Magical realism and feminism? YES PLEASE.

Man..... this book is going to piss off so many men, which means I love it.

So, I read "The Woodcutter" by Rachel Yoder some time ago and absolutely loved it - it made me cry unexpectedly and really touched something in me. I was hyped to get to read Nightbitch (which came out last week) and unsurprisingly, it was excellent. In a feral take on motherhood, Yoder's protagonist tries to make sense of a new role - stay-at-home mom - by communing with animals, eating raw meat, even killing in horrific ways. I won't say much more because this book feels like something you must experience fully. This book is visceral, colorful, aggressive. It captures a cruel, beautiful, and harsh side of womanhood and motherhood that was uncomfortable and tantalizing to read.

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder is an eccentric black comedy about a fed up and overworked mom who thinks she's literally (and figuratively) turning into a bitch. She finds herself with an appetite for raw meat and swears she’s growing hair on the back of her neck. As she questions her own sanity, she wrestles with deciding whether to embrace her newfound condition or not.

This isn’t your traditional werewolf tale. It’s an ode to motherhood and a witty satire on the malaise of suburban housewives.

Throughout the story, we as the reader are left questioning alongside Nightbitch whether she is actually turning into a dog … or if it’s all in her head. I wouldn’t entirely call this tale Kafkaesque though because our main character finds a strange sense of joy and liberation in her transformation unlike poor Gregor Samsa.

Ultimately, Nightbitch is equal parts bizarre, hilarious, and disturbing. It's a book that doesn't hold back and really packs a bite.

Not really sure what i just read. I get that it’s a commentary on motherhood, that it’s deep and raw and original. But beyond that, i really can’t evaluate. You’d really have to be looking for something different in order to be drawn to this.

With shades of the films 'Tully' and 'Black Swan,' as well as Mona Awad's 'Bunny' (and even a bit of Kafka's 'Metamorphosis,' for obvious reasons), this delightfully (and grimly) deranged book had me hooked from the jump. As the unnamed mother — an artist caring for her young son without the help of a never-there husband — begins a slow descent into isolation and her tangled thoughts, she finds herself changing physically along with her mental highs and lows. Teeth and claws sharpen, fur sprouts, and a tail appears, leading her to question her place in the world. Is she a mother? An artist? A woman? Or, something else entirely?

This is such a bizarro, brilliant way of looking at modern motherhood and the way the label of "mom" can consume a woman's previous existence, eroding her sense of self and what was once her driving purpose in life. Rachel Yoder's story will have you questioning if the titular "Nightbitch" is undergoing this physical transformation literally, or if it's merely the main character's very desperate cry for help, But it also might cause you to look inward, despite how wild the plot — hasn't life ever made you feel gaslit? A little untethered? Maybe even a bit monstrous?

This book was crazy, fun and super unexpected. I cannot wait to read more from Rachel Yoder, the author of Nightbitch. Her writing is amazing. And it feels like she totally gets me as a working mom who has often felt depressed and underappreciated.

If you're up for a wild ride and love stories about empowered women, this is one for you. (It's also good if you don't take things so seriously.)

What a fun summer read! Thanks to Double Day (via NetGalley) for the chance to read the advanced reader's copy.

I cannot wait to see the film by Annapurna with Amy Adams set to star!

This debut was not for me -- granted it was a very creative, seemingly well-written offering exploring the mental breakdown of a new mother experiencing a mix of post-partum depression, regrets, loss of self-confidence, and increased self-doubt that evolves into canine behaviors and hallucinations of turning into a dog.

Based on the ratings and literary praises, others enjoyed this offering MUCH more than I did. Perhaps because I’m not a mother, the elongated passages concerning the underappreciation that society has towards mothers/motherhood seemed to go on entirely too long and I found it to be exhausting and repetitive.

I encourage others to give it a try - I imagine many may relate to certain themes presented or appreciate the different perspectives the author brings to the page.

Oh man, I was really excited about this one. The plot is that a book thinks she’s becoming a dog. So weird right? Something about that mixed with the title of Nightbitch and meat on the cover, I was all in. I was thinking it was going to be quirky, dark, funny, and weird. It was some of those, but I don’t think it was executed in a way that drew me in as a reader. And I say it in that way because the writing style wasn’t for me. So much so that when I attempted to read it, I had a really hard time getting into it, but I was so set on it that I switched to the audio. The audio was much easier for me to follow, but likely because I could put it on 2x speed. Because there were a lot of words and a lot of descriptions of things and when attempting to read it, frankly it bored my ADD eyes. I hate saying that, but it did. So the audio was much better. But it still wasn’t great. But on the plus side, i def didn’t see the ending playing it the way it did.

