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reads_vicariously 's review for:
Just Like Mother
by Anne Heltzel
**Review originally published in SCREAM Magazine**
On the outside Maeve seems like an ordinary thirty-something single woman. She owns her own apartment, works as an editor in the publishing industry, and has a relationship with a bartender that’s mostly physical. But behind this average facade lies a past that Maeve is desperate to hide: specifically the strange cult she was raised in, as well as the intense loneliness and sense of displacement that has plagued her all her life. When Maeve’s cousin Andrea, who was also raised in the cult, suddenly contacts her out of the blue, Maeve thinks she might have just found the belonging she’s been missing. What she doesn’t know is that Andrea is harboring some dark secrets of her own.
The novel has a fantastically odd and intriguing premise. Andrea is the founder of a tech company called NewLife, which creates creepy realistic dolls to help both expectant and grieving mothers, and much of the story is set in the massive, ancient, and remote estate that she and her husband Rob own. Andrea has recently lost her own child, and now she’s intent on purchasing Maeve’s fertility (by buying an egg from her). Then there’s the Motherhood Collective, a cult pledged to the superiority of mothers and dismissal of men to an extent that is both violent and disturbing. Why exactly is Andrea so eager for Meave to stay with them? What lengths will she go to in order to secure Maeve’s “cooperation”? What horrifying memories from the past has Maeve buried deep in her subconscious? And has the Motherhood Collective been banished for good?
Unfortunately, the book takes too long to answer those questions, and much of my interest was lost until the final quarter. To be fair, the final act is full of twists (some expected, some surprising) and shockingly gruesome scenes. But does such an ending make up for the laborious trudge that it took to get there?
There are moments of tension throughout that bloom to full on suspense and horror towards the end. I enjoyed learning about the cult, especially through the chapters written in flashback when Maeve was a child. The revelations in the final act had my heart thudding in anger at the injustices done to Maeve. And the lifelike doll concept and cult-like adoration of Andrea by her followers was pretty creepy.
And yet, like I mentioned, much of the book moves at a snail's pace. I had a good idea of where the book was heading, so it felt like torture waiting for things to kick off. I’m a fan of dread and slow burn stories, but this one lost me. It also felt like the characters had to voice their opinions on motherhood every few pages. I’m not sure if this was the author beating me over the head with a message, or just repetitive writing.
Just Like Mother has some of the same sinister and unnerving elements that make stories like Rosemary’s Baby, The Invitation, and Westworld so good. When its sci-fi, gothic, and cult horror elements are working, they work well. But overall the book felt like it would be better suited as a short story, at least in its current form. I will also admit that, not being a woman or a mother, I may not have been the best target audience. If you can connect to these characters then I would say it’s worth reading to see what happens at the end. Long live the Motherhood Collective.
On the outside Maeve seems like an ordinary thirty-something single woman. She owns her own apartment, works as an editor in the publishing industry, and has a relationship with a bartender that’s mostly physical. But behind this average facade lies a past that Maeve is desperate to hide: specifically the strange cult she was raised in, as well as the intense loneliness and sense of displacement that has plagued her all her life. When Maeve’s cousin Andrea, who was also raised in the cult, suddenly contacts her out of the blue, Maeve thinks she might have just found the belonging she’s been missing. What she doesn’t know is that Andrea is harboring some dark secrets of her own.
The novel has a fantastically odd and intriguing premise. Andrea is the founder of a tech company called NewLife, which creates creepy realistic dolls to help both expectant and grieving mothers, and much of the story is set in the massive, ancient, and remote estate that she and her husband Rob own. Andrea has recently lost her own child, and now she’s intent on purchasing Maeve’s fertility (by buying an egg from her). Then there’s the Motherhood Collective, a cult pledged to the superiority of mothers and dismissal of men to an extent that is both violent and disturbing. Why exactly is Andrea so eager for Meave to stay with them? What lengths will she go to in order to secure Maeve’s “cooperation”? What horrifying memories from the past has Maeve buried deep in her subconscious? And has the Motherhood Collective been banished for good?
Unfortunately, the book takes too long to answer those questions, and much of my interest was lost until the final quarter. To be fair, the final act is full of twists (some expected, some surprising) and shockingly gruesome scenes. But does such an ending make up for the laborious trudge that it took to get there?
There are moments of tension throughout that bloom to full on suspense and horror towards the end. I enjoyed learning about the cult, especially through the chapters written in flashback when Maeve was a child. The revelations in the final act had my heart thudding in anger at the injustices done to Maeve. And the lifelike doll concept and cult-like adoration of Andrea by her followers was pretty creepy.
And yet, like I mentioned, much of the book moves at a snail's pace. I had a good idea of where the book was heading, so it felt like torture waiting for things to kick off. I’m a fan of dread and slow burn stories, but this one lost me. It also felt like the characters had to voice their opinions on motherhood every few pages. I’m not sure if this was the author beating me over the head with a message, or just repetitive writing.
Just Like Mother has some of the same sinister and unnerving elements that make stories like Rosemary’s Baby, The Invitation, and Westworld so good. When its sci-fi, gothic, and cult horror elements are working, they work well. But overall the book felt like it would be better suited as a short story, at least in its current form. I will also admit that, not being a woman or a mother, I may not have been the best target audience. If you can connect to these characters then I would say it’s worth reading to see what happens at the end. Long live the Motherhood Collective.