Ripped Up the Middle in Two: A Horror Novel

by Viggy Parr Hampton

"Ripped Up the Middle in Two is a postpartum nightmare that perfectly melds humor with nail-biting suspense wrapped up in the most realistic depiction of life as a new mom I've ever read. A must-read for everyone who has gone through the horrors of having a newborn." -Emma E. Murray, author of Shoot Me in the Face on a Beautiful Day



A mother is the ultimate feral creature...



New mom Sadie is struggling with the reality of caring for her three-month-old daughter-the loss of identity, autonomy, and selfhood are grinding her down. When a casual stroll with the baby leads to the discovery of a secret trail leading to a miniature door hidden deep in the woods, Sadie's world unravels even further. Who put the door there? Why does the trail only appear when Sadie is alone? Why is the door surrounded by a clearing full of tiny bones?



And, most terrifying of What lives behind that door, and what will it do to her baby?



Claustrophobic, rage-filled, and brimming with the chaos of new parenthood, Ripped Up the Middle in Two is the dark fairy tale you've been craving.



"Parr Hampton's latest work of visceral psychological horror treats readers to a raw and brutal examination of the darker side of motherhood-the bodily harm, the loss of identity, the pressure to conform, and the psychologically torturous patriarchal expectations. It will make you squirm. It will make you angry. And, true to its title, this book will leave you damaged." -Joey Powell, author of Squirming All the Way Up



"Viggy Parr Hampton's Ripped Up The Middle In Two is fierce and feral, with nail-biting psychological edge, gruesome gore, creepy crawlers, and unrestrained fury. A brilliant meditation on what it means to be an unhinged woman in an ever-needing world. Men, listen the f*ck up." -Haley Newlin, author of The Film You Are About To See

Genres: Horror

244 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 29, 2026

Reviews

[Shae Bentley]

5⭐️ - Okay wow, this book was incredible! I went in expecting creepy fairy tale horror with a tiny mysterious door in the woods (because honestly, that alone had me sold) but I didn't realise how damn hard this one would hit! We follow Sadie, a new mum struggling with the reality of motherhood, the loss of her identity and the constant exhaustion that comes with caring for a newborn. When she discovers a hidden trail leading to a tiny door surrounded by bones, her curiosity quickly turns into an obsession that may be more dangerous than she realises.

I absolutely adored the writing and how raw and honest it was. As a mother myself, with firsthand experience of these struggles, I felt so seen reading a story that doesn't sugarcoat the darker sides of new motherhood. The resentment, the rage, the loss of yourself, the feeling of being needed every second of every day. I love that the book gave space to these complicated feelings that people don't always feel comfortable admitting out loud. Also, that tiny door had me SO curious?! I needed to know what was behind it, even though every part of me was screaming that it was probably a TERRIBLE idea. 😂

This was such a strange and beautifully angry little book. The atmosphere was claustrophobic, the imagery was wild and I loved how the horror mirrored Sadie's own unraveling. Viggy Parr Hampton has definitely earned herself a spot on my auto-read list and I’ll now be working my way through her entire backlist.

Thank you so much to BookSirens and Viggy Parr Hampton for the ARC!

[Erin Dunn]

✨Creepy fairy tale meets motherhood horror✨

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars

Look…Ripped Up the Middle in Two had me PISSED off pretty much right away. This book is an up close and personal view of the struggles of new motherhood.

I tell you the things women suffer through… we absolutely don’t get enough credit for all we deal with and do! I don’t think anything accurately prepares you for what it’s like physically or emotionally after you have a baby and this book takes a real look at that. This book filled me with rage and gave me flashbacks of dealing with a useless & selfish man after child birth. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the memories of the MONOTONY! All that being said, being a mother is in fact one of my proudest accomplishments and I love my (now all adult age) kiddos dearly! It’s all worth it.

I read this book in a day! It’s a quick well written read and even though the ending wasn’t fully my favorite, I definitely recommend this one.

FUCK THE PATRIARCHY!!!

[Jennifer]

I LOVE THIS‼️ yet another horror book about motherhood that highlights the frustrations of being a mom. Sadie's alienation and loss of identity is captured so well. She echoed a lot of feelings that I have seen the moms in my life express. Cash is officially one of my top 5 fictional characters I want to fist fight. This is a tie for my favorite motherhood horror book next to Trad Wife. I highly recommend this and it's also a short read.

[Chandler]

Thanks so much to the author for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review - all opinions are my own.

Ripped Up the Middle in Two is a raw, visceral, and captivating depiction of new motherhood and suburban unease.

We follow Sadie, a woman in the throes of postpartum motherhood, as she tries to navigate the intricacies of suburban life. While on her daily not-so-hot mom walk, she finds an off beaten trail that leads to an eerie fairy door. Sleep-deprived and hormonally ravaged, Sadie obsessively begins trying to piece together the mystery of this tiny door and the entity it hides.

This was such a cathartic experience for me as a mother of two. Society propagates shame and silence around new motherhood and minimizes the toll it takes on a woman’s mind, body, and spirit and its high time we talk about it. Stories like this are so important in breaking the stigma around postpartum mental health and are integral in starting conversations.

Viggy Parr Hampton showcases the complexities of a new mother’s psyche via Sadie, a flawed but believable new mom. It’s not glamorous nor is it comfortable but I can testify with firsthand experience that it’s honest. Sadie’s story highlights the physical discomfort of healing from birth as well as the very real mental toll. From the complicated feelings breastfeeding can elicit to the serious consequences of sleep deprivation, the portrayal of parenthood is spot on.

I really enjoyed the slow build-up of suspense and the unreliable nature of our main character. New motherhood is so very isolating and Sadie’s desire to fit in with other suburban moms was, unfortunately, so relatable. I particularly enjoyed her more feral motherly instincts and experienced a few “good for her” moments.

Overall this is a really raw and cathartic story on the isolation and psychological toll of postpartum in the modern age. I’ll continue reading every story the author puts out!

[luceski]

Sadie is three months into motherhood, running on no sleep, trying to hold herself together while her husband Cash somehow manages to be more hard work than the baby. During a walk with her daughter and dog, she stumbles across a strange hidden trail leading to a tree with a tiny door carved into it… and things only get more unsettling from there!

