When Grace loses her job in the middle of Covid lockdowns, and her mothers husband dies suddenly - the inevitable happens. She moves her mother in to live with her to save money, and keep the house she'd worked so hard for.

And that's when her nightmares begin.

I read this book whilst self-isolating (fortunately not with my mother!) And I think this made the story all the more creepier! Extremely well written and absolutely captivating until the end.

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Special thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a really interesting, suspenseful read that I had a hard time putting down. I was nervous that I wouldn't like the pandemic references but i think it was done well! Some chapters are reality and others are dreams which adds to the creepy/ disorienting vibe. Overall I am impressed with this book, especially after not really enjoying Baby Teeth

This book was about Grace, a hairstylist who loses her job during the Covid-19 pandemic and is dealing with the isolation of being in lockdown. Her mother’s husband has recently passed away and her mother, Jackie, decides to move back to Pittsburg and live with Grace. She offers to help with the mortgage, groceries and bills if needed while Grace is out of a job. That all sounds well and good, but it quickly becomes apparent that Jackie’s presence in the house is stirring up a lot of memories about Grace’s childhood and her disabled sister who passed away when they were young.
The book focuses on Grace’s spiral into a warped reality, nightmares and suppressed memories…or are they? Is Grace crazy, or is Jacking slowing convincing her that she is?

This book was very atmospheric, and easy to relate to the covid storyline. The blurring between dreams and reality was well done. It was my first book by Zoje Stage. Overall, I enjoyed the book. 3.5 stars (rounding up to 4)

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-book Advanced Readers Copy (ARC).

So very strange. Good...but strange. I couldn't tell you what this was, but I can tell you it kept me turning the pages. Is there mental illness, dysfunction, paranormal experience. I would say a little bit of all of it, and it's hard to know what's true and what lives in the characters heads. I was oddly mesmerized, and as I turned the last page, I had lots of questions, yet I was okay with that.

Due to the pandemic and financial restrictions, Grace lets her mom, Jackie, move in with her, but she is not happy about it. She quickly takes way too much space to her liking, and given that they never really had a very good relationship, old wounds start to fester, and she starts having nightmares and soon decides to give up sleep, which sends her into madness.
This is a family thriller with a touch of horror that will have you question your sanity. The characters are unlikeable and unreliable, and I couldn't relate to them, didn't really care what happened to them. The whole is this a nightmare or reality got redundant really fast. This twisted book was a slow burn with a rushed but satisfying ending. The premise was great, but it fell a bit flat. I liked that COVID-19 was integrated in the story to add to the horror of it, but think it should have been mentioned in the synopsis.
This one was not for me, but I have read previous books by this author (Baby Teeth and Wonderland) that I absolutely loved.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I’m not sure I would have chosen to read this if I had been aware it focuses quite so heavy on covid (I know the summary says “during a quarantine,” but that can cover a lot of possible content), but despite that not being my preference I really enjoyed the dreamlike creepiness of the book. I wouldn’t quite classify this as scary, per se, although the horror elements are certainly there. I didn’t feel that I left the book completely satisfied, but I’m glad I was along for the ride. 4 stars for the way the atmosphere melds with the plot.

Mothered is a psychological horror set during the early days of Covid. Grace is a hairdresser who is having a hard time finding work so she reluctantly agrees to let her recently widowed mother, Jackie, move in with her. Grace and Jackie have a lifelong estranged relationship that was further devasted by the death of Grace’s twin sister who had Cerebral Palsy. Upon moving in, Jackie and Grace try to mend their relationship but secrets and the recent nightmares Grace has been having lead to everything spiraling out of control.

The addition of Covid added an ominous layer to the story. The isolation and stress of the pandemic on top of the drama and toxicity of Jackie and Grace’s relationship created an intensely claustrophobic feeling. The pacing of everything was so well done that I found myself constantly thinking about this book. I’ve even found myself weeks later thinking about Grace which is probably because she and her world felt so realistic and chilling.

The prologue of this story was a great addition because it added a cloud of suspense over everything. We know from the beginning that something catastrophic happens between Grace and Jackie which we are slowly building to. I was constantly trying to guess what was going to happen next and who did what to who. The story was cleverly done and I loved being fully immersed in this creepy and deeply unsettling world.

If you think you can handle a story with heavy Covid elements than I highly recommend this book. It perfectly blends the horror of the pandemic with the horror of what is happening in the story. I love the psychological horror genre and I will definitely be seeking out more from Zoje Stage in the future.

I could not put this book down, I ended up reading it in one sitting!

Grace is navigating her life through the pandemic when she moves her mother into her home. Reality and the past began to blur together. Who is causing it Grace or her mother.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC in an enchanted for an honest review.

True to Zoje Stage's style, Mothered is a character focused slow burn psychological horror that follows Grace, a hair stylist in her early 30s who is just starting to feel established in her life when the pandemic hits. Soon everything that was going right in her world seems to be upended as she copes with the virus spreading through her community and her mother (who she already has a strained relationship with) moving in. As things devolve around her, the lines of her own reality also begin to blur as some of her old memories begin to resurface in the form of nightmares, leaving both Grace and the reader wondering just how much of these scenarios are or were her reality?

