This was super dark, super creepy and super gay. What more do you need? I really enjoyed it and loved the cosmic aspect. A good time all round.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

If there was ever a book that could safely be summed up as "small, but mighty", I'd say this was it. "A Season of Monstrous Conception" (Excellent title by the way) may be short, but it still manages to pack a punch. Its alternate take on history is compelling and the author wastes no time in ramping up the tension. There was a definite feeling of suspense from the start, which only ramped up as the story progressed, helped along by an excellent voice actor for the audiobook. I will confess that I felt some concern that all the buildup would only lead to an anticlimactic ending, but what I got was one that tied everything up in a surprisingly satisfying manner.
It does have to be noted that this book is a bit on the dark side. It's not violent or as grim as some of what's out there, but there's no denying that the story is set in a time when life was hard and people adapted accordingly. "A Season of Monstrous Conceptions' ' doesn't shy away from that, describing both the places and the characters in wonderful detail, without any hint of rose-colored glasses. This really works, especially in the case of the main character, Sarah.She isn’t an angel by any stretch of the imagination and as we come to learn, has some shocking skeletons in her closet. Still, she was difficult to dislike and I enjoyed following her.

i loved this narrator. her voice was so pleasant and really made the story come to life. I rather enjoyed this book. I thought that the story line was interesting and easy to get sucked into. I enjoyed the characters and the creatures that bring the plot to life. As with most novellas i got to the end and wanted so much more. I think that this could make an amazing full length novel and will be watching to see if the author does anything else with this world.

I really enjoyed this queer horror-tinged novella about identity. I'm always amazed when writers can fit world-building and character depth in such short pages. The historical setting served the story well in highlighting the prejudices the main character faces as both a queer woman and a person born as a "monster". This is the type of book I could absolutely imagine myself returning to more than a few times, and I can see myself picking it up if I ever find it on a bookstore shelf.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

Children are blessings.

But whatever women have been giving birth to this year…those are curses.

This isn’t a horror of gore or jumpscares, but it will be REMARKABLY effective on parents. It’s the simple horror of anticipation. But there is also the terror experienced by the marginalized in this narrative. Sarah Davis, our narrator, is a strange creature herself. She’s near the end of her midwifery apprenticeship, and has already made somewhat of a name for herself. Making a name is somewhat easier when you can sense things about your client’s babies, including…if they will be monsters.

But being known can be dangerous for a woman. Her newest client’s husband is obsessed with the strange children being born of late, and Sarah must balance his interests with those of his wife and her unborn, but already monstrous, child.

This is a quick little listen, with an emotive narrator. There are hints of a wider world of strangeness, with occasional encounters with other people who have strange abilities. But the focus of the story is very localized on this little, dysfunctional family and the midwife who holds their future in her trained hands.

Advanced listening copy provided by the publisher.

This was such an interesting book. The gothic atmosphere and other worldliness of it was incredibly charming and enjoyable. I listened to the audio, which was done wonderfully. The premise of this book is that children are being born with things they shouldn't be, like tails or horns or scales. This is extra creepy when you are a mother reading this book (but in a good way!). I really enjoyed the MC and her inner dialogue. I loved the fact that this was sapphic, which I didn't realize at first, so it was a nice surprise. Overall really enjoyed this book. I will be checking out other works of the author.

Firstly the audiobook is really good. Narrator's voice feels perfect for the characters. The starting is so enigmatic and brilliant that I was sure I am going to love this book. The prose is also beautiful but the story on the other hand made very little sense to me. The inclusion of sexuality of Sara and then Margaret's character really added nothing to the main story in my opinion.

I expected it to be a strong story but it failed miserably to keep my attention and interest. It fell down so suddenly and abruptly after about 50 % of the book that it even felt like different story written by different author altogether. In my view, the ending was totally unexpected and poorly executed to a story which could have been one of the best ones I have listened to.

Thank you Netgalley and RB media recorded book for ARC in exchange of an honest review. Audiobook is definitely good but the contents are not so much.

I don't know what I expected from this book. The cover is beautiful. The story seemed to have a great plot. Interesting characters from history. But it just felt flat. It should have been such a dark and beautiful story with the secrets that the characters are hiding. Maybe if I was allowed to have more time to develop it would have been the book I wanted.

I love how Lina Rather writes women. This is a very different premise than the space nuns novella series, and yet it's a powerful story about women in traditionally rigid professions dealing with the uncanny and the unearthly. Could've used a longer work that delved more into The Other Place and the mechanics of the exchange between worlds. Ended a bit abruptly but Sarah's POV still made an impact.

