt incredibly unexplored, and the rest of the story felt untethered and almost pointless.
additionally, there are just too many god damn unanswered questions.
for example, was jen actually the golden retriever? is nightbitch actually turning into a dog or is it metaphorical? why does nobody blink a fucking eye at a grown woman acting like a dog to the degree she does? why does the husband just accept it?
. i feel like these were left unanswered to add to the “mystery” of nightbitch, but instead it just made me feel like the writing was lazy.
although i’ve dunked on this book, beyond actual writing issues, i enjoyed myself. i had a good time. the mother’s internal dialogue was incredibly funny, and reading about her becoming more and more unhinged was enjoyable. even though i am not a mother (and will never be), i enjoyed the themes of motherhood, contrasting with the themes of being wild and animalistic, as well as the anger surrounding motherhood. i liked reading about the grittier sides of motherhood, where even the most open of people may shy away from expressing their feelings. 
i felt like everyone hyped this up way too much. this book was fine. this book was not, in fact, the best feminine rage book to exist. hell it wouldn’t even be in my top 10, and i don’t even think ive read more than 10 weird girl books. but im not annoyed that ive “wasted my time” on this book — on the contrary, i had fun! i was just very disappointed when people were hyping this up. first bunny and now this 😕 yall need to rlly learn what weird girl lit is. go read maeve fly by cj leede.
anyways im having steak for dinner and ngl i almost want to eat it like nightbitch just for shits and giggles 
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