Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Motheater is an interesting little story that takes the reader on a journey through time and the Appalachian Mountains. Codega does an incredible job of immersing the reader in a small mining town that sits on Kire Mountain through their prose. I really liked how I felt like I was by Bennie and Motheater's side throughout the novel. Codega did a fantastic job of rooting the reader in place; we see characters speaking in dialect, discuss hyper-local folklore and magic. 

Bennie, the main character, felt extremely one-note and is quick to trust Motheater, a witch she finds in a river who has no idea who she is, where she came from, or what happened to her. For a character that's introduced as hesitant to trust people, this felt odd. When we follow her specifically, her internal thoughts, feelings, and actions are repetitive and it feels like she really didn't learn anything, even after going through an unexplainable journey with Motheater and the other characters in the novel.

I absolutely loved Motheater's character, her backstory, and everything else about her. She reminded me of Nona from Nona the Ninth in many respects, which is why I think I feel such a strong affection for her. Codega slowly peels back Motheater's layers and we learn about her in real-time as she begins to uncover who she is. This particular storytelling method was effective and I looked forward to every one of those chapters.

The overall plot has good bones and an interesting premise, but the work as a whole felt like a draft. At times, the story simultaneously rushed and dragged and it felt like key details were missing. Overall, Motheater's themes are deeply resonant, but the narrative feels disjointed and falls victim of trying to do too much in one book.