This is the cult book I have been looking for and devoured it in 24 hours. Just the right amount of current day creepiness mixed with flashbacks to the disturbing past. The only reason why it isn’t a 5 ⭐️ is because I figured out one of the big plot twists pretty early on, although I definitely did not have all of the ending figured out and it took me on a wild ride.

The last time Maeve saw her cousin Andrea was the night she escaped the cult that they were raised in. Now 20 years later they find each other and start to rebuild the connection they had all those years ago. Maeve soon realizes that maybe Andrea isn’t who she thought she was and the picture perfect life she has made for herself isn’t all that it seems.

Thank you to NetGalley and Nightfire for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A girl would be such a blessing.

If you like cults and creepy baby dolls I think you’ll like this one. Started off super slow the first half and I could tell what was low key going on the entire time but it was still super enjoyable with a creepy undertone the entire time. The second half really starts to get wild and I binged it. Totally satisfied my cult trope loving self and I’m so happy that I ended up really enjoying this one.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“A girl would be such a blessing…”

Maeve (one of my favorite names, btw) and Andrea are cousins who were raised in an all-female cult until Maeve escapes in the middle of the night and things change forever. For her and Andrea. One was adopted while the other was left in the foster care system until 18. One became a wealthy CEO with a husband and the other is a publishing editor barely making it from paycheck to paycheck. When they reunite after 25 years, Maeve hopes they can rekindle their once strong bond.

WHEW. I had a good feeling that this one would be good and creepy! I binged this book and knew halfway through that it would be a favorite of 2022, no doubt. Even though parts were predictable, the story was done well and the predictability did not take away from the creepiness AT ALL.

I could easily do a book report on this book but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone! I can’t even put into full sentences what I’m really thinking so here are words I want to use to describe this book:
* cult
* haunting
* disturbing

Anyways… this book is out on May 17th. READ THIS BOOK!

trigger warning: rape, extreme gaslighting
content warning: graphic content and intrusive thoughts

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I DNF'd this at about 40% despite wanting to know how it ends. Why did you do that? you might be asking, and reasonably so. This book contains A LOT of straight up misandry and sexist attitudes about women. Now, I'm not calling out the author, she was obviously including these ideas for a purpose. I think I'm just lacking the smarticle particles (to quote Jack Edwards) to get it. Despite the legitimately engaging and creepily atmospheric writing, I just found myself not WANTING to read it, if that makes sense.

What I'd really like is for someone who's read this to message me and spill the tea about how it ends. Kthanksbye.

Who doesn’t love a book about cults!? This one is hard to read, and scary as heck because it could happen. The steps these people went through to make their goals.. whoa. Tons of trigger warnings (rape/gore)

CONTENT WARNING
This book contains child abuse and sexual assault on an adult. Both subjects are not treated lightly. I believe both were handled appropriately.

TL;DR

Anne Heltzel’s Just Like Mother follows Maeve as she attempts to reconnect with her cousin years after escaping a cult of motherhood. As expected, growing up in a cult has affected Maeve’s adulthood. She’s built a life for herself, but as she find Andrea, she learns how that cult continues to affect her life. Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

Review: Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel

atching my wife go through pregnancy, birth, and now parenthood has been enlightening. The whole thing has been much more difficult and complex than either of us expected. Getting and being pregnant isn’t easy for everyone, and sometimes it seems divine intervention is needed. There are so many experts out there providing advice and help. Some is excellent; some is just weird (such as eating McDonald’s fries to help with pregnancy). The tougher it is to get pregnant, the more desperate people get. It’s easy to see pregnancy and conception as a mystical process. Add to this the religious beliefs of “go forth and multiply,” one could see how motherhood could become a religious devotion in and of itself. In Anne Heltzel’s Just Like Mother, Maeve survives such a cult. Eventually she reconnects with her cousin from the cult. Her cousin is a life coach for people trying to get pregnant and dealing with the loss of children. Maeve, because of her childhood, doesn’t want children. Will Andrea accept Meave’s decision?

