Spoilers: I’ve put trigger warnings at the of the review, as this books deals with some serious subjects, but which can spoil the story.
This book alternates chapters between ‘now’ and ‘then’, as it tells the story of Ambrosia attending her college reunion, and of what happened on a fateful night back in her Freshman year. The story of that night is drip fed through the book so the reader isn’t exactly sure until further on in the novel what exactly happened. I thought this was a good way of telling this story as it kept me guessing. Some twists were predictable, but there was some shocking parts too.
Ambrosia is an very unlikable character, she is selfish, cruel and a bully, and there is a toxicity to her and with her friendship to Sully. Some of her actions as a teenager are despicable and she takes her obsession over Sully and the other girls too far. The problem comes when the chapters are told from the present. She is still obsessive and a liar, but I almost felt like it was written to make the reader sympathetic to her. And that just isn’t possible. Because she hasn’t grown and improved, she’s just playing another part, which is worn away as the reunion progresses. Her actions are to save her own skin rather than her being remorseful. I also felt her character could have been stronger if the reader knew more about her life before college. She goes to Wesleyan and tries to change who she is, but I didn’t feel I know enough about her to understand why she wants to be someone else.
I enjoyed the book as a whole, I thought it was an interesting premise and I definitely wanted to know more about what had happened to Ambroisa, Sully and Flora. It does start a little slow but it picks up in speed, as it moves towards its devastating conclusion, both then and now.
TW: This book deals with some serious subjects including Rape, Suicide and Bullying
Thank you to Readers First, HQ Stories and the author for this ARC
This book alternates chapters between ‘now’ and ‘then’, as it tells the story of Ambrosia attending her college reunion, and of what happened on a fateful night back in her Freshman year. The story of that night is drip fed through the book so the reader isn’t exactly sure until further on in the novel what exactly happened. I thought this was a good way of telling this story as it kept me guessing. Some twists were predictable, but there was some shocking parts too.
Ambrosia is an very unlikable character, she is selfish, cruel and a bully, and there is a toxicity to her and with her friendship to Sully. Some of her actions as a teenager are despicable and she takes her obsession over Sully and the other girls too far. The problem comes when the chapters are told from the present. She is still obsessive and a liar, but I almost felt like it was written to make the reader sympathetic to her. And that just isn’t possible. Because she hasn’t grown and improved, she’s just playing another part, which is worn away as the reunion progresses. Her actions are to save her own skin rather than her being remorseful. I also felt her character could have been stronger if the reader knew more about her life before college. She goes to Wesleyan and tries to change who she is, but I didn’t feel I know enough about her to understand why she wants to be someone else.
I enjoyed the book as a whole, I thought it was an interesting premise and I definitely wanted to know more about what had happened to Ambroisa, Sully and Flora. It does start a little slow but it picks up in speed, as it moves towards its devastating conclusion, both then and now.
TW: This book deals with some serious subjects including Rape, Suicide and Bullying
Thank you to Readers First, HQ Stories and the author for this ARC