🎧 Book Info

- Title: Bitter is the Heart
- Author: Mina Hardy
- Narrator: Hallie Bee Bard
- Length: 10hrs 27mins

🧠 Plot & Characters

- Brief Plot Summary: a gripping horror novel that delves into the dark themes of generational trauma and abuse. The story follows Tamar Glass, who fled her abusive mother at eighteen, seeking a better life. Years later, Tamar is forced to return home to care for her now-elderly and still-cruel mother. As she confronts her past, Tamar must navigate the haunting memories and the psychological scars left by her mother’s cruelty.

🎙️ Narration

- Narration Quality: LOVED Hallie’s voice and how she articulated the story! well done!

🌌 Atmosphere

- Setting & Mood: in a house with a mom who is demonic 🫠
- Suspense Level: 🔍🔍

💭 Final Thoughts

- Overall Enjoyment: uhm…it took a lot to listen to this book due to its horror aspects. I’m not a huge fan of horror, but this book easily captures the reader’s attention and the plot is beautifully unfolded.
- Rating (out of 5 stars): ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Recommend? if you love horror, this book would be hard to put down!

Thank you Dreamscape and Netgalley for the ALC!

Read Completed 9/16/24 | 3.5 stars, rounded down
Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Audio for the audiobook review copy. This did not affect my review in any way.
I've been craving some horror stories recently and this was a good, solid read! I knew I recognized Mina Hardy's name and I actually didn't like her previous book, which was a thriller. This went much better for me in a fast-paced, disturbing horror novel. This dealt with possession and a demon, which isn't something I read a lot of, and I really liked how the author wrote this story. It's the story of the relationship between a mother and her daughter, the daughter now grown and having to care for her abusive mother after she gets kicked out of her retirement home when weird things begin to happen.

I really appreciated how layered this became in the end and all of the things that came to light. There's some truly creepy and disturbing things that happen here that gave me some serious chills, and I liked that there was a constant back and forth between is it or isn't it supernatural. Is her mother just this abusive, or is there something worse at play? Was her house haunted, or was it just her mother?

I'm glad I read this! A "level amount" of creepy for me, since I much prefer a lighter horror that's a little more grounded in reality with one supernatural concept poking through. This fit.

Bitter Is The Heart is DARK and I loved every second of it. Exploring generational abuse, addiction, and other deep topics - be sure to check the trigger warnings on this one before diving in.

I love books that force you to question the sanity of the main character, while making you root for them at the same time. I wanted to believe Tamar, and I really felt for her but there were times when I just assumed she was unhinged. Like when she woke up to her mother standing over her in the night, even though her mother was supposed to be at an assisted living facility miles away.

This one was riddled with twists and I highly recommend it! I ended up listening to this one on audio thanks to @dreamscape_media and the narrator, Hallie Bee Bard, absolutely crushed it.

Check this one out if you like horror, thrillers, and family drama!

**Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the eARC of this title!!**

This was an ok read. Not the worst bc I finished it, but not the best I’ve ever read. It was a good book to use as a pallet cleanser while I was trying to pick what to read next. I am not usually a big fan of the horror genre but as we are entering spooky season, it was fitting. Thankfully it was not over the top in horror, probably more of an “intro to horror” book.

The story line felt a little disjointed and chaotic at times. However, the author did a decent job of pulling it all together and finished strong.

I’d probably recommend this book only during spooky season.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media, via NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for my honest review.

This was a great combination of mystery and horror. So many creepy situations, that keep your attention. The scariest thing is not knowing if the one person that is supposed to love and care for you, is losing their mind or is being possessed, or is it all in your mind? Absolutely recommend.

Tamar wakes up one night and her 80 year old mother is standing over her. Not only is this shocking but she has a terrible relationship with her mother, so it is extra awful! Her mother, Ruth, is kicked out of her assisted living home so Tamar takes her in, temporarily.

Strange things begin happening in Tamar’s home. Ruth is horribly rude and insulting, as usual, but now supernatural things begin to happen. Tamar is a great character, as she is cool as a cucumber through the evil incidents she is experiencing. She has been through the wringer with Ruth over the years so this is just the icing on the cake. She will overcome this just like she always has before. Except, when the evil begins to get stronger, can she come out of it successfully?

There are some minor characters such as her boyfriend, Miguel, and her sister, Lovey. They are also fun characters with great personality. The narrator, Hallie Bee Bard, was great. She was able to capture the “evil” quite well. I was listening to this audiobook in my vehicle one night, and had to brave through it when the real horror begins toward the end of the book! This is my second book by Mina Hardy and I am a fan!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC of this book.

DNF at 15%.

This is the story of a middle-aged woman who has moved back home and is taking care of her aging mother. They don't have a healthy relationship or past, and eerie, unsettling things start happening to the daughter.

The reason I DNFed this book was boredom. It starts off with a bang, but then becomes quite dull and more of a sad drama than anything creepy. I can enjoy something like if the writing or characterization are exceptional, but here they are not. I think this is "for you" if you enjoy a quieter, milder horror that is more about revisiting your past/trauma than it is about any creepy stuff.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Tamar escaped her abusive mother at the age of 18 but is absolutely shocked when she wakes up to find her unwell mother hovering over her bed. How did she find her? Why is she there?

