As the release date is quickly approaching, I was planning to read all day, stay up through the night, and finish it before the “deadline.” However, while I greatly appreciate the ARC and want to give a proper review, I realized I’m not engaged enough with the story to *want* to stay up to finish it. I DNF’d at 35%.

This book has some great themes: we’ve got a witch fighting corporate capitalism, an anti-industrialism and colonialism story, an environmentalist message, exploration of generational trauma, and a love letter to the land of Appalachia.

However, the way it’s written just wasn’t for me. While I can appreciate and enjoy stories with unlikable characters, they made this one difficult to be immersed in- I think the best character was the mountain (which might or might not be alive and killing people). There is also a lot more religion than I was expecting, and I think my lack of knowledge here separated me from being able to truly appreciate parts of both the prose and the plot.

I feel that I could recommend this book, but it just wasn’t for me.

Motheater was unlike any of the books I have read recently. While I enjoyed most of it, at times I felt lost. The plot is unique, the setting fantastic, and the characters strong. The writing was wordy at times and I kept confusing the mountain name with the town name. which did not help things. I loved the Appalachian witch parts, to me that was where the book shines. I also liked the relationships between Jasper and Esther and Bennie and Esther. Fantastic stuff. As I said, I was sometimes confused and tried my best to infer what was happening. All in all, this is great and I can't wait to read more by this author.

This book was good! I liked it but didn’t love it. I definitely see potential in it and look forward to seeing what else the author does.

A powerful tale of magic and pain in Appalachia, this story follows two women, one Neighbor and one neighbor, as they reckon with old injuries and megalith consequences in this fictional western Virginia.

I absolutely loved this book and the characters! I never would have thought I’d read a book that tackled environmental issues in a fantasy manner kinda like magic realism. And including some Appalachian lore! This was beautifully written and well thought out. I loved the way Bennie was growing into herself and accepting who she is without fearing whether or not she will be pleasing to others. And I loved seeing how Motheater came out of her shell. There were definitely parts of Bennie and Motheater that had my heart doing lil flips.


*I received a free ARC from NetGalley*

bittersweet one, and oh my, was I right.

A very beautifully written story about faith, love and desire to protect what to stand for.

At 30% I was like what else has to happen in this book, we already understand had happened, but the way we came to know Esther view of the events, little by little, her relationship with her faith, Jasper, Kiron and Kire is... breathtaking.[ I just wished I had know more about what happened to Kiron (and Jasper's father and Julian especially) after she was forced into the mountain.

Bennie, although have quite irritated me sometimes with her indecisionnes about how to she was feeling with the whole story happening to her, have grown found to me.[ And I kinda really wished she had made a diferent choise in chapter 36.

The only reason it's not a 5 star read for me is because everything is kinda of sorted out and just told to us in the last chapter. And the second to last one did deserve a in time description to its following.

Again, was a ending I kinda was expecting, but still wouldn't mind getting the live reaction to it instead of a told one.

The ARC I received did not had content warnings, but these are the ones if found during the reading:

-Blood;
-Animal Death (descriptive, in page, by humans);
-Aggression;

Thank you Kensington and NetGalley for the ARC!

While this was an interesting idea with intriguing concepts, the book fell short for me. It was slow in areas and felt like I was dragging my feet through the mud of the prose and plot. This book was definitely more a paranormal/horror with elements of folk rather than a fantasy book and I can see a lot of fantasy fans picking this up expecting something different only to be disappointed. From a folk horror side of view, it excelled in that area, I loved the ideas of female rage and nature fighting back against capitalism and corporation.
Overall, I did enjoy the read, it could just have used a bit more tension and drama!

Thank you NetGalley and Linda Codega for the e-arc!

I loved the premise of Motheater - a witchy historical fiction fantasy written in third person with dual pov split between present day and the mid 1800s. I enjoyed the personification of the mountain and the themes of magic vs industry.

