Review by Booklist Review
Thirty-three-year-old Maeve was born into a cult. After escaping and surviving a series of traumatic events, she's adopted by a kind couple and grows up to have an ordinary, solitary life in New York City. Her painful past has remained mostly forgotten until she receives a message from her estranged cousin, who's now a wealthy entrepreneur and life coach with a mansion in the Catskill Mountains. The reunion is more than she could've ever imagined, finally giving her a chance to heal from her trauma and bond with somebody, but the new-found Andrea has a hidden agenda, and Maeve finds herself wondering how much to give without losing her identity. Heltzel's adult debut is a fast-paced, creepy, and unpredictable adventure that shines an unsettling light on motherhood and family ties. A page-turner from start to finish, Just Like Mother smoothly blends horror and thriller elements while adding a sharp commentary on corrupted feminism. Readers who enjoy adrenaline-pumping fiction in the vein of Jennifer McMahon and Alex Michaelides will have difficulty putting this book down.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Heltzel's adult debut (after YA novel Charlie, Presumed Dead) offers an eerie, fast-paced critique of society's obsession with motherhood. Heroine Maeve's early life was shaped by a matriarchal cult where she and her cousin, Andrea, were raised by a radical feminist group called the Mothers. Her escape brought the cult down and the fallout saw her separated from Andrea by the foster system. Decades later, a struggling Maeve finally manages to reconnect with Andrea, only to discover that she has grown rich off the success of her company, which supplies hyperrealistic baby dolls to women to either assist them in preparing for motherhood or help them grieve a lost child. As the two grow closer again, Andrea's company and her network of baby-minded women unsettle Maeve, forcing her to confront what she and Andrea really mean to one another and the grip the cult still has on them both. Heltzel builds an incredibly ominous atmosphere through the first two acts, but the payoff disappoints, delivering a series of repetitive and predictable twists. Still, Maeve's tenacity and realistically depicted trauma will keep readers invested in her story to the end. Heltzel's probing exploration of women's bodily autonomy--or lack thereof--makes this a solid choice for those who like their horror close to home. (May.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Maeve and her cousin Andrea were raised in a cult called The Motherhood Collective, though they lost touch when the group's criminal activities came to light and the girls were taken into foster care. Now living in New York City and working in publishing, Maeve reconnects with Andrea, now a wealthy lifestyle guru, through a DNA website. A series of unfortunate events (among them, she loses her job and the man she's about to move in with dies in a building fire) leads to her living with Andrea and her husband in their enormous Hudson Valley estate. The more time she spends there, however, the more Maeve comes to realize that there's something deeply strange and possibly sinister going on with Andrea. Heltzel's (Charlie, Presumed Dead) latest revolves around a cult of motherhood that puts women's own needs and desires far below their ability to reproduce. Though some of the plot details require a pretty hefty suspension of disbelief, listeners who buy in will have a creepy good time. Elizabeth Evans does a solid job narrating, though secondary characters are minimally differentiated. VERDICT A good choice for fans of cult stories and horror about motherhood.--Stephanie Klose
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