There are lots of reasons within this book on why I won’t be a mother. But, from what I do know this book did an insanely good job of telling those stories.

Grace once lived a risky existence, joyriding, having sex with random men, wandering late at night in the Yorkshire moors where past murders were done. Now, her life is superficially settled and safe, with a new baby and a steady partner, but it's never felt more dangerous. There are so many things that could hurt her daughter, including herself. I loved Naomi Booth's Sealed and Exit Management so I snapped up raw content even though I feel like there's been a glut of 'early motherhood' novels recently. And I'm so glad I did. I'm not a mother myself but I found myself deeply relating to the 'dark corridor' that Grace goes down after the birth of her baby, a space clearly linked to her own sense of abandonment after her own mother was unable to carry on caring for her. This book is so intense and visceral that I'd urge readers to be cautious if they have experienced or are still dealing with post-natal depression or CPTSD, as it very much takes you into Grace's head. And yet, Booth's incredible writing makes this seemingly heavy and worthy subject-matter utterly gripping; I only put this book down when I couldn't deal with it any more. Streets ahead of Claire Kilroy's Soldier Sailor, and with a far more sympathetic protagonist (who for ONCE has a decent partner), this should have been on the Women's Prize longlist. 4.5 stars.

I really enjoyed reading this beautifully written insight into the darker side of motherhood. The protagonist’s descent into post natal psychosis and intrusive thoughts were heartbreaking but so realistically written. An excellent read.

This was so realistic and darkly beautiful. I wish I’d had a copy of this years ago when I was in the swirls of new motherhood. The authors writing on intrusive on catastrophic thoughts in particular , is so considered and carefully written.
A side of mothering that is never explored properly, thank you Naomi Booth for bringing it into the light.

A powerful read.

4 stars

Naomi Booth’s new novel ‘Raw Content’ follows a new mother dealing with the stress of having a baby to look after, while feeling completely unprepared. She exists in a state of constant anxiety, imagining awful things happening to her baby - struggling to trust herself to even walk with the pram near train tracks or rivers, for fear that she’ll be overcome with the urge to do something awful.

This was a really heavy read. The protagonist, Grace, grapples with a lot of mental health issues, and struggles to reach out to her friends and family, the father of her baby (who she doesn’t even know particularly well), or a mental health professional - and Booth’s unflinching prose makes her spirals into anxiety and intrusive thoughts feel very real. We see also the impacts of childhood and generational trauma, and parental abandonment, and how these have affected both Grace and her sister, who struggles with drug addiction.

While I enjoyed this for its honest and realistic depiction of mental health issues, I did ultimately find it a little repetitive. I’d recommend this to those who enjoyed Claire Kilroy’s ‘Soldier Sailor’, a similarly stressful novel about the struggles of early motherhood.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for the ARC!

4 stars!! Changed mt rating because stewing on this made it hit me so much more

Intrusive thoughts, doubts, worries, fears, etc. are all what Grace is having when she gives birth. This took a look into the side of motherhood that doesn't really get explored. Reading about how Grace would think about quite dark, shocking intrusive things or fears with her daughter can be hard for some to read, but it was interesting to see how she just wants to be a good mother and yet think of these things. As if her protective side and fearful side mix and go to a whole new level of well what if....

The first part of this was really great and gripped me and even more in the middle once we get to see how she is and what she thinks. It just felt a little repetitive at times, if this has been shorter, it would have still have had a strong story within it. But that's just me and my experience. This really does make you think once you've finished about what people go through and the mental state of what people can experience whether you're a parent or not.

I want to start by saying Naomi Booth has a new fan in me. I adored Raw Content. It felt so raw and authentic and I loved that it didn’t shy away from post natal mental health descriptions and certainly didn’t sugar coat the impact this can have on even the smallest of tasks in every day life.

Booths writing is filled with emotion and the anxiety and fears that Grace feels throughout this story can be felt through the pages. The way Graces pregnancy and birth and subsequent days plays out in this story aides the message that these feelings and thoughts can creep up on your without you noticing or really paying attention, but all of a sudden you are engulfed in fear and motherhood.

I honestly loved this and loved Graces character so much!

Raw Content by Naomi Booth (thank you @littlebrownbookgroup_uk and @netgalley for the review copy) was incredibly moving and has stayed with me since reading it back in January. Set in York, in the midst of winter, Grace is a young woman who becomes unexpectedly pregnant whilst in a relationship that is still relatively new and undefined.

There is a clear contradiction between Grace’s professional life as an editor of legal case files, where she has to sift through the gory details of violent crimes and assign accurate metadata tags to them, and her life outside of work which can sometimes verge on recklessness. However, the threat of violence - the violence she reads about at work on a daily basis, the violence in the case that rocked her father’s career as a police officer, the violence that was suffused in the landscape of her childhood in the Colne Valley and the constant warnings of violence inherent in growing up female - which has always been a constant undercurrent, comes to the fore after the birth of her child.

