Based on the cover and description, I really expected to love this book. Ultimately it ended up not being for me, unfortunately. It was entirely too slow and not much really happened. I know many people enjoy the atmospheric vibes of a creepy small town but it was just boring to me. I expected more horror but aside from the little bit towards the end it didn’t really deliver on that front either. The writing is good, it just didn’t feel like the plot was very well developed.

This horror book is a must read for Fall 2024!

Steeped in western Americana meets Appalachian horror mixed with horses and feminist folk horror, this absolutely piqued my interest as soon as I heard of it.

As an ex-"horse girl" turned gothic spooky person, this absolutely spoke to me on a spiritual level. Marshall and her grief was painted beautifully and as a fish out of water in a small town where everyone knows everyone, deeply relatable. The writing was captivating and beautiful and expertly wove this fascinating tale with exquisite detail without permeating purple prose.

I was excited about this one, but it wasn't as spooky as I was expecting. The characters were all pretty one-dimensional, and even though the book as a whole made some good points about unwanted pregnancies, it wasn't quite the horror novel I was looking for.

I want to begin by saying that the story was very good despite my three star rating. The idea and the creativity and the plot were all so good and exciting. The execution wasn’t the best, though. And I think that the medium of a novella would have suited this more.

A grieving journalist is sent to a small rural town to look into and write a piece about a horse that gave birth to a healthy baby boy. That’s really all you need to know to go into this one. The rest of the story will unfold from there. You’ll be introduced to a large (almost too large, in my opinion) cast of characters. You’ll glimpse into the culture and the folklore and the legend of the things that lurk in the shadows of the woods. You’ll meet the women and be taken into their secret lives in order to make sense of it all.

I wish this book was shorter. Really, the first third of this book was not necessary for the development of the plot, and it almost felt like work that was not needed. The constant switching between POV’s and the effort of trying to remember who everyone was made getting to the meat and potatoes of the story a slog. I loved the idea, and I loved some of the characters. It just didn’t work well for me. However, if you’re a person who these things do work for, then this will likely be a home run urban legend novel for you.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

This is my second horror novel and I must say, they may not be for me! Both of them, including the Unmothers, I really just don’t quite understand. I get the general principles but I still feel like I’m scratching my head. I’m pretty sure it is just me?

The book begins and we meet Marshall (a journalist) and an outrageous rumor. She goes to investigate this unbelievable story and finds not so nice folks, horses and a crime. She decides to investigate further as this may be a real story. And that’s about where it all gets a bit confusing. What unfolds is tense, secretive and traumatic and Marshall is really unsure. (As was I!)

Advance reader copy provided by Quirk Books and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

A journalist is investigating a very odd rumor; a horse has given birth to a human baby.

This was a slower paced read but very well written. It’s hard to believe it’s the author’s debut. It took me a while to get into because of the many perspectives. It got pretty darn creepy and a lot to do with horses. Big bonus if you’re a horse fan. If you enjoy slow, atmospheric reads, give this one a try.

“There were things that were required. There were things that were required of him. He hated them down to the cracks and crevices of his soul and raged against them even as he did them loyally, meekly, obediently. The ritual was important.”

The Unmothers comes out 8/6.

When Marshall, our protagonist, arrives in Raeford, it has all the markings of a classic gothic horror, with unfriendly townsfolk guarding dark secrets. The fact that Marshall is there to investigate a tabloid headline of a story about a horse giving birth to a human child kind of undercuts the vibe a bit, but not much. We know what we’re in for. A slow uncovering of a mystery, as we dig into the folk horror that lives at the heart of this rural community.

I’m happy to say, that The Unmothers doesn’t really work that way at all. Instead, after getting the runaround from a few townspeople, Marshall talks to a couple of teenagers, and she gets the whole story, or legend, or whatever it is. This kind of fakeout, this holding up of the mystery structure only to yank it away again, is part and parcel of the way the novel works, sometimes to its benefit, sometimes not. It is, at its heart, a book that plays with your expectations in clever ways.