However, the book fell flat for me. The pacing of the story and characterisation of the people were off. There were so many repetitive phrases and unnecessary scenes. The use of Christianity with the magic also didn’t quite work and the love felt a little forced (and unnecessary) for both couples. I really had to push myself not to dnf it. Such a shame as I had such high hopes.

Perhaps a re-write with further editing might push this into the 4 star range?

I love any book that has spooky appalachian vibes, but this one did fall a little flat for me. The pacing was a little slow at times which affected my review of this as well.

Appalachian stories that highlight the tenacity, culture, and folklore of the region are always exciting to me. Motheater is like a gothic environmental revenge story, where Bennie, a Black woman in a mining town, rescues a woman with a concussion from the river, and enlists her help to take down the local mining corporation when she realizes the mysterious woman might be a genuine naturalist witch "Neighbor" from the 1800s.

Like other reviewers, I feel like this is not a good fit for a typical fantasy reader, but may work better for literary fiction or maybe some kind of revenge genre that doesn't require fast-paced action.

I found it really hard to get through this book. The pacing was very slow and the mysteries did not feel very mysterious or suspenseful. Motheater's chapters were all set in the past and she comes across pretty disinterested in the present. Both women seemed almost one-dimensional because the only subject of thought or dialogue was rage at the corporation. There just wasn't enough world-building to keep me interested in the plot.

warning: this review contains spoilers. it's simply impossible for me to review it without them.

so, motheater. what a ride. it's 2 am here on my side of the planet, and i'm still trying to untangle my feelings about it.

the themes in this book are absolutely fire. an appalachian witch battling corporate capitalism, a mountain literally fighting back after being exploited for its natural resources, sign me up. the story weaves in environmentalism, the rage of the land, and generational trauma in a way that’s both lyrical and haunting. and speaking of lyrical—let’s talk about the prose. this isn’t just a fantasy; it’s literary fiction with teeth. the writing is lush, poetic, and full of quiet moments that make you pause and savor them. it feels like the kind of book you’d underline passages in if you were reading a physical copy.

the magic system threw me off at first, but once i got the hang of it, i fell in love. magic tied to the land, nature, and old mountain spirits just hits different. it feels raw and powerful, almost like a hymn to appalachia itself. then there’s bennie and motheater. the two leads are complex and flawed in all the best ways. bennie, with her modern-day anger and grief, is perfectly mirrored by motheater, a witch from the past with her own share of broken promises and regrets. their shared fight against industry and exploitation ties their stories together in a deeply compelling way.

now for the tricky part. the romance just didn’t land for me. i wanted to feel it. i mean, a sapphic romance between a modern woman and a centuries-old witch? yes, please. but it felt one-sided for too long, and the connection between them was overshadowed by everything else going on in the plot. and the ending… i get it. it makes sense narratively, but it veers dangerously close to the byg trope.

another thing that gave me pause was the representation. bennie is a black woman, written by a white author, and while i'm not black (i'm asian), there were moments that didn’t sit right with me. there’s a scene with bennie interacting with a white cop, clearly afraid because of the racial dynamics, but it feels out of place. it’s never revisited or tied to the larger narrative, and it comes across as surface-level at best. if you’re going to address racism, especially as a white writer, you’ve got to go deeper than one isolated moment that feels like a box-checking exercise.

so, yeah—motheater is complicated. it’s got a lot to love: the atmosphere, the themes, the writing. but it also stumbles in some significant ways, especially when it comes to the romance and representation. if you’re into lush, slow-burn literary fantasy and don’t mind a few rough edges, it’s definitely worth checking out.

thank you, @netgalley and kensington publishing, for the e-arc!

