Information:

• Goodreads: 4.34 out of 127 Ratings
• Age Category: Adult
• Genre: Horror
• Series: None

Summary:

Flora is a new mom with her beautiful baby girl, Iris. It should all be bliss. She’s got her baby and everything should be okay. But she’s alone. She’s got intrusive thoughts and repeatedly seeing horrible ways her baby could get hurt. Her husband is deployed. Her dad and his wife just left. She can’t even breast feed right. Things are quickly going to shit. And then her mom comes. And it just gets worse.

Review:

This book, to me, is a full on character study. What happens when a new mom with a traumatic past is left alone with her newborn baby and postpartum depression? Read and find out. Spoiler alert: it is not a fun and fresh time.

Walters writes about postpartum depression in a hypnotic and haunting manner. There’s distinct imagery and quotes that left me breathless. There are moments when, in the middle of a sentence, Walters interrupts it with a quick and very intrusive thought that felt so realistic. Each chapter ends with a dictionary definition of new worlds moms learn, each of them showing more and more how moms just cannot have a fucking break. Reading this made me feel nauseous in certain moments – not necessarily because of the imagery but because it was so relatable to some of the worst moments of my life that were supposed to be the best.

Every single character in this has a distinct purpose. It never felt as if anyone were going to waste or easily replaceable. Our main focus is Flora, but each character is heartbreaking. And I am so happy Christopher was not the generic husband in a horror that just denies everything his wife says. Yes, what Flora is going through is difficult to understand, but he does put in an effort, as does Flora’s father. Each person shows what failure looks like, but they then get back on their feet.

This is a love letter to motherhood and all the fucked up complications it can come with. We get a first person perspective as Flora struggles through this in such a horrifying way. I’ve always believed horror is the best genre to explore mental health through and I still stand by that.

There are absolutely issues with this book. There’s moments when it drags or doesn’t make sense. Yet, postpartum isn’t something that is always fast paced or ever really makes sense anyway, so I can personally look past those issues. The ending could feel weird or rushed, but I felt it was perfect and wouldn’t change anything about it. I cannot wait to hear what others have to say about this one!