Jacquie Walters' [Book Title] is a mind-bending thriller that'll keep you up at night. It's like The Push meets The Yellow Wallpaper with a sprinkle of supernatural weirdness.

Flora, a new mom whose husband is away, is drowning in loneliness and exhaustion. She's desperate for help and turns to her estranged mother. But things take a dark turn when Flora starts seeing ghosts, hearing voices, and having some seriously creepy dreams.

The audiobook, narrated by the author herself, is a total knockout. I listened to it in one sitting! It’s like January LaVoy, but even better (shhh, don't tell anyone).

The ending felt a bit abrupt for me, but I loved the crazy plot twists.

Trigger warning: There's a lot of breastfeeding talk and a scene that'll make your jaw drop. Plus, it delves into postpartum depression, so be prepared.

Dearest follows Flora a new mother who’s beyond exhausted. And it doesn’t help that her husband is currently deployed. Eventually Flora’s exhaustion becomes so deep that she starts to doubt what is and isn’t real in her surroundings. She grows so desperate that she begs her estranged mother to come and help her with the house and her baby. But although her mother does come to help and Flora is able to get more rest, her reality continues to shift and blur and she still feels like her energy is being drained. She believes that there’s an evil presence in her house and no matter how unwell she may be she has to fight to protect herself and her baby.

… This was fine. It was certainly… a horror book. I’ll give it that. The beginning was slow, which made me think the book was building up to something cool. And I will say the first big reveal really got me and made sense to me. Those are the reasons I gave it two stars instead of one.

But after the first big reveal everything fell apart in my opinion. Zephie. The tusk. Belinda. The Mother. It all felt so chaotic and a couple of the things I listed were unnecessary and made the story feel so much less streamlined. This is harsh but in the end the book just felt like… a mess. It had an intriguing start and ended as a mess.

I’m sure it’s clear that I don’t recommend Dearest at all.

This was scary! Honestly at first I was like ok where is this going but after part 3 when THAT TWIST happened I was shooketh. I gasped. Jaw on the floor. And then I had to finish!!

Spooky season reading is in full gear for me now. When I saw the cover of Jacquie Walter’s Dearest I knew I wanted to read it so I was thrilled to receive a gifted e-book from @netgalley.

This book intrigued me from the very beginning. Flo is a brand new first time mother whose military husband is deployed. Overwhelmed and sleep deprived, she is drowning in the anxiety of first time parenthood. Then help arrives unexpectedly in the form of her estranged mother. Where this tale of supernatural suspense and family trauma goes next is weird, wild and completely unexpected. To say more would deprive the reader of all the great surprises this eerie novel contains.

There is something going on right now with pregnancy and motherhood as the catalyst for horror and I am loving it. This book fully embraces that theme and those anxiety riddled days of first time parenthood are perfectly captured and a great jumping off point for this tale.

This book is strange and has somewhat of a fevre dream quality to it which I found intoxicating as I was swept into this suffocating and surreal experience. The novel takes unexpected twists and turns and I was kept continually off kilter with no inkling of where it might go next. From where the story started to where it ended up was a bit mind blowing in a good way. My only quibble with it is that the ending was so abrupt and I was left wanting more but perhaps that was the intent. Overall, this was a compelling spooky season read.
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Breastfeeding horror. Why so many descriptions of breastfeeding? Most of them were not necessary to the plot.

Heart wrenching, post-partum nightmare meets the paranormal and had me veering all over the place. It was dark and heartbreaking and you can feel her struggles echoing in your own heart.

Spellbinding and frightening, Jacque Walters debuts with a humdinger of a horror novel. I felt for Flora every step of the way and still think about the Night Hag. Big recommend! Especially for spooky season.

Thank you to NetGalley & Mulholland Books for the ARC.

I really rated this a 3.5 stars.

I liked this book, and I appreciated that it showed the struggles of new motherhood and postpartum. But there’s a part of me that wishes it had delved more into that.

The writing was good, there were some interesting twists that weren’t super easy to predict, but it just ended up falling a little flat for me.