Maeve escaped a cult as a child. In doing so, she gained a freedom to live the life that best suited her and, at the same time, lost a cousin, who was her confidante and only true friend. This cult dedicated itself to the idea that motherhood was the highest ideal of humanity. Women’s role in life was to have children. Men were tools to facilitate pregnancy. When Maeve escaped, the cult fell. Her and her cousin, Andrea, were separated and placed into the foster care system. Maeve has built a life for herself in New York. She’s an editor at a publishing house, living on her own, and has a regular hookup. Like most people in publishing, Maeve works long hours, too many long hours. Also, her trauma has made her reticent to have many friends. The scars of the cult never left her. Neither has the trauma of being separated from her cousin. Maeve has spent her adult life searching for Andrea. One day, thanks to a genetics website, the cousins find each other. They make a date to meet and fall back into the easy relationship they had in the cult. Except Andrea doesn’t want to talk about the past. It’s as if their lives pre-rescue never happened. Andrea has a career as a life coach and head of a start up company. Her and her husband just moved to upstate New York in a huge, secluded house. Maeve is invited to the house to reconnect with Andrea and meet her husband. Maeve soon learns that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The joy of Andrea’s return is quickly balanced by Maeve’s life taking a turn for the worst. She loses her job. Her hook up dies. She can no longer afford to live in New York City. Maeve begins to rely more and more on Andrea to support her through this tough time. She spends an increasing amount of time outside of NYC and isolated from the few friends she does have. Maeve struggles with depression throughout and as the novel progresses, she continues deeper into a depressive state. Andrea and her husband provide a space for Maeve to recover; yet, they are very controlling in how she recovers. It quickly becomes clear that Andrea has ulterior motives when it comes to Maeve. Or has Maeve’s past in the cult made her too suspicious?

Just Like Mother is a third person, close point of view novel following Maeve’s life. It features a mostly linear narrative with a few flashbacks to Maeve’s life in the cult and as a foster child. Heltzel does a good job making everything just a bit odd and a little sinister. While I was able to guess the direction things were going, I was surprised by how it got there and how Heltzel ended the novel.

The Cult of Motherhood

Heltzel writes the cult of motherhood quite well. And by well, I mean terrifying. She’s taken something wonderful – child bearing – and extended it to a religious, almost divine, act. The women subject to this cult believe that there is no higher calling for a woman. This ability elevates women over everyone else who are incapable of bearing children. (There are concerning real world corollaries – see Josh Hawley defining women as those who give birth and Madison Cawthorn labeling women as “earthen vessels.”) For these people, procreation is the purpose of life, and anyone who rejects that life is a ‘Bloody Mary.’ Women, like Maeve, who choose to live a childless life, betray their sex, betray humankind, and are simply selfish. (Again, the real world has many, many examples of this as well.) Now, there would be nothing wrong with this philosophy IF it is freely chosen. But once it is impressed upon someone, it is a tyranny of biology. A person should be able to choose their own path in life. That is freedom. When forced to parent against their will, a person is no longer free. Thus, this philosophy is not about parenting or children and the joy they bring, it’s a philosophy of power and control. Period. Controlling the female body is what anti-choice, pro-forced birth activists want. (Even to the point of being anti-contraceptive, but that’s beyond the scope of this review.)

Heltzel approaches this difficult subject well. Maeve doesn’t want children, but she interacts well with the sole child in the book. She’s happy for anyone who gets pregnant in the novel. She’s also made up her mind about her own reproductive future and wants that decision to be respected. Heltzel captures the pressure from others to become parents. In Emily – an employee/client of Andrea’s – Heltzel portrays the complexity of motherhood as well. Sometimes, women don’t connect to their kids or sometimes they feel forced into a pregnancy. But in our society, we don’t talk about this enough, or at all.

