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Dearest

A B&N Best Horror Book of 2024
A Golden Poppy Octavia E. Butler Award Finalist
A Book of the Month Club Pick

A new mom in need of help opens her door to her long-estranged mother--only to invite something much darker inside--in this "fast-paced and frightening debut" (Rachel Harrison) about the long shadows cast by family secrets.

Flora is a new mom enamored of her baby girl, Iris, who has arrived a few weeks early. But with her husband still deployed, Flora must navigate the newborn stage alone. As the sleepless nights pass in the loneliness of their half-empty home, the edges of her reality begin to blur.

Just as Flora becomes convinced she is losing her mind, a surprising guest shows up to help: Flora's own mother, to whom she hasn't spoken in years. Can they mend their fraught relationship? Or is there more that Flora's mother isn't telling her about the events that led to their estrangement?

As stranger and scarier events unfold, Flora begins to fear that her mother's secrets have allowed something truly evil to enter her home. She must decide: is her hold on reality slipping dangerously away? Or is she, in fact, the only thing standing between a terrifying visitor and her baby?

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Published Sep 17, 2024

304 pages

Average rating: 6.96

26 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Mmarostegui
May 20, 2025
8/10 stars
This scared me to death.....and I don't say that lightly. The way that Ms. Walters writes paints a horror picture that is impossible to resist! Amazon's review says: "A new mom in need of help opens her door to her long-estranged mother—only to invite something much darker inside. Flora is a new mom enamored of her baby girl, Iris, who arrived a few weeks early. With her husband still deployed, Flora navigates the newborn stage alone. But as the sleepless nights pass in the loneliness of their half-empty home, the edges of her reality begin to blur. Just as Flora becomes convinced she is losing her mind, a surprising guest shows up: Flora’s own mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken in years. As stranger and scarier events unfold, Flora doesn't know if her sense of reality is slipping away or whether she and her baby are experiencing something from another reality. Spoiler: It's the second one.
Shat
Nov 06, 2024
8/10 stars
Good horror book and kept me intrigued
BookFairie
Aug 20, 2025
8/10 stars
this story had me wondering what was going on from the start. in the end I'm still curious as to what happened. and the set up to happen again.
Hartfullofbooks
Jul 16, 2025
9/10 stars
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book in one day, and I was surprised that this turned out to be a novel I could not put down! Flora is a new mother struggling to keep herself and her baby taken care of while her husband is on deployment with the military. At the end of her endurance Flora reaches out to her estranged mother in hopes of repairing their relationship and gaining help with her newborn daughter. This very quickly turns out to be a very bad idea…… This one is psychological and full of twists and turns in a narrative that leaves you just as confused as Flora when it comes to what is real and what isn’t. I absolutely loved how weird, twisty, and gruesome this novel was while still managing to tackle themes like motherhood, generational trauma, and post partum depression. I absolutely love this book and it actually had me on edge for the entire last portion. I do wish the end had been a little less…cliche I guess but it didn’t ruin the enjoyment of the overall novel for me.
Anne-Marie Eberhardt
Jul 02, 2025
10/10 stars
Holy cow! This book was on the edge of your seat and terrifying! Fantastic!

PS…Wahoowa

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