"~baby blues~
 A cutesy term for yet another way a woman's body will try to rob her of the joy of her child's earliest days."
 Thank you to Hachette Book Group for my gifted copy of Dearest for review!
 Subject-wise, this isn't an easy read.
 Debut author Jacquie Walters does not shy away from the ugly and difficult moments of postpartum life. But she expertly weaves this in with a more complex tale of mothers and daughters, of being a troubled spouse and family member, in the lens of new motherhood. 
 And at times, takes this into the realm of horror.
 Flora is our unreliable narrator, navigating the birth of daughter Iris severely sleep-deprived, anxious and possibly hallucinating. 
 While waiting for husband Connor to return from deployment, her estranged mother Jodi comes to help Flora at home. As well as Flora's childhood imaginary friend Zephie.
 There are many triggers here, even for those of us with "normal" (what even is that) postpartum experiences. It's heartbreaking, eerie, and filled with secrets.
 I absolutely couldn't put Dearest down and look so forward to what Walters writes next.
 Recommended!
 "Your mother's sadness is all her own. That's the only way she'll let it be."
 Released on Sept. 17.