<spoiler>truthfully, I feel like this book would have hit stronger if in the end there wasn’t an actual paranormal element or it was left more ambiguous. So that at the end we truly didn’t know if Flora was hallucinating or truly being haunted. I think that’s a big part of what drove the first part of the story. Wondering if she wasn’t haunted or suffering a mental breakdown.</spoiler>

Talk about a fever dream! I didn’t know what was going on with this, was Flora imagining all of it, was it actually happening? Was she being haunted? Does she have postpartum depression that’s causing wild hallucinations? I flew through this, and couldn’t wait to get to the end to know how it all came together. It was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to read more from Jacquie Walters. Fans of psychological horror, possessions and hauntings would enjoy this one. Thanks to Mulholland Books for my eARC. Dearest is available now.

4.5 rounded up

I literally dropped everything to read this as soon as I got it in the mail.  It was one of my highly anticipated reads, and it did not disappoint!

Flora has given birth to a beautiful baby girl.  Iris came a little early, so Flora's husband is still deployed, leaving Flora to handle the newborn completely alone.  Sleepless nights and loneliness start to consume her.  She feels like she's losing her mind.  Her childhood imagery friend, Zelphie, reappears, and her mother shows up at her door.  Flora had a falling out with her mother, and they haven't spoken in years.  But she really needs help and is hoping they can mend their relationship.  Flora feels like her mother is hiding something and is determined to get to the bottom of it.  As things get stranger and scarier, Flora must determine what's real and what's not. 

This book was WOW!  It was totally creepy and the twists!🤯  My jaw literally dropped quite a few times!  The writing was immersive, and I was completely hooked!  I don't have any experience with new motherhood, but I could feel Flora's anxiety through the pages.  This book was dark and oh so disturbing!  It was fast paced, incredibly entertaining and suspenseful!  I really enjoyed this one, and I can't believe this is a debut!  This is a definite must-read for spooky season!  I highly recommend it!

I’ve wondered for a few years now if I feel called to have biological children. After the graphic pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum body horror that is the first half of this book, now I’m pretty sure the answer is no 😅

Part body horror, part psychological thriller, and part ghost story, Dearest follows Flora as she struggles to adjust to new motherhood while her husband is deployed. Driven to her breaking point by stress and sleep deprivation, Flora reaches out to her estranged mother. But even with her mother’s presence, Flora continues to lose her grip on reality, becoming more and more convinced that someone or something is trying to harm her baby girl. But is baby Iris actually in danger, or is it all in Flora’s head?

This was a wild ride. While I could have done without the body horror in the first half of the novel, I was fascinated by the relationship dynamic between Flora and her mother and the unique ways in which the novel dealt with generational trauma. I also loved the psychological aspect of the novel; just like Flora herself, readers are constantly tasked with wondering whether something nefarious is really going on here or if we’re simply witnessing the unraveling of a postpartum woman’s mind. And that ending line? Chef’s kiss.

Wow, wow, wow! I'm not a mother but I've found myself really drawn to books with motherhood as a big plot point, specifically books within the speculative genres: horror, thrillers, etc. Even without kids, it's not difficult to imagine how lonely and terrifying and stressful being a new mom must be - your body changing, your life not being solely your own anymore, the need to constantly put another person & their needs before your own. The exhaustion alone would be enough to horrify anyone, but on the pages with this, the deeper feelings of dread and fear really seem to stand out. I love the "is there or isn't there?" debate when trying to figure out what's wrong in the story or with a specific character, but I'll admit that reading someone be gaslight and disbelieved is a little grating after awhile. Still, enjoyed this immensely and will be grabbing a physical copy soon!

In her gripping debut, the author weaves a chilling tale that masterfully explores the complexities of motherhood, estrangement, and the insidious grip of family secrets. Flora, a new mom navigating the tumultuous waters of early motherhood, is beautifully portrayed as she grapples with loneliness and the haunting shadows of her past. With her husband deployed and her once-bustling home now eerily quiet, Flora's fragile mental state is expertly depicted, drawing readers into her increasingly unstable reality.

