Review of Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one was super fun and unique. I loved the creepiness and the cult vibes but it also had elements of a regular thriller as well. I listened to the audio and quite enjoyed that. It started off slow for me but then picked right up and kept going. I loved the main character.

Quick synopsis: Maeve is living a mostly anonymous life in the city when she suddenly hears from her cousin Andrea. She hasn’t seen her since they escaped the cult they grew up in and she’s thrilled. Before she knows it she’s lost her job and moves to the Catskills with Andrea and her husband. But things don’t stay calm for long and she soon realizes she may not have escaped her past.

Just Like Mother Review!

Give me any book with a cult in it and I’ll read it. 😄 Just like Mother was a 4.75/5 ⭐️ for me. I was hooked from page one! I don’t think I will ever forget this book, it had such a unique plot. Plus I loved the culty aspect revolving around children and motherhood. I did think that the ending was very far fetched, which was the only reason it wasn’t 5 stars for me. Heltzel will 100% be on my radar in the future. I can’t wait to read what she comes up with next!

Synopsis:l Maeve is only a little girl when she escapes a cult. Over 20 years pass and Maeve gets a message from an ancestory website. The message is from her cousin, Andrea, who she lived with when she was a child. Andrea and Maeve are on different paths in life. Andrea, making it big in the fertility industry and having a family, while Maeve is barely skimming by and living the single life. Andrea throws Maeve into her world and Maeve soon begins to confront the terror she had to live with as a child.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Yikes! this was one of those books where you are screaming "don't do it! don't do that! no!" constantly! even if i knew something bad would happen it was still so creepy! would recommend and reread

5 stars. This was a pre-order and a 2022 release that did not let me down. I am absolutely BLOWN away by this debut from Anne Heltzel. It's a slow-build character analysis into Mauve and her reuniting with her cousin. As the story unfolds it becomes obvious that one of them escaped their terrible childhood while another is in the throws of it. The ending was so intense! I will say this needs a big warning for sexual assault and forced pregnancy and I would also not recommend reading this if you are pregnant or have had a traumatic pregnancy or are fearing your birthing process because this will not bring you peace at all. I loved this one. An absolutely remarkable look into motherhood and the desire to not be one in a world of women telling you it's the most important thing in the world. Plus, I love a good cult book and this one does it right. Full review to come.

The audiobook narration was EXCELLENT. I was enthralled by the complexities of her reading and character voices.

I liked the creepy vibe of this book and there were some good plot twists, but I wish there had been more explanation of the women's motives for joining the cult. Especially with the current discussion around abortion, it seemed odd that so many young women would be persuaded by that ideology.

The novel has a gothic feel and increasing dread that builds to interesting twists. I would recommend.

I listened to the audiobook and as I have mentioned before, I just don’t think audiobooks are my preferred method of “reading”. Perhaps I would have rated it higher reading a physical copy. I’m giving this one 3.5 stars (.5 for the ending which was… WOW).

I was expecting this book to be a little creepier than it was. It was a little slow for my taste. It took me about 50% of the way to get into it, with the last 25% being the best.

Overall I’d say not bad, but not fantastic. It was good.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

JUST LIKE MOTHER

DNF at 65%

I had to DNF this one.

I struggled with a few things going on in this book. Some of the points I had problems with verge on spoilery so I’ll do my best to explain without giving away plot points.

First of all most of the dialogue felt unrealistic and weird. Especially the dialogue between Maeve and Andrea. I could tell part of it was on purpose and I felt it might make sense later but I just couldn’t read to that point.

Some of the plot hinges on the fact that I’m going to believe that one cousin would go about persuading the other cousin in this way and I just didn’t buy it.

The way the characters are constructed feels like they are hollow and simply an accumulation of behaviors acted out. I appreciate when characters behaviors make sense and when characters have an arc. None of that happened here.

My biggest complaint though is that some of the transitions between between scenes are confusing. The passages go from one scene to another without really telling me the reader it’s happening making it unnecessarily hard to read.

I would try another Anne Heltzel book as I think some of the problems I had with this book were plot related.


Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy!

This unusual story has two little girls, Andrea and Maeve, growing up together in a cult-like situation, leaving, then meeting again years later.

