{"id":18069,"date":"2023-06-07T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T11:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=18069"},"modified":"2023-06-04T10:37:51","modified_gmt":"2023-06-04T14:37:51","slug":"review-mothered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Mothered\u00a0by Zoje Stage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"18070\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/mothered\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/mothered.jpg?fit=327%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"327,500\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"mothered\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/mothered.jpg?fit=327%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-18070\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/mothered.jpg?resize=229%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"cover of Mothered by Zoje Stage\" width=\"229\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/mothered.jpg?resize=229%2C350&amp;ssl=1 229w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/mothered.jpg?w=327&amp;ssl=1 327w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 229px) 85vw, 229px\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Mothered-Novel-Zoje-Stage\/dp\/1662506236\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=37LQWW0S5TLNC&amp;keywords=Mothered+by+Zoje+Stage&amp;qid=1685887339&amp;sprefix=mothered+by+zoje+stage%2Caps%2C235&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Mothered<\/em>\u00a0by Zoje Stage<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>Thomas &amp; Mercer (March 2023)<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>318 pages; $19.15 hardcover; $12.78 paperback; e-book $2.49<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>Reviewed by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HaleyNewlin22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Haley Newlin<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Zoje Stage&#8217;s latest release,\u00a0<em>Mothered<\/em>, festers with feverish delirium.<\/p>\n<p>Paper dolls can&#8217;t speak for themselves. They can&#8217;t escape the shears slicing through their limbs nor the violent grasp of their manipulator. That&#8217;s what life was like for Grace. Her chronically ill twin sister, Hope, was sickly pale with a delicate dust of warm freckles across her cheeks. Her smile fooled their mother, Jackie, and just about everyone else, but Grace knew that a glee-ridden Hope spelled trouble. <!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Hope, like many children, had gory fantasies. Unlike many children, Hope had taken it beyond theoretical.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Jackie is an enabler. An instigator. A hissing viper, ready to snap. And a lifelong critic of Grace&#8217;s every move. As an adult and amidst the pandemic, Grace is unnerved by the thought of living with her mother again.<\/p>\n<p>Here, Stage excels at conjuring a hammering sense of claustrophobia and isolation. The financial strain many faced as the world prepared for the stay-at-home order and no-contact services left Grace with no choice but to let Jackie move in. Grace&#8217;s home becomes a stage for paranoia, vengeance, and a constant struggle between estranged mother and daughter of moves and countermoves.<\/p>\n<p>Jackie&#8217;s alien attempts at gentle parenting and support are as disorienting for the reader as they are for Grace. And something else resounds within Jackie, a possible plot of retribution and the swelling hatred of a ghost thought to be long since lost in the realm of the dead.<\/p>\n<p><em>Mothered<\/em>\u00a0pins readers down and unleashes lucid terror. Yet, the grand reveal, the earth-shattering accusation, wasn&#8217;t as effective as I&#8217;d hoped. While horrifying, some flashbacks and nightmares didn&#8217;t contribute enough to the payoff, which left what otherwise may have been as grand as a Ti West turn-for-the-worst conclusion with a still daunting yet too breezy ending.<\/p>\n<p>Readers who appreciate slow burn-styled psychological thrillers\/horror with a dash of ambiguity will enjoy\u00a0<em>Mothered<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mothered\u00a0by Zoje Stage Thomas &amp; Mercer (March 2023) 318 pages; $19.15 hardcover; $12.78 paperback; e-book $2.49 Reviewed by\u00a0Haley Newlin Zoje Stage&#8217;s latest release,\u00a0Mothered, festers with feverish delirium. Paper dolls can&#8217;t speak for themselves. They can&#8217;t escape the shears slicing through their limbs nor the violent grasp of their manipulator. That&#8217;s what life was like for &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: Mothered\u00a0by Zoje Stage&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[2299,2956,79,2957],"class_list":["post-18069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-haley-newlin","tag-mothered","tag-reviews","tag-zoje-stage"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Mothered\u00a0by Zoje Stage - Cemetery Dance Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Haley Newlin reviews Mothered by Zoje Stage, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cemetery Dance Online\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\"},\"headline\":\"Review: Mothered\u00a0by Zoje Stage\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-07T11:00:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":344,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/mothered-229x350.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Haley Newlin\",\"Mothered\",\"Reviews\",\"Zoje Stage\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/\",\"name\":\"Review: Mothered\u00a0by Zoje Stage - Cemetery Dance Online\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/mothered-229x350.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-07T11:00:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\"},\"description\":\"Haley Newlin reviews Mothered by Zoje Stage, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/mothered.jpg?fit=327%2C500&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/06\\\/mothered.jpg?fit=327%2C500&ssl=1\",\"width\":327,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"cover of Mothered by Zoje Stage\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/review-mothered\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reviews\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/reviews\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Review: Mothered\u00a0by Zoje Stage\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"description\":\"Free Horror Reads, News, Interviews, Comics, and More!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61\",\"name\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Cemetery Dance Online\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.cemeterydance.com\\\/extras\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: Mothered\u00a0by Zoje Stage - Cemetery Dance Online","description":"Haley Newlin reviews Mothered by Zoje Stage, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cemetery Dance Online","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/"},"author":{"name":"Cemetery Dance Online","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61"},"headline":"Review: Mothered\u00a0by Zoje Stage","datePublished":"2023-06-07T11:00:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/"},"wordCount":344,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/mothered-229x350.jpg","keywords":["Haley Newlin","Mothered","Reviews","Zoje Stage"],"articleSection":["Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/","url":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/","name":"Review: Mothered\u00a0by Zoje Stage - Cemetery Dance Online","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/mothered-229x350.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-07T11:00:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61"},"description":"Haley Newlin reviews Mothered by Zoje Stage, exclusively for Cemetery Dance.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/mothered.jpg?fit=327%2C500&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/mothered.jpg?fit=327%2C500&ssl=1","width":327,"height":500,"caption":"cover of Mothered by Zoje Stage"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-mothered\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reviews","item":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/reviews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Review: Mothered\u00a0by Zoje Stage"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/","name":"Cemetery Dance Online","description":"Free Horror Reads, News, Interviews, Comics, and More!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/#\/schema\/person\/30439c850dbb0e44ac4d2ddd09fb2d61","name":"Cemetery Dance Online","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/18103e6727693901d2722149c60f9ba733e3aed66126d844f9b43b26a6496345?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Cemetery Dance Online"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p81cXa-4Hr","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18071,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18069\/revisions\/18071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}