Grappling with this new and terrifying love, Grace begins to see the prospect of violence everywhere. So much so that she restricts her movements, planning out routes that avoid potential dangers like staircases and bridges. Having watched Elizabeth Sankey’s 2024 documentary, Witches, on postpartum depression since reading Raw Content, I have a greater understanding of what Grace was going through and it was so touching to see how Booth renders the relationships around Grace. Although she has always been a self-sufficient and independent person and although there are extreme rifts in her family, of which she has always been in the middle, and although her fledgling relationship with the father of her child is fragile and definitely not built on love, there is so much tenderness in the interactions and in the ways those closest to her recognise that she’s not okay.

Out on the 13th March, Raw Content is a new release to prioritise. The fact that in remembering the novel to try and write this review has made me feel emotional all over again is testament to how stunning a work of art it is.

#RawContent #NaomiBooth #BookReview

Raw Content follows Grace, who becomes unexpectedly pregnant and has to try and accommodate her new boyfriend and baby into her life. But after the relief and strange joy of the birth, Grace starts to imagine all sorts of terrible injuries and deaths befalling her child.

This is a tough read, showing the darker side of motherhood, with Grace’s intrusive thoughts causing anxiety as she is left alone with her new baby. I really felt for her throughout the novel as she became more isolated from family, struggling to cope with irrational fears and wanting to protect her child. It’s heartbreaking and emotional, reflecting on family trauma and relationships, while showing the impact repressed memories can have.

I loved the writing style, with the raw and gritty stream of consciousness allowing the reader to get inside Grace’s head and empathise with what she was going through. There was so much to think about within such a short book and it’ll definitely be one I come back to.

Thank you to Little Brown Book Group for the chance to read this early!

its a side of motherhood not often talked about. its not the side many mothers or other probably want to talk about. as many would find it far to scary. and for some who are lacking it would also make them more uncomfortable about the complexities of motherhood. far too many are passive and ignorant to our new mothers. but this is a stark leveler of what can happen. what does happen. and means we need to enfold and not judge new mothers. and instead be very very aware and give credit to the huge life change that happens. and also aware of what can happen that can make them very poorly indeed. and its not their fault. and we need to be more supportive.
this covers new motherhood extremely well. but more importantly the next stages of how it can all go to the pits when fear,strange thoughts, intrusive thoughts and other things creep in. the way the protective mind goes into overdrive and how that can haunt the mother more. and actually puts her and sometimes others in harms way.
i felt so much for this woman. it was so painful to see her pain and struggle. she was a good person who came across something awful. partially because i think her past was never healed. and of course we all know things catch up or trauma catches up often with illness later. motherhood could have been a huge trigger for this happening.
mental illness goes deeper. there's the "why" that needs healing. and that journey is not easy. and the way it manifests can feel horrific for those suffering. and its something we need to understand more. and be far more empathetic towards. this needs to happen soon. because we are letting suffers down. and in the case of new mothers like our main character this can have tragic circumstance.
i wanted to wrap her up and help her be ok.i hope b reading and better understanding these things i might be helping. of sorts. even if for now its just to be more aware.

raw content is a beautifully real and at times gripping novel about a woman's life and her journey into motherhood. It's told in a stream of consciousness fashion that makes you unable to look away from the page. This book deals with the topics of OCD and intrusive thoughts really well, albeit lacking a bit of depth due to the novels length. My only critique of this book is that I think it should've been longer, and there was more to be told. I think the writing in this novel is commendable, and I am looking forward to other works from this author. I would highly recommend picking this up when it's out!

This well chosen title and excellent cover design should act as a warning to those wanting a comfortable read about the early months of maternity.
This is a raw, compelling exploration of a young woman's navigation through the anxieties of early life, pregnancy and birth, which accumulate into an increasing nightmare of panic once her daughter arrives. With help, Grace starts to unpick the fears for her child and her mental health in order to survive the postnatal maelstrom that threatens to overwhelm her.

Not an easy read, but a fascinating, at times nerve-jarring, narrative which vividly portrays an all too common, often hidden condition.

Grace tells us of her inner world, where she suffers from antisocial, intrusive thoughts that involve her baby.
I found the first 50 or so pages gripping, and forgot that I was reading fiction. It felt like a memoir.
I am sure there is an audience for this book who will like it more than I did. The topic is interesting, less commonly spoken and complex.
Though, as even someone who enjoys long and detailed novels, I thought this could have been shorter and still conveyed the same and if it were more compact, the writing in the beginning would have been present all the way through.

A very difficult book to read, but with good reason. Grace doesn’t choose to become a mother, it almost happens subconsciously with Ryan and before she knows it, she’s giving birth and going home with her baby. But the birth is the easy part, everything else she struggles with. From intrusive thoughts to irrational fears, she worries about the state of her newborn.

This was full of emotionally charged and incredibly upsetting scenes. Grace wants nothing more than to be a good mother but she’s afraid of her own mind. The writing was achingly heartbreaking, teetering on the edge of utter despair. I read this book with bated breath and I’m so happy that Grace got her happy ending.

One of those books that just left me a little bit emotional, and possibly not ok for quite a bit of it.
So many minor moments that were quite startling, I even gasped out loud at one point.
I'm not eloquent enough to describe why, but just know it's incredibly good.