This one really tapped into that isolating, exhausted new-parent haze where you start questioning what’s real and what’s stress-fuelled paranoia. Viggy has a way of writing characters that feel believable and messy, even when the story heads into full creepy fairytale territory. The neighbourhood yoga mums were both hilarious and deeply sinister - the kind of women who smile at you while quietly judging your entire existence.

It leans heavily into dark fairytale territory and it gave the whole thing this grimy little folklore edge that I loved.

Also… Cash annoyed me from start to finish. A fully grown man incapable of basic survival while Sadie is spiralling? Absolutely not.

As someone who has never wanted children, this book honestly reinforced that decision for me 😭 but it also made me appreciate how brutal and lonely early motherhood can be. Underneath the horror there’s a lot about pressure, identity, exhaustion and feeling trapped inside your own life.

Creepy, uncomfortable and weirdly relatable even if you know nothing about motherhood.

Thanks to Viggy for the ARC!

[KDub]

Ripped Up is my second be novel by Viggy Parr Hampton. While I didn't find it as strong as A Veritable Household Pet, I still enjoyed the story's overall concept. It starts strong, but then loses steam for me due to the repetition of the FMC's days. I realize this is meant to drive home the monotony, loneliness, and thanklessness of motherhood, but for a reader who is not a mother, it quickly gets tiresome. The ending was a little disappointing as well; it was so quick (literally two pages?) and then it was over without much resolution. The epilogue answers some questions I had about the story, but I felt that information would have been better presented earlier.

Recommended for fans of motherhood horror.

Thank you to BookSirens and the author for the eARC.

[Fauwxx]

I devoured this novel in a day! Highly relatable, great story and I absolutely loved the characters. I need a physical copy for my shelf asap.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Ali]

4.25 stars

If you've ever had a husband not step up and take basic care of his own child, all while expecting you to be back to your pre-baby body in 3 months and bring him a sandwich, this one will make you want to 🔪 him in the arm and claim hallucination too.

Sadie is in the newborn trenches with her daughter Holly, while her clueless husband Cash takes off at will to go golfing. While out on their daily walks, Sadie comes across a hidden trail in the woods leading to a strange door in a tree, and everything about it unsettles her. The picture perfect Yoga moms in her community seem to know more about it than they're letting on, and as more strange and gruesome things start to occur around Sadie, she doesn't know what is real and what is delusion.

I think anyone who has had a child will relate to this story, which doesn't sugarcoat the bleak realities of the newborn days at all, and normalizes the resentment and rage mothers can feel towards their partners who haven't gone through the bodily trauma and aren't tethered by the breast to the baby 24/7. So maybe that's why I had some issues with the constant use of the term "lady parts" and "lady bits", which seemed to trivialize Sadie's pain and left a lot on the table to be more real and gruesome.

Absolutely HATED the ending, not because it was bad, but because it made me so mad that I actually said "WTF" out loud, though it was an accurate depiction of how women's mental health is still treated even today. I did like the little bit we saw of Jessica's story to tie it all back to the Rumpelstiltskin theme, magic always comes with a price, dearie.

[The Bookish Mortician]

This is the third book by Viggy Parr Hampton that I’ve read now. The Rotting Room was the first and Much Too Vulgar was second. I can honestly say that I’ve loved every single one.

Ripped Up the Middle In Two was so weird and unsettling, but also emotional in the best way. I went in expecting something creepy, but I definitely wasn’t expecting how much it would make me feel.

Viggy does an amazing job at setting up an incredible atmosphere right from the jump. There was this constant sense that something wasn’t quite right. It just kept building and I couldn’t stop reading. I really appreciated how raw and honest the story felt about motherhood, identity, change, and losing yourself in the process. It made the horror hit even harder because the emotional side felt so real.

Viggy Parr Hampton has a truly unique writing style that pulls me in every single time. She has this way of making you feel super uncomfortable but also completely invested in her characters. I was thinking (and talking) about this one long after I finished it.

If you’ve been wanting to try one of her books, I definitely recommend picking this one up. Easy five stars from me, and I’ll absolutely be reading whatever she writes next.

[aprilreadsthrillers]

I loved everything about this book. I went into it not knowing what to expect, and I was completely hooked trying to figure out where the story was headed right up until the very end.

The dark humor was perfectly done, and the writing itself was absolutely addictive. I loved how vivid and immersive the storytelling was—you truly feel like you’re inside Sadie’s mind and experiencing everything alongside her. It was chaotic, unsettling, emotional, and impossible to put down.

What stood out most to me was how seamlessly this book balanced horror, suspense, and dark humor while exploring themes of isolation, identity, and the overwhelming realities of new motherhood. It’s raw, disturbing, emotional, and completely original. I can’t remember the last time I read something that felt this unique.

Also, Cash irritated me for basically the entire book (respectfully), and I would protect Tater at all costs. Thank you @viggyparrhampton for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

Expect:

* Postpartum horror
* Psychological suspense
* Dark humor
* Mental health representation
* Themes of isolation and identity

[Erica Fields]

A great book! An evil fairy found on a trail in the woods...yes! I loved that! I really felt connected with Sadie, her being a new mom & all ahe was dealing with since I've been there. This is my first read by Viggy & I cannot wait to read more of her books!

[Brittany]

Ugh I love anything written by Viggy 😭🫶🏼

[nicolealese]

“nobody praises fathers for being selfless. no, they get praised for making something of themselves. mothers get praised for unmaking ourselves.” 💔

[Ziggy Nixon]

Haven’t I bled enough already?

After having devoured her first four, full-length books, Viggy Parr Hampton has already become a must-read/must-buy author for me. Her tales are not only exquisitely executed but are masterfully crafted to contain all manners of the horror and dread that accompanies so much of our daily lives or even bits that may be just a little out of our comfort zones. No matter if we're talking about sneaking around an haunted abandoned theme park (jinkies!), or questioning the actions of a convent of nuns, not to mention scaring the absolute Hell of out me in the tunnels beneath Georgetown University, she is simply at the top of the heap in the horror genre! And her pending novel, "Ripped Up the Middle in Two", due out at the end of this July, is no exception.

For the first month after Holly, I felt like I’d been ripped in half.

