12.5 hours after the party
The reporters arrive a few hours after the police. They swarm onto the street of the town like cockroaches, rushing around with their shining, shell-like cameras.
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I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from the publisher. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.
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The Blurb
She was driven by success.
Now, she’s driven by obsession.
After years of being viewed as plain and boring, university student Eleanor is thrilled when the beautiful Cheyenne notices her and starts showering her with attention.
Soon, the lines between friendship and love become blurred, at least for Eleanor.
Until she realises that Cheyenne’s love isn’t unconditional … Years later, Eleanor’s life has changed completely.
After moving to LA to pursue her dreams, she now lives mostly in isolation.
Her days are spent locked up in her hotel suite, dreaming up revenge fantasies.
As her past and present collide, Eleanor is forced to ask the question she dreads most: what happens when your darkest fantasies become reality?
My Review
This was a gripping read that kept me hooked throughout.
Eleanor has always been friendless, but when she arrives at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, she hopes she will make friends. However, it is not until she stumbles across Cheyenne, a student from LA in America who is glamorous and popular, that she begins to feel she has a friend. However, just as Eleanor revels in being accepted, Cheyenne shrugs her off like an old coat.
This rejection is central to the whole story and the author enables the reader to really get under the skin of her main character, and we are able to witness the obsession and her need for revenge.
In fact, even when Eleanor finds career success, she is totally consumed by her need for revenge. She is unable to shake off the rejection even when she finds acceptance elsewhere. The author has created a fascinating character who leaps off the page. She possesses a dark and narcissistic personality which completely pulled me into her story.
The narrative begins twelve and a half hours before a party. The timeline soon shifts to three years and eight months before the party. We then move back and forth across those time periods, but at no point did I find this confusing. The reader knows that something devastating will happen at the party, but it is only as we progress through the book that it becomes apparent.
This was a very atmospheric book which had a dark and pernicious undertone running throughout. It has twists and turns aplenty and a narrative that kept me hooked.
Although the main character was unlikable, I was gripped by how this story was going to play out. Usually, I like to identify with the main character of a book, and whilst this wasn't the case with Eleanor, I could empathise with her rejection and desire to be loved. Her inner rage oozed from the pages and culminated in an extremely well-written novel which will appeal to readers.
This was a fabulous novel and will appeal to those who enjoy a dark story with an unreliable narrator. I highly recommend it.
Book Details
ISBN: 978 1917415187
Publisher: Datura
Formats: e-book, audio and paperback
No. of Pages: 336 (paperback)
Purchase Links
About the Author
Callisto Lodwick was born in New Jersey, then lived for many years in Switzerland and San Francisco, finally settling in England. She is currently studying English Literature and Classics at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She has been a finalist in Building U’s $1000 for 1000 Words, Peninsula Library Systems’ YANovCon and the Layla Beben Writing Contest.
You can also find Callisto at:
(ARC and media courtesy of the publisher)
(all opinions are my own)
(Bookshop.org affiliated)
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