The narrator read this story in a slightly monotone voice that felt suspenseful and a bit ominous. I was seized and held captive by this book from the get-go.

What exactly was the cult about? It didn’t feel all that clear. So I kept listening to the audio. When the two women met years later it felt obvious that something wasn’t quite right with Andrea. But what? I needed to know.

The story felt unique and had me continually wondering where things were heading.

My Concerns
As I neared the last half of the book the answers to certain questions, or what might have been seen as twists, felt very obvious, yet Maeve was pretty oblivious to everything. Then again, she wasn’t looking for certain things.

I wish there’d been more time spent on the cult where the two lived, and that the last half of the book would have been tightened and had some unseen twists.

Final Thoughts
I did enjoy this, just not as much as I’d hoped to. With a few tweaks to the story, I would have rated it much higher.

Even with my concerns, I would recommend you check out other reviews and then decide if this sounds like a story you’d enjoy. If you do decide to read or listen to this, make sure you check the trigger warnings. There are several.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a review copy of the audiobook.

This book was absolutely insane. 10/10 to the narrator, first of all. She did an excellent job with her pacing and tone.

The twists and turns of this book totally kept me guessing up to the last page. Will be recommending to everyone!

I knew I would enjoy this one just based off the synopsis. I love a good cult story and this definitely delivered.

I loved the audiobook for starters. The narrator was great and it was a smooth listen. But more importantly, the story is sooo gripping. I think the intensity of the cult itself and the inner thoughts of our main character are executed very well. The writing flowed smoothly and the pace of the story was great. While I saw the twist coming, the way the events unfolded were still surprising. And the end leaves you confused - but in a good way.

My only qualms were with the main character. As someone who was so cautious as a child, I felt like she was too forgiving and ignorant to the red flags. I do however understand because she didn't want to lose her again and the bond of family was important to her. I also wish that we got a bit more about the cult itself. I really enjoyed when we had that past perspective and think it really added to the story.

I highly recommend! It's twisted, dark, scary at times, and a heck of a ride.

TW: Abuse, sexual assault, stealthing, childhood trauma

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. Elizabeth Evans does a fantastic job narrating Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel and adds her own level of creepiness that can only come from a great performance. This book is not what I expected. There is creep factor in the story, it's not just in the cover. I don't want to spoil anything but I was expecting to be creeped out by a paranormal element but I found the real horror in the narrative of "everyone knows what's best for you", which can easily be seen in real life. I think every family has a few members that seem to want to control every aspect of your life. There are a lot of characters in this book that are that way. The way these characters would manipulate was really scary. The interactions with the dolls was eerie but the true horror was shown through how the human beings treated each other.

Overall, I found the book to be extremely enjoyable. The complex characters and situations that Anne Heltzel created made this a real page turner. I look forward to future works from this author. I hope that I can come across another Elizabeth Evans audiobook as well. Great work from both of these talented artists.

I want to thank Anne Heltzel, Elizabeth Evans, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Just Like Mother was one of the better books I've listened to in a while! It is apparently the adult debut by new to me author Anne Heltzel. This is one of those books that I was drawn into by the cover (yes I judged a book by its cover and this one certainly delivered! ) I loved how it was told in alternating past/present time periods. I would just love to have learned more about the cult The Mother Collective that Maeve and Andrea grew up in -I was really intrigued with that part of the book. - perhaps that could be a prequel or something someday. Fast forward to present day where Maeve and Andrea reunite when they have found one another via a DNA test. Things are not exactly as they seem with Andrea -she is playing some mind games with Maeve and it takes Maeve a little while to figure this out. Overall Heltzel has delivered a really creepy book! Are there some things in it that are a bit unbelievable - sure! Just go with it though - its overall a great book. The narrator of the audiobook did a really good job

What in the cult. This was amazing. I listened to it on audiobook and I loved it! I was sucked in from the beginning, and truly was surprised until the last moment. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, the last few paragraphs sucker punched me. I highly recommend this one.

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Definitely creepy. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

After escaping The Mother Collective- a cult built around the belief that women are superior and men serve only the purpose to make them mothers- as a child, Maeve has slowly eked out a life for herself that she feels comfortable in. Out of the blue, she is contacted by her cousin who was her closest confidant in those frought years of her early childhood. Excited at the prospect of rebuilding ties with the only person who could understand her past, Maeve draws closer to Andrea. They say love is blind- is that why Maeve is willing to see past all the strange events that begin to occur in her life after her reunion with Andrea?

