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A review by readingwithkelsey
Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel
2.5
I received an eARC copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I am so conflicted about my feelings towards this book because the ending (and I mean the epilogue) was one of the eeriest things I have read in a good while. The beginning of the novel (and I mean the prologue), while we get to know our protagonist Maeve and her cousin Andrea's history and upbringing, was also incredibly interesting. The entire plot of the book was super interesting and Heltzel's writing is extremely quick paced - I definitely felt like I could not put this book down because I really wanted to know what was happening. The first 30% of the book is a lot of buildup to the overall cult/thriller vibes and I really enjoyed that. But - you really need to suspend your disbelief. The novel very much hinges on the fact that Maeve is straight up naive and oblivious (and also, that the reader is too tbh). Without going into details, there is so much that does not make sense and if you have even an ounce of awareness of what is going on around you, you pick up on the plot and exactly what is happening verrrry early on. The mystery then became a chore to read because I just wanted it to be over; I knew exactly what was going to happen. I do want to give credit to Heltzel because I trusted exactly 0 women from the reveal of the cult to the ending of the novel and I still did not expect that ending at all.
I am so conflicted about my feelings towards this book because the ending (and I mean the epilogue) was one of the eeriest things I have read in a good while. The beginning of the novel (and I mean the prologue), while we get to know our protagonist Maeve and her cousin Andrea's history and upbringing, was also incredibly interesting. The entire plot of the book was super interesting and Heltzel's writing is extremely quick paced - I definitely felt like I could not put this book down because I really wanted to know what was happening. The first 30% of the book is a lot of buildup to the overall cult/thriller vibes and I really enjoyed that. But - you really need to suspend your disbelief. The novel very much hinges on the fact that Maeve is straight up naive and oblivious (and also, that the reader is too tbh). Without going into details, there is so much that does not make sense and if you have even an ounce of awareness of what is going on around you, you pick up on the plot and exactly what is happening verrrry early on. The mystery then became a chore to read because I just wanted it to be over; I knew exactly what was going to happen. I do want to give credit to Heltzel because I trusted exactly 0 women from the reveal of the cult to the ending of the novel and I still did not expect that ending at all.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child death, Death, Gore, Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, and Torture
There is no trigger warning for this but the plot heavily surrounds a matrarchical cult.