Although you might think this is a modern-day version of a Brothers Grimm fable (no spoilers, I promise!) - a snippet of which Hampton uses to start this book - "Ripped" is a tale that most definitely could touch any of us. I mean, who hasn't at some point thought (or actually screamed) "I’m on the verge of a breakdown" when it comes to everything life throws at us? To that, I was trying to think of who would best appreciate the struggles of new mom Sadie Hansen. Well, besides those that appreciate the hidden meanings behind those old-world tales, I can certainly recommend this book to those who have become mothers or to a lesser degree fathers … or frankly anyone who has had a mother in their lives. I'll give you all a moment to work through that in terms of potentially suitable audiences… Though I would also add that if you're currently trying to decide if parenthood is right for you, maybe put this back on your TBR pile until AFTER you've reached a decision!

That’s another thing the other mothers don’t tell you— giving birth is absolutely a trauma.

In terms of relating it to other works that are out there in the ether, I would also recommend this story to anyone that enjoyed (for example) "Nightbitch" by Rachel Yoder, as the "new mother / new creature" vibe is just as strong here. In addition, I would add from my own shelves that a book like "Pyrimidia" by Stephanie Sanders-Jacob about looking for acceptance from the Yoga Moms is akin to wanting to fit in with a popular coven of money-making vampires. Or perhaps even from the growing list of "TradWife" books that seem to be popping up everywhere, you might want to check out "The Devil and Mrs. Davenport" which also featured a mother subjected to medical care via the wishes and control of others, ignoring completely what - and who(m) - really was affecting her. OK, it's not quite as serious perhaps as being unwittingly subjected to a lobotomy, but none of these examples was terribly pleasant in terms of what befell the protagonists.

I can escape nightmares; I can’t escape reality.

I will also say that I almost disqualified myself from reviewing this ARC - not from reading, no no no, just making my opinions known - simply because after having gone through the whole pregnancy and birthing process with my wife before, well, we were extremely lucky. And yes, I reviewed this exact issue with the Mrs. last night AGAIN (as I also detailed in my review of "Nightbitch")! Both kids slept through the nights from Day 1 and both kids were perfectly fine with formula (owing to an issue my wife had with her own production). Sure, when booboo's happened or someone wasn't feeling well, they always called for mom, but as the man-creature present, I held my own with diaper changes, "baby-sitting" (I know, I know: you can't call it that when they're YOUR kids!), and whatever other contributions I could make to my wife's well-being, sanity, and hesitancy to actually shooting me in my sleep!

The illusion of the perfect marriage is simply that— an illusion.

But Sadie doesn't have it that good, not by a long shot … and that's not just coming from her "doom-spiral inner monologue." Despite living in a nice Georgia neighborhood that apparently has its own golf course, she realizes all too well that "lack of sleep has turned me into a different person". Her 3-month daughter, Holly, might be adorable, but she gets hungry several times during the night and let's everyone within a 5 mile radius know it! It's no wonder that Sadie begins to see herself as nothing more than "a milk-making cow with constantly leaking tits and a saggy stomach", especially when any of the fit and perky Yoga Moms happen by! And it isn't long until we all see just how far she's obviously been brought "down by exhaustion, nonstop crying, and evil fairies in the goddamned woods." Wait, what was that last bit?

I’m going to warn you one last time. We. Don’t. Talk. About. It.

No, it seems that Sadie has also managed to stumble upon some well-hidden but seemingly extremely real fairy doors. Cute, right? Hmm…no. One in particular is not only a troubling for simply existing, but also that it is surrounded by the bones of various animals as well as the dried husks of hundreds of exsanguinated insects and worse! Yet when she tries to show other people this evidence, it is either cast aside as a symptom of her fatigue - if you haven't guessed by now, her husband, Cash, who will not be winning any awards as new-dad-and/or-spouse-of-the-year, is pretty clueless ("Men are oblivious … You have to spell things out for them …") - or doesn't appear, for example, even in photos! The door that is, not Cash. More bad luck 'events' happen and it's not long before we wonder just what the hell is going on in this neighborhood - and what does it have to do with the unpleasantness that Sadie is only now finding out about concerning the previous owners of their home?

I’m strong— barely three months ago, I pushed a whole-ass human out of my body …

In her signature style though, Hampton continues to ramp up the tension like crazy in this tale until we're literally at a point of trying to fight off the horrors with any weapon we can get our hands on. And readers had really better clear their schedules once they hit the halfway point of this one, because you will find that you MUST find out what happens next! Yes, we understand by now that Sadie is tired of reeking of "anxiety-induced body odor and spoiled milk" but by god, she will do anything to protect her daughter, having "metamorphosed into something different, more primal, more feral" by the end. Sure, her husband may be satisfied with things as long as someone is shoving a sammich (sic) or two in his face ("Is it actually that easy to make him happy?"), but as they say (more or less) : "hell hath no fury like a tired woman who just wants a little help with the baby and the chores around the house, is that really too much to ask?"

[Renee collins]

Thank you to author for letting me Arc read this book! This was my first read by this author and I couldn’t put this book down it was so good! Sadie is suffering from postpartum depression I felt for her being a new mom is hard work, I despised cash instantly he always thinks it’s about him when it’s really not! This book had me on an emotional roller coaster. Was she seeing things? Was it real or just in her head this one makes you question everything! I highly recommend this one to all my horror readers out there you will not be disappointed.

[S.E. Howard]

"The Rotting Room" by Viggy Parr Hampton was my favorite read from last year, so I'm not going to lie. To me, she's one of the top voices in indie horror, but not only that: she's one of the most imaginative and versatile authors around. Her latest release, "Ripped Up The Middle in Two," is no exception.

The story, in part, taps into the fiercely debated public conversation surrounding Lindsay Clancy's murder trial. While the timing is unintentional on Parr Hampton's part, and nothing short of coincidence, "Ripped Up The Middle in Two" explores the same themes of post-partum depression and psychosis. Beyond that, however, through the book, Parr Hampton also addresses the often unflattering and sometimes brutal realities of motherhood itself.

In "Ripped Up The Middle in Two," new mother Sadie is a one-time successful businesswoman who has set all of her professional ambitions and aspirations aside to stay home and raise her sweet, cherubic daughter Holly. Sadie is still recovering from the very-real physical complications of having given birth (like an episiotomy, sore nipples, and engorged, leaking breasts), and also struggling with what was once dismissively referred to as "the baby blues." The fluctuations in her hormones leave her struggling with debilitating depression one minute, and unadulterated adoration for Holly in the next, and in between these peaks and valleys, Sadie finds herself desperate for uninterrupted sleep, plagued with self loathing, and faced with crippling loneliness.

