Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
7/10
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK for providing me with an eARC for this book.
I had such a good time reading this. Just like with her debut, Darwent offers a tense, complex and intriguing experience with an incredibly interesting character at its centre. I really didn’t want to put this down once I stared reading because the purposeful withholding of information, both about Carn and Betsy, kept me in the dark but wanting to learn more.
I also really appreciated the conversations this book touched on; in particular the discussions of what it means to be the right amount of ill for those around you felt poignant and complex. And its complexity is what I think the book does best. It doesn’t offer easy answers, easy topics, or easy characters to read about. I absolutely loved the way that the book challenged me to take it apart and put the plot back together through its tangents and anecdotes.
My only real issues with this book come with its reveal and pacing in the second half. As the plot intensified throughout I felt some aspects of its escalation felt a little rushed, before coming to a halt early in the book’s third act. As for the unraveling of the mystery, I feel that really, with the amount of intrigue and suspense built through the book’s careful guarding of information, my expectations may have been too high. Now, this is not to say that the events here were not horrific, but perhaps the delivery of this information or the consequences thereafter could’ve had more punch. To me the tone of the book, and perhaps my expectations from reading Darwent’s debut, lead me to wanting more detail and perhaps something even more extreme. Despite this, I do really love the thematic implications of every going on here.
On the whole this was great! I had so much fun really digging into this story and I am very glad to have read it. Really it exceeded my expectations.
Coercive behaviour is triggering for me
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
ad | thank you to Viking Books UK for gifting a copy of A Sharp Scratch
I really loved this book. We follow Betsy as she is offered a place at Carn, a free wellness retreat designed to help her solve her insomnia. I read this thriller in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the captivating and unexpected twists and turns in the story. I especially appreciated the way it was narrated as it added to the sense of uncertainty and the blurred lines of reality. I’m not going to go into more detail about what happens as that was part of the fun of reading this.
As always, please check TWs.
Overall, a fantastic read!
I really loved this book. We follow Betsy as she is offered a place at Carn, a free wellness retreat designed to help her solve her insomnia. I read this thriller in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the captivating and unexpected twists and turns in the story. I especially appreciated the way it was narrated as it added to the sense of uncertainty and the blurred lines of reality. I’m not going to go into more detail about what happens as that was part of the fun of reading this.
As always, please check TWs.
Overall, a fantastic read!
dark
slow-paced
Am a bit disappointed. I think the idea is brilliant, a really great concept but just not well executed - I think the writing is just a bit clunky. The blurb on the back that says Darwent has a future as a thriller writer is spot on; her writing suits that genre much more than what is seemingly being attempted here (and actually I felt the same about What We Do To Our Friends).
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A mind bending and utterly suspenseful, thriller exploring the dark side of wellness culture (its power dynamics, cult-like practices and the very human desire to belong) that had me glued to my seat!
I loved Heather Darwent’s debut, The Things We Do To Our Friends, so jumped at the chance to read her newest novel. And unsurprisingly, it didn’t disappoint! Tonally, it is slightly different to her previous novel; with a more hallucinagenic affect that had me constantly on edge, and questioning protagonist, Betsy’s sense of reality.
Leading to an unsettling (and marvellously unpredictable) reading experience that thriller fans are almost certainly gonna eat right up. I should also mention the pacing is a bit slow at times but trust me, it works soo well with the unsetting and fractured emotional states of the retreat’s guests.
The characters were all quite fascinating too, (in an emotionally raw, car crash kind of way that you just can’t look away from) with intriguingly rich backstories I was thoroughly surprised invested in. But there’s also a compulsive sense of unreliability to each of them, which only added to the narrative’s complex (and surreal) charm. None more so than Betsy, our sleep starved MC looking for a definitive cure.
And Carn, (the remote and secretive wellness retreat) at first glance seems to be just that. Where Betsy, for the first time in her life, is finally able to achieve a dreamless sleep (and also appreciate her ravenous new appetite.)
Yet there’s a cloying, sinister undercurrent that never lets up and Darwent’s spectacular prose only adds to that deliciously uncanny tension— which had me just as eager for answers as Betsy.
I can’t really go into too much detail for fear of spoiling the plot. But I can say the eerie cult leader vibes of Elise (who runs the retreat) and the slow, subtle shift (from dream to claustrophobic nightmare) really cement Darwent as an author to watch in the psychological thriller genre. I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next. Also do check the TWs.
Also, thank you to Penguin/ Viking UK for the proof.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Medical content
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I loved this book. It was creepy, it was tense, it was set in an isolated location somewhere in Scotland near where I live (this isn't a requirement for me to enjoy a book, it was just nice).
This fully captured the vibe of a gothic novel where the location is basically an extra character. That house will haunt me!
I read this book just feeling so on edge knowing something was coming but when? Who would be impacted? Would the residents ever be 'cured'? What on earth was going on?
I love this author's pacing. Much like in their debut novel The Things We Do To Our Friends (which I didn't shut up about for over a year!); the book starts gently and introduces all the players, then things amp up and weird/scary things happen, then suddenly the floodgates open and it's all go. I couldn't put this down
I was kindly given an advanced copy of this book by the publishers and I cried with joy. This review is entirely my own and i apologise to my friends because I'm not going to shut up about this one for a while
This fully captured the vibe of a gothic novel where the location is basically an extra character. That house will haunt me!
I read this book just feeling so on edge knowing something was coming but when? Who would be impacted? Would the residents ever be 'cured'? What on earth was going on?
I love this author's pacing. Much like in their debut novel The Things We Do To Our Friends (which I didn't shut up about for over a year!); the book starts gently and introduces all the players, then things amp up and weird/scary things happen, then suddenly the floodgates open and it's all go. I couldn't put this down
I was kindly given an advanced copy of this book by the publishers and I cried with joy. This review is entirely my own and i apologise to my friends because I'm not going to shut up about this one for a while
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated