First of all, please let the record show that I don’t “enjoy” reading horror books. So let this be a lesson - don’t let labels dissuade you from picking up a book! It was a great one! Did it make me anxious? Did I lose sleep from reading too many pages? Why, yes! And in fact, even though this one has a horror fiction tag I might would call it a suspenseful thriller.

I started reading this book and just couldn’t put it down. This book grabs you from the first pages, and you don’t want to stop reading! You can tell that something isn’t quite right…but you can’t put your finger on it! So many reviews detail the intricacies of the plot, but I read it at face value and really enjoyed it. I will definitely read more books by this author!

This was so good. So many trigger warnings are needed for this one but it was such a wild ride! Every time I thought I had something figured out, I was wrong. Looking forward to this authors next one.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the advanced reading copy of Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel.

I went into this book not knowing anything (how I personally like to go into thrillers).

Without giving away too much. Maeve escaped the Mother Collective cult at a young age. As an adult Maeve thought she was coping with her childhood trauma until the day her cousin, Andrea, turns up into her life. The more time Maeve and Andrea spend together the more shared history seems to present itself to Maeve. But is there more to their relationship than just the cult they were raised in?

I would definitely keep my eye out for future novels by Anne Heltzel.

3. 5 stars.

Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel is a book that you can judge by the cover. Looking at the cover, it looks like a weird and creepy book, and that is exactly what it is!

Maeve and her cousin Andrea grew up in a cult of women. They escaped and went on to live separate lives. Maeve made a quiet life for herself in New York City, but she is isolated and slow to trust others as she still deals with the trauma of her childhood. Andrea seems to have moved on from her past and has built a hugely successful fertility company. When they reunite, Maeve soon discovers that everything may not be as it seems with Andrea and her company...and some seriously wild and creepy things await her!

This story just grew wackier and creepier as it went on. Yet I have to say it was entertaining. It was hard for me to fully buy into everything that happened, but I was still fairly fascinated with the motherhood cult theme. In general, cults are fascinating to me, and this one was definitely interesting if a bit weird.

If you are okay with a creepy story that is a bit far-fetched, this could be the right fit for you!

This book was the perfect book to get me out of my reading slump. Each chapter left you wondering what was going to happen next and was overall a fast-paced book. Since the chapters always left you wondering about Maeve it left me wanting more. I had some guesses about what was going to happen next each time, some right and some wrong. The way the cult was described, it felt so real. After I finished the book last night, I was genuinely scared to walk around my house because the cult from the story felt so real. Fair warning that it is a bit explicit (sexual description, rape, detailed gore). I definitely give this book a 4.5 stars!

3.5 stars
Maeve and her cousin Andrea were raised in a cult known as Mother Collective.  After an escape/rescue, Maeve found a home with a new family and lost contact with Andrea until many years later.  Will reconnecting with her cousin be a good thing for Maeve, or will their past come back to haunt her?  I'd label this more as a psychological thriller with hints of horror (because the thought of a room full of creepy dolls is definitely horrific).  I enjoyed the story well enough, but Maeve was just too wishy-washy for me.  I don't mind unlikable, unreliable MC's, but I just couldn't muster up enough "give a crap" to care about her and her outcome.

This one was absolutely a worthy read! The story of Maeve, a woman who spent the first eight years of her life trapped in a domineering mother cult and the years since trying to re-center herself and her needs as a person, she's nevertheless haunted by those years- and the loss of her only relative an older girl named Andrea. Spending years trying to find her leads nowhere until her cousin's DNA test causes her to reach out on a website Maeve joined and the two begin to reform their bond. At first all goes well and the pair seem to be reconnecting (Andrea has grown up to be a successful business woman and married a man who suits her, a steep contrast to Maeve's own less ordered life as an editor with an uncommitted relationship) but somehow things don't add up. Maeve is about find out why.

I feel like this one recalls some classic novels of the fifties in some ways, it's a modern tale set in our time, but there's definitely an air of that age and the gothic mood you might find in a Shirley Jackson novel if it were centered in a more modern world where science, psychology, and destructive manipulation all come to take their due. Its also a book that confronts the way women's lifespans become centered on reproduction and motherhood while also neutering any traits that fall outside of those ideals even up to the exclusion of the men in their life. A healthy reminder that it's also women who believe in this toxicity who will fight to exist in it an use it to do harm to others. If I had any qualms with this one it was the feeling of being rushed through the final chapters of the book, resulting in an ending that works but feels a bit like it's missing some parts.

