[ad/gifted - I received an ebook copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.]
Just Like Mother by Anne Heltzel
My rating: 4/5
Publisher: Verve
Publication date: 26th September 2023
For the past two decades, Maeve has worked hard to build a normal life in New York City, where she keeps everything - and everyone - at a safe distance.
When Andrea suddenly reappears, Maeve regains the only true friend she's ever had. Soon she's spending more time at Andrea's remote Catskills estate than in her own cramped apartment. Maeve doesn't even mind that her cousin's wealthy work friends clearly disapprove of her single lifestyle. After all, Andrea has made her fortune in the fertility industry - baby fever comes with the territory.
What worries Maeve is that the more she immerses herself in Andrea's world, the more her long-buried memories flood to the surface. But confronting the terrors of her childhood may be the only way for Maeve to transcend the nightmare still to come...
Review:
I never really read books about cults and after reading this I am seriously questioning why because this was fantastic.
The story is told in the present and past. As a child, Maeve was part of a cult called The Mother Collective. After the children there were rescued and put into care, Maeve lost contact with her cousin and best friend Andrea. Twenty years later, Maeve is now in her mid-thirties, they find each other but although Andrea is married with a high-flying job, not everything is as it seems.
This book was seriously creepy and unsettling. It's "women are put on this earth to be mothers otherwise, what's the point?"/anti-patriarchy but taken to the extreme. It had me on edge, I knew what was going to happen and was desperate for Maeve to realise. My mouth was curled up in disgust at some points. It is just fabulously written and I was so surprised to read that this was the author's debut adult novel! The ending was just perfectly sinister.
