e-Audio, 11:08:52
Narrated by: Angel Pean
Release Date: February 8, 2022
Published by: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Read from: March 16-18, 2022
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby
TW: Violence, Sickness
For Readers Interested In: Get Out (the movie), Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, AdultFrom bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow comes a new adult social horror novel in the vein of Get Out meets My Sister, the Serial Killer, about Farrah, a young, calculating Black girl who manipulates her way into the lives of her Black best friend’s white, wealthy, adoptive family but soon suspects she may not be the only one with ulterior motives. . . .
Seventeen-year-old Farrah Turner is one of two Black girls in her country club community, and the only one with Black parents. Her best friend, Cherish Whitman, adopted by a white, wealthy family, is something Farrah likes to call WGS–White Girl Spoiled. With Brianne and Jerry Whitman as parents, Cherish is given the kind of adoration and coddling that even upper-class Black parents can’t seem to afford–and it creates a dissonance in her best friend that Farrah can exploit. When her own family is unexpectedly confronted with foreclosure, the calculating Farrah is determined to reassert the control she’s convinced she’s always had over her life by staying with Cherish, the only person she loves–even when she hates her.
As troubled Farrah manipulates her way further into the Whitman family, the longer she stays, the more her own parents suggest that something is wrong in the Whitman house. She might trust them–if they didn’t think something was wrong with Farrah, too. When strange things start happening at the Whitman household–debilitating illnesses, upsetting fever dreams, an inexplicable tension with Cherish’s hotheaded boyfriend, and a mysterious journal that seems to keep track of what is happening to Farrah–it’s nothing she can’t handle. But soon everything begins to unravel when the Whitmans invite Farrah closer, and it’s anyone’s guess who is really in control.
Told in Farrah’s chilling, unforgettable voice and weaving in searing commentary on race and class, this slow-burn social horror will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I should have known this wasn’t for me when there the synopsis was so long and I couldn’t finish it. But no, I’m stubborn and gullible and listened to all the people who said you have to have patience and the ending was worth it. It was in fact, not worth it.
Normally here I would do a small recap of the synopsis or something that would tell a bit about the story, but I think trying to explain it would invite too many spoilers. It’s basically a Black girl befriends another Black girl who’s been adopted by a white family. But they become so close, that when it’s time for her to move, she refuses and even goes against her own parents to stay with them while they are going through some financial troubles. It looks like everyone is happy under the surface, but undortunately, things aren’t always as they appear.
Ok, so if you’ve read the synopsis, you’re probably like wtf. Because I was too. I was intrigued by why this was being called a social horror book. It didn’t even seem like a thriller. But then I saw that it was being compared to Get Out the movie and I was like ok….. (I’ve never seen the movie, so it didn’t matter, but I’ve seen people saying it was crazy, so I have to admit, I was intrigued.) But if the movie is like this, I hope it’s a little more action oriented. Because this book was so boring lol
Ok, so the only reason I didn’t DNF this is because I had done something I usually NEVER do. I read some reviews before I finished the book. The reason I read the reviews was because I was thinking of DNF-ing, but I wanted to see if I was going to miss something. And sure enough, I kept seeing people say just wait until the end, the end is worth it, OMGGGG the ending is so good! So I said fine. And I stuck it out. But then things started happening and when everyone else was so excited about what was happening, I was not amused. It was like 3 big happenings and that was supposed to make up for the rest of the pages.
And then there’s the end. Listen, when you see all these people saying “Just wait for the end,” you automatically think it’s going to be something Earth shattering. That it’s going to change your life. Yes it was unique, but the build up to that last 7% of the book was not worth it. I truly could have used those 11 hours of my life for something else and got the spoilers and been a-ok.
I think I’ve come to the realization that this author just isn’t for me. I think she tries to do too much and put too much extra into her writing and it makes it not enjoyable for me anymore. I don’t even know how to explain it. Whatever it is, I don’t think I’m going to be reading her anymore. I might finish her YA series since I read the first one, but even that one is filled with underlying messages and it got to be annoying to read also. But still, I say give it a try if you think you might like it. Just because it wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean it won’t be for you too.
Overall, I give this