What we really get is a portrait of small town America in all its gritty reality: small time gangsters, teen pregnancy, and the omnipresent reality of drug addiction. In this way, Marshall is a perfect lens through which to view the story. She brings the journalistic eye to this unique (but also stereotypical) little town.

Unfortunately, this method is hampered by ever revolving POVs and Marshall’s own backstory, which seems a little too pat, a little too made to order. The idea that a protagonist requires some “Big Trauma” that informs the way they experience the story seems to me not only overused but unnecessary. Marshall would have been a perfect proxy for the reader due to her cynical outsider status and her journalistic curiosity, and that would have been enough.

Without giving anything away, the folk horror aspect of The Unmothers is creepy and effective, and also provides some of the most lyrically beautiful passages in a book of solid prose.

But in the end, I was left wondering what it all added up to.

There’s an insistence throughout that the force in the woods (or perhaps one man’s attempt to take control of that force) has something to do with reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, but there’s no reasonable way to make any such a connection in any logical way. There is simply no one-to-one connection to be made here based on the ideas laid out within the novel. And I’m perfectly happy with that lack of connection. I don’t need reason and logic in my folk horror story thank you very much. But there seems to be an insistence from outside the world of the novel that there is a deeper meaning, that this narrative conflict has greater political ramifications, and I just wasn’t buying it.

In the end, I found The Unmothers to be incredibly enjoyable, remarkably well-written at the level of its prose, and jam packed with brilliant moments. Anderson knows how to do a wide cast of characters, and that serves the story well, and her undeniable knowledge of all things horse-related is delivered in a way that is fascinating and never overwhelming.

But it might be attempting to do too much with an already full plate. By trying to make Marshall’s story match up so neatly with whatever is happening in Raeford, and by trying to make what’s happening mean more than it does, the novel loses some of its undeniable power.

Thank you NetGalley and Quirk Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

After reading reviews, I feel like I'm an outlier for this book. I found this book somewhat underwhelming despite its beautiful folklore plot, and well-captured small-town atmosphere - which was very well done and why I stuck it out reading.

The slow pacing and slow-burn reveals made it difficult to connect to the characters and the story. The Unmothers is marketed as horror, it felt more like mystery/literary fiction, with folk horror elements sprinkled in. The themes of grief, generational trauma, and feminine rage were very well done, but the horror aspects could have been more intense. Despite these issues, Anderson has unique and interesting ideas that she established in the second half of the novel, but don't go in expecting folk horror like The Witch or Midsommar.

If you like folk horror, a little bit of mystery, and horses this is a story for you.

Marshall, our reporter, is headed to small town Raeford to cover the story of a horse that gave birth to a human child.

Things are not all that they seem here.

There’s a lot in here that delves into grief and the way it’s handled, but also some really great folklore that draws you deep into the heart of this story.

Absolute banger of an ending. The last quarter of this book made up for me being bored during the first half. Very thankful to quirk books for the arc, this will be my food for thought for a while.
I’d say go into this expecting more literary fiction/thriller than horror, and certainly more of a slow burn, but I do recommend it!

While I loved the premise, I had a hard time accepting the cold, distant tone (even though it makes sense given the rural isolation of the setting) yet something didn't quite click with me, despite the solid writing.

The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson ostensibly follows a reporter through a small town. This reporter, Marshall, and this town, Raeford, both have parts of their past they’d rather not share. Not kept secret is why Marshall is in town: a horse gave birth to a human baby. If that sounds unbelievable, don’t worry; Marshall and her boss think so too. This folk horror novel is also a detective story—one where the stakes keep rising. You can follow the case when this debut novel arrives from Quirk Books on August 6th, 2024.

Before I can dig into this story, I have to address the point of view. This book does not entirely follow Marshall. I understand from a summary standpoint how it makes sense to frame the story in this way, but it did color my reading expectations. I wasn’t a fan of Marshall at the start, and wasn’t looking forward to spending so many pages with her. But when the viewpoint kept changing, I struggled to adjust to the new shape of the story. I think I counted around twelve distinct perspectives, when I originally thought it was sticking with two. About halfway through my reading, I realized the main character isn’t Marshall: it’s Raeford.