What a creepy thrilling read! This book drew me in from the very beginning. Some parts did drag a bit, but overall it was a quick suspenseful read.

When Maeve fled the cult she grew up in, she left her cousin Andrea behind. Reunited as adults, Maeve finds herself drawn into Andrea's world, even moving in to Andrea's home when her own world starts to fall apart. Andrea's focus is fertility, and the importance of women having children, a stance Maeve doesn't agree with, but she loves her cousin and owes her so much...

This book is terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. It is masterfully written and the suspense builds until it's cranked up to 11 and you can't look away no matter how scary things get. And that ending! I definitely recommend this book.

This was a well crafted and interesting story. You know something is off, but you are not sure what exactly. The author managed the story of the past and the present well and I couldn't stop reading.

Just Like Mother has some of the same sinister and unnerving elements that make stories like Rosemary’s Baby, The Invitation, and Westworld so good. When its sci-fi, gothic, and cult horror elements are working, they work well. But overall the book felt like it would be better suited as a short story, at least in its current form. Currently it's too slow paced, too much filler, and too many characters I can't connect with or really like.

This mystery was interesting and very creepy. The story alternates between two timelines - the present, and when Maeve and Andrea were still in the cult. It was intriguing to read about the cult itself, but otherwise I found the story to be very predictable and at times frustrating;; Maeve often did things that no rational person would do in her circumstances. It was unsettling, similar to A Handmaid’s Tale - I was uncomfortable through the whole reading. I don’t know if that makes me the target audience the author was trying to reach but this book was off the mark for me.

Creepy and atmospheric with a bit of a mystery thrown in for good measure. I read it in a day and the ending did not disappoint. Horror/mystery fans will eat this up!

“Just Like Mother” is a fast-paced psychological horror novel. “Just Like Mother” takes an interesting spin on motherhood using dolls. Now, dolls can be creepy. Then add artificial intelligence and you have entered fresh territory.

In. “Just Like Mother” we meet Mauve, who gains reader sympathy rather quickly. As a child, Mauve escaped from a cult called the Mother Collective. She keeps to herself, does not want kids, and shies away from relationships. Throughout the years, she has searched for her cousin Andrea, who was raised in the cult. Mauve reconnects with her cousin. Andres is super wealthy and intimidating. Mauve becomes closer to Andrea, but also becomes more isolated from her life, and creepiness begins to unfold.

The entire story is not about a cult. There are several layers to this storyline that work well to develop this book. The story is told from Muave’s perspective. The reader gets glimpses into her life and flashbacks from her childhood.

From the beginning, the book drew me in. As the book progressed, I asked questions. The need for answers and more details had me turning pages. Some might find the storyline predictable. I did not. The ending pleasantly surprised me.

Fans of cult stories should give this one a try.

This one started strong and really held my attention. But, as it went along I felt like the plot lost its edge and felt a little rushed to be honest.

As soon as the author introduced the life-like babies I knew I was hooked! As if the introduction to the cult the cousins grew up in and the creepy house with secret passages didn't already clue you in, this book was like a carnival ride in an eerie abandoned amusement park!

I love how Heltzel takes you into the mind of Andrea, the baby obsessed, fanatical founder of NewLife and plays her against Maeve, the cousin she grew up with who wants nothing to do with motherhood. I felt so sorry for Maeve, as all she wanted was to connect with family, to have someone to care for her. In believing she could recreate the connection she had with Andrea as a child, she is blinded to what is really happening around her.

Just Like Mother is a fascinating, disturbing, and creepy psychological horror book that you just can't look away from.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire for the opportunity to read this "fresh new voice in horror".

Enjoyment: 5
Total rating: 4.71

Maeve and Andrea were both part of the same cult as children. For the past 20 years, Maeve escaped and built a life distant from the cult and everyone else.

Andrea, now a renowned fertility doctor, seeks Maeve out and soon, they become as close as they were as children. But being immersed in Andrea's high society world comes at a price to Maeve, who starts to feel a disconnect from her own life as the bury memories from her past start to submerge. But facing these terrors may be what she needs to transcend the nightmare still to come.

