Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth

'A gruesome, blackly funny, utterly original feminist horror story ' New York Times , Notable Book of the Year 'A buzz-worthy and ferocious horror comedy from one of the genre's most promising voices' Buzzfeed Abby Lamb has done it. She's found the Great Good in her husband, Ralph, and together they will start a family and put all the darkness in her childhood to rest. But then the Lambs move in with Ralph's mother, Laura, whose depression has made it impossible for her to live on her own. She's venomous and cruel, especially to Abby, who has a complicated understanding of motherhood given the way her own, now-estranged, mother raised her. When Laura takes her own life, her ghost starts to haunt Abby and Ralph in very different ways. Ralph is plunged into depression, and Abby is being terrorized by a force intent on taking everything she loves away from her. With everything on the line, Abby must make the ultimate sacrifice in order to prove her adoration to Ralph and break Laura's hold on the family for good.

I have to say I was really looking forward to reading this and felt super excited when I got the ARC from NETGALLEY.

The description basically telling me that a young wife is now haunted by the ghost of her mother in law. That premise sounds amazing and was why I requested the book.

In theory that's what this book is about, in execution it's actually trying to say a lot about grief, motherhood and depression. Our protagonist Abby and her husband Ralph are reeling from Ralph's mothers death and Ralph is slipping deep into a depression and is adamant that the ghost of his mother is haunting their basement.

Abby must do anything she can to bring Ralph out of it and she goes to some extreme measures for sure. I wouldn't classify this book as horror at all (except maybe one scene). This is more of a psychological meditation about the effects of grief on a marriage. It's also about the meaning of motherhood and what it means to be there for someone.

The writing is great and I'm glad this book exists. I'm giving it 3 stars because it wasn't exactly what I expected or wanted and that was disappointing. While I enjoyed the writing there are definitely parts that felt like a slog to get through for sure.

If you want a more literary take on the horror genre this might be for you.

What it's like:
Mother meets Hand that Rocks the Cradle
Men meets Ghost

Book Grades:
Plot Development and Pacing - 90/100
Character Development - 90/100
Theme and Subject Matter - 90/100
Writing Style - 90/100
Reader Engagement - 75/100

Overal Grade: 87% - B OR 3/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Grabbed this during a 2-for-1 sale for Spooky Season, coincidentally didn't realize that I also had NetGalley waiting on a review (sorry)! It's a little different as a domestic horror, but I enjoyed. The narration is well done, and the character's voice comes to life.
First and foremost, this is kind of a dark comedy. Or at the very least, the artistic voice comes across as funny. A lot of the analogies and metaphors are witty, and something I have never quite achieved in my own writing.
In a way, I would liken this to a fictional “I'm Glad My Mom Died” as it shows a lot of the darker sides of motherhood: abuse, obsession, and dysfunction. It also goes into depression and delusion in a very atmospheric way.
Unfortunately the end did lose me for a bit, which is when it was supposed to be building to climax, but it did end with quite the surprise. Personally a 3/5*, a fun one.

And I absolutely love the cover!

Ainslie wrote so wonderfully, I was sucked into the story right from the beginning. Abby, and even Ralph, were written so well! I was incredibly invested in how the story was going to play out and I absolutely loved experiencing and being in Abby's head during her slow descent into madness.

That ending. Phew.