Big BIG thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday for the ARC in exchange for my honest review (posted on my IG @dark.oracle.reads as well as GoodReads on 4/15)

Psychological family breakdowns are totally my jam, so I was excited to go on this journey. And boy, was I *in it* starting with the very first page. The writing is smooth like butter, and our narrator is just so damn relatable with her snarky voice.

Don’t let the “funny” descriptor in the overview fool you..although there’s plenty of chuckle-inducing dialogue, this novel drips with loneliness, abandonment and paranoia. A cautionary tale on the horrific tolls of unacknowledged emotional labor, this story is a case study in a delicate mind going completely off the rails, so subtly at first that we don’t even notice. But like a frog slowly being boiled alive, we soon find ourselves surrounded and absolutely absorbed by the utter madness of grief, isolation and helplessness. Some more themes this piece touches on are the infantilization of men, the psychology of attachment and development, and the often toxic complexities of mother-child relationships.

I dug the hell out of this novel, and my only disappointment is that it won’t be available to adorn my shelves until October. Yes, I’ve already preordered a physical copy and I highly suggest you do the same!

WOW. I am putting this book at the top of the list of the best things I have ever read. It's sad and funny and disturbing and weird as hell. I love authors who can capture and articulate the disjointed strangeness and disconcerting intimacies of our inner monologues, those thoughts we'd never say aloud, and yet we recognize so much of ourselves in them when we get to listen in on someone else's interior conversations. Hogarth also does a tremendous job of navigating and revealing the aching weirdness of relationships--both in the heartburstingly good and fun ways and the heartrendingly tragic and traumatizing ways. Dead moms and complicated mothers are a huge theme in this book, so if that's a triggering topic, be wary. What is a mother's love? Who deserves it and who does not? What happens when we're deprived of it and in striving to be everything our mother was not, are we not also becoming that shadow, as well? In this story, Abby has found her true-love soulmate in Ralph and hopes to create a family with him, giving their child everything positive and good as a parent that neither she nor Ralph experienced as children. In the wake of Ralph's cruel and emotionally controlling mother's suicide, Ralph is succumbing to a deep depression and is also insisting that he is seeing his mother's ghost. More troubling still, Abby is beginning to sense a presence as well. Feeling her dreams threatened and her fragile sense of self crumbling, Abby becomes ...quite desperate.

This book was bizarre, but in a good way! I really liked the writing style of this one but I will say, there were parts in the story (ex: the couch in the beginning), that honestly were just so confusing and very random. I wasn't a huge fan of the main character. Some of the things she did just really rubbed me the wrong way (ex: contemplating faking pregnancy) which left a a really bad taste in my mouth. Other than that, this was a pretty good book and I know that it will do very well when it is finally released!

A modern masterpiece detailing a woman’s slow descent into madness, a woman whose deepest desire is to be the perfect mother, the kind of mother that she didn’t have (all she had was a damn couch- a motherthing). Abby wanted her husband Ralph’s mother to function as her surrogate mother, but she also turned out to be just a horrible (mother)thing, and now she is dead, and Ralph is drowning in grief. Abby is sure that a baby is just the thing to rid the house of the ghost of Ralph’s mother and to sweep away all the sadness, and she intends to be the perfect woman for this baby. But Abby’s path to perfection is pretty questionable. A shrink would probably say it was because of her mother…

Putting this one down for now at 40% through.

I had high hopes based on the description and cover, but it's been a struggle to get invested into the story. I found the beginning a bit confusing, especially the slipping into the past memory section about Couchy? I do find that this to be beautifully written from a stylistic stand point. However, I find Abby to be insufferable. I'm sure there's an audience for this book, it's just not me.

I am so blown away by this read. What I was anticipating to be a really kitschy read a la Grady Hendrix (and don't get me wrong, I love Grady Hendrix) ended up being something that really struck me to my core. The best horror takes real human issues one can connect with - grief, loss, the desire to be loved - and distorts them into a nightmare you would like to believe would never happen to you. Motherthing does just that. It's so dark in it's depicting of these things, but somehow manages to stay genuine. Pick this up - give it a go. Thank me later.

My full review for Monster Librarian is forthcoming. I know the summary indicates that it is a "darkly funny domestic horror," but having grown up with a BPD mother, it hit really close to home! It's a great read.

3.5/5 Stars
This review is spoiler free!

Motherthing is weird. In the best way possible.

Written in an everchanging writing style, it's a truly atmospheric contemporary horror novel. When I first read the synopsis, I thought I knew what this book would be like. I went into Motherthing expecting one thing, and instead found myself reading an entirely different story.

This book gives an extremely real and relatable insight into living in the shadow of someone with depression, processing loss, processing pain, and is oddly poignant yet sardonic. Expect this to be a slow burn, the story of someone finding themselves going insane. The whole book culminates in such an unexpected and chilling payoff, completely veering away from the atmosphere created. I definitely recommend reading Motherthing, and also recommend going in prepared to be totally surprised by the story!

*I received an ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and views in this review are my own.

Abby longs for a good mother. Her own mother is out of
the question and her mother in law has been nothing but
cold and callous. Ever changing moods, passive aggressive
tendencies, and genuine disdain for Abby has driven them
apart. Until Lauren dies. A new chapter is waiting for Ralph
and Abby now. A fresh start. Abby needs this, this
opportunity to be a functional family and ultimately, to be
mother (NOT A MOTHERTHING), a good mother, a great
mother. Her plan is put into place and seems to be
working…but a mother(THING)'s love knows no bounds.
Lauren is back. Driving Ralph into a dangerous depressive
state, driving Abby to madness. Abby has to act. She has
to stop Lauren, this MOTHERTHING, from destroying her
chance at normalcy; not every mother knows best.

Motherthing is contemporary horror. Sharp, unsettling
energy and visceral imagery guide you on a slow and
steady creep towards insanity.
Hogarth's writing style is hypnotic: I couldn't unpeel myself
from Motherthing. I'm in awe of her ability to articulate the
most mundane events in a way that adds layers of emotion
EVERYTHING adds to the plot so that it becomes heavier,
thick, more pointed as each chapter passes.

The love/bond/wrath of Motherthing is inescapable and
although that feeling is there from the beginning, it festers
and morphs into an oozing (mother) THING that is
smothering, all-encompassing, horrific.

Total annihilation
feels inevitable, and it is.
Motherthing is perfect, a perfect baby. Read it please.

Thank you so much @netgalley & @doubledaybooks for
approving me for one of my fave reads of the year!

I had a difficult time trying to rate Motherthing. The writing is beautiful, the story is unique and provides an enthralling examination of what motherhood is and who deserves to be a mother. What are the depths to which one will go to show their love? Are you a "motherthing" if you love someone unconditionally and take care of them?

However, I personally did not like this book at all. I found the main character completely childish and unlikable, her actions made no sense even though she was clearly disturbed. For the majority of the book, the horror elements felt forced and were just periodic bursts of gruesome thoughts from the main character. It reminded me of Chuck Palahniuk - musings about the world which leads to some horrifying statement or imagining that is "edgy."

The thing is, I think I am in the minority. Motherthing will likely be a great success, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a contemporary and feminist look at motherhood. I went into this thinking it was a horror novel about a haunting, and it is not that.

I love it. I don’t know how to subscribe this book but it’s absolutely a masterpiece. Sarcastic and satire abound within the narrative. I enjoyed reading about the characters and I highly recommend it!