Complicating matters is Sadie's husband, Cash, who, for all practical purposes, seems well-intentioned, but spends more time on the golf course than he does with his beleaguered wife and new daughter. When he tries to "help," it usually causes more problems than it solves, leaving Sadie even more frustrated and closer to her breaking point.

She finds comfort in her neighbor and friend, Kendall, with who she shared "crafternoons" in which they try to replicate those annoying kitschy and cute arts and crafts projects we've all seen on the internet. But what Sadie really longs for is the friendship and camaraderie of another neighbor named Jessica who is beautiful, fit, effortlessly fashionable, and always surrounded by an entourage of wine-sipping besties with perfect hair, dental veneers, acrylic nails, and Lululemon ensembles. Sadie and Kendall call Jessica and her crew the "Yoga Moms," and they are everything Sadie isn't, and more importantly, everything she wants to be. Thus, in an attempt to impress and charm Jessica and her gang, Sadie decides on a new craft project: hand-painted fairy doors which she plans to install throughout the neighborhood.

Fairy doors are, as you might expect, miniature doors you can affix to garden walls, flower beds, or tree trunks. They'd decorative and cute, and Sadie fantasizes about how delighted and charmed Jessica and the Yoga Moms will be when she's done hammering them into trees throughout the subdivision. While she's out on a walk with Holly, setting the fairy doors into place, she happens upon an unusual trail in a wooded area in the neighborhood. Curiosity piqued, she takes her stroller off-road to explore.

At the end of the path, she finds a strange, sinister-looking tree. Fashioned into the base of the trunk is a miniature door -- not one of the charming, brightly colored fairy doors she herself has crafted, but something rustic, even ominous.

From there, the story follows its own winding path through dark and treacherous terrain, as Sadie begins first to imagine what might live on the other side of that creepy little door, then begins to dream about something monstrous emerging from beyond its threshold. She begins to find evidence, first throughout the neighborhood, then closer to home, of something malevolent that's taken interest in her and Holly. As that dark entity encroaches further into Sadie's life, she begins to spiral more and more out of control.

"Ripped Up The Middle in Two" is a fairy tale, only the dark, twisted variety the Grimm brothers originally intended. There are no cute, woodland fae folk in Parr Hampton 's book; instead, she brings the legends back to their medieval roots, when fairies and pixies were spiteful and wicked, preying on humans, and coveting children for their own dark purposes. The true terror, however, lies in the fact that as readers, we can't tell if the things Sadie witnesses and experiences are real, or if they're only occurring in her mind, if between hormones, exhaustion, marital strife, and stress, she's just been taxed to the brink. Or if, when she finally loses it, what horrific end will be the result.

I hadn't thought there was any way Parr Hampton could top "The Rotting Room" in my esteem, but she did with "Ripped Up The Middle in Two." It's a brilliant book. As a wife, woman, and mother, I identified with Sade's struggles, sorrows, and frustrations. And as a horror fan -- and unapologetic Parr Hampton fangirl -- I couldn't stop reading, because I had to know what happened next. As usual, she keeps you guessing in all the best ways.

[Chewable Orb]

Ripped Up The Middle In Two by Viggy Parr Hampton
4.35 rounded down to 4🔮orbs
Est. Pub. Date: July 29, 2026
Horror Humor Hunger Press



Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus…

💡 Orbs Prologue: From the ignorant man’s perspective, this place does not exist. I will refer to it as Area 53. You will not find this location on a map, but it terrifyingly exists deep behind the wickets of a newborn mother’s eyes. Area 53, under intense observation, lies above the bedrock of misery and frozen tears. Somewhere nestled amongst a lonely path of irreversible bodily changes, the woman lingers in the utmost instability. Long sleepless nights blend into one another, as if the curtains are left wide open during sun-infested midsummer nights. A zombie awakes to the droning pattern. Feed, burp, change, repeat…. The sounds of grinding gears remain incessant. While in the midst, the woman loses two things: a man’s compassion and her own self-identity.

🧐 A small glimpse: Viggy Parr Hampton, author extraordinaire, has concocted a jagged little tale. Much like a teabag left in hot, scalding water, thereby creating an end product of something truly bitter! Oh yes, ladies and gentlemen, this little nugget contains plenty of female rage. Newborn Holly is quite a lovely child. Her life, while seemingly simple, has created quite an uproar within her mother, Sadie. And while Sadie’s personality takes some drastic changes, her husband, Cash, seems somewhat unwilling to provide any needed assistance. After Cash’s penchant for excuses and empty promises, Sadie enters into the darkest recesses of her mind. While the child-rearing dynamics are cause for concern, the neighborhood where they live also holds its own horrifying secrets. But are these perceived dangers real, or are they simply a conjuration from the mind of a terribly depressed woman?

👍 Orbs Pros: Well-placed female anger! If you love the mother-bear-protecting-her-cubs-at-all-costs vibe, VPH has got you covered. Prose! Viggy Parr Hampton does creepy so well. This is my third book, and each one, while unique, has never failed to entertain me. I can liken a VPH experience to attending a lovely gender reveal party, only for your best friend to disclose not only the child's sex but also that the father is none other than your husband. Excitingly blasphemous! Scary! This one hits the reader from different angles. A wicked supernatural tale blended with intense psychological fraying, leaving readers' hands deep within a unified pile of blood-soaked bones and sinewy flesh.

👎 Orbs Cons: Not a con, but more like a warning. Dead animal carcasses and some psychological fireworks! It exists, reader beware!

Highly Recommended! This is the horror cheesecake I love. Sinking my teeth into the creamy richness, fabulously offset by the cherry tartness. Mwahh! A chef’s kiss!

💡 Orbs Epilogue: Circling down the drain, the blood flows from the slightest of microscopic cuts from the husband’s lack of empathy. A life consummated by two, and yet the full weight of responsibility rests sullenly upon the weary mother’s slumping shoulders. And as those small incisions are becoming larger, the damage more immense, a well of simmering blood comes to a boil. The angry feelings overflow with resentment. The mind loses itself, unable to ascertain what is real or imaginary. Sleep Deprivation directs its new movie, starring pointy teeth, putrid flesh, and gruesome scenes, painting a mother’s dreams into a bleary mess, for which there is no immediate help. Area 53 is very real but somehow evades man’s detection, eerily similar to Area 52. The doctors have given it a name, Postpartum Depression, and yet this does nothing to aid in the effectiveness of an unacknowledging male. What is known is that Area 53 is a ticking time bomb, one that, if left unchecked, often results in the saying, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!"

