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A review by allietriestoread
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
One thing about me is that I love an unhinged female protagonist. Just take a look at my reading list and you’d see at least five books that make you question my insanity. Anyway, I was very excited to read this one and I finished it faster than I thought. But not because it was so amazing that I couldn’t put it down. I was actually desperate to get out of the main character’s head.
I read a lot of gore so I might have let my guard down just a tiny bit. But learn from my mistake and do check the trigger warnings, because this book contains a lot, and I mean A LOT of those (listed below). It tackles so many heavy topics and as the story progresses, everything becomes so much more unhinged. If you want to read something outside of your comfort zone, I wouldn’t choose this to be my first horror book.
I did *kind of* enjoyed the plot. The premise is very interesting and the author’s voice is so unique. It reminds me of Mona Awad’s ‘Bunny’, another unhinged book, my all-time-fav. But the reason this book doesn’t get more than 3 stars is because it took a completely different route from what I expected. I could not care less about Abby’s boring husband or how much she’s obsessed with him. I’ve lost count of the number of times I rolled my eyes at her praising his bare minimum. I would love to see more of her backstory and the discussions of motherhood and being a wife. After all, the book is called MOTHERthing, is it not?
I read a lot of gore so I might have let my guard down just a tiny bit. But learn from my mistake and do check the trigger warnings, because this book contains a lot, and I mean A LOT of those (listed below). It tackles so many heavy topics and as the story progresses, everything becomes so much more unhinged. If you want to read something outside of your comfort zone, I wouldn’t choose this to be my first horror book.
I did *kind of* enjoyed the plot. The premise is very interesting and the author’s voice is so unique. It reminds me of Mona Awad’s ‘Bunny’, another unhinged book, my all-time-fav. But the reason this book doesn’t get more than 3 stars is because it took a completely different route from what I expected. I could not care less about Abby’s boring husband or how much she’s obsessed with him. I’ve lost count of the number of times I rolled my eyes at her praising his bare minimum. I would love to see more of her backstory and the discussions of motherhood and being a wife. After all, the book is called MOTHERthing, is it not?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Cannibalism, Rape, Suicide, and Violence