Interested in what my latest read was? It was so good. I just finished reading, Mother, Mother, by Koren Zailckas.
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Synopsis:
Josephine Hurst has her family under control. With two beautiful daughters, a brilliantly intelligent son, a tech-guru of a husband, and a historical landmark home, her life is picture perfect. But living in this matriarch’s determinedly cheerful, yet subtly controlling domain hasn’t been easy for her family, and when her oldest daughter, Rose, runs off with a mysterious boyfriend, Josephine tightens her grip, gradually turning her flawless home into a darker sort of prison.
Resentful of her sister’s new found freedom, Violet turns to eastern philosophy, hallucinogenic drugs, and extreme fasting, eventually landing herself in a psych ward. Meanwhile, her brother, Will, recently diagnosed with Asperger's, shrinks further into a world of self-doubt. Their father, Douglas, finds resolve in the bottom of a bottle—an addict craving his own chance to escape. Josephine struggles to maintain the family’s impeccable façade, but when a violent incident leads to a visit from child protective services, the truth about the Hursts might finally be revealed.
Resentful of her sister’s new found freedom, Violet turns to eastern philosophy, hallucinogenic drugs, and extreme fasting, eventually landing herself in a psych ward. Meanwhile, her brother, Will, recently diagnosed with Asperger's, shrinks further into a world of self-doubt. Their father, Douglas, finds resolve in the bottom of a bottle—an addict craving his own chance to escape. Josephine struggles to maintain the family’s impeccable façade, but when a violent incident leads to a visit from child protective services, the truth about the Hursts might finally be revealed.
My Opinion
Three words---oh my gosh.
The synopsis sounded so good and I love the cover of the book too.
I started reading this book and was immediately hooked. Every morning and evening I read a little bit more because I needed to finish it all.
Being a Psychology major, and always very interested in the way people's minds work, makes books like this very intriguing.
Josephine- her character was intense. She's manipulative, aggressive, sneaky, narcissistic, and just cruel. She reminded me of Carrie's crazy mom in Stephen King's classic novel, and then some. Can you imagine that? Josephine is worse.
The story is told mainly from two points of view:
Violet, her drug addicted teen daughter--is she crazy or not? I felt for this girl. She went through hell, thanks to her mother, not knowing exactly what was true or not.
Her home schooled son, Will, who is diagnosed with Aspergers and Epilepsy. My son was diagnosed with Epilepsy a few years ago and he is home schooled too. Trying to keep a young boy from having too much stress in order to hopefully avoid another seizure can be really difficult. I felt for this boy too.
As a mother, myself, I understand that raising a family can be tough. But, Josephine does things that I couldn't possibly ever even consider doing to my child or any child, or even to my husband.
The lengths that this mother will go to, in order to keep her family in the order that she wants, will shock you. It's no surprise one daughter ran away and her husband is a recovering alcoholic.
The ending of the book was good too. Did not disappoint me one bit. Very original thriller, if I do say so myself.
I really love this book. I honestly have to say that it is definitely on my list of favorites. I am so serious. Wow. Koren Zailckas is another incredible female writer. After reading Mother, Mother, how could I not want to read all of her other works?
**Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.**
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