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A review by jelkebooks
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I'm not going to lie, it took me quite some time to wrap up head around my own thoughts around this book. It's just so unlike anything I typically read (yay me, venturing out of my comfort zone), and I've got such mixed feelings on this book that I don't really know how to put it all into words. So I'm sorry if this review sucks (more than usual).
Anyway, overall I did like this book. I thought it was a very compelling read, and even though not a whole lot happens in it, it is an incredibly quick read that I just didn't want to put down. There is this eeriness to the story that just keeps you curious enough to try and figure out what is actually happening. On top of that I also could not say that I could ever predict anything happening in this book. However, the events felt natural, not completely out of pocket, for the story. So there's no complaints there.
However, I don't think this book was succesful at what it tries to do for me. It is described as a funny horror novel, and it was not really either for me. I mean, I do have to say that some disturbing things happen in this book (so definitely check content warnings for this one), and like I said there is some eeriness to this book, but I didn't really think it was that horrific. Does that make sense? I also did not think this book was funny at all, and I truly do not understand where people see that within this book. So yeah, that made it fall a bit flat for me.
I also think the book went on a few random side tangents at times, that I was hoping would become relevant later on but it never did. I think that's mostly because the writing is very stream of conciousness, and the main character is very unhinged. So it would make sense a bit for her to go on constant side tangents that do not matter, but it just didn't make for the most entertaining reading experience. I also feel like the author had some sort of cursing quota to hit in this book. I truly do not give a fuck (see what I did there?) about cursing in books, but in this book there were several times were there was just a really long string of curse words without any purpose, and it felt extremely out of place. The only reason I could think of them being included is that the author had a minimum of curse words they wanted to hit.
So yeah, I did quite like this book, and I would recommend it if it sounds like something you might enjoy, but it definitely didn't really work super well for me. Do you understand now why I'm having a hard time explaining my thoughts on this book?
Anyway, overall I did like this book. I thought it was a very compelling read, and even though not a whole lot happens in it, it is an incredibly quick read that I just didn't want to put down. There is this eeriness to the story that just keeps you curious enough to try and figure out what is actually happening. On top of that I also could not say that I could ever predict anything happening in this book. However, the events felt natural, not completely out of pocket, for the story. So there's no complaints there.
However, I don't think this book was succesful at what it tries to do for me. It is described as a funny horror novel, and it was not really either for me. I mean, I do have to say that some disturbing things happen in this book (so definitely check content warnings for this one), and like I said there is some eeriness to this book, but I didn't really think it was that horrific. Does that make sense? I also did not think this book was funny at all, and I truly do not understand where people see that within this book. So yeah, that made it fall a bit flat for me.
I also think the book went on a few random side tangents at times, that I was hoping would become relevant later on but it never did. I think that's mostly because the writing is very stream of conciousness, and the main character is very unhinged. So it would make sense a bit for her to go on constant side tangents that do not matter, but it just didn't make for the most entertaining reading experience. I also feel like the author had some sort of cursing quota to hit in this book. I truly do not give a fuck (see what I did there?) about cursing in books, but in this book there were several times were there was just a really long string of curse words without any purpose, and it felt extremely out of place. The only reason I could think of them being included is that the author had a minimum of curse words they wanted to hit.
So yeah, I did quite like this book, and I would recommend it if it sounds like something you might enjoy, but it definitely didn't really work super well for me. Do you understand now why I'm having a hard time explaining my thoughts on this book?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Rape
Minor: Cannibalism
Depression is also a major theme within this book, and therefore could be a difficult read for people not in the right headspace