A review by emptychurches
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

dark funny mysterious reflective tense slow-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

There were so many parts of this that I laid in bed going “YES, exactly this” to. Rumination on gender and parenting and suffering, on modern society and pyramid schemes and how isolating things can be. I love stories of a descent into madness (A Journey Round My Skull by Frigyes Karinthy, things by Leonora Carrington, etc). But there’s parts that felt so disjointed or poorly cobbled onto one another, a too quick sweeping of a scene, a plot device that was transparent from the start only to be wedged in later on. That all of the very raw and real suffering still ends up in this grand performance art glorification of motherhood just left me feeling locked on the outside, I guess. I couldn’t cut through that to enjoy the feral messiness of it by the end. And I say that as someone who is nonbinary with their tubes tied. I just could not vibe with the “my uterus and my procreation is what is perfect and gives me power” schtick. Like, we just spent how many pages getting into how lopsided the rearing of children can be, how exhausting, how maddening...and yet?? My perfect little boy! Miss me with it. Made me feel like the house just had a carbon monoxide leak more than anything else. 
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