SFF

Motheater

Erewhon. Jan. 2025. 416p. ISBN 9781645661795. $28. FANTASY
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DEBUT Benethea “Bennie” Mattox is determined to find out why miners keep dying on Kire Mountain. After the loss of her best friend, Bennie sacrifices her job, her relationship, and everything else to prove her theories. When Bennie fishes a half-drowned woman out of a mine slough, she hopes this person is the key to the truth. Instead, the woman called Motheater brings more questions than answers: she does not know her name or how she got in the mine. What Motheater does know is that she is a witch of Appalachia and is bound to protect Kire from the pains of the coal mining industry—and she did this over 150 years before. Finding a way to solve both their mysteries will take them on a path through broken promises, binding vows, and Scripture to the living forces of nature—and change everything the town holds true.
VERDICT Readers may get caught in the quirks of character identity and somewhat superficial romance in Codega’s debut, but the detailed worldbuilding and prose will inspire comparisons to Alix E. Harrow.
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