Many thanks to Horror Humor Hunger Press for the ARC through BookSirens. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Dani-Lynn Harris]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓮
N/A - 𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮
🔥🔥🔥🔥 - 𝓹𝓵𝓸𝓽
🩸- 𝓰𝓸𝓻𝓮

🖤 𝓶𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼🖤
Sadie & Cash

🖤 𝓽𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼🖤
📕postpartum nightmare
📕evil fairy in the woods
📕body horror
📕mental health representation
📕drunk yoga moms

🖤𝓺𝓾𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼🖤
“I let him subsume me, finding a moment’s peace in being totally absorbed by another person.”

“How could a creature so small do something like this?”

“You had to play the game. You had to, because it was all worth it.”

🖤 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀🖤
Ripped Up The Middle In Two is a nail-biting psychological horror experience that corporates postpartum depressiom with paranormal elements that any mother could relate to. Being a mother myself, I can relate to the amount of sleep deprivation that clouded my minds judgement. But for Sadie, maybe it's not just something her mind created. This is my first story by Hampton and I feel myself spiraling into her other releases after this one.

*spoilers*
Sadie is exhausted. Scratch that. She's beyond exhausted caring for their newborn and other house stuff as her husband, Cash, is too caught up in his life outside the household to understand what she's going through. During a walk with their newborn and their dog, Tater Tot, she comes across a trail at the end of their road. A trail that has never presented itself before. She takes it as it leads her to a large tree; one with a fairy door.

Now, Sadie has a thing for making projects and her latest one has been making fairy doors that she can place around town for others to enjoy. But she knows that one isn't hers. And it's eerie to find in the area she never recalled knowing about. When she tries to explain to Cash about the tree with the door, he places the blame on her fatigue. That she may just be exhausting herself into seeing things that aren't there. But how would that explain the dead squirrel she found in their mailbox? Or the bones that got caught in their dog’s throat?

Curiosity sparks her interest to find out if she is just extremely exhausted or if she is actually onto something. So she sets up a plan to capture it since her previous tries failed. Setting up a baby monitor, she soon discovers something with a tiny face staring back at her. Something that resembles a fairy. But that can't really be what she's seeing right? And the further she dives into it, the more her husband believes she's going off the deep end.

But the drunk yoga moms around the neighborhood may know a little more than they're leading on. They may have the answers she is looking for. A secret they all keep with them. Even motivating her to make the right choice. But is Sadie willing to listen to the warnings. Or will her mother instincts prevent her from accepting the truth? Especially after hearing about what happened to the previous owner of the house they bought.

🖤𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓵🖤
As my first book from the author, I was immediately drawn to the story by its title, being a piece from the classic tale of Rumplestilskin, a personal favorite childhood story. The creepy fairy in the woods had me seated as I was anxious to see if it was going to be something really happening or an illusion based upon exhaustion. All I can say is that this is a perfectly crafted, psychological postpartum horror story with an ending that comes swinging fast with a terrific twist guaranteed to have your jaw on the ground.

**no AI was used to generate any part of this review**

[Heather]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to BookSirens and Horror Humor Hunger Press for the opportunity to read and review this ebook.

Summary

Sadie is a new mother struggling with the reality of caring for her three month old daughter and the loss of identity, freedom, and self that can come with motherhood. During a walk with her baby, she discovers a secret trail in the woods leading to a tiny mysterious door surrounded by bones. The trail only seems to appear when Sadie is alone, and as she becomes more consumed by what may be behind that door, her already fragile world begins to unravel.

My Review

Wow. Seriously, that was one of my first thoughts after finishing Ripped Up the Middle in Two. This book was so in your face, raw, angry, uncomfortable, and brutally honest. Yes, there is horror here, and I mean hello, a tiny door hidden deep in the woods surrounded by bones? You already have my attention. But underneath that creepy mystery is a much deeper story about motherhood, identity, exhaustion, resentment, fear, and what happens when a woman feels like every part of herself is being swallowed by what everyone else needs from her.

This is definitely a slow paced book, but for me that was actually a good thing. The slower pace allowed me to sit inside Sadie’s exhaustion and growing unease. I felt the claustrophobia of her life, the constant demands, and the way her obsession with the trail and tiny door slowly built. The tension did not need to come from nonstop action because the discomfort was already there, growing quietly in the background. I kept wondering what was behind that door, why the trail appeared only for her, and exactly how dark this story was willing to go.

What really hit me was how honest this book felt. It does not soften motherhood or turn every difficult feeling into something pretty and inspirational. It allows Sadie to be angry, exhausted, overwhelmed, and complicated. There is so much here about losing yourself, being needed constantly, and the pressure placed on women to somehow disappear into motherhood while also pretending they are completely fulfilled by it. This book has teeth, and it is not afraid to use them.

Overall, I loved this. It was strange, dark, disturbing, and completely fearless. The horror worked for me, the tiny door had me hooked, and the emotional rage underneath the story gave it so much more depth than I expected. I will absolutely be reading more from Viggy Parr Hampton because this book made an impression on me. Five stars, easily.

Would I Recommend?

Absolutely. If you enjoy psychological horror, dark fairy tales, motherhood horror, strange discoveries in the woods, body horror, rage filled stories, and books that are willing to be brutally honest and uncomfortable, pick this one up. Just know that it is a slower burn, but in my opinion, that slow build makes the experience even better.

[Samantha Woodward]

DNF at 70%. I could've DNFed around 30% but I had nothing better to do and this is an easy read, so I just kept going even though I knew it wasn't for me. The writing comes off as amateur even though the author has published quite a few other books.

I understand what the theme was and what the author was aiming to do with the postpartum depression, the unsupportive husband, and the folk horror, but I just felt it was done poorly and that a better writer could have done the story a lot more justice.

Mind you, I've been through being a new mom and dealing with some postpartum depression and the stress that comes with being a new mom, and did it all while separated from the father who also wanted to "co-parent", but was also clueless about what it takes to have a newborn 24/7 and the exhaustion, and the weight and responsibility of it all.


