With thanks to Verve books, I am thrilled to be on the tour for this read.
Gazing at the plot: IT'S A FINE LINE BETWEEN ADMIRATION AND ENVY.
Diana Martin has lived her life in the shadow of her sadistic older brother. She quietly watches the family next door, enthralled by celebrity fashion designer Marianne Taylor and her feted daughter, Aurelle.
She wishes she were a 'Taylor girl'.
By the summer of 1995, the two girls are at university together, bonded by a mutual desire to escape their wealthy families and personal tragedies and forge new identities.
They are closer than lovers, intoxicated by their own bond, falling into the hedonistic seduction of the woods and the water at a remote university that is more summer camp than campus.
But when burgeoning artist Diana has a chance at fame, cracks start to appear in their friendship. To what lengths is Diana willing to go to secure her own stardom?
Bobs and Books honest review:
This started so soft and gentle, with two girls supporting each other at a real time of need. The way in which the relationship develops is both surprising and twisty. The book is so intense and I was eagerly waiting for the climax in anticipation.
The characters are very in depth and complex in their own way which makes you feel a volume of different emotions towards the, as the book progresses.
This did have a bit of time hopping that took some getting used to, but soon enough the structure flowed.
This is totally gripping, you won't want to keep your eyes away from the next page. This is a truly chew you up and spit you out kind of read!
Startling.
Out now.