Review: Cherish Farrah Bethany C. Morrow

Cherish Farrah by Bethany C. Morrow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own. This may have teenage main characters, but it is pretty dark. The author herself states that this is an adult social horror book but it could go either way. A mature young reader may find this entertaining, but it is geared toward the adult reader. If you enjoyed A Song Below Water it has her same beautiful writing style, but it is not the same.

This follows Farrah in the wake of parents unfortunate change in financial situation. She is used to living at a certain standard, so naturally she feels personally attacked and like she has lost control when her home is put up for foreclosure. Her best friend Cherish is the only other Black girl in their country club community and private school, but Cherish was adopted by white parents. While Farrah is used to a certain level entitlement that her parents wealth affords her, Cherish is a whole different level of spoiled and protected from the world. Farrah is determined to regain control of her life, and she has decided that she is going to manipulate her way into Cherish's family to do it. The longer she stays with Cherish, the more she finds that something is not quite right. The control she thought she had continues to slip away day by day as Farrah is plagued with illness and injury that have no explanation. To say more would be a spoiler.

I thought the characters were wonderfully portrayed here. Farrah comes off as a spoiled brat, while Cherish is portrayed as naïve. They are both spoiled in different ways, and their parents have tried to protect them from the horrible things in the world. Their relationship as best friends is complicated and intense. None of the characters are very likable, but you are quickly drawn into the story. The story starts of a bit slow but as things progress they get pretty dark.

This is a wonderful yet dark exploration into class and race. It is suspenseful and as far as psychological thrillers go, I had no idea what was going on until it happened. The story progresses fairly slowly. It keeps you on your toes waiting for things to happen. I enjoyed it!

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