Motheater by Linda H Codega began strong with a gripping scene that immediately pulled me in. Our main character, Bennie, found an unconscious woman in the river. She retrieved her and put her in the bed of her truck to take her into town. This scene introduced our two main characters, revealed the location, described the setting, and gave us a glimpse at the conflict. It was beautifully written and led me to have high hopes.
That being said, I have a complicated relationship with this book. I felt compelled to finish it, though it was a struggle. 
The concept was intriguing: nature's fight against industrialization. The characters were diverse and complex: people of color, a one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old witch, miners, businessmen, queers, and nature itself. The descriptions of the Appalachian Mountain region were thorough and immersive. The dual timeline gave historical context and cultural representation that helped paint a complete picture of the intricate situation our characters find themselves in.
The book was long, and the pace was slow. The writing style was challenging. Despite all the things I listed that I appreciated, there was an overabundance of similes. The poetic and flowery words combined with period and regional dialect were too much. It muddled the plot and made the whole thing feel a bit convoluted. I never had a real grasp on what was happening; it was just out of reach, fluttery like the moths flitting around Motheater's hair.
It is not exactly a romance, though our mains become attached throughout the novel.
The ending didn't move me like I thought it should have.
This book has a lot of value, and the author has done some good work. I just found it difficult to read.
Opinions are like, well, you know, so take from this what you will. It may very well be your next favorite read. It just wasn't mine.
#smalltown #coalminers #industrialization #AppalachianMountainRegion #WestVirginia #Virginia #witch #POC #sapphic #queer #culturalrep #dualtimeline #natureversushumans 
I received this free ARC from NetGalley. This is my honest opinion.

I was all over the place with this one. The concept of this is absolutely insane but it works? I was confused at a few points and loved the history aspect on the story.

Being a fellow Virginian and having family that worked coal mines in West VA for so long, I felt a connection to this one. I know these mountains that are named & know the background of the coal mining lifestyle.

Can I get a word count on how many times “Motheater” was said? Causeeee WOW. I honestly feel like I got to the point of being sick of it because it was so often.

Overall the history and the witchy vibes this gave were great but I do feel like it fell flat for me.

I absolutely love queer horror (I don't know why, I just do) and this book perfectly mixes horror with folklore elements and issues relevant in today's world. Thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon for the advanced copy!

Lovely writing and good atmospherics. This merges folklore and horror with contemporary and topical issues. It might be a bit too long but once you're reading it's an immersive tale. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

3.5 Stars

“I’m not eating them . . . I’m going to absorb its soul and manifest its ancestral memories.”

Motheater is southern folk horror story straight from Virginia’s Appalachian mountains. Fantastical, dark, and beautifully written, this was a solid debut from author Linda H. Codega.

In the modern day of industry and machines, magic is all but gone. mountains are leveled as large mining companies ravage the land. Dangerous practices result in high profits but deadly consequences. Bennie’s best friend is dead and she knows it’s more than just an unavoidable accident. Her investigation doesn’t get very far until the day the miners find a body in the stone and toss into the river. When Bennie finds the woman half drowned and brings her home, she finds that maybe magic isn’t completely gone from the land after all.

Motheater doesn’t remember who she is - only that she is a neighbor of Kire, a witch of the mountains. Together the two women start on a journey to discover Motheater’s past and to discover what is killing miners on the mountain.

There was a lot I liked about this book. The local folklore was really interesting. As a Virginia native, I enjoyed the blending of fact with fiction. I liked the idea of a witch bound by nature fighting against the inevitable progression of industry. The book had very solid bones.

I had two issues with this book, however. First, this is not a short read, but there are a lot of moments that are very slow going that I personally felt didn’t help progress the story. I love a well fleshed out character, but I don’t need to know their every inner thought. As soon as the story started picking up, it would slow again. Second, I thought the romance didn’t work. Marketed as a queer romance, I felt the entire relationship was unnecessary. Bennie was infatuated by the mysterious Motheater, which made sense, but I didn’t believe Motheater would reciprocate those feelings after expressing so much disdain towards people. The story was strong on its own. It did not need a romance angle.

Overall, I did enjoy the story. I loved the idea of nature vs machine, though doomed. I loved the Appalachian folklore. I think it’s a book that is going to appeal to a lot of different people. There were some pacing issues, but, as a debut, it’s quite well written.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The writing in Motheater is beautiful. The author really captured the atmosphere of old Appalachia so well, in my opinion. But the book definitely felt too long. I found myself occasionally skim reading, as some passages felt repetitive or unnecessary.