For the most part, I really enjoyed my experience reading Mothered. I knew going in that I would enjoy Zoje Stage's writing style since she has a way of writing very nuanced inner monologue and unhealthy character dynamics like no one else and I was definitely not disappointed. Grace and her mother Jackie are memorable, fascinating to follow, and will have you experiencing an emotional rollercoaster ride right along with them.

As Grace starts experiencing her nightmares and the lines of her reality start to blur, it's really intriguing to explore her backstory and try to understand why her and Jackie's relationship is in the state that it's in but over the course of the novel my intrigue started to wane because I never felt like I had a full grasp on what was part of their reality and what was just a nightmare. It was hard for me to fully feel the stakes and tension within the story not knowing how much of it was factual for them and I wish that more foreshadowing and mystery elements were included or a bit more fleshed out.

I think this book will work better for readers who want to experience tension through their confusion and the murkiness of the story rather than through the mystery element slowly unfolding.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Mercer for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

YES YES YES! Baby Teeth was one of my favorite reads in a long time, so I had high expectations for Mothered. This psychological thriller immediately drew me in. Set in pandemic times, stilted mother-daughter relationship that is completely put to the test when mother Jackie moves in with daughter Grace. It's claustrophobic, thrilling, and just so good. HIGHLY recommended.

SO CREEPY! Zoje Stage makes such fantastic use of the unreliable narrator trope that it doesn't even feel like a trope.
At first I was 100% on Grace's side, but after her dreams start messing with her mind I had to wonder if she was really all there. Jackie was unnerving and kind in turn, but what parts of that were true? And the deceased, but oh so present, character of Hope added another level of nightmare to the real life drama. Was Hope really a villain or is that just what Grace tells herself?
Stage is truly developing into a master of psychological horror/suspense and I'm always interested to see what she does next.

Creepy, unsettling,and completely addictive. Mothered by Zoje Stage will stay with the reader long after the last page.

Slow burn, didn’t start getting good until the end. I felt like the story seemed to drag out quite a bit.

Es mi primera vez leyendo a la autora y no me esperaba una historia como esta, incluso habiendo leído antes la sinopsis.
Soy muy fan de los thrillers psicológicos y este no fue la excepción. Es atrapante y tiene un ritmo excelente, a excepción de la mitad del libro donde la trama se enlentece un poco.
Los personajes me parecieron fascinantes y con matices increíbles. Grace es un personaje tan diferente, tan poco convencional que definitivamente resulta muy memorable.
Absolutamente continuaré leyendo a esta autora.

- - - - - - - - - - -

It's my first time reading the author and I didn't expect a story like this, even having read the synopsis before.
I'm a huge fan of psychological thrillers and this one was no exception. It's engaging and excellently paced, except for the middle of the book where the plot slows down a bit.
I found the characters fascinating and with incredible nuances. Grace is such a different character, so unconventional that she is definitely very memorable.
I will absolutely continue reading this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

4 stars

I loved the writing but the mention of a pandemic was kinda upsetting remembering how bad 2020 was but for the storytelling itself was immaculate. I wanna read more from this author

Wow, what a ride! This is my second novel by Zoje Stage and I was on the edge of my seat from the first chapter. I love main characters who are unhinged or unreliable so this story was a win for me. The fact that this book takes place in the midst of the pandemic with horror elements related to that make it all the more nuanced and life like.
The tone of Mothered starts off tense and finishes with that same strong tension. The setting being mainly just inside the main characters house adds to this tension.
I think this is a solid horror story that is unique, stressful and fresh. I highly recommend it!

This book started off super strong for me. I was hooked immediately and was flipping through the pages. Then somewhere in the middle it started to really slow down. While I enjoyed the story, I was a little disappointed in the middle of the book until it started to pick back up with an awesome ending. Overall, good book! And would recommend to friends and family just for the shear oddness/ uniqueness of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC to review!
Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 3
Pace: 3
Plot development: 3
Characters: 3
Enjoyability: 3
Ease of Reading: 4

Overall rating: 3 out of 5

Okay this book was WEIRD. It was meant to be that way though, hopefully lol. I really enjoyed reading this one.

This book follows Grace, a hairstylist who is trying to survive during the covid 19 pandemic. Her favorite pastimes include catfishing women on the internet and hanging out with her best friend. She appears to be pretty "normal". This is until her mother moves in with her. Grace has a rocky relationship with her mom. Her mom wasn't emotionally or physically available while Grace and her twin (with cerebral palsy) grew up. You can imagine how learning to cohabitate again as grown ups might go, especially during a pandemic.

I really enjoyed this book. The authors writing felt so effortless to read. I found myself reading for much longer than I actually intended to and had time for. Between the nightmares, unreliable narrator, and mommy issues-I was hooked from the beginning. This is actually the first pandemic based book that I haven't hated reading about.

The only thing I didn't love was the very ending with her therapist. It felt a little abrupt and maybe could have used a little more transition.

I love the creepy mind of Zoje Stage and can't wait the read her future works. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the chance to review this ARC.