When Flora's estranged mother unexpectedly appears at her door, the tension escalates. Their fraught relationship is palpable, and the unresolved issues between them add a compelling layer to the narrative. The author skillfully crafts an atmosphere of dread that permeates Flora's home, leaving readers questioning the true nature of her mother’s intentions. Is she there to help, or does her presence bring something far more sinister?

As the story unfolds, Flora’s descent into paranoia becomes all too real, with strange occurrences that blur the line between reality and hallucination. The pacing is relentless, and the mounting suspense keeps readers on edge, reminiscent of the works of Grady Hendrix and Ashley Audrain. The underlying themes of generational trauma and the weight of unspoken truths resonate deeply, adding emotional depth to the horror elements.

What truly sets thus bookapart is its exploration of maternal instincts in the face of danger. Flora's fierce love for her daughter, Iris, propels her to confront her fears, even as she grapples with the possibility that her own mother might be a conduit for something malevolent. The climax is both heart-stopping and thought-provoking, leaving readers questioning not only the nature of evil but also the lengths a mother will go to protect her child.

In conclusion, this is a fast-paced and frightening debut that masterfully blends psychological horror with poignant family dynamics. It’s a must-read for anyone intrigued by the dark corners of motherhood and the secrets that bind us. This book will linger in your mind long after the final page is turned. Highly recommended!

Wow!! This is a great debut. There are some trigger warnings to be aware of. Postpartum difficulties, anxiety, depression, mental illness, child death, suicide, and mental health to name a few. I was immediately pulled into this one. I thought the characters were well developed and the plot flowed. It was really well written too. I was never bored. There's a lot that happens in this one and it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat. Some major creep factors too.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

WOW. First I must say you will absolutely need to check the trigger warnings for this one, it deals with difficulties during pregnancy and has a bit of gore in it, as well as a supernatural theme surrounding all of it. With that said, this book was horrifying! It definitely kept me engaged the whole way through and I definitely wanted to see how things were going to progress. I read this one pretty quickly and although it was a bit scary and gross it was definitely engaging and written in a way that has you in a rush to know all the outcomes!

Dearest is build up of years of trauma and the relationship it defines of mother and daughter. Incoming trigger warning.

With Flora a new mom and all alone as her husband is deployed, in the face of exhaustion and sleep paralysis, we see her reminiscing her relationship with her mother. The story is full of desperation and dread, as Flora starts to turn to a childhood comfort- as the reader, it left me wondering the spiral of her mental state and leaving the reader to question is she losing her mind. I really enjoyed the writing in this, especially the detail in the motherhood, and the way Flora constantly questions the way she mothers. The horror in the first half is very light and never quite pulls off creepy. And then you hit part 3 and can’t put the book down.

A haunting tale that gives a truthful voice to early motherhood and pregnancy. And specifically that of being a mother and being alone. I loved how the story kept unraveling as the story continued. Not entirely predictable but every transition was cohesive, like every moment was meant to be there. A few of these moments will stick with me and not always with the best imagery. And you couldn’t ask anymore of a horror novel than that.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc of this book!
Mullholand books is putting out bangers this year and is easily becoming one of my favorite publishers. This engrossing tale does not hold its readers hand, in fact it pushes you in and you are not given grace til the very end

Flora is struggling. She loves her newborn daughter, Iris, more than life itself, but things are hard. Her husband is deployed, leaving her to care for the baby alone 24 hours a day, and she's exhausted and overwhelmed and feels like she's beginning to lose her grip on reality. In a moment of weakness and nostalgia, she contacts her estranged mother, desperate for help. And then her mother shows up on her doorstep...