You See It Coming, You Can't Stop It

At no point was this story ahead of me as I read. I guessed what was coming, and that was part of the horror. I saw where Maeve was headed, but I couldn’t stop her from going there. Her reactions to the situation make the book hard to put down. Maeve continued to walk deeper and deeper into the horror plot. Her decisions and reactions were understandable, believable, and, yet, still wrong. It was like watching her struggle in quicksand. Each action pulled her deeper and deeper towards an unhappy ending.

A Binary View of Birth?

To be fair to Heltzel, I want to put this in here. For much of the book, it seemed as if Just Like Mother was dedicated to a binary view of parenting. Women were mothers, and men were the tools through which women became mothers. In terms of dealing with a cult dedicated to motherhood, this makes sense. Since Just Like Mother deals with the aftermaths of this cult, that simplistic view pervades the novel. But, late in the novel, Maeve makes the realization that the cult of motherhood excluded many people, including trans people. The cult enforced a binary view, but it wasn’t a binary view of biological sexes. It was a binary view of those who could give birth (superior) and those who couldn’t (inferior). In today’s world where trans people are increasingly visible and simultaneously increasingly bullied, it’s important to note that Heltzel does acknowledge them in relation to her world. Based on real world corollaries for the cult of motherhood, it makes sense that those involved would be hostile to, or, in this case, dismissive, to the point of ignoring, of trans people, the same way that anti-choice people tend to be hostile to trans people. However, that is the view of the book, and I don’t ascribe it to that of the author.

Conclusion

Anne Heltzel’s Just Like Mother is a slow burn horror novel that doesn’t disappoint. I couldn’t tear myself from the page wondering what would happen to Maeve next and how she’d get herself out of it. Come for the horror; stay for the woman extracting herself from the cult of motherhood.

Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel is available from Tor Nightfire on May 17th, 2022.

This is unlike any other horror/thriller I’ve ever read. Excellent writing and fast paced story line.

Marve is a 30’s something woman who feels stagnant in her life. She escaped as a child and lost contact with her beloved cousin Andrea. She lost all hope of finding her for nearly twenty years, until one day, she gets an email that will change her life.

Andrea is everything on the surface: beautiful, rich, happily married, and has a great career. She’s a savior. Everyone adores her. The only thing missing for her is motherhood.

The more time Maeve spends with Andrea, the more uneasy she feels.
Things start to happen that she can’t remember. The past starts to come back to haunt her. And Andrea has a very strange attachment to very lifelike dolls.

This book was so creepy, and I absolutely loved it.

Thank you to Nightfire, Anne Heltzel, and Netgalley for this e-Arc in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Spine-chilling novel about a cult of women. The ending was terrifying.

Maeve escaped the Mother Collective one fateful night on her birthday and has been searching for her cousin ever since. When Andrea, now a rich founder of a successful company called NewLife, reaches out to her and wants to reconnect Maeve is overjoyed -- finally, her family has found her. But Andrea isn't struggling with what happened like Maeve is and adamantly refuses to talk about it -- something that becomes more and more difficult to do as their shared past seems to keep resurfacing.

I would describe this book as "mildly unsettling". You're always second guessing your suspicions and are curious to find out more about what happened. That aspect of it was brilliantly done, however, I feel like it swerves into... almost campy territory at some point. It's like most of the book was this inescapable, high pitched buzzing near your ear and then it suddenly turned into a deafening plane engine roar.

The plot was kind of predictable: you suspect something and then it happens, and almost exactly in the way you expected it to. Which isn't a bad thing -- it can be done done great effect but it lacked impact here. There is plenty of material for this book to be, well, _horrifying_ but it isn't. We never really delve into the events of the book. If we had lingered, if we had really seen Maeve react it would have been guttural. Instead it almost feels like we're expected to be horrified because a bad thing is bad, you know, morally, which yes, we are indignant at that but not _horrified_ because we never see the _effect_ of the events, if that makes sense.

The characters were developed -- every time a character appeared on the page, you would get curious as to what impact they would have on the story. The sense of intrigue about the past was also well executed.

Overall: brilliant concept, great tension but lackluster pay off.

Maeve hasn't seen her cousin Andrea since the cult they were a part of as children was exposed and they were rescued. Now as an adult they reconnect but as the story builds things aren't as they seem.

Haunting, disturbing, dark, fast paced and screwed up... like really screwed up. The storyline is a bit predictable, which honestly doesn't bother me that much.. I don't mind predictability.. especially if the story was done well. A plot hole here and there but they didn't take away from the story in my opinion. I really couldn't put it down and found it to be unique and memorable. I won't forget it anytime soon. Did I mention it was disturbing at parts? I'll throw out some triggers at the end of the review. Overall well done and I look forward to reading more of Anne Heltzel's novels

𝘛𝘞: 𝘙𝘢𝘱𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

Early on while reading I pretty much clocked a lot (but definitely not all) of where this book was going. I was disappointed by this and worried that it would make the rest of the book less enjoyable. However, the rest of the book is so creepy that it didn't matter.

This book is a veritable roller coaster of emotions. The first third had me sure I was reading a book that would make my top 5 of the year. The middle third hit a lull that made me think I would end up giving it 3 stars. Then the climax hits and holy forking shirt balls I was ready to smack anyone that dared interrupt my reading. So we are back up to 5 stars. I was 100% on board through the cringy and awkward dialogue and I was even willing to look past the two massive plot holes that for spoiler reasons I will not elaborate on. What ultimately made me decide on giving this 4 stars was the epilogue. It missed the mark and fell flat for me. I don't think it was the ending that the Maeve we come to know during every other page of the book would want for herself.

Wow…when I was told this was the best ending of all time I just knew I had to read it. Literally they weren't kidding. It literally bumped up my rating because of how good it was.

This is the year for creepy cults and I am here for it. They fascinate me. Its like a car accident I cant look away from. This one just happened to have scary dolls involved (no thanks) You never really find out all the ins and outs of the cult which I think made it a tad bit more chilling as it leaves you to infer what really happens within. This novel is full of triggers so beware going into it. If you are curious DM me.

I don’t want to give away too many spoilers because this is best read blind but it is very character driven. Told from alternating time lines and one POV it really helps keep the story engaging and moving along. I found the whole idea behind the cult terrifying. It is definitely a good book club book because there is a lot to discuss here and I find this is going to be something you either love or hate. This is my first novel by Anne Hetzel and she will definitely be one for me to watch for in the future.

*******Thank you Netgalley for my advance copy!

This an amazingly creepy book, that had me on the edge of my seat. I loved how we get two different timelines, the past of Maeve as a child living in the cult, which really adds to the creepy factor, and present day.

After she was seperated from her family as a young child, all Maeve has wanted to do is find her cousin Andrea.. They were extremly close as children and as an adult Maeve has an Andreas sized hole in her heart..

When they are finally reuited it feels like a new beginning for Maeve.. and it is, just not the kind she was hoping for. All these weird things start happening, but they are so small and easily thought of as just a coincidence, or just a reaction to something that happened in Andreas past.

Maeve has no idea what she is in for, and neither did I until the pieces started coming together... then your like okay I know where this is going and its NOT GOOD!! DONT TRUST ANYONE!! then we get an even bigger twist that had my jaw dropping..

I will absolutley be reading more from this author, and I can't wait to see what she comes out with next!

Handmaid's Tale meets The Stepford Wives with a dash of Rosemary's Baby.

As children, Maeve and her cousin, Andrea, were born into the cult 'The Mother Collective,' a commune with extremist views in regards to motherhood. Due to their upbringing, the two girls are inseparable and make a pact to never leave the other behind. But after a game of Bloody Mary goes wrong and Maeve leaves her cousin in the woods, a rift begins between them. Maeve ends up discovering a dark secret of the Mothers' and flees, taking the male child she found locked away with her but leaving Andrea behind.

As adults, Maeve unexpectedly matches DNA with Andrea and is shocked to find they both live in New York. Andrea's lifestyle is the polar opposite of Maeve's: successful, wealthy, and boasting a large social circle thanks to her career in the tech industry designing dolls for those grieving infertility and loss of a child. Being around Andrea brings to the surface memories of The Collective long forgotten and not everything is what it seems.

A fast paced and exhilarating thriller, Just Like Mother kept me on the edge of my seat. To elaborate at all on that shock of an ending or anything on the pages would take away from reading it first hand. Go in with little information. Anne Heltzel has become an author to watch for me.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire for the advance copy!

A tense and memorably creepy story. Heltzel makes the transition to adult fiction with great success.

This is one warped and weird tale that may not be for everyone.

It probably needs about a dozen content warnings and even then, I’m not sure you can adequately prepare someone for how disturbed it gets. I do NOT want to live in the author’s world.

The story is sharp and rather horrendously compelling. Time and again, I wanted our main character to just leave. I get why she doesn’t, but holy hell I’d walk away from there on bleeding feet in a blizzard in order to get away.

The characters are toxic, the situations a combination of horrifying and heartbreaking, and the book is a can’t-look-away sort of read.

This one may be a love it or hate it sort of read – I loved it.

• ARC via Net Galley

Just Like Mother is marketed as a modern gothic horror so I was excited to read this book with the super creepy cover. The plot reminded me very much of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Stepford Wives with a twist: cults, creepy dolls, a mysterious startup…it sounded promising.

While I admire the author’s writing style, this book wasn’t for me. I didn’t care for the main character so it was hard to root for her and honestly, this book is not horror (which is what I was looking forward to reading). I also had so many questions that didn’t get answered at the end of the novel which is a big pet peeve of mine.

I do think this will appeal to many readers, particularly those just getting into thrillers and horror.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I almost didn’t finish this book, but in the end I am glad that I did. I loved the story concept behind the book. The idea of former child cult members being reunited in adulthood and walking through their shared history into an unknown future. It is a great idea, and I think that it was pulled off, almost.

In my opinion, this book lacked depth in the storyline. There were major events in the story that were not explored and explained to a level that drew me in. Major events were vaguely walked through and I was left wondering what was going on, rather than realizing how this event affected the narrator and the story.

Another issue that I had was simply believability. I read a lot of horror and I have no problem accepting monsters, murderers and mayhem, but there were places in this story where I felt that no one would respond this way to this event. Perhaps if there were more background explanation I would have felt differently.

The last issue for me was timing of events. A portion of this story takes place in the distant past, but much of the action takes place in the present. Throughout the book I was confused about what was going on only to discover after reading a little further that a significant period of time had passed since the last chapter.

As I said, I am glad that I finished the book. There were quite a few plot twists along the way, and the final reveal is unexpected and earned.

Thank you #netgalley and #tor nightfire for the opportunity to preview this book.

*4.5*

THIS. BOOK.

There has been a slew of cult-ish books this year but this one outshines them all. This is set after the cult has been disbanded which I think is a unique perspective. Most of the ones I’ve read have been either like a documentary style researching the cult or it’s a point of view of a cult member currently trying to get out. I think the view of the after shows the struggle for members to resume to a normal and even the PTSD that follows. The book doesn’t explain how it tempted members to join nor does it explain how it disbanded, it doesn’t matter, and it doesn’t feel like those answers are needed. I loved the commentary on motherhood and the discussion on how those of us that don’t want children are often viewed and lectured. I found one character in particular annoying, and I wanted to reach in and yell at, when you read you’ll know, but I thought the mix of characters fit for the story and the outcome of things. I ended up not liking one part in it, seemed like the book kind of just forgot about it and then later is like oh yeah let’s come full circle with that. The cover first intrigued me, and the cover is so spot on to capture the entire book and even now I look at it and just have memories of the book, love that. But THE ENDING. ::chef’s kiss::

Thank you to NetGalley and Nightfire for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.