Trad-Wife
They say mothers will do anything for their children…but would they do anything for their children?
3.5 STARS
They say mothers will do anything for their children…but would they do anything for their children?
In Trad-Wife by Saratoga Schaefer, main character Camille Deming is a trad-wife influencer bound and determined to make her mark on the trad-wife social media universe. She homesteads at her country farmhouse and cooks breakfast and dinner for her husband each night, on the surface, she looks like a perfect trad-wife, except she’s missing one thing: a baby.
When, month after month, she doesn’t get pregnant and her relationship starts to strain, Camille makes a wish at the decrepit well she finds at the very edge of her property.
…but, like everyone says, be careful what you wish for.
When her wish is granted, Camille thinks everything is going to come up roses…
…she never expected everything to come up…bloody.
In all truth and honesty, I’m not sure I have any idea about what I read. From beginning to end, it seemed like a weird fever dream, or some kind of Creepy Pasta story I found online. The book moved fast, but it seemed to skim the surface a lot, and I never felt like I resonated with the character. I couldn’t even get to know her. There was a lot of “I did this” and “I did that” and despite the Trad-Wife lifestyle was a big factor, I didn’t get much about that lifestyle either. It was all about the influencer status.
The scenes in which Camille gets pregnant, and then the storyline of her pregnancy throughout the rest of the book, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to turn away or read more. It was like if Dexter met Yellow Jackets with a little sprinkle of the supernatural to spice it all up.
It wasn’t scary, it wasn’t thrilling, but it wasn’t bland either. I’m not sure the book knew what it wanted to be, let alone be able to show that to the reader.
The idea itself was a noble one, and I liked that part, I just think the execution didn’t work out the way I thought it would’ve. It left me feeling a little on edge and a little dirty, like I had to take a shower to wash the ickiness off of me.
I closed the book feeling confused, and not in a good way, and frustrated.