Once I made that connection, I really started to enjoy this book. I distinctly remember something happening—something delightfully leaning into folk horror—where I said, “Okay, this is what I came here for.” That scene, and many following, were awesome. The atmosphere of Raeford clings to you. It’s sticky, like blood. And the cast of characters that populate it? That’s one benefit of Marshall as a character: you get to meet them as an outsider and as an insider. Dualities like this, how and why people relate to each other, is a crucial scaffold to this novel. With Marshall, we are able to learn about the town and truly see how insular and untrusting they are. With the perspectives of those who grew up in town, we get to see how that trust gets further divided and what lines they have drawn for themselves.

Also of note–Raeford is a horse town. The politics of the industry create some of these lines, as does simple experience. Just because you see your neighbor’s horse walking down the road doesn’t mean you know how to ride, or more importantly, train. There’s a level of pride and superiority that those at the top of their field inhabit. A squabble between two men over a stud is made abundantly clear from the start. That’s a pretty testosterone filled conversation for a book like The Unmothers. It’s a book steeped in motherhood, birth, and the community found amongst women. The men are left almost entirely on the outside of these conversations and rituals. Or at least, they’re supposed to be.

The main conflict in this story, in this town, arises from that gender line being crossed. On one hand, there is a man who is willingly exposed to some of the mystery surrounding the bloody history of this town. On the other, there is a man who is violently seeking those secrets for his own use. Even deeper into the fabric of this town, there is a break within the circle of women as well. There is no clear path of initiation into these customs, or the rules. And when rules like this are broken, the price is high. Some of these breaks come from outside the community, like poverty or substance abuse. The town makes it a point to highlight those prices that are being publicly paid.

These heavy concepts and sweeping social commentary almost hurts this novel. Talking with a friend, we each got half of the story we expected, the story we wanted. This novel really did do a lot, which is a huge undertaking for a debut. I can see where things were going, and how much heart went into this vision, but for me that did distract from the book I thought I was reading. Really, I commend Anderson for tackling something so vast on a first go. It may not have been a perfect read for me, but I see a lot of talent here. Especially when it came to the almost cosmic horror elements peeking through. I cannot stress enough how much I loved those aspects of this book. It makes me really hope we see more from this author. And if you’re on the fence, aren’t you at least a little curious enough to pick this up? I think it’s worth it.

3.5/5

*Slight spoilers*

Really good atmosphere, and a mystery / monster that I liked because it was presented as somewhat morally grey. The author also really captures some of the feeling of being around "horse people," and presents a low-key but deep knowledge about working with horses. The prose was competent but I didn't feel like there was much of a distinctive voice, and the different characters didn't distinguish themselves from each other very much. I actually didn't mind the plethora of POV chapters but I do think that some of them were probably unnecessary because they did not add to the texture of the story. For example, Emma's chapters were conceptually a good inclusion because they could show her escape to the city but the ties the town still holds on her by way of Daily. But I don't think these chapters quite stuck the landing so they felt extraneous. I'm also not sure I understood Daily's interest in Emma, or why the monster was after him--there may have been an explanation or intimation but if there was, I didn't catch it. Anyway, I think this is a really strong debut from Anderson, and a decent entry in the folk horror genre, which is why I rounded up.

The good news: The Unmothers is my first ever ARC (advanced reader copy)!! YIPEE. And the bad: I hear “folk horror mystery” and I’m all in, but The Unmothers kinda kept me wanting.

The wild and kinda spooky horse imagery: perfection. The foggy, dark country forest setting with mysteries within: 100% yes. The feminist, ancient female power themes: gimme, all day. But listen! I wanted this to go way deeper! I wanted things to get WEIRD! I wanted the vibes to be so spooky and animalistic and slightly off-putting! My fault for expecting an A24 type storyline. But you read the synopsis and tell me it doesn’t sound like it was going in that direction?

It came off rather bland, the ending could have done big things but it kind of fizzled, and I didn’t care about any of the characters. Some of them made rather questionable decisions but then the author was giving strong backpedal vibes like we were expected to like them, which ~gave me pause~.

I have a feeling this one will be rather divisive in its reception. Do pick it up and tell me what you think?