Highlights
~calm down mr bluejay
~magic vs mining
~don’t mess with a Neighbor

This book made me feel extremely autistic.

Not at first. The first half, maybe even the first two-thirds, are incredibly strong – and the prose is absolutely lovely throughout. I have never visited Appalachia, but Codega’s writing is rich and atmospheric, and the setting is – pretty literally! – a character in its own right. And the fact that none of our main characters are uncomplicatedly Nice/Good People? *chef’s kiss* Magnificent, and much approved!

>“Faith’s only part of it. There’s more fire in me than blood. You pull on my red-string it’s liable to lead you to Old Scratch himself. You want to be a witch?” Motheater hissed, eyes wide. “For magic, you have to tie yourself to something greater, to a baptism. You bind yourself to power, an old creature, an ancient thing; the Witch-Father, the Devil’s Wife, the Moon Raker, the Drunken Child, the Last Bride. The old witches, the nightly powers. Then you give, and they give back.”<

…But.

Look: it is possible that I was just being Extremely Autistic, and missing the obvious. But it sure felt like, the closer we got to the final pages, the more characters were suddenly changing long-held views without any warning – or, worse, any explanation. I could not figure out, even after combing back over what I’d read, when, or why, Esther decided the mining company coming into town might not be a bad thing. There seemed no groundwork laid for Motheater deciding she was the cause of the problem; she just abruptly comes to the conclusion that everything is her fault, actually, and I couldn’t figure out her reasoning. The (magical?) bond between Bennie and Motheater comes out of nowhere; it just seems to appear, suddenly, not grow over time. Bennie’s Intense Aversion to the whole scene with the tree was utterly baffling: I didn’t understand at all what was going on, when she’d been so into and excited by magic just the day before. Everything Esther did was for Kiron, until suddenly the book was all ‘she hasn’t been looking after Kiron at all actually, major fail!’ Despite previously deciding that Zach is more than culpable in nearly killing Motheater (actually killing her, as far as he knew) she goes back to thinking he’s a paragon later, apparently forgetting all her anger and disgust with him.

I just. What?

>The moths were a Milky Way above them, soft silverine stars dotting the ceiling.<

The characters aren’t the only thing that stopped making sense. I have no problem with soft magic systems – I love them! – but this one was contradictory. Literally: on one page Esther cannot cast a spell, isn’t able to, but then does it anyway a page later in the same scene. You become a Neighbor (a badass, extremely hardcore Appalachian witch) by making a bargain…but at one point Character A is made into a witch by Character B, which, how??? What??? Character C tells Motheater off for not tending to the souls, but then it’s revealed that Character C has been gathering them this whole time? What’s the problem then?

Hopefully some of that got fixed in copyedits – I did read an arc, after all, not a finished copy – but it was majorly frustrating.

The use of biblical quotes for Esther’s magic – for Appalachian magic in general – is something I’ve come across before, and I think was done really well here! And to be clear, the magic very much felt like magic, which I appreciated. I liked how wild and strange it felt, how earthy it was. But when so much of the plot rested on it…it did get frustrating, having no concept of where the limits were, what was and wasn’t possible. Nothing about it was really explained – Kire, the local mountain, is alive and sentient (in its way), and so are at least some trees, and some animals at least some of the time? I would have really liked to learn more about the framework of Esther’s magic; not the mechanics, but who or what the spirits are that she references sometimes, why she can do this but not that, how can this fucker over here use magic too? What’s the belief system, here?

There were quite a lot of writerly decisions that I didn’t like. Bennie, a Black woman, playing pretty useless sidekick to the white, powerful Motheater, for one. The way the ending fell out, for another. But there were also a lot of word choices that made me want to tear my hair out: for instance, at one point, Codega writes ‘warp and woof’ – which, hi, virtually none of your readers are going to know that woof is a technical, historical term for ‘weft’! Which means you using it there is just going to make us think of dogs! Or the insistence of using the word ‘cleavage’ to describe rocky surfaces, which PAINFULLY undermines the dramatic showdown with the sentient mountain in the climax! Come on.

