I wanted to love this book but it fell flat for me. Some pieces of it were the disturbing world you’d expect from the author, but ultimately those pieces were small snippets and this just wasn’t the dream thriller I thought it would be. (See what I did there? IYKYK)

This book is every single person's nightmare. Grace's mother, newly widowed, moves in with her at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, to save on rent, and seemingly make life easier for them both. While they both have unresolved issues in their past, Grace vows to attempt to make things work with Jackie, since she needs her help with the rent.

When Jackie moves in, Grace begins to have nightmares about her dead, disabled twin sister, and begins to feel very trapped with Jackie, and not being able to go out due to lock downs. When Grace's friend gets sick, that seems to send her into a spiral of sleeplessness that is difficult to come back from, leading to a climax so unexpected it will leave you reeling!

This books is one part psychological thriller, one part any young person's nightmare. After a taste of freedom and independence, having your mother move in with you would be claustrophobic and difficult to manage. With all the baggage Grace and Jackie have, it is downright horrific. This book (like most by Zoje Stage) put you on the edge of psychological discomfort, and end in the best possible, twisty way. Definitely recommend!

This book just wasn’t for me. While I did appreciate some of the more chilling moments and the use of the quarantine theme, it was very hard to get into. The beginning jumps around and through different conversations so quickly without explanation that it made me unsure who or what the author was talking about at times.

While I really wanted to love this book--I"m a fan of Baby Teeth--it felt like twenty-percent story and eight-percent filler. If this were a novella I would've upped the stars. Overall, I will still read Zoje Stage, this one just didn't hit the mark for me. Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

I LOVED this book! Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC. Having the story set during covid and putting some reality into it was a great choice. We all lived through the horrors of lockdown and isolation. The characters, a mother and daughter, where they have to live with each other during this difficult time, had me feeling all sorts of ways. Without spoiling anything, you have to read this book. The ending was unbelievable yet there are some ways we can relate to her feelings and thoughts. Overall, a great follow up to one of my favorite books, Baby Teeth. Zoje Stage does not disappoint, once again!

Definitely gave me the heebie jeebies. The descent into madness was a lot and more confusing than anything else, but that’s probably the point. The ending left me feeling pretty uncomfortable which was a good thing.

I loved Stage's debut, Baby Teeth, so when I saw their latest on NetGalley I became instantly excited at the possibility of reading it early. Though I haven't yet read the books that came between Baby Teeth and Mothered, I went into this one with high expectations. Sadly, I could not latch onto it. I tried hard,though, knowing my love for Baby Teeth. I kept telling myself there would be a grand payout. But I was disappointed in the ending; I could probably go as far as to say I didn't like it. I also grew tired of the "is she dreaming again or not?" question I had to ask myself frequently while reading this. Though the final 30% does pick up steam, I never found the story all that exciting or bewitching. I was mostly just eager for something noteworthy to happen but...sadly, I was left wanting a different outcome constantly. I didn't like the characters, except Miguel, and the setting of home-during-the-pandemic left me feeling like I was stuck in a "bottle episode" where there should have been exponential character growth but I was mostly just teased throughout. I was frustrated a lot with this book and that sucks. However, I will still read Stage's other titles I haven't yet gotten to, even if this one is ultimately a "pass" in regards to recommendation.

When the pandemic hit, Grace found herself without an income and with a mortgage to pay. When her mother calls, asking for a place to stay, it seems like the solution Grace needs. But as the pandemic crawls on, the decision turns into a nightmare.
Stage captures the sense of claustrophobia and disconnection that so many felt in the early days of the pandemic, when staying at home in your OJs all day had lost its charm and no timeline for ending isolation was appearing. Combine this dread with complicated family relationships, and an unstable, unreliable narrator and the recipe is right for serious tension and creeping dread. There were times that the main character felt somewhat flat and two dimensional, but on the whole it was a fantastic read.

2.5 stars rounded up. I read and enjoyed BABY TEETH, so maybe the problem lies with me. I feel like I wasn't smart enough to understand this book!

MOTHERED is set during the pandemic, but I had no problem with that. Grace has just bought a house shortly before the world shut down. She's not able to work as a hair stylist, and she's worried about paying the mortgage. Her mother Jackie asks to move in as she's getting up in years and is worried about the isolation of being alone. Grace has never had a great relationship with Jackie, but she reluctantly agrees.