**Thank you to NetGalley, Tordotcom Publishing, and RB Media for the advanced listening copy of this title!**

I didn’t get to this one until after Halloween but spooky season is an all year thing for me. This one was delightfully creepy and made me cringe at times in the best ways. It was a quick listen and I got so wrapped up in this one that I finished it in one day while doing chores around the house.

I absolutely loved the narrator, Amy Scanlon and she was perfect for this book. Check this one out if you like horror, creepy babies, monsters, and witches!

Lately, if you want to put me off reading some piece of fiction, you need only attach the word 'feminist' to it, especially 'feminist retelling'. There's a disturbing trend in historical, mythological and historical fantasy fiction whereby feminist means anti-male (often anti any other gender than biological female) rather than egalitarian. I don't actually have a problem with people who feel strongly that they must support women first because frankly there is work to be done. I do have an issue when this is achieved not by presenting women as strong but by tearing everyone else - especially men - down and making them weak.

So I started this with trepidation. And then finished it in two sittings. Ignore the feminist part of the marking. It's far less concerned with collecting male scalps than it is with confronting the good and bad in human nature. The author avoided many laziness faux pas that so many female authors of this type of fiction fall into as well.

Bur instead of applauding this for being what it is not, I want to highly recommend it for being what it is. A darkly fantastical historical tale about a fully rounded and flaws bisexual female character trying to find a place and agency in an unequal world. I was absolutely captivated and am already planning a reread. I enjoyed the swiftness of this novella but would happily have read a longer version. The writing is stellar and the story is well crafted, This was a great book - head and shoulders above its peers.

In 17th century London, babies are being born with abnormal-and sometimes animalistic traits. A midwife apprentice named Sarah Davis aides her mistress Mrs. June in delivering these children, while also contending with the “uncanny” part of her own nature that she has hidden.

Her life changes following a chance encounter with the wealthy and pregnant Lady Faith Wren and Sarah is soon drawn further into the world of magic at the behest of Faith’s husband Lord Christopher Wren. As Faith’s pregnancy draws to an end and the inexplicable magic of the “Other Place” continues to bleed into the regular world, Sarah is faced with an incredible choice:

Should she save the world that has constantly used her and discarded her or should she let it all fall to ruin?

A Season Of Monstrous Conceptions is a lyrical and evocative novella. I was captivated by the story and felt as though it almost ended too soon. The setting was both intriguing and frustrating, as were the restrictions in the roles and the treatment of women within that time period.

Sarah is a relatable main character and a wonderful mix of contradictions: feeling difficulty in showing love to others, yet kind to and yearning for another uncanny woman named Margaret and compassionate towards the women and children she tends to.

Her rage at having a life that isn’t truly her own-initially due to the hatred of her mother, then due to the presence of her late husband and finally due to the whims of midwife Mrs. June-is balanced with her desire for affection and the approval of others.

It is only natural to feel as though we do not always belong in the world and while our “uncanniness” may not be as overtly expressed as some of the children described in A Season of Monstrous Conceptions,” the feeling of not belonging, of our wants and desires being viewed as “wrong,” and the bitter frustration following rejection certainly makes Sarah’s choices quite understandable.

When presented with incredible power to change the world, who wouldn’t want to reach out and claim it?

I do wish that we had received more details pertaining to the “Other Place,” though what was presented was very intriguing.

The narration for A Season Of Monstrous Conceptions is also excellent. Amy Scanlon does an amazing job of infusing the novella with a captivating energy and as someone who has difficulty maintaining attention while listening to audiobooks, I never found myself distracted.

Thank you to Netgalley, Tor Publishing Group and Lina Rather for providing me this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Really intriguing premise, but the plot and execution needed some work. It would have benefited from being slightly longer.

The audiobook narrator did a fantastic job

What a pleasant surprise of a novelette! Historical fiction of the occult at its best, and not set in the usual time period of vaguely Victorian spiritualism. Season inhabits the perfectly gothic setting of Elizabethan London, addressing its religious upheavals, women's issues, and queer underground in brilliant writing. Sarah is not only other in her supernatural power, but in her bisexuality. I could only be happier with this book if it had been longer.

A Season of Monstrous Conceptions is a lovely exploration into what it means to be different in a close-minded world of 17th century London. Sarah Davis is a newly apprenticed midwife with a mysterious past and an uncanny nature-- a nature occurring more and more often in London's newborn children.

This was beautifully horrific and triumphantly sapphic. For queer horror fans, I'd definitely check this title out. My only complaint is that I would enjoyed seeing our protagonist choose differently at the end, because I wouldn't be opposed to her inciting more radical change in an unjust, prejudiced world.