I consumed Just Like Mother as if I was running out of time. It is as entertaining as it is unsettling - flashbacks to the past, when Andrea and Maeve were in the cult, brought me to tears. I really loved the contrast between both characters. Maeve's life is a mess, her autodestructive personality is unnerving, and she has the hallmarks of a character you'd hate, yet there is something so vulnerable and endearing about her; I felt very protective of and rooted for her without hesitation. You feel her pain when she mentions her past, and Heltzel's choice of monikers for the cult members was nothing short of impactful.

On the other hand, Andrea is beautiful, rich, charming and giving. The epitome of a character everyone would love. But something is menacing behind her demeanour, a slight edge that just made me feel unsettled and unable to connect to her.

Even with these contrasting characters that confuse the reader's feelings, Cassidy evoked a sense of paranoia that keeps us questioning our assumptions until the end. Just Like Mother reminded me of Rosemary's Baby in the atmosphere, but with a modern Law & Order SVU twist.


Even though I read it as an ARC, I bought a copy. Just Like Mother is a bookshelf-worthy debut.


Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing a copy of Just Like Mother.

My initial thoughts after I finished this book, past my bedtime on a work night: I want to scream and throw up. Review to come.

Thank you to Tor Nightmare, Anne, and Netgalley for an arc of Just Like Mother.

I finished reading this book almost a month ago and my initial thoughts (I want to scream and throw up) still stand.

Maeve lives a quiet life, keeping mostly to herself and not opening up to anyone. She escaped a cult with her cousin when they were barely teenagers and since then has found it hard to trust. She also lost touch with her cousin that same night and has always wondered about how Andrea turned out...until Andrea pops back into her life after a match on a DNA website. They pick back up where they left off, still clicking just like they did as kids. The only weird thing is that Andrea does not seem to want to rehash any of the childhood trauma that they experienced together. Something that Maeve would love to do. Maeve discovers that Andrea is very put together despite what they went through, great career, great husband, good group of friends...everything that Maeve seems to lack. So when Maeve is invited to Andrea's new house upstate every weekend, she obliges. However, the more Maeve submerges herself into Andrea's world, the more she realizes there may be some lingering issues that haven't been dealt with on Andrea's side, despite the facade that everything is perfect.

That's really just the tip of the iceberg and in no way does it prepare you for the absolute fuckery that you're about to witness. Also, let me yell it from the rooftops - THIS IS A DEBUT. If this is Anne's idea of a debut, then I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.

The story was expertly crafted, flowed at a great pace. The characters were engaging. I absolutely loved Maeve, flaws and all. Andrea was magnetic and alluring. Her friends and her world were captivating. Maeve was so easy to root for, I was so invested in her and I would definitely read more of her life, both pre- and post-Just Like Mother.

I really don't know what else to say other than I would like it very much for everyone who likes thrillers to read this book. I would put it partially into the horror category because the elements are definitely there, but I know that the word 'horror' is off-putting to some readers. It's not scary, per se, but horrifying is definitely a word that applies.

If you like creepy suspense and don't pick this up because of the cover, do you really like thrillers and horror? Just Like Mother follows two friends who were raised together in a female commune (aka cult) and lost touch after it was raided. They reconnect as adults though there are certainly some red flags. As their lives entwine the pace become intense and then spins out! Great read for lovers of the genre.

This book was creepy AF! I was immediately drawn to the cult aspect of the plot. Cults are my weaknesses and if a book out there is marketed as having a cult-type plotline, I'm sold. Mauve is born into a commune feminist type cult that teaches her to fear and hate men and exalts women and their ability to procreate. After escaping as a child, she goes into foster care and eventually reconnects with her long lost cousin. From there, her cousin begins to slowly manipulate and isolate her, which triggers memories that Mauve has long since suppressed.

This gothic thriller is creepy and filled with trauma and bizarre themes of motherhood. (Parts could be very triggering for some, so be aware that there are aspects of perinatal depression, plus sexual assault.)

The middle of the book dragged and was a bit boring for me. I was unsure where it was going and was frankly creeped out by the old mansion that Mauve's cousin lived in and the creepy doll company she ran. Then the last 20% hit and wow, I did not see that coming. Things got wild! And the last page still gives me the shivers....