MOTHEATER by Linda H Codega
★ ★ ★ - I really wanted to like this book a whole lot more than I did. There were pros & cons to it but ultimately I think the writing style is what made this book quite mid for me…
“Esther held out the hand that clutched the bone. Around the charcoal-covered bone grew flesh and tendon, until she held a black hare in her hand, its eyes as glowing embers, flickering like a soul. She would make sure Appalachia shut out Northern men. There would be no gate, no hinge, nothing but tor and holler.”
title: Motheater
author: Linda H. Codega
published: 2025
publisher: Erewhon Books (Kensington Publishing Corp)
genre/subgenre: felt like YA fantasy? that was trying to be adult fabulism? but then decided to just be fantasy? but then it just got a bit… confused…?
setting: Appalachian Virginia/North Carolina
main themes/subjects: mining, corporate capitalism, environmentalism, revenge & justice, holler culture, mountain Christianity, library research /investigative journalism (kinda), the mountain is the baddie? for some reason?, sapphic romance, moths, old gods
representation: bi Black POV, nonbinary author, queer character cast
tropes: time travel kinda, witches
CW // SO. MANY. SNAKES. animal death & cruelty, blood, mining accidents & deaths, landslides, misogyny, capitalist exploitation of working class folks, & environmental destruction
spice level: 🌶️ —there was one scene where you thought they might do it but then they didn’t & maybe it was just me but there felt like there might be someee vestigial purity culture vibes there? because they never did end up doing it?? so… idk… maybe it was just me overreacting to allll(LLLL!!?) the bible quotes throughout the entire book…
summary/blurbs/premise: “A haunted church, a living mountain, an Appalachian witch called from a sleep lasting more than a century—this is a unique tale of love and magic, of a curse to be undone and an environmental disaster to be averted. Motheater will enchant all readers of witch stories!” — Louisa Morgan
‘“I warned against this," Motheater said, voice breaking. “I knew that only destruction would come in the wake of industry.”
“Welcome to Appalachia," Bennie said dryly. "Get in the truck.”’
my thoughts:
I really wanted to like this book a whole lot more than I did. I picked it up on impulse after finding it in my local indie & loving the sound of the synopses & the first few pages of the writing style. Unfortunately I had to switch to audiobook (& I didn’t even like the narrator’s performance) about 50% of the way through because it was dragging so much & the writing had gotten so repetitive & I had failed to connect with any of the characters, I wasn’t buying the plot at all, & the romance that was being forced (it felt like) upon the two FMCs out of absolutely nowhere was making me lose all interest. But I didn’t want to give up on it bc 1) I’d bought the book, & 2) I was curious to see how it would “resolve” particularly because I felt like the setting (Appalachia) was an integral element & I've been trying to read more about that region & especially by queer authors from there.
premise: like backwater mountain cottage core but make it trippy & a little Christian?
execution: meh. i think my main issue was with the writing style tbh though I struggled with the plot as well.
writing style: very mid. a lot of reviews described it as “literary” & “well-written” but that wasn’t my take. It had some beautiful uses of language here and there but there was SO much repetition—like the kind you would typically find in YA fantasy—that made it feel very sloggy; the dialogue felt stilted & the humor? attempts at light-hearted banter? all fell flat for me.
characters: for all the interior monologuing they did I still felt that the characters lacked true depth & complexity—they made the book feel very YA to me as well. I also thought the romance bw the two FMCs felt incredibly forced—I just didn’t feel it at all.
story/plot: a bit disjointed with some serious pacing issues—especially in the beginning. & I didn’t understand why the mountain was the real villain?
worldbuilding: i could have spent more time being set into the scene—I feel like I was only able to picture it because I’m familiar with that area. Plus Codega’s descriptive writing was by far the strongest—the description of the scene when Esther confronts her father in the church was an example of their strength in this area. I would love to read some poetry by them.
But my other main issue with the story was with its magic system which I felt to be a bit too uncritical. The magic in this book was a patchwork thing with God & Scripture feeling more like an intrusion of colonialism running through the bedrock of the book, obscuring any real or relevant meaning or metaphor in the magic system… I also felt the transactional blood magic & bargaining with soul & sacrifice bits felt too easy? It reminded me of how in Eden Royce’s Root Magic, the MC interrogates the reason for “sacrifice” & makes a choice based on her personal & contemporary assessment of an old practice—I would have liked to see Codega go this route instead. Especially when the characters were using bones from the back of their freezer as ritual pieces? Like… why the commitment to this Old World craft in a land it doesn’t even belong in?
philosophy: I felt that this book was philosophically very flimsy. The constant unresolvable conflictuality between the people, the mountain, the industry, and the witch had potential but ultimately imo ended up feeling underexcavated & incomplete & so the ending felt largely abrupt & inconclusive philosophically as well as narratively speaking.
I also feel like the author was going for a vengeful feminine eldritch Nature power vs industrial capitalism & environmental destruction vibe—which, yes, i love—but it was all too explicit? with none of the implicit force or feeling behind it &, again, the fact that the mountain itself ended up being the main villain as opposed to the mining companies was… kind of confusing & felt like the wrong kind of subversion to the trope & established expectations. There was literally a quote where it was like “yeahhh the mining companies were probably negligent BUT the mountain is the real enemy” & I was just like, huh? why though? (see Quotes & Notes below)
Overall I think this book could have benefited from being a lot weirder & darker, having wittier, cleverer dialogue, & dealing with a more Indigenous-rooted “magic” system where Nature is neither good- nor evil-coded…
notable elements: Like I said, Codega’s descriptive writing was gorgeous & I’d definitely read a poetry collection by them—especially one inspired by Appalachia because they clearly understand & appreciate that region on a spiritual level.
Also the scene where one of the characters transforms into a scold of bluejays was excellently written & very cool.
i would recommend this book to readers who would be interested in reading a YA fantasy novel with queer characters, time travel (kinda) trope, & themes of religion & mining set in the mountains of Appalachia. this book is best read on a visit to the mountains I’d say in early spring or late fall (& not on audiobook).
‘“You a faithful woman. Bennie?" Motheater asked, frowning slightly. "Do you believe without proof, walk without sight? Have you made your faith a shipwreck or a mountain? … Ain't about God." Motheater's voice was sharp as sin on a conscience. "This about you. You got your own faith? Your own certainty? The love under you?”’
final note: I never want to read the phrase “She was so fucking gone.” to describe a character falling in love with another character ever. again.
season: early Spring or mid/late-Fall
music pairing: my the Energy of the Witch playlist
further reading:
NOWHERE by Allison Gunn (2025)
FLEDGLING by Octavia Butler (2005) ★ ★ ★ ★ .5
FOXFIRE, WOLFSKIN, AND OTHER STORIES OF SHAPESHIFTING WOMEN by Sharon Blackie (2019)
THE GLASS CASTLE by Jeannette Walls (2005)
THE UNFINISHED by Cheryl Isaacs (2024) ★ ★ ★
MAN MADE MONSTERS by Andrea L Rogers (2022) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
SLEWFOOT by Brom (2021) ★ ★ ★ ★ .5
Troll (2022 film)
References in historical note:
Foxfire Museum, Heritage Site, Magazine, & other publications
The Heart of the Alleghenies; or, Western North Carolina, by Wilbur Zeigler and Benn Grosscup (late 19th c.)
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‘"Watch your step," Esther said, baring her teeth, sharp and canid. "Ground's soft when it wants to be.”’
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