There are no greater cruelties than the ones married people inflict upon one another.

I’ve never read Michelle Sacks before and I requested this book on NetGalley after instinctively getting effected by the cover. Looked intriguing. I am glad I read this book!

This review contains mild spoilers. I’ve read the book without knowing anything so I would recommend to do so.

First of all I must confess this: I read this book in one sitting. The writing is really good. The story captured my attention from the first page, I found myself dazzled switching between the viewpoints of Sam and Merry, a couple with a young baby, recently relocated to an area outside Stockholm. They left bustling city of New York and in this new settlement, the nearest public transport is 50 minutes walk away, they are in the wild, there aren’t even any neighbours next door. Big change! But not without reasons…

In the beginning their life seems perfect, then you begin to realise the creases, the smudges in their smooth shiny surface… Merry isn’t who she seems, so as Sam. Merry acts as if she is living the dream whilst struggling with being home alone the baby, in nothingness of a forestland, after the busy life in New York. The reader instantly recognise that as a new mother Merry is going through a severe case of postnatal depression.

In the hospital right after he was born, the nurses wanted me to hold him, to bond him with me, flesh against flesh. Latching. Suckling. Feeding. Everything primal and exposed. You are an animal like you’ve always been.

Cow, sow, bitch; bloody and ruined.

Merry and Sam’s relationship absorbed me and I absolutely loved the book until Frank was poured into the story. I don”t want to reveal too much about the plot, maybe I have read two many `obsessed female friendships gone wrong` type of thrillers this year- after Tangerine and Social Creature- but somewhere along the last third of the book I started to feel like we were being busy with too much “whodunnit”. I wish it was kept more psychological, more tense rather than getting the attention from person to person to see what happened.   I wasn’t a fan of the ending either- but still I very much enjoyed this book.

Considering the amount of thrillers that’s been pushed onto the market, this is the first book in this genre this year that I haven’t dropped until I finish and read in one night. I will definitely read from the same author again, her style of writing is brilliant.
One warning, this book might contain a few upsetting scenes.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.