There are two weirdly compelling back stories in this book; one, Grace catfishes people online to the extent that she keeps notebooks to keep all of her personas straight. In a way she's helping vulnerable people work through issues, but the whole idea was just unsettling. Then the other...Grace starts having vivid nightmares about her disabled twin when Jackie moves in. Tensions between mother and daughter mount until Jackie finally accuses Grace of the unthinkable. Plagued by night terrors and insomnia, Grace has trouble differentiating reality from nightmares. Is she responsible for her sister's death, or has her mother accused her for her own sick reasons?

I had no idea what was going on half the time, and just like Grace, I had trouble telling the truth between reality and hallucinations. Maybe that was the whole point, and I just wasn't the target reader for this book. I did appreciate the atmosphere of dread that permeated the entire book, but I wasn't a fan of the unsettled, confused feeling. MOTHERED will publish March 1, 2023. Thank you to Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for this early read.

This is my first Zoje Stage book but it most definitely won’t be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this book, I barely was able to put it down and when I got to the last page I craved more.

I think reading a story that takes place during the early stages of the pandemic and lockdown can be quite jarring. But I also think the experience that many Americans had, are having still, is also so far removed from my own experience as a person living in Denmark. Which might make it easier to read this as there’s no exact parallels between my own experiences and the character’s experiences (no near deaths, no lockdowns or masks, not really, except for just a little while). With that said, the relationship between Grace, the main character, and her mother was something that I could only relate to all too well. It made the book uncomfortable at times and I always appreciate a book that makes you uncomfortable while you read it.

It wasn’t due to the pandemic, not really, maybe only a little bit, but as with Grace and her mother. My mother and I also moved in together to save costs and for her health. Our relationship has been on thin ice a lot during my childhood, so the microaggressions that Grace’s mum showed throughout the book only felt that much more real, as I’ve experienced it myself. I think this book, despite it being horror, could resonate with a lot of people who have a strained relationship with their mums. Especially when most of us know, all too well, how complicated our feelings can be when it comes to our own parents.

I’m not sure what my point is beyond it being relatable (to an extend, not to get spoilery) and that I felt excited and uncomfortable reading it. It’s hands down one of my favourite reads of this year and I only wished I had more of the story. There’s so many questions left unanswered, not because the author didn’t consider answering them, but because life isn’t so cut and dry. We don’t always get all the answers and we don’t get to always understand what happened. I appreciate a book that’s realistic in that sense. I also appreciate the openness with which the book ends, leaving us, the readers, to imagine what comes next.

There’s not much I can think of to criticise the book. I know others felt less than excited about the unreliable narrator, but it’s one of my favourite tropes, and so it only added to my reasons for liking it. There’s a character with cerebral palsy in it, I’m not sure, as an abled bodied person, whether it’s a truthful and safe depiction of someone with cerebral palsy or of disabled people in general. She is described as somewhat vicious in her treatment of Grace, but since she’s described in flashbacks and nightmares, I can’t help but wonder if that’s the flaw of the unreliable narrator: thinking one thing happened, while another thing actually happened? It feels realistic for Grace to have viewed her childhood in a different light than how it truthfully was. But then again, if this is the only depiction of a disabled person, is this positive or negative then? I’m not sure and I would love to actually see someone else’s views and opinions on this.

All in all, I really appreciate this book. It's not one I would necessarily read again, I rarely re-read most books, but it is one that will stay with me for a very long time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC.

This book. Wow! Complete and utter mind fuck. Zoje Stage has a talent for writing extremely intense and claustrophobic thrillers. This one did not disappoint. From the very first page you feel a sense of dread and tension. The slow descent into madness of the main character was so well done, and the pacing is perfect. I couldn't put it down, I just HAD to know what would happen next. I will have to say if you have any kind of pandemic trauma, maybe wait on this one. I do think that added to the anxiety I felt while reading though. Grace moving her mother (who she has a strained relationship with anyway) into her home, in the middle of a pandemic, while dealing with terrible nightmares and financial issues... God the tension practically drips off of the pages.

Thank you to Zoje Stage and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this awesome book!