BELOW may contain MINOR SPOILERS 👇:

The author tried to convey this experience and did a really poor job of it, in my opinion. Some of it was just so ridiculous and unrealistic that it was laughable. Same with the plot. For example: the dog belches several times, the baby giggles at things at only 3 months old (too young to truly start to laugh as a response to things), a kid driving a golf cart steps on the breaks and a freaking CHAINSAW comes flying out of the golf cart at Sadie. Another time her husband demands TWO sandwiches be made for him while she is juggling breastfeeding their baby and putting the baby down for a nap and has been saying how starving she is and exhausted since earlier that day.

Another time Sadie is hammering a nail and rather than tapping it several times to get the nail in, she rears the hammer back and SLAMMS it into the nail and is surprised when that doesn't get the nail all the way into the tree on the first go, when in reality, that should've either bent the nail into an L shape or she would have slammed that hammer into her own hand. It's not an ax. 🤣 Another time Sadie should have washed 💩 off of her baby first before feeding her, but instead leaves the 💩 on the baby because she can't bear to just let the baby cry for a few minutes to clean it off of her before feeding her.

There was an overuse of certain phrases such as her bladder seizing or throbbing and gritting her teeth. Her husband Cash was COMMICALLY a POS. Like unrealistically clichéd POS in ways it didn't even make sense. The dialogue and banter was unbelievable.

I can't speak for the ending since I haven't finished it, but from another review I read, the climax and ending didn't really add anything to the horror aspect of the story, nor does it really conclude anything that has to do with the evil fairy creatures that reside in the fairy doors.

Anywho... That's my 2 cents. I wouldn't recommend this book unless you are very easy to please and have lower expectations than me. 🙃

[Joel Austin]

Holy cow (my two-year-old moo’s every single time I utter this phrase, and I utter it A LOT, its so delightful I can’t not share), what a book! Ripped Up The Middle In Two is Viggy Parr Hampton’s latest and boy howdy, what a doozy.

We are all aware (or really should be) that giving birth is one of the most intense and extreme things a human body can do. To then turn around and have to dive right in to learning to become a parent while recovering from such a monumental experience is an incredibly tall ask, but mothers have continued to do it since the beginning of time. We don’t often take a close look at the first handful of months after bringing an entire human life home from the hospital. The isolation, the forfeiture of schedule and normalcy, the expectation and relentless advice from well-wishers to “make time for yourself,” while you can barely see straight from sleep-deprivation, the stains on e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g …

Although this novel isn’t without a supernatural element; the true horror for me lies in the early journey of motherhood itself. Almost a call to action (take care of the mom’s, they are all precious!), this novel puts on full display just how painful and traumatic the post-partem phase can be. The protagonist, Sadie, is a great mom, but she’s married to what I’ve seen called a labor-digger. Cash (appropriately named) brings home the bacon, but outside of that? Doesn’t contribute to much else. The isolation that Sadie experiences reflects not just the societal expectations of new mothers (focus on you, but also make sure the baby is the main priority, but also get rest, but exercise so you can get yourself back to “normal, and a million other tidbits that require time new mothers just simply don’t have), but how the patriarchy continues to demonstrate violence to women and children in todays families.

Cash believes he means well, but when a member of a team acts exclusively in their own interests with no regard to the others, it begins to seem malicious. He is happy exploiting the system that has benefited him and generations of men before him. A true believer in the idea that because he pays the bills he is excused from changing diapers, cooking, cleaning in general, and even goes so far as throwing actual tantrums and threaten to withhold (the little) help he does manage to offer whenever criticized (don’t throw the baby, Cash). It is truly haunting that Cash is less a parody as much a “how to spot” a predator in todays world. I hope this book can resonate with new dads and help the next generation of mom’s get the support they need and deserve.

I could not put this book down. The ending spoke volumes to how profound and inevitable the sacrifices that every new mother makes and how much we as a society take it for granted. Viggy hit me right in the feels many times with this incredible addition to her catalogue. Incredibly unique, even when playing off a familiar idea, Viggy Parr Hampton is incredibly inventive with how she spins a yarn. This one is just such a wild ride that once you see your first fairy door you’re not going to be able to stop wandering the world that Hampton has pulled you into.

Ripped Up The Middle In Two releases July 29 and is a must-read for this summer!

[Milt Theo]

Well, this was suffocating and exhausting. And I mean this in the best of ways, since it's all meant to be exhausting, taxing, and tiring, inasmuch as this is, in fact, Sadie's, the female main character's, daily life: dread, claustrophobia, and obsession with oneself characterize the cards she's been dealt with, making the question of how much more can this poor woman take, a pressing and existentially urgent question - for both her sanity and the reader's! Yet apparently Sadie's situation is nothing unfamiliar to millions of women: motherhood.

Sadie is a new mom, though one lost down the rabbit hole of the demand for perfection, the endless comparison with other moms, and the consequent self-hatred. Add postpartum depression and a oblivious husband, and you get a pretty accurate picture of Sadie's headspace. But this is not all: "Ripped Up the Midle in Two" is a horror novel, so there soon comes a point when Sadie's fragmented and collapsing mindset draws attention from a most surprising direction. Because, you see, Sadie has stumbled upon a fairy door only she can see. And though she's been painting fairy doors herself as a project, the one she finds is not one she made herself. And in this case, there's definitely something on the other side.

The plot goes completely bonkers from that point forward, but it does so rather slowly. The book's a slow burn, in a sense, because it presses the readers into experiencing Sadie's situation for themselves. Not the body horror (of which there is aplenty!), or the potential postpartum psychosis (there is some intentional ambiguity there), but the headspace of someone facing a whole bunch of issues which they can't share with anybody else, no matter how capably they can get their point across.

Ironically, this brings us to the excellent, marvelous, amazing writing! Yes, Sadie can't get her point across, but Viggy Parr Hampton sure can. And she does - wonderfully! The book's brimming with atmosphere, mood, and desperation. And guess what: though for me not a page-turner, and the horror within was more anxiety-inducing than scary, this book is DARK exactly when you least expect it. Even a few pages before the end, I had no idea what might count as closure for this kind of story. Prepare yourself for a really big surprise!

If you enjoy brutally honest maternal horror, dark fairy tales, raw suburban horror, and the haunting ambiguity of tales grounded on stressful mental health issues, this is a must-read!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Jensen McCorkel]

Rating 3.75 Rounded up

A profoundly disturbing fusion of maternal horror, folk terror, and psychological unease.