This book was so creepy! I was hooked from the beginning wondering what on earth her mother was doing there and empathizing with Tamar for having to have contact with someone she was trying to heal from. There were some truly disgusting parts in this book and I loved it. I did find the ending to be a little boring but I enjoyed the entire journey it took to get there. This was definitely a solid creepy read!

This audiobook was narrated by Hallie Bee Bard. She did an excellent job portraying all roles. I felt the suspense and unease throughout the performance!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Mina Hardy, and Crooked Lane Books for providing this free ARC. This is my honest review. This publishes today September 17th.

I have posted my review on Goodreads, my Facebook book club, and will make a TikTok to post before the pub date raving about this book!

While I enjoyed this story, I struggled somewhere between the audiobook narration and pacing. This book failed to draw my attention until halfway through the audio, and even then, I felt like it was take it or leave it.

I liked the concept and the religious aspect- not many stories (especially horror or thriller), involve Judaism and that felt like a nice change of pace. Mostly we hear about priests and Catholic Churches, so that detail set this book aside from others in the same category.

What a unique and riveting story! Read this in one day and I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so sad when a book ended.
This falls wonderfully into woman’s fiction, paranormal and suspense with some religion in there as well.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!!

I really enjoyed this book. More than I thought I would. I liked the characters! Great writing style and I liked the storyline. This book kept me guessing. I finished it in one sitting. Creepy book but in the best possible way!!!!

Ripping domestic horror featuring the Jewish mother from Hell, literally! Mina Hardy always finds new ways to creep me out with her anti-heroines, but this book is next level! Five plus!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #DreamScapeMedia for the book #BitterIsTheHeart by #MinaHardy. Tamar didn’t have a good relationship with her mother growing up. Her mother was always mean and too hard on her, so she left at 18 years old. Now, decades later she wakes up and finds her mother in her house standing over her bed. She has to take in her mother, who has been kicked out of her assisted living facility. As weeks go by, Tamar starts to see something sinister in her mother. Why is it targeting her?

3.5⭐
Genre ~ domestic horror
Setting ~ Ohio
Publication date ~ September 17, 2024
Publisher ~ Dreamscape Media
Est Page Count ~ 298 (43 chapters)
Audio length ~ 10 hours 27 minutes
Narrator ~ Hallie Bee Bard
POV ~ single 3rd
Featuring ~ nightmares, night walking

Tamar, not Tamara or Tammy, is woken in the middle of the night by someone standing in her room. Yikes! But it's just her 80 year old mother, Ruth, who lives in a home 17 miles away. How did she get there in the middle of the night and why are her feet in rough shape?

Then Ruth gets kicked out of her home, so Tamar has no choice but to take her in. They don’t get along, so this is not going to be fun mother/daughter bonding time. There’s a lot of animosity due to childhood trauma and it took a while to find out why.

This is supposed to be a horror novel. I suppose it has some creepy aspects, but I didn’t find it scary or gory or anything like that. Some disturbing and gross things were done for sure. Probably not a good idea to read/listen in the dark.

Overall, a bit slow moving, but I was pleased with the ending even if it was a bit abrupt. Also, liked how Judaism was incorporated throughout.

Narration notes:
She did okay. I could have went for a little more emotion at times. Easy to listen to at 3x, which is good since I had to power through to finish for pub date.

I found Tamar to be intensely relatable, though after a lot of therapy I have a much easier time saying no and setting boundaries with people who hurt me. I loved the way Jewish culture was weaved into the story. I wanted to know what happened after the last scene, to see if Tamar made it out of the situation ok.

This audiobook was so creepy and sooo good. The narrator did an amazing job of keeping the story alive and kept me engaged.

The only criticism I have is that some of the chapters ended very abruptly like there should of been more to the sentence or paragraph.

Great book for spooky season!

Thank you NetGalley, Mina Hardy and Dreamscape Media for an advanced listeners copy in exchange for an honest review.

YES. Jewish Horror! This is perfection. I absolutely loved the narration. I was able to hear the difference between the mother and the mother thing. The ending was so good. I am trying to write this review without revealing any spoilers.
Thank you for this ARC, I cannot praise it enough.

Mina Hardy has done it again. This book is not only incredibly entertaining, horrific in all the right ways, but also filled with an intriguing story about the human condition. The story shows how real life can impact the bonds between mothers and daughters. I was intrigued from the very first page, and fell in love with the characters. The reveal at the end was super satisfying after the wonderful build up. The characters were thought out and even though I hated them, I loved them too. This is because the writing was so beautifully done and articulated perfectly.

This is one wild and scary look at generational trauma and one of the most dysfunctional mother/daughter relationships I’ve read in a long time. There were a couple of moments that really freaked me out and it leads to an ending that is absolutely crazy in the best possible way.

Not my favorite kind of book but I did like the narrator and I liked the two main characters. I liked the ambiance and I liked the authors attempts to connect with the reader.