The very worst, though, is the choice of the Big Bad, which I remain utterly confused about. It’s not much of a spoiler: although Bennie starts the book looking to shut down the mining company, which she believes is responsible for the deaths in the mines, by the halfway point everyone is very clear on Kire, the mountain, being the monster who needs to be stopped.

>Whatever White Rock was doing couldn’t compare to what Kire threatened. White Rock’s miners disappeared in ones and twos. If Kire woke up, it could destroy the entire operation. Hundreds of White Rock’s miners, killed all at once, lost to an Appalachian appetite.<

Some lip-service is paid to the idea that Kire’s anger at being mined is justified, but fundemantally, this is a book about Appalachian mining that decides the environment is the problem.

Play that back: we’re talking about mining. Mining coal, specifically. In rural, poor, Appalachia. And instead of the aggressive, indifferent-to-life, greedy, destructive mining companies being the issue…it’s the environment itself.

…That sure is a Choice That Was Made. One that seems extra wtf with the climate crisis going on outside.

To be clear, Motheater isn’t pro-mining companies or anything. I don’t think Codega intends for the book to be read that way. I’m just not sure how else I’m supposed to take it, when the monster that needs slaying is the mountain instead of the corporates. Did nobody in the editing process think that was a weird narrative decision??? Nobody???

<Motheater’s short lashes, her cheekbones like chopped crystal, stunning like a mountain ridge.>

I don’t know. The first half of this book was beautiful. I didn’t enjoy the last third at all. The ending wasn’t what I wanted; the Big Bad was definitely not what I wanted. I’d be happy to try another book from Codega in the future. But this one, I am, reluctantly, not a fan of.

Trigger warning: fairly graphic animal sacrifice

I must preface my review by saying that this is absolutely not for everyone. The writing is great but the pacing is slow. Things took a looonnggg time to get going, and if you're looking for a fast paced read, you'll have to find something else. But I was listening to the story while driving along the North-South Expressway, flanked by beautiful mountains, and it felt really good.

The story switched between the present and the past, starting off in the modern day with Bennie pulling Motheater from the river. We soon find out that Motheater is a witch, but she couldn't remember her past or how she ended up in the mountain and emerged half-dead. Also, in a relatively funny moment, Bennie asked if she really eats moths (you'll have to find the answer yourself; my lips are sealed). This central mystery - learning who Motheater is, what her powers consist of, and what happened to her - occupies a significant portion of the book.

At some point the story switched to the past. There we follow the travails of Esther, the witch (or as the book calls it, a 'neighbour') in charge of Kire Mountain. Unhappy with the encroachment of the mining companies there to strip the mountains of their riches, she must use every trick she knew to stop them. However, she faced objection from the mining community, who welcomed the promised economic boon and job opportunities.

I find this to be an engrossing read. I've never been to the Appalachian Mountains or live in a mining community, but Codega's evocative writing paints a vivid picture. Motheater's magic is not well-defined, for it seems to allow her to do a wide array of things, but that does not bother me; it seems to make sense somehow given the context of the story. The characters are sufficiently complicated; Bennie and Motheater underwent paradigm shifts, and they had to let go of some stubbornly-held beliefs.

One thing didn't quite work for me: the sapphic elements. I felt that the relationship between Bennie and Motheater didn't quite have the build up to be convincing. Until the end I still felt like they were more friends or partners than lovers.

Would I recommend this book? I don't know; I suspect that personal preferences can play a massive role in whether you'll end up liking this or not. I looked at some Netgalley reviews to get an idea of how people feel about this book overall, and the ratings are all over the place. So I suppose you'll love it or hate it? I'd say this, though: Codega has certainly done a lot of research in the writing of this story, and it worked for me.

The characters are strong and the past and present stories lines are woven together beautifully, creating a cohesive and enjoyable read.