The cover of this is truly what reeled me in, but I can never resist a good cult story either. I listened to an audiobook of it and I really thought the narrator had a knack for differentiating different voices and inflections between characters.

To address the story itself: what a ride! I found myself so thoroughly creeped out and upset by this book several times as I listened to it, but that's exactly what I was supposed to feel and therefore I leaned into it. In a perfect world, I'd have loved to know more about the origins and day to day operations of the Mother Collective, or for more of the loose ends of the story to be tied up. As it was, it still kept me on the edge of my seat. I thought it was just scary enough without being superfluous, and truly it was such a creative plot. I really had fun listening to it.

Thanks so much to Macmillan Audio and Tor Nightfire for the opportunity to listen to this in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Rating: 3.5
Author: Anne Heltzel

As soon as I saw this cover I knew I had to read it. I didn’t know what it was about but that cover instantly sold me. I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator did a fantastic job. They portrayed the characters well and kept my interest through the whole book. While I found this one to be enjoyable I didn’t love it. I thought it was an okay book. It was a great book to listen to while I was driving and doing chores because if you zone out and come back I never felt like I missed anything important. Even though I found it to be okay I would still recommend it. Like any thriller/horror I recommend going in knowing as little as possible because you will probably enjoy it more. Kept my review short for those reasons.

Thank you so much @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copy on #netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What’s possibly good about being in a cult? Search me for I find nothing redeemed about them.

In this book, we learn about a cult consisting of women with a definite agenda against males, Maeve manages to escape but leaves her cousin behind. Two years pass and Andrea, her cousin appears married and wealthy. The ladies try to reestablish their familial ties, but something is off.

The story and cousin relationship becomes murky and sinister. Panic sets in and the ending brings us full circle in this sinister tale.

Thank you to Anne Hetzel, the publisher, for the audiobook of this story already published.

YES!!!!!!!!

This was really good. It got predictable but so worth it. It had slight creepy vibes, could have used alot more creepiness. It was a fun read. I love anything about cults. So good.

Please read the epilogue... ;)

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

Rating: 2.88 out of 5
-Characters: 3.5/5
-Cover: 3/5
-Story: 2/5
-Writing: 3/5
Genre: Horror/Mystery/Cult
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: EEHH no
Trigger Warnings: Death of a child, Gaslighting, Sexual Harassment, Abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, Attempted Murder, Rape, Abortion Talk

***THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING OF SPOILERS. THE WHOLE POST IS SPOILER FILLED***


Want to first thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to listen to this book. Oh man, oh man where do I even start?

One, the cult at the beginning. We don't get a defined idea of what they were. The mothers made no sense. We kinda get glimpses but that's about it.

Two, predictability. After a certain point early on you get the jest of it and figure out what is going on. The drive isn't there anymore. It makes the ending very... confusing and a wannabe for a plot twist.

Three, Maeve and Andrea. Maeve is... the trope of every dumb woman wrote by a man but she is written by a female which makes it worse. I know the author was probably trying to go for a Rosemary Baby thing but... come on. Been there and it has been done a million and FOUR times. Like... give me a damn break. Give me a freaking break with women being so damn stupid and not seeing clear big ass red signs. This really pissed me off. Andrea is your typical brat/Karen. The author really went HAM on the boring-over-done-needs-to-stay-dead trope.

Maeve coudn't put two and two together that since she was with Andrea bad shit started to happen? You are telling me Maeve was too damn stupid to put those two together? Even after that big ass fight EVEN after when Andrea would get her in trouble back at the home??

Four, Tyler being a creep. The time jumps made it even worse. We went from talking in the bar, to not text, to actual texting like a mad man, to a date, to two months, and then... that damn rape scene of him tying her up and blindfolding her and getting another man to have sex with no consent.

Five, the cops... what was even the point of them?

Six, the ending was just... because the rest of the book was basically fiery trash that it just... added fuel.

Seven, in the audiobook the chapters just have the name of the book so you don't even know what freaking chapter you are on.

The only reason why it is getting a 2 instead of a one because the first half-ish is pretty decent.