I was going to rate this as a 4. I loved it up until the last 50 pages or so, and then stopped loving it, but still enjoyed it.

What I enjoyed most was finally feeling *seen* in a novel. It was so refreshing being able to identify with a main character that was a single woman who knew she didn't want children (it seemed to largely stem from her trauma, but still not something you see often). A lot of the horror emanated from that and reflected fears of my own.

And then.... that fucking ENDING. She settles down into marriage and gets pregnant. That's right- this staunchly childfree character changes her mind about becoming a mother, just like she's supposed to.

Fuck that.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fast-moving, fun, and creepy. I was leaning toward four stars for this one, but started thinking about some of the paper-thin characters and the coincidences and the muddled motivations for the male characters (seriously, why would any of them get involved in this?), and knocked the rating down a star. Story features a young woman, Maeve, survivor of the Mother Collective cult, who eventually wound up with a loving foster family, but has never forgotten her cousin, Andrea, who was like a sister. Maeve hasn't really developed a lot of friendships, but has spent lots of time searching for Andrea. And when she submits her DNA to a genealogy site, lo and behold. Andrea contacts her and wants to meet. And Andrea is fabulously successful, having developed a Silicon Valley startup, NewLife, with her husband, Rob. It looks like Maeve might finally have the "true" family she's always wanted. For much of its running, this story is smart and scary, but then, once the facade slips, things start to get more and more ridiculous. It isn't a bad first novel, but I hope this author spends a bit more time developing her next offering.

Somewhat predictable in parts but creepy and disturbing. I recommend! Well written in past and present tenses. It’s easy to follow and will keep you reading trying to piece it together.

Great novel and definitely lived up to my expectations! Also can we take a second to admire the creepy yet beautiful cover?!

What a weird little book! So unique and gripping. And that ending, although a tad bit expected, hit the right way. Sometimes predictability isn’t bad.

In this novel we follow Maeve as she navigates life as a cult survivor. We actually follow 2 timelines, during Maeve’s stay in the cult and also post-cult. I found the chapters that follow the cult timeline so fascinating. I wish we would’ve seen a little more of that rather than the drama in her current day to day. I mean, those chapters weren’t bad, it’s actually the whole point and drive of the story, but I tend to always lean towards in-the-cult timelines. Now, it’s been about 20 something years since Maeve escaped the cult and ever since then she has also been searching for her cousin, Andrea, also a cult “member”. Her search comes to an end one day when Andrea shows up in her life again and BOOM Maeve’s life takes a drastic turn for the worse, as is usually the case.

Really enjoyed this. It kept me constantly engaged. I will admit to being so frustrated at times with Maeve cause some decisions were real stupid but I also get her actions cause she was in a tough pickle for the majority of this story. Nonetheless, fantastic, highly recommend!

Anne Heltzel's Just Like Mother was a hard-hitting and thrilling exploration of how cult mentalities and familiar trauma can follow you throughout your life. This was a dark and captivating read, and I was constantly feeling apprehension as I followed Maeve and Andrea throughout the narrative. I really enjoyed this writing style, and would happily seek out more books with a similar sinister feeling. Thank you so much to Anne Heltzel and NetGalley for the ARC!

The cover caught my attention and the story sucked me in. This was a creepy, fast paced and engaging read and I look forward to reading more from this author.

A highly unnerving read, I plowed through Mother in a couple of days. I was fully invested in this culty narrative.

I have to admit with a important institution in this story being a feminist cult, I was extremely intrigued.
Warning spoilers ahead -
This book began as a sort of a cult survivors memoir, but upon the main character being reunited with her "cousin" from the cult a new sinister direction emerged. This novel had a very strong "Rosemary's baby" vibe to it, which is not a bad thing. I think Rosemary's baby is a horror classic. I wish some of the ideas in this book had been explored further. While I found the Gothic mansion location to be a great setting for the main act to take place, it got a better description than the cult itself. I finished the book almost wishing there was a book just focused on the original cult and how it was formed. Overall this book was very original and definitely more unusual than most novels out right now. I just wish the author had filled a bit more of the backstory which was such a critical element. 4 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a dark reader with plenty of twists and an interesting concept. I really enjoyed this story and the characters. I liked the cult aspect and it was creepy!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for a copy of Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel, in exchange for an honest review.

"A girl would be such a blessing...
The last time Maeve saw her cousin was the night she escaped the cult they were raised in. For the past two decades, Maeve has worked hard to build a normal life in New York City, where she keeps everything—and everyone—at a safe distance.
When Andrea suddenly reappears, Maeve regains the only true friend she’s ever had. Soon she’s spending more time at Andrea’s remote Catskills estate than in her own cramped apartment. Maeve doesn’t even mind that her cousin’s wealthy work friends clearly disapprove of her single lifestyle. After all, Andrea has made her fortune in the fertility industry—baby fever comes with the territory."

This book right here!!!! This book right HERE!!!! When I say this novel game me the best Mind****!!! I have told every person I know about this intriguing story.

Maeve is put in a difficult situation of reconnecting with a cousin from the past and trying to make up on missed time. As she begins to unravel what her cousin has been doing for the years of their separation, she digs herself deeper and deeper into a mystery that could be catastrophic for her life. This was my first book by Heltzel and with all of the twist and turns that she concocted, it will definitely not be the last book I read from her.

Rating: 3/5 stars.

“Just Like Mother” by Anne Heltzel is a chilling thriller with an interesting premise that is marred by a lack of red herrings. Sadly, the “twists” are too evident and obvious right from the start. I kept reading, hoping that I would be surprised, that something unsuspected would happen, but nothing did. It would have been enlightening to have chapters written from the “villain’s” point of view, and I think doing that would have made the book a lot more ominous, and added more value to the novel. The ending was very eerie and stayed with me for a while, but overall, I was disappointed by the book.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book on NetGalley and have provided an honest review.*

This book didn't do it for me. It's not my usual type of book to read but I gave it a chance. I just couldn't get excited about it.

🚼 Dolls creep me out big time. Even cute dolls are disturbing to me. So, when I saw a doll head on this cover, I was hoping for a super creepy story and I had to read it.

🚼 Sadly, I was disappointed. The story wasn’t engaging for me. The doll part of the story, while odd, was very minimal. I knew everything that was happening before it happened throughout the entire story. And the ending just irritated me.

🚼 The only scary part of the book for me is that I know there are women out there (I know a couple personally) who believe you aren’t a real woman if you don’t have children. Knowing people who believe that is truly scary… and they are 100% wrong. I am childless by choice and I’m still holding my woman card, thank you very much.

🚼 Maybe the topic irritated me based on my personal experiences. Maybe I was disappointed the dolls weren’t more of the story. I am definitely in the minority here, but I didn’t enjoy this book. However, others absolutely loved it. If you are interested, please give it a shot. I’d love to hear what you think.

Thank you @netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was okay, it wasn't my favorite of the year. Still a decent read!

JUST LIKE MOTHER by Anne Heltzel (Adult Horror debut)
Release Date: May 2022
General Genre: Adult Horror, Thriller
Subgenre/Themes: Domestic drama, cults, psychological, Motherhood
Writing Style: Intricately plotted, fast-paced, reads-like-a-thriller

What You Need to Know: Maeve and Andrea are cousins, practically twins, they resemble one another and they're very close. They grew up in a radically feminist cult. During a tragic, harrowing event, Maeve escapes and is adopted into a normal family. Many years later, Maeve still thinks about Andrea and searches for her. Suddenly, they are reunited and Maeve learns about what Andrea has been up to all the time they've been apart.

My Reading Experience: This book is a wild ride. It begins with a flashback snapshot of Maeve's childhood in some kind of cult-the details are muddy. It was tough for me to settle in, I assumed the whole book would be this vague, disjointed POV. Then we slide into a new narrative of Maeve's present-day adult life and it felt like reading a fast-paced thriller. I loved that transition. Peppered throughout are more flashbacks to this cult that become progressively more detailed but it was never enough to be quite honest. More on that in a moment.
Maeve is an interesting, complicated character. I liked her. She's not like me in a lot of ways, so I couldn't relate to her on that kind of level but the author is so intimate with sharing Maeve's vulnerabilities and emotions with the reader, that I felt connected to her. I invested. There's a surprising amount of sex scenes in this book, no complaints from me, sex and romance are one of my favorite ways authors bring the characters to life, creating real people.
Once this book leans into the horror, it steamrolls toward an epic climax and a startling conclusion. There were so many times I updated my reading progress after a key reveal desperately wanting to talk about what was happening with people who have read it. I love that feeling.
My only disappointment was that the cult, the Mother Collective, wasn't fully revealed. There's enough information gathered during the course of the whole story to have a very basic understanding of what it was and what they did but it wasn't enough for me. I feel like in order to *fully* suspend disbelief for all of the unhinged behavior, I longed for more cult details. The leadership, practices, lifestyle--it was cloaked in shadow, the author skirting around the edges of it the whole time. It was maddening. I asked a few people I knew who had read this book, "Do we ever know? Is the cult explained?" We could have used one more flashback with some of this fleshed out and I would have been more satisfied. All of that to say, I was thoroughly entertained by this story. I enjoyed every, single minute. I devoured everything Heltzel gave us. A gripping, jaw-dropping descent into depravity centered on one woman's harrowing involvement with insane, radical feminism gone off the rails.

Final Recommendation: Highly recommend this book to horror readers who enjoy reading about creepy cults, horror involving the female experience, psychological horror, gaslighting, mystery, toxic relationships (seeing all the red flags), and big moments of terror.

Comps: Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin. The Apple TV+ show "SERVANT", The Children of Red Peak by Craig DiLouie, The Push by Ashley Audrain

*potentially triggering: Infertility, graphic death of a child, child abuse, pregnancy, cult trauma

As someone who’s fascinated by cults I liked this one. I think anyone who does as well will enjoy this one. Also just when you think you know BAM twist nope you’re wrong.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

Damn, this book got me. Just when I thought things might actually work out... twist!

I'll read anything about cults, I find them so fascinating. So when I read this was about a girl who escaped a Cult, I had to read it. I did not expect the story that I read. I was twisty and fucked up.

You start to feel good that the MC is able to get back in contact with her cousin, whom she was close with when they were young and in the Cult. It's the only person she has, and it's nice to see her have a connection with someone. But as the story progresses, you start to see some warning signs, and things start to get weird.

I was at the edge of my seat, my mind was bending and I couldn't stop reading. This book will fuck you up.

Thanks for the great read.

A great read by this author. I definitely recommend checking this one out!
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Cousins Maeve and Andrea spent their early childhood in a cult, then lost contact with one another. Many years later, Maeve takes one of those mail order DNA tests and the two find each other again. quickly rekindling their friendship.

The brief glimpses this book provides of the Motherhood Collective, the cult where Andrew and Maeve were raised, are absolutely chilling. It's not the same cookie cutter cult I've come to expect from this kind of book, it's something else entirely. Then there's Andrea's wildly successful wellness company with it's AI baby dolls intended to help prepare women for motherhood. This book delivered so much more than I was expecting -- I can't wait to read more by the author.