"Nightbitch" is an excellently written book. It's not exactly a book that I personally loved or connected to, but I recognized that it's a great piece of work and would happily recommend it to people that I feel would appreciate it to its fullest extent.

This is the story of a mother, who had a baby with her husband, only to be effectively abandoned by him as he works 5 out of town 5 days a week. She goes from being a woman to just being a "mother," and because of this she starts to experience some extreme side effects. She fears she is turning into a dog.

That's right, an actual dog. Whether this is psychological or literal is completely up for debate, which is why I think a lot of readers will like this book, as they can interpret it in their own personal unique way. It is also a very easy book to read in one or two sittings, as you can't really put it down until you think you have a clue as to what is happening.

I'm a new mom, and this struck a little too close to home for me (nothing with the story, just because I'm extra sensitive with stories about motherhood right now). But I confidently give it 4 stars.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint. Motherhood is tough. Its not all rainbows and unicorns. Somewhere along the way we tend to lose our identity. We certainly lose sleep and hair. :D In Nightbitch, the mother becomes a stay at home mom and feels like she is turning into a dog. I found myself relating quite easily to Nightbitch. It is bizarre yet funny and unique. Give this one a try!

Thank you to @doubledaybooks and @raijoy for the #gifted copy of the book.

I doubt I'll read a more unique, insightful book this year. It's the kind of novel that makes any attempt at a glowing review feel insufficient. Rachel Yoder takes the werewolf-adolescence trope and turns it on its head to furious, surprisingly poignant effect. I am not—nor have I ever yearned to be—a mother, yet I deeply felt the vacillating rage and exhaustion radiating from the pages. It made me gasp and grin, it made me more empathetic. A searing condemnation of the impossible choices women are forced to make and a page-turner of the highest order, this is a novel you'll chew over long after you finish devouring it. Gratitude to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nightbitch was such an interesting read! I couldn't really figure out if she was imagining everything that was happening to her or if it actually was happening. Did she really do all the dog like activities? Was she really sprouting fur? I totally understood the stress of being a mom to a little one and all the expectations that you are supposed to meet. Overall, the mothering aspect I really understood and enjoyed. I think most mothers feel the same way. This read met my expectations overall, because I didn't really know what to expect! It was enjoyable though!

I have a review of the book coming out in Split Lip Magazine, but it won't be published until fall. I absolutely loved this book

https://splitlipthemag.com/

Here are the opening/ending paras (not yet edited):
Portrayals of motherhood have a long history in literature, as do people turning into animals to escape the shackles of their gender roles and societal norms (Enid Shomer’s story “Laws of Nature” comes to mind, as well as most portrayals of werewolves), but what makes Rachel Yoder’s debut novel Nightbitch such a standout is its raw and often hilarious honesty, its stunning ending, and its focus on creation both through biology and art.

Beginning the novel, I admit: I wanted answers. Is Nightbitch turning into a dog or not? Is the alpha mom of the mommy group really a golden retriever? Can all of this be explained through “mythical ethnography”? Yoder seems to recognize though that parenting and art rarely give moms or readers exactly what they want, but if you embrace the experience, both can give you something much better, much more meaningful, than you were ever able to anticipate.

this was so fun! i love a book that makes me go, "wait, what?" several times. i was fascinated by the mother's story. i really Felt for her, even though we have very different lives. at times funny, at times melancholic, there really was a lot going on here, if not a bit repetitive at times. though given the emphasis on the monotony and repetition of motherhood, i suppose that's to be expected. i particularly enjoyed the surrealism; i'm still not entirely sure that i've Got all that happened.

it loses its footing a little bit in the middle portion but recovers in the final act. and i wasn't a super fan of the intrinsic tying of womanhood to motherhood that started happening. but overall, i really enjoyed this.

absolutely obsessed. this was a page turner from the very beginning. it’s weird and absurd and raw and real and sharp and funny! and magical! i’m not yet a mother but appreciated Yoder’s insights. she calls it like it is. I loved this.

As a stay at home mom myself, I was immediately drawn to the premise of this book. From the first page i knew i had found a new favorite book.