Looking for some feminist folk horror? The Unmothers is your book. Set in a small, rural town, this was so atmospheric and creepy, far exceeding what I hoped. There are quite a few things going on, we have grief and folk horror, female rage, a bit of gore, I couldn't put it down. There were a lot of POVs in this one, but I never found it to be overwhelming or confusing and the character development was great without being too much. It's the perfect read on an early fall night, when the sun starts to set earlier and the nights begin to be chilly. I can't wait to read whatever Leslie J. Anderson writes next. Thanks so much to Quirk Books for sending me a copy of this one! The Unmothers will be published 8/6 and needs to be on your TBR!

'The Unmothers' is a small town mystery novel that earns its keep through its commentary on bodily autonomy and women's rights. For me the story would have worked better with less character perspectives. Anderson introduces a group of different characters very quickly and I found it difficult to invest in all of the different perspectives. I found myself constantly wishing for the chapters surrounding the main character Marshall, who certainly had an interesting background and was the highlight of the story for me.

Anderson does a good job at cultivating a stereotypical, small town, hostile environment that is a perfect setting for secrets, of which there are plenty in the novel.

If you are looking for a story that simmers in frighteningly real injustices of the world then this could definitely be a novel worth checking out. It is a pondering slow burn that promises an explosion of rage as secrets unravel and truths are revealed.

4.5⭐️! This book was such a bizarre ride, but I absolutely loved it! If you're into folklore horror, this one's for you. Plus, extra points if you're a horse lover like me—the author either knows horses inside out or did a ton of research.

It did take me a bit to get into the story at first. There are around 12 different POVs, and I had no idea who was who 😅 but once I got the hang of it, I was hooked!

The last 50 pages were incredible! It turned dark really fast. You have to suspend your disbelief for this one, but I personally love that kind of horror—the supernatural and folklore blend.

Highly recommend when it comes out in August!

This book was super creative and unique, and it was a great piece of folk horror. While I enjoyed reading it overall, I did think there were too many characters that got “chapters” in their POVs, and that took away from developing other characters in more depth. I also felt like the central ritual could have been explored a bit more. But I did like the author’s style, and I was engaged throughout. The power it offered women was stirring and poignant.

This one surprised me. I have been enjoying folk horror lately and this really scratched the itch for me.

My expectations were HUGE for this novel and it was a HUGE let down. Reporter who just lost her husband is sent to a small town for a week to cover a teenager with a baby. Per usual, The towns people aren’t welcoming to an outsider. The book at first leads you to believe that the weird behavior from locals is due to poverty and opioid addiction. The life of the town is centered around horses. Around a quarter way through the book is when you finally start to see what the “mystery” is. The writing purposely makes it seem that there is incest or beastiality as a tactic to keep you glued in. About a third way through the book, the mother is finally identified and it’s not an animal or family member. The middle of the book is very frustrating because it is a LOT of POV switches to a lot of characters, but they are leading nowhere and don’t contribute to the story. At halfway through the book there is nothing but small town fights of the cliché “you were supposed to do better” (there are multiple young pregnancy’s within the town). Further into the book, it kinda starts to quicken up. Philip’s mom is contacted to reveal how she performed “the ritual”, to which it turns out that someone is paying her rent. Then it’s another round of small town drama. FINALLY, the monster makes an appearance (it’s the same monster from the Novel Her Soul to Take by Harley Larmoux). Someone messed up the ritual and now the monster is angry.

Some of the things didn’t line up. Like Agatha’s dad being “top dog” in the town yet Agatha and Roth were suffering and couldn’t afford to upkeep their houses, and an extremely poor town yet everyone had horses and paid for riding lessons,
Also, there was just too many POVs. My limit is 3, if the writing is organized. This book has way more than that.

I shouldn’t have to read half of a book to get some sort of substance from the pages. Until the 54% mark, there is maybe 3 pages of importance. The rest doesn’t do anything but bore and drag the reader. Seriously, we get it. They’re in a small town. We don’t need a hundred pages and 5 POVs to redundantly go over that. This book really let me down. I sped read it at the end it was so bad.