This was a strange and unique read. Some parts were confusing in trying to figure out the characters mind and left me with questions. Overall I like it and would recommend.

In Mothered by Zoje Stage, we meet Grace who, in the midst of the pandemic, moves in with her recently widowed mother. Grace and her mother have a very strained, toxic relationship. I had a hard time getting vested into this book. I think mainly because I try not to read about the pandemic and this book pretty much centers around the pandemic.

An easy to read book that I got through quickly, with lots of twists and turns. The fact that this was set during the pandemic adds an interesting factor to the storyline. At times the character was unreliable and it was hard to know what was real, which added to the storyline as you were never 100% sure who to trust. This is the first book I’ve read from this author and I would read more in the future.

This is 4.5 stars. After a shaky start, I ended up tearing through this book. It was excellent. Who could have thought a mother coming to live with her daughter during the pandemic could be so damn unsettling? The pacing is excellent as Stage seems to close the walls in around you all the while confronting you with horrifying nightmares asleep and awake. Haunting and emotional, you won’t be able to put it down. Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

Hmmmm. This is one I feel unsure about after finishing but I get the feeling it will stick with me for a while. It was very vivid! I read it with anticipation something horrible and dramatic would happen.

This one also felt a bit less subtle compared to Baby Teeth; I think I would have liked a bit less ambiguity!

I wish to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer Publishers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This thriller/mystery novel simply leaves you breathless. In the beginning Grace’s very difficult, widowed mother moves in with her just as the pandemic is beginning. She takes over the house and Grace’s life and her wild dreams. Just when you think this book is about living in the pandemic it switches to subjects such as catfishing, loyalty to friends, and the remembrance of the unexpected death and loss of Grace’s disabled twin sister. I would say this is a psychological thriller and one that will keep you guessing all the way to the end. I never knew where it was going but I held on for the ride of a lifetime. I did read it cover to cover as I was really intrigued and the author did not disappoint. Spooky and totally strange are words that come to mind. It really hooked me.

This book was bizarre but I mostly enjoyed it. It takes place at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, which I wasn’t quite ready to revisit, though it does a good job of describing what those first few months were like. The story centers on Grace, whose mom Jackie comes to stay with her after a long estrangement. The relationship has not healed over time and being quarantined together pushes Grace to her limit.

You get an unreliable narrator in Grace, which is something I enjoy. Is Grace crazy? Is Jackie? It’s sometimes hard to say. Jackie’s visit brings back forgotten memories of Grace’s childhood and the death of her twin sister. There are creepy passages as Grace uncovers things she had forgotten. A lot of the book takes place in dream sequences, which is effective in figuring out Grace’s frame of mind, but often confusing to the reader, as I sometimes couldn’t immediately tell if something was a dream or not. The ending was fascinating and leaves the reader with unanswered questions, but in a “makes you think” kind of way versus a “loose ends weren’t tied up” kind of way.

Overall, a strange and unique read that was uncomfortable at times but that I enjoyed overall. Thanks for Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

During a global pandemic Grace, a new home owner, finds herself letting her mother move in with her in order to make both of their lives financially easier.
But things quickly begin to unravel as Grace now needs to deal with her distant mother, her sick best friend, an unhealthy hobby and horrible nightmares.
Mothered by Zoje Stage is a unsettling read that will keep you turning the pages until the very end and will rattle around in your mind long after you finish.
This was a one day read for me, I just could not put it down.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the early chance to read this book.
I absolutely loved it.
You can find my spoiler free YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_Q8wQiTGsg

I was really impressed with this fever dream of a novel set in the early days of the Covid19 pandemic. If I had known it was set then, I likely wouldn’t have requested it, but I’m glad I did.

Grace, the MC, is navigating a tense relationship with her elderly mother. This dynamic is what propels most of the book. Well, that and Grace’s memories of her dead twin sister, Hope.

I struggled to know what was dream and what was reality, and this was as disorienting for the reader as it was for Grace. I felt on edge reading this, as if waiting for something to happen - but it was a true slow burn. My one major qualm with this book is that Hope is a disabled person who is (for the most part) portrayed as the villain. That just didn’t sit right with me.

I absolutely loved the very ending and how it all wrapped up.