Nightbitch

So, major TW/CW for delicate animal lovers and crazy cat ladies like me: There is a brutal pet murder scene 65% or so through the book that was gratuitous and very upsetting. There are multiple small animal murders, but the cat is the only one that goes into any depth. Like, why does Nightbeyotch hate her cat? The cat sounds adorable! That is not a thing I needed to read, and I wish I'd known about it beforehand.

On the whole, I found this book generally fast-paced and entertaining. There really are some lovely sentences in it, though it can get repetitive. And, honestly, not much really happens. It also enhances my suspicions that white suburbanites are just...really bizarre? And I'm white, but decidedly NOT suburban. I know people that are involved in MLM schemes, and I'm always flummoxed by them.

As others have noted, this should have been a novella. And whilst I did enjoy reading most of it, I was also flummoxed by the ending. If Jen & Co. were the other dogs, how is it that Nightbeyotch seemed to be the greatest of these suburban dogwomen? How is it that her issues with her husband were solved so easily? And how in the world is her kid going to grow up with any empathy, when he's basically treated like a weird little dogprince who gets whatever he wants?

Though there are some great moments, the ending sort of craps out for me, and the animal cruelty was too much. And her kid...I'd be worried. All that said, Ms. Yoder never bored me, and the premise wasn't too weird for me, since I usually read genre fiction, and transformation is just...a thing sometimes.

Suburban white housewife lit is a whole subgenre now. The dog transformation isn't the weird part.