Starting off 2025 wonderfully with my second five star read!!! I thought I loved Josh Malerman before but I think this book just solidified him as an all time favorite author. 

I was in shock and total confusion after that ending and went down the biggest Reddit rabbit hole (and loved every second of it). If you get confused by the ending, definitely check out the couple of Reddit threads on this. The theories are fascinating and I think the ending is a mixture of all of them 😂 The ending is an open-ish one which would normally annoy me but it was explained just enough that I loved it (I welcomed the confusion and shock while I tried to process this masterpiece). 

Now that I think about it, this reminded me a bit of Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky (another all time favorite horror novel) in the ways that Other Mother tries to get Bela. Incredibly unique premise and take on possession, entities, trauma, and more. My head is still reeling but with a smile on my face.