The Premise it wonderfully creepy, a new mother facing her struggles as she stumbles upon a hidden trail and a mysterious tiny door in the woods. The setting, filled with woodland imagery and fairy-tale elements, masterfully evokes a sense that something beneath the surface of everyday life is amiss. Some of the most compelling moments arise from this persistent feeling of unease and ambiguity. The book’s greatest strength lies in its honest and visceral portrayal of Sadie’s mental and emotional turmoil. The exhaustion, anxiety, and sense of losing oneself that come with new motherhood are depicted with authenticity and intensity. Whether the source of fear is supernatural or psychological, the tension always feels genuine, rooted in universal emotions that resonate deeply with readers.

Where the book slightly lost momentum for me was in its pacing. The middle portion occasionally felt repetitive, with Sadie revisiting the same fears and questions without enough new developments to propel the story forward. However, the deliberately slow pace generally works in the book’s favor, creating an immersive atmosphere, though there were a few moments where I wished the plot would pick up more quickly. While the sense of ambiguity is one of the novel’s strengths, I found myself craving a bit more progression in the storyline. That said, I appreciated that the book prioritized mood and character depth over providing easy answers. The ending stayed true to the themes, even if it may not fully satisfy readers seeking complete resolution. Still, the payoff felt earned, and the themes lingered with me long after I finished the book.

Overall, Ripped Up the Middle in Two is a thoughtful, unsettling blend of folk horror and psychological horror that trusts readers to sit with uncertainty. A perfect fit for those who enjoy atmospheric horror, folk-horror aesthetics, and stories that explore the darker side of motherhood.

[Alison Faichney]

I think a common theme throughout these reviews will be other people who have given birth shouting YES, SHE GETS IT! Cause she does. Viggy Parr Hampton has managed to drag up all the monotony, BODILY FLUIDS, anxiety, isolation, the burden placed on the primary parent etc etc and just nail it. This book was scarily relatable. I’ve been pregnant five times (three keepers and two with me acting as a surrogate) so pregnancy, labor and postpartum are definitely in my wheelhouse. Obvs I’ve only dealt with newborn full time care three times but this book gets it. My youngest child (now 8) was by far the most difficult newborn and I didn’t get more than a four hour stretch for the first year and a half. He was also breastfed and his first year is easily one of the most difficult times I’ve had in my life and the sleep deprivation is indescribable. If you’re out there reading this and struggling to breastfeed then fed is always best. Your kid will be great no matter which method you end up feeding them.

Ripped Up the Middle In Two follows new mother, Sadie and her baby Holly. Sadie is married to Cash who is an exemplification of the misogyny that often encompasses gender roles within a straight marriage. Sadie discovers a weird path leading into a strange clearing in her neighborhoods and bit by bit she begins to unravel. There’s also the neighborhood yoga moms who fit into those mama bear-ish cliches.

This was fucking fantastic. I don’t know if most men will want to read this (but probably should) but it will resonate with people who have given birth and been through a difficult newborn stage. And with all of this Hampton’s writing is also addictive and jarring. The in book drawings were dope and I tore through this one like Rumpelstiltskin ripping through his own body. Loved every sick and deluded moment and the ending allows the reader to draw their own conclusions about many bits. I also thought the epilogue was a nice touch to humanize some characters. Great read and I can’t wait for Hampton’s next book because they just keep getting better.

[Hannah]

This may possibly be the first postpartum story that hasn't been triggering for me, which is unexpected. Much like Sadie begins to assume about herself, I suffered from postpartum psychosis in the early months of having my son, and talking to other people about it has proven to be difficult. Even 13 years later, beyond the embarrassment and insecurity, there's a very real horror in letting other people know I fell so far. I was hesitant to start this story for fear of it dredging up those same feelings. Instead, it was cathartic and vindicating; the opportunity to stand in solidarity as someone who "gets it."

Every birth and postpartum story has the potential to be horrendous, and I will always sympathize, but no one talks about the potential for psychosis; the visions of horrible creatures, the all consuming sounds (or lack thereof) that can't possibly exist, the absolute knowledge that something has laid claim to your child and you have to keep them safe at all costs, but also the uncertainty of whether they've already left a changeling in place of the babe you knew.

The pacing was immaculate, and I breezed through this story despite how visceral my frustration was with our MMC. It's as if the author surveyed every mother they know and asked "what's the most egregious thing your partner said right after you had a baby?" And what made it worse is that they were absolutely plausible, things all new mothers have heard at some point:

"Is that really the best use of your time?"

"Where are the basic supplies of our household located?"

"What am I supposed to do with our child while you're gone for 2 whole hours?!"

"If you're just going to criticize me, fine, I won't help again."

"Are your meds working yet?"

"...get your body back..."
"...the old you..."
"...be yourself again..."

Rage. Absolute rage. And not a speck of disbelief in me.

This was a fantastic and frustrating read that perfectly encapsulates the feral insanity of the postpartum period.

[Cynthia Brendel]

Thanks so much to the author and BookSirens for the opportunity to read this ARC!

This book follows our main character Sadie as she grapples with what is probably at least a little bit of post-partum depression, her completely useless husband, a brand new baby she's completely in love with and terrified of hurting, a neighborhood infestation of hot yoga moms, and some really creepy stuff going on with a tiny door in the woods that only she can see. Sadie's sense of personhood is eroding, she's grieving her old life, she is completely in love with her baby, she feels pressured to be the perfect mother, and she doesn't have anyone she feels she can confide in about the emotional rollercoaster she's riding. She loves being a mother but she doesn't want to only be a mother. She wants to be a person. And she doesn't feel like anyone else gets it. Our girl is going through it.

She is such a relatable character. All of us, even if we're not mothers, have felt these feelings. On some level, she knows she's not the problem. She knows that her feelings are valid and that she isn't being heard. But also she thinks that all of the things that don't feel right are somehow her fault. That somehow she's the problem. She's holding all kinds of contradictions in her body and they feel on the verge of exploding through the whole book. The tension is HIGH in this one.

The supernatural horror elements in this book were fun and really well done. Loved the descriptions of the creepy little gifts, the touches of body horror thrown in, the creepy woods--just all of it. For me, these elements took a backseat in the story and worked really well as a parallel to what Sadie was going through internally. I'll never shut up about this book and I'm off to read everything else this author has written.

