Bela loves her mom and daddo, but she is starting to dislike Other Mommy. Other Mommy lives in Bela’s closet but is gradually able to move more freely about the house nowadays. As the Other Mommy gains strength she starts to scare eight-year-old Bela. Gone are the nights where Bela and Other Mommy would play and have fun. Now Bela’s nights are filled with the strange sounds and disturbing faces that Other Mommy gives her. But Bela is starting to realize that maybe the Other Mommy isn’t the friend she used to be when the Other Mommy continuously asks to “let me into your heart” and something called reincarnation. Bela can only tell Other Mommy “no” so many times before she will ultimately give in.
Overall rating 3/5
Is it a haunted house? Is it a possessed child? Is it a demon? NO it is a horrible explanation that made absolutely no sense to me. Why do this to the reader? The eerie and gothic style of the book was fantastic and reeled me in right away. With a constant sense of fight or flight this book had me holding my breath. I was so excited and creeped out but was let down by the so-called reasoning behind the incidents. However, the ending was pure gold and I loved the abrupt cliff hanger. I wished we would have gotten more time in the closet “world” and more of a revelation into what the other mommy truly was. If you like Stephen King’s style of writing then this book is a definite read for you.
*Thank you to Josh Malerman, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey, and Netgalley for the ARC copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.