Ever since Margot was born, it’s been just her and her mother. No answers to Margot’s questions about what came before. No history to hold on to. No relative to speak of. Just the two of them, stuck in their run-down apartment, struggling to get along. But that’s not enough for Margot. She wants family. She wants a past. And she just found the key she needs to get it: A photograph, pointing her to a town called Phalene. Pointing her home. Only, when Margot gets there, it’s not what she bargained for.
I can’t say I was immediately drawn into this book because that was not the case. Margot’s living conditions at the start and her relationship with her mother didn’t really impress on me a need to continue on. The mystery surrounding her family in my opinion didn’t warrant Margot’s actions and running away after speaking to her grandmother for two minutes wasn’t really good enough for me. I did stick it out though and once we get to Phalene things definitely pick up.
Margot’s perspective is a little erratic. Her thoughts spiral a lot and every time she is given new information she doesn’t really let things sink in she just jumps to conclusions that are never correct, because at every turn in this book there was something unexpected popping up. Being on the cusp of knowledge that people are withholding is very frustrating and I could sympathise with Margot on that. It seemed that every person she met knew something about her family that she didn’t but no one would tell her anything, I would probably react in the same way if I was in that situation.
I really liked Tess and Eli, I could see why Tess was integral to the book but Eli’s presence wasn’t really necessary and he didn’t really add anything to the plotline. I wish we could of spent more time with both of them and seen from their perspective what it would of been like living in Phalene under the shadow of Fairfield.
I honestly didn’t predict anything that happened. The plot veered in a very different direction than what I was expecting and those factors definitely brought up my reading experience. I was just starting to get a little bored and then things started to get weird and we started to get answers and I was just left reeling. The premise was highly original and unlike anything I’ve ever read before and the shock factor ending alone was enough to leave me satisfied.
⭐️3/5 stars shocking, twisted, strange!
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