[Nikki C.]

**Thank you, BookSirens, for allowing me the pleasure of reading an advance copy of this book for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.**

Uhm, holy ISH. This book is incredible, terrifying, emotional perfection. I. Freaking. Loved it!

First off, I'm a mom of two whose first pregnancy and postpartum shared a likeness to what Sadie experiences here, albeit a much milder version. I was never diagnosed with PPD, but I'm fairly certain I had a touch of it for at least the first year of being a mom. Hampton did a superb job of capturing so much of new motherhood: the feeling of inadequacy, the total loss of identity, the awful sleep deprivation, and the resentment that can 100% build up when you are constantly the designated parent.

Cash….ohhh I could not STAND him. He's so selfish, needy, and ignorant (*by choice*) that I'm shocked Sadie did not leave him earlier on. Sadly I know men like this exist, so I really wanted his a-- to get kicked to the curb. The Yoga Moms are another stereotype that, well, really exists for a lot of people and gave the horror-angle a very interesting twist.

The fairy and the fairy door were fantastic horror elements. While I wasn't necessarily scared, I love the eerie atmosphere that came with these elements of dark fantasy. It came together in the end in a way that left me saying "no fluffing way" - pretty open ended, IMO, but something that I know will sit with me and haunt me indefinitely. That, to me, is the sign of a fantastic horror book.

If you love dark fairy tales, you will love this book. And while you don't need to be a mom to enjoy this book to the fullest, it hits so much harder if you have the knowledge of those dark months immediately following childbirth. It's really disappointing how much many women need to suffer through alone during this time.

Solid 5 star read that I highly recommend!

[Linda Watkins]

Sadie, a new first-time mom, is not a happy camper. Her nipples are cracked and bleeding from breast-feeding newborn, Holly. Her life has become an endless round of nursing, changing diapers, doing laundry, cleaning up baby poop, and trying to please her husband, Cash, who is oblivious to his wife’s struggle. Sleep-deprived and still recovering physically from giving birth, Sadie tries to re-assert herself as whole person with an identity other than “mom” by painting fairy doors she plans to place throughout her suburban neighborhood to delight the children and impress their mothers. However, Cash thinks her artistic attempts are a waste of time causing Sadie to roil inside with anger and resentment. Then one day, while taking the baby for a stroll, she discovers a never-seen-before trail that leads to a clearing in the woods. In the middle of the clearing is an ancient tree and at the bottom of that tree, leading into its trunk, is a moss-covered door. A real fairy door.

Thus begins Sadie’s journey down the fairy door rabbit hole. Is the door real? Or, is it only a hallucination caused by postpartum psychosis? But, if it’s real, what lives behind it? And what lies in store for Sadie and her child if the tree’s inhabitant is something malignant?

I have been a fan of author Viggy Parr Hampton since reading “A Cold Night for Alligators” followed by “Much Too Vulgar”. In this latest read, “Ripped Up the Middle in Two”, she again exhibits her sharp, biting sense of humor as she keeps the reader on edge wondering if Sadie is suffering from postpartum psychosis or if somehow the terrors she’s experiencing are actually happening. The book, masterfully written, is hard to put down and I finished it in 2 days. Loved it and I look forward to more from Ms. Parr Hampton.

[✩｡°⋆ Lala ⋆｡°✩]

🖋️ Author: Viggy Parr Hampton
📖 Title: Ripped Up The Middle In Two
📅 Pub Day: Jul 29, 2026
💌 Publisher: Horror Humor Hunger Press
📚 Format: Digital
🏷️ ISBN: 9798993598024
⏱️ Length: 244 pages
⭐ Star Rating: 5

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──  

I've had Viggy Parr Hampton on my TBR forever and I genuinely can't believe I waited this long because wow. I am a fan.

The postpartum depression rep in this book hit hard. I'm childfree by choice so I haven't lived it, but I've always had a lot of empathy for people who go through it, and Viggy wrote it in a way that felt painfully honest rather than just being used as a plot device. Sadie's experience felt human in a way that made everything that follows so much more devastating.

And Cash. Oh my god. Cash. I don't think I've ever wanted to reach through a book and physically remove a character from existence more than I did with him. Genuinely one of the most infuriating husbands I've read, which is saying something. My blood was boiling the entire time.

The little illustrations sprinkled throughout were such a nice touch too, unsettling little images that perfectly matched the dread building under the surface of every page. Small detail but it really added to the atmosphere.

This book is a rage filled punch to the chest and I loved every second of it. VPH has a new fan! 🩸

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──  

If you like:

✔️ motherhood horror
✔️ postpartum horror
✔️ terrible husbands
✔️ psychological horror
✔️ stories fueled by rage
✔️ women pushed to the edge

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Thank you to BookSirens, Viggy Parr Hampton, and Horror Humor Hunger Press for gifting this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

[Brigitte]

Viggy Parr Hampton does it again! Perhaps her most relatable book yet (if you’re a mom who experienced annyyyy sort of postpartum emotional and/or mental changes).

I got a kick out of references to the other moms in Sadie’s suburban neighborhood (yoga moms with perfect bodies and lululemon athleisure) and the stark contrast to Sadie, who finds herself with weak pelvis-induced urine all over herself and vomit and anything else she’s picked up on her daily walks. Can't tell you how many times I looked (and felt) like death warmed over when my son was a newborn, surrounded by moms who seemed to have it all together.

Being a new mom is horrifying enough. Add a hidden trail, mini doors on trees, and something possibly living behind them, and you've got a different kind of horror. And to really drive it all home, you're never sure if Sadie's being terrorized by an entity or living through postpartum psychosis. Neither option is great. Give me the entity any day. A supernatural, woodland creature I can take on. My own mind turning on me, making me question what's real? That's true horror. Postpartum psychosis doesn't care how strong you are, and that's exactly what makes it so much scarier.

And don't get me started on Cash. I spent half this book waiting for it to become an open-and-shut case of Sadie finally snapping and unaliving him.

I flew through this book. As a fellow mom who's been there, I was rooting for Sadie the entire time, urine and vomit smells be damned. I wanted to reach through the pages and hug her.

If you dealt with postpartum depression, anxiety, or psychosis yourself, know that this book leans into that territory hard.

Huge thank you to the author for the early copy!!