I was so impressed with Dearest. In a growing subgenre of horror focused on motherhood, Jacquie Walters' debut stands out due to her haunting prose, bold narrative choices, and impeccable plotting -- and one twist that made me gasp. Dearest is so engrossing, and it's impossible to stop reading as we spiral right alongside Flora. What starts as a deeply psychological character study about postpartum depression and a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship evolves into something much scarier as Waters explores the complexities of new motherhood, dangerous family secrets, and generational trauma through a supernatural lens. She perfectly captures what those first weeks after giving birth can feel like for a new mom: suffocating, exhausting, overwhelming, hallucinatory, and full of a love so powerful, so all-encompassing, that it's almost frightening. Some of the scenes in this book, and several specific images, are going to stick with me for a long time.

Dearest is one hell of a ride, from start to finish, a novel that is just as impactful as it is disturbing and upsetting. Thank you to Mulholland Books for the complimentary reading opportunity.

TW/CW: Language, anxiety, depression, toxic family relationships, postpartum depression, death by suicide, death of child, attempted murder, mental illness

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Flora is a new mom enamored of her baby girl, Iris, even if she arrived a few weeks early. With her husband still deployed, Flora navigates the newborn stage alone. But as the sleepless nights pass in the loneliness of their half-empty home, the edges of her reality begin to blur.

Just as Flora becomes convinced she is losing her mind, a surprising guest shows up: Flora’s own mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken in years. Can they mend their fraught relationship? Or is there more Flora’s mother isn’t telling her about the events that led to their estrangement?
Release Date: September 17th, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 304
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Writing style was good
2. Story flowed
3. Characters were well written
4. Tons of crazy things happened

What I Didn't Like:
1. Stories using the mental illness woman as a plot

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

Jodie is so terrible. She laughs at Flora for wanting to disconnect from wifi because a man hacked into the baby monitor. It's very rational to be upset that somebody's been watching her baby for so long.

Love that Jodie is reading Yellow Wallpaper.

I'm seriously wondering if Jodie is trying to gaslight Flora and trying to take the baby.

Omg omg omg Jodie is feeding Iris on her breast...... Omg omg!!!!

Yeah, no I would not be trying to help Jodie into the house. She is losing it! She is breast feeding her granddaughter and then goes outside to burn a tusk. Girl you can still call 911 without wifi! Get help to yourself.

I thought they had no electricity so how is she having a hot bath. Did she just know that her water heater would work? I get that she maybe has a gas water heater so maybe that's why it's working.

I'm sorry I just find it creepy that her mother is breastfeeding the baby and now she's rubbing her shoulders while she's in a bath. This all just seems so creepy and overstepping so many boundaries.

Oh my God and now she's trying to kill her...

---- her mother is dead.... What....!

Ohhhhh Flora had a twin that drained but Michael didn't see it so he wasn't sure what happened. He also covered the story of what happened to protect Jodie.

This all took a twist and Flora lost a leg and is pregnant. Like it was all insane.

So this whole time the tusk was protecting Flora just it was from her mother.

Final Thoughts:
Whoa - so much happens in this book and I wasn't ever bored. The writing made this book move along so seamlessly.

The characters were flawed and so completely messed up, but in a fascinating way that kept me dropping me mouths many times as I read this book.

I kept thinking if you have children you'll relate and if you don't have kids you'll be thankful you don't.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Mulholland Books for the advanced ebook. Thanks to Hachette Audio for the audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Dearest
Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

"The last time she felt this alone, she was young enough to still have her imaginary friend, Zephie. It has been a long time since Flora even thought about her, but Zephie had kept Flora company from her toddler years into childhood."

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Dearest by Jacquie Walters was at first glance a story about a mom, Flora, struggling through the early days of her postpartem journey. As many moms experience similar issues, I found her character to be extremely relatable. As the story progresses, we begin to think something deeper may be afoot. Something darker. This story kept me guessing through each plot development.

Due to what turns out to be an unreliable narrator, we as an audience aren't sure what to believe. I truly could not figure out exactly where this story was headed or what to believe as we uncovered new information. While I did struggle with the writing style, specifically the point of view and the tense the book is written in, the plot and its continuous intrigue kept my attention. I will say the ending had my mind whirling.

⚠️Warning⚠️
Language, adult content, death, suicide (off-page)