Amy Scanlon does a great job narrating, and I found her performance both engaging and immersive.

Lina Rather’s A Season of Monstrous Conceptions is a genre-bending novella set in an 18th-century London full of unnatural, monstrous children. It’s a story bursting with cosmic terror, midwife witchcraft, female desire, and the failings of ill-prepared and incompetent men. While it's an evocative tale of otherworldly horror, the novella also has plenty to say about class differences, the male gaze, and the secrets women must keep from well-intentioned men. The book opens with scenes of body horror and maternal fright, but Rather’s prose grows and shifts to create a story that is equal parts queer historical fiction and speculative horror.

The protagonist, Sarah, is a midwife in training in London, where a frightening amount of babies are being born with horrific, unnatural afflictions. Sarah is all too familiar with these otherworldly disfigurements and lives in fear of any one of her many secrets escaping. When she meets the pregnant Lady Wren and becomes engaged as her midwife, Sarah also becomes enmeshed in the schemes of Wren’s occult-obsessed husband, Lord Christopher. The story that follows is grand and about saving the world, but it’s also small and precious, with Sarah learning to craft the world in which she wants to live.

I read this book through audiobook, which I highly recommend. Amy Scanlon narrates the novella and does a remarkable job capturing Sarah’s voice. She performs dialogue exceedingly well, particularly that of the harsh Mrs. June and the lovely Margaret. As with the prose, the narration grows and shifts as the novella progresses; both the prose and narration are masterful and work beautifully together.

Final Thoughts: A Season of Monstrous Conceptions is exactly the kind of weird fiction I love to read. It’s genuinely stellar in every way. This is definitely going on my list of Favorite Tordotcom Novellas Ever, and I’m already scoping out everything on Lina Rather’s backlist.

Content Warnings:
Death of Children,
Stillbirth and difficult pregnancies,
Cruelty towards/murder of children with afflictions, and
Mentions of homophobia.

Rating: 5/5 stars. Thanks to Recorded Books for a review copy of the audiobook. All the above thoughts are my own. My full review can be found at https://backshelfbooks.com/2023/11/03/lina-rathers-a-season-of-monstrous-conceptions-maternal-fear-queer-longing-and-interplanetary-horror/

** Reviews have also been submitted to Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble for the audiobook.

A Season of Monstrous Conceptions is a timely story about the impact of being born different disguised as a lovecraftian style horror novella. I was blessed with the standard e arc in addition to this lovely audio arc and adored both but definitely feel that this audio rendition added a valuable depth to the experience of the story for me.Readers of short horror such as what moves the dead by kingfisher have come to the right place.

I want to thank NetGalley again for this opportunity. I read the arc of the book but the audiobook arc? This lends such a depth of detail and character to this hauntingly epic story that I was engrossed the whole day I listened to it. The narrator breathed a life into each character and added nuances to the story. Awesome awesome book

Lina Rather’s historical fantasy novella, A Season of Monstrous Conceptions, tells the deliciously creepy story of a midwife’s apprentice who has witnessed a spate of births to strange children with startling animal features. The protagonist, Sarah Davis, is unsettled by these monstrous children and the city’s escalating fear, for she is not exactly normal herself and already feels like her reputation hangs by a thread. Nevertheless, Sarah takes a risk when she crosses paths with a man who might be able to help her get to the bottom of this uncanny mystery. Set in an alternate 17th-century London, Rather’s novella is superbly written and exquisitely atmospheric. My only complaint was that a full length novel would have done more justice to this tale of eldritch horror.

Also, I would like to note that Amy Scanlon did an incredible job with the narration – highly recommend in this format! Thank you to Tordotcom, RB Media, and NetGalley for the galleys!

In this historical novella we follow Sarah Davis whose apprenticing for a midwife. Lately more and more children have been born with certain defects upon birth, some have tails, fur or even webbed fingers. Sarah herself with born with one of these, and throughout this novella we learn more about why the children are being born with these defects and what that means for the world.

This was a pretty short story, and you’d have no problem reading it all in one day. I’d say that all in all I had a good time listening to this audiobook, I felt engaged enough by the story to keep going, and was curious as to where the story would end up, but it did not engage me enough for me to absolutely fall in love with the story.

The narrator certainly suited the story, and I probably would not have like this book as much, if I hadn’t listened to the audiobook. Historical fiction is usually not my cup of tea, but I actually preferred it in this type of book, it also didn’t hurt that it was queer of course!

I’m sure if you love historical fantasy, you’ll love this story, so if you’re considering reading, pick it up!

Big thanks to Netgalley, RB Media, and the author Lina Rather for allowing me to listen to an E-Arc of this novella.