The stress and anxiety of motherhood is so perfectly captured on page; I completely empathize with the unnamed mother of this story. It takes me back to when my kids were babies and my husband worked crazy hours, and my hormones were out of control, and my anxiety (probably depression, too, if I'm being honest) played mean tricks on me... so I love the way the author is using the idea of a metamorphosis to represent the loss of identity- the mother's overwhelming sensation of change and inability to recognize herself.

I would recommend Nightbitch to fans of Mona Awad's novel, Bunny, or the Netflix original series Working Moms

This book was Frank Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis,” if Gregor Samsa was a woman who curled up in bad and turned into a bug (or here, a dog) and yet her toddler still demanded she get up and make him breakfast and play trains with him, day after day after day.

This falls into the genre I call “Mommy Horror”—the horror of being the neglected mother, who despite her legit concerns, at times possibly in danger (Zoje Stage’s “Baby Teeth” comes to mind), has everyone telling her, “oh come on, it’s not so bad”; then, when push comes to shove, suggest the mother go on antidepressants, rather than shake up the status quo. But it’s “Mommy Horror” with a humorous twist. It was a book I connected to immediately, and that connection and recognition created such a discomfort I had to hold the book at arm’s length after that. As a middle-aged woman who has come out the other side of this time period, it brought back PTSD (probably why I gave it 3 stars, when it most likely deserves more), even with its humor, probably because Nightbitch was also an artist trying to get her mojo back. It took me waaaaay longer to reach that point; in fact, I’m still working on it. I also connected with her initial antisocial behavior towards mommy groups, the “wtf is it with all of you?” I liked how Nightbitch was finally able to subvert it all.

5 raw and bloody stars

The appropriate approach here might be to write this entire review in howls, but I'll try to refrain.

This novel is spectacular in every sense of the word. It both perfectly fits into a long history of women identifying characters' representations in literature, and it is also entirely original.

The main character, who is sometimes known as 'the mother' and then way more interestingly just called Nightbitch - as in proper name - is everything. This character has a mostly physically absent partner and a very young son, both of whom are also identified by their relationships to Nightbitch and not by their proper names. The husband is barely in the piece, but that is as it should be. He fits the classically absent and detached type through both his lengthy and frequent work trips and also through his utter ineptitude when it comes to supporting the family and household. However, there's an important detail that comes up early in the piece about his Folder, and this (staying spoiler-free here) is an essential characteristic; it alone allows him to gel with this plot. The boy is an excellent sidekick to Nightbitch. Like all small children, he is utterly feral at times, and his behavior and reactions become an ideal bellweather for Nightbitch's activities and progression (*cringing while typing*). Also essential to the fun of this piece are Wanda White, the writer of what becomes Nightbitch's revolutionary text, and the local mothers, most of whom are hilariously and aptly named Jen. A not-to-be-missed detail that is present not only in the characters' names but also throughout the novel is Yoder's brilliant application of language. The naming and lack thereof, the descriptions, and the linguistically oriented pacing are all masterful. Try to stop laughing at the name Nightbitch alone. Contextually, it's impossible, and that is a feat in a novel with this content.

There is a brief but perhaps critical mention of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" near the start of the novel, and whether or not this is the intention, I could only see every moment and action from there in one way: that this novel is partially a modern version of that seminal text and that this comes through in the naming, timing in Nightbitch's life, details about rooms and sleeping arrangements, physical appearance, community between women/dogs/women's events (still dying over the herbs - watch out essential oils pyramid schemers...Yoder is coming for you), and so much more.

Structurally, the balance of details and information gaps is among the best I've seen. There's an almost High Modern stream-of-consciousness technique happening in Nightbitch's thoughts, and this allows readers to get into a headspace that they may otherwise find unrelatable. Readers are always questioning what is and is not "real," and this never becomes frustrating. The final scene is the best example of this: a glorious surprise as the way this ended could have really been a death blow to the novel overall.

This book is utterly wild, and while I expect that this may be a little too avant-garde for some, I could not be more obsessed. I'm blown away by how much Yoder accomplishes in this text and how much richness comes through in implicit ways. I get the most intense Lauren Hartke vibes (see DeLillo's _The Body Artist_) from various aspects of this work, and there are few higher compliments from this source. Nightbitch is none of us and all of us, and I can't get enough.

This will be one of my favorite books this year. It perfectly captures unique aspects of motherhood--its funny because it's true.

This one is definitely not for all your friends who told you how lucky you are to have all this time to spend with your sainted babies once lockdown hit - it's raw, nasty, a little sickening. I loved it and would recommend it to all my REAL mom friends.