Review | Nightbitch

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

A searing and outrageous satire of the complexities of motherhood and the yearning for more, Nightbitch is a jaw dropping debut by Rachel Yoder!

A nameless mother has put her creative career on hold to stay at home and raise her son. Her husband travels for work five days a week, leaving the mother to navigate the loneliness and isolation of raising a demanding toddler while constantly grappling with the loss of her former self.

“It’s almost as if having a child does not sate a deep yearning but instead compounds it.” *

One morning the mother notices a patch of hair has suddenly grown on the back of her neck. Soon her canines are razor sharp. Her symptoms are intensifying, her husband is dismissive, and eventually she succumbs to the temptation of canine impulses to let out all her worries and insecurities. Hoping to find happiness and keep her alter-canine secret, the mother now known as Nightbitch embraces a group of mothers from the Babies and Books library program and rescues them from a marketing scheme involving herbs while also rediscovering her creativity through performance art.

I love every over-the-top honest minute with Nightbitch! As someone who was a stay at home mom for the first few years of my child’s life, I found myself commiserating with Nightbitch and understanding the brutal divide between loving your child more than yourself and grieving the loss of self. Tack sharp and clever, I cackled loud and often while reading this novel though I should’ve howled instead!

Huge thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Nightbitch is scheduled for release on July 20, 2021.

*Quote included is from a digital advanced reader’s copy and is subject to change upon final publication.