Becky's Reviews > The Unmothers

I wasn't really sure what this book was about when I requested it, but "folk horror" piqued my interest, and on the whole, the book didn't disappoint. I very much enjoyed the insular and secretive female community here, and the general feel of the not-quite-rightness of things. I liked the explanation given for the lore of the town, and that not everything was explained. Some things just were.

I was very intrigued and kind of horrified by the ritual that girls in this town can perform, and not because of the sacrifice required for it, but because of what it is supposed to do. And I'm with Roswell on this... I don't really see how anyone could continue living life normally knowing what they knew. Like... could you look at a horse that has your eyes and just... not go insane? I don't know if I could.

Anyway, there was a lot I liked about this - mainly in the tone and feel and lore. I liked the writing well enough for the most part. There were some really insightful and beautifully grim passages that I was into.

But the plotting and overall conflict left quite a bit to be desired for me. At one point a character is showing just how ruthless and cold they are, after killing several others already, and saying that they would kill far more if necessary to save themselves... but then... just goes along docilely? That seemed out of character. Though it's entirely possible that there was another explanation that was hinted at. Which is plausible, actually. Hmm.

One thing that I didn't love was the audiobook reader. She kept pronouncing "foal" and "full" "fool" and "fall" interchangeably and it threw me off every single time. In a book with foolish teen girls, and horses and women/girls birthing young, and taking place in the season after summer... it was a little bit of a challenge to track. But weirdly, everything else about her narration was fine... just four letter F words that are not THE four letter F word... yeah those I never quite knew which one she was saying. LOL

Anyway, I did like this, and I think I'd definitely read more from Anderson in the future.