Audiobook Review: Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

Nightbitch
by Rachel Yoder
Published by Random House Audio
Publication Date July 20, 2021
Goodreads

In this blazingly smart and voracious debut, an artist turned stay-at-home mom becomes convinced she's turning into a dog.
An ambitious mother puts her art career on hold to stay at home with her newborn son, but the experience does not match her imagination. Two years later, she steps into the bathroom for a break from her toddler's demands, only to discover a dense patch of hair on the back of her neck. In the mirror, her canines suddenly look sharper than she remembers. Her husband, who travels for work five days a week, casually dismisses her fears from faraway hotel rooms.
As the mother's symptoms intensify, and her temptation to give in to her new dog impulses peak, she struggles to keep her alter-canine-identity secret. Seeking a cure at the library, she discovers the mysterious academic tome which becomes her bible, A Field Guide to Magical Women: A Mythical Ethnography, and meets a group of mothers involved in a multilevel-marketing scheme who may also be more than what they seem.
An outrageously original novel of ideas about art, power, and womanhood wrapped in a satirical fairy tale, Nightbitch will make you want to howl in laughter and recognition. And you should. You should howl as much as you want.

Goodreads Progress

My Impressions

Nightbitch is weird. A woman navigating motherhood all the while thinking she is turning into a dog. Yes, the premise is odd but the balance between parenting and her transformation into becoming a canine evened each other out.

My fiance usually asks what I’m currently reading and about half the time will give his comments or joke about a ridiculous or predictable plotline. Nightbitch was no exception. His response was “That’s called a Warewolf.” and “That is unbelievable”. He was right on both counts. I brushed off his commentary and enjoyed my obscure novel, at least for a while… Until she killed the family cat. As a vegetarian and cat owner that went a little too far for me. It jumped the shark and my fiance’s assessment kept roaming in my head.

Rachel Yoder’s writing helped offset my dislike for the change in the wind as her way with words shines in the novel as does Cassandra Campbell’s narration. However, I could not get past the dead cat, and unfortunately ruined the book for me.

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