Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Nightbitch

Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

497 reviews

avoticat's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I adored this book. It's an incredibly psychological look at motherhood and an exploration of the animal nature of humanity. It also feels like a criticism of white trad-wife ideology, although all alternative options of motherhood are presented as animalistic and heavily romanticised. It is very much and exploration from a set point-of-view and transformation as her perspective changes, but is not (in my opinion) supposed to be an all-encompasing analysis of motherhood.

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sadiaa's review against another edition

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2.5

Exploration into postpartum depression, isolation and loneliness, unequal division of labour and the resentment comes with it.
Sally rooney-esque where she doesn't use quotation marks when characters are speaking to each other
The main character isn't named, only called the mother or nightbitch
Weird tangents
Not what I was expecting, not for me

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savvannahrose's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I thought this was going to be a 5 star read but unfortunately it was a drag to get through! I felt like the main point of the book was beat into you and in your face the entire time which at times got really old

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virgcole398's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This book further justifies my decision to never have children.

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bisexualbookshelf's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder is an electrifying exploration of motherhood, identity, and the primal rage that often simmers just beneath the surface of womanhood. Told through the lens of a woman undergoing a literal transformation into a dog, Yoder’s novel digs deep into the societal constraints placed on women, particularly mothers, and the visceral need to reclaim a sense of self amidst the suffocating pressures of domestic life.

At its heart, Nightbitch interrogates the tension between social expectations of women as selfless caregivers and the internal desires for autonomy and fulfillment. The protagonist’s metamorphosis—from a burnt-out mother struggling to balance her artistic ambitions with the relentless demands of motherhood to a feral creature driven by instinct and desire—acts as both a literal and metaphorical journey. Yoder’s prose captures this transformation in all its messiness and madness, laced with dark humor and biting political critique. The narrator’s body begins to sprout fur, her teeth sharpen, and she develops an insatiable craving for raw meat. These changes echo the internal fury of feeling caged by patriarchal expectations, amplifying the feminist critique of how motherhood is often packaged as a holy, selfless calling, while leaving little space for women’s personal fulfillment.

One of the book’s standout elements is Yoder’s writing style, which mirrors the protagonist’s descent into animalistic chaos. The prose is fast-paced and frantic, alternating between back-to-back sentence fragments and more meandering, reflective passages. This rhythmic shift creates an atmosphere of tension, pulling readers into the protagonist’s unraveling psyche. The transformation itself becomes a metaphor for the feral nature of feminine rage—the kind of rage that is long suppressed but eventually bursts free, teeth bared, demanding release.

What makes Nightbitch particularly striking is its feminist lens on motherhood, especially how the protagonist slowly realizes she might hate being a mother, or at least hate the version of motherhood society has imposed on her. This nuanced exploration of motherhood’s isolating aspects resonates with the broader conversation on how women’s needs are often sidelined or pathologized. As she confronts other moms in the story—who, in a darkly comedic twist, try to recruit her into a multi-level marketing scheme—there’s a sharp critique of wellness culture and the commodification of self-care.

While Nightbitch offers moments of wild, cathartic liberation, particularly in the protagonist’s ultimate embrace of her transformation, it also leaves some threads hanging. The relationship between the protagonist’s transformation, the mythical elements introduced through The Field Guide to Magical Women, and the dynamics of the Book Babies group feel loosely connected, not quite resolved by the end. Additionally, the presence of the protagonist’s son as a central figure in her journey to reclaim power may feel limiting to readers seeking stories of femme liberation untethered to motherhood.

Overall, Yoder delivers a fiercely original narrative that balances ferocity and tenderness, exploring the raw edges of womanhood. Though I craved a more radical collective femme liberation, the protagonist's individual journey remains deeply compelling. For readers drawn to weird, visceral explorations of rage and identity, Nightbitch is a triumph, offering both biting social commentary and a poetic deep dive into feral femininity.

📖 Recommended For: Readers drawn to visceral, darkly comedic explorations of motherhood, fans of feminist horror, anyone interested in themes of transformation and feral femininity, and lovers of Sarah Rose Etter and Carmen Maria Machado.

🔑 Key Themes: The Repression of Anger, Motherhood and Identity, Feral Femininity, Patriarchal Constraints, Isolation and Longing for Community, Physical and Psychological Transformation.

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gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

Hard book to rate for me.

If I were to give this a rating on interesting premise alone, this would be a five star weird romp. A new mother is alone a lot of the time, turning into a dog at night? Weird, provocative!

But, my actual enjoyment of this book was severely diminished because of the rampant animal cruelty. I also think that the actual messages and themes of the book were not sticking the landing with me because of how flippantly it treated some of the main characters actions as redeemable.

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