4 stars

The whole time I'm reading this book: shuddering. I finish this book: shudder. I think back to the book: shudder forever.

This is my third Bethany C. Morrow joint, and I was excited to see what might happen in a contemporary adult novel, as my last two reads have been YA (and quite inventive/enjoyable installments at that). This debut (for the genre) did not disappoint.

Cherish and Farrah become friends when they are quite young, and the way in which their relationship is cemented during this early stage is indicative of the bizarre characteristics that their relationship still reveals in their almost adult lives. Like the title suggests, these two are inseparable, but it's clear from the start that there is no kind of health in their bond. The structure and point of view reveal a critical note: Farrah's dominance. Even when Farrah is piecing together events, not having the upper hand, or seeming pretty villainous herself, her perspective remains riveting. Morrow digs readers so far into Farrah's warped mind that at times, I found myself wondering how warped I was, too. To me, that's a pretty solid sign of a great thriller (or, perhaps more aptly in this case, social horror).

For me, there were some difficult moments of body horror and material surrounding bodily fluids, so readers who are especially sensitive to some of this should be mindful that you may join me in taking some gross out memories with you for the long haul. But these moments are thematically required for the greatest impact.

This is the kind of book that is supposed to disturb readers and make us think, and for me, Morrow achieved both of these goals. Like all of Morrow's books, I found the social commentary here to be especially astute. I expect that this element - and some other unforgettable moments that I'll let readers discover for themselves - will stick with me for a long time.

This content won't be for everyone, but it was really for this someone. Recommended if you think you might be that someone, too!

Unfortunately this wasn’t quite my cup of tea, or what I was expecting, but I have still rated the book as 3 stars as this may be down to personal taste rather than the quality of the work. Having said this, as a few of the other reviews have mentioned, I did expect a bit more from the blurb for this novel…I felt the protagonist (Farrah) was building up to something that was never quite reached, and I found her narrative quite difficult to relate to.

I’m still honoured I was able to review this ARC, though, so thank you very much to NetGalley and Penguin Dutton for the privilege!

This was such a good book, it was gothically dark and so intensely creepy with a slow burning narrative that only helps to build up this gothic atmosphere. It is this slow burning narrative with the storyline that hooked me in and kept me gripped all the way through. It is a strange storyline with a narrative that at times feels under developed which makes for strange reading but this is a technique that just makes this book better, I really enjoyed it.

It has been a very long time since I've had the joy of reading such a well-written horror story.

Cherish Farrah was so wild, and so masterfully done I struggled to put it down. Every time I thought I knew what was going on, another twist would make it clear that I was along for the ride. And what a ride! Now that I've finished, I'm reading it again so I can watch the story piece by piece knowing how it ends.

Bethany C. Morrow is such a talented author, but what I love most about her story-telling style is how she gives you bits and pieces throughout. Like setting up dominoes. But in the end when she flicks the last one, they tumble to the ground and reveal a picture you never expected.

The story starts out slow burn with lots of delicious moments that are both creepy and mesmerizing. I never knew who I could trust, and the narrative voice is "chef's kiss*.

When the pieces start sliding into place, it's a breathless ride to an ending that absolutely blew me away. I wasn't prepared for how much I needed it to end exactly how it did, leaving me with the most delightful book hangover.

Cherish Farrah has solidified Bethany C. Morrow's place on my auto buy list.

This book is a slow burner, very dark, and extremely tense! In the local Country Club, there are only two black girl members, Farrah and Cherish, best friends of course. Cherish was adopted by the Whitmans and lives the life of luxury, and when Farrah’s family faces financial difficulties, she is sent to live with the Whitmans. This is where the story takes off. You won’t be able to put it down! Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for my arc of Cherish Farrah.

I was really excited to read this but it was just so slow and boring in the beginning with a lot of internal monologue from Farrah. Then there's this implausible ending and I wanted a lot more information on the whole premise but it was still pretty vague.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

While this book has a very slow start with an inaccessible narrator, it was unsettling enough to keep me reading so that I could learn where it was going. Because even when the seemingly biggest clue is handed out on a silver platter it seems like their should still be more.
There’s just so much about the story that I ultimately don’t understand- is Farrah a sociopath or psychopath? Is she delusional? What is the point of the struggle of her relationship with her mother? What makes the “whipping boy” idea appealing to the Whitmans? Why would they even need to consider it? Why would Cherish chose Farrah over her mother? How can these two girls as they’re presented in the book ever become adults? I can’t picture how their lives unfold after the end of the book or why I should care.
Maybe it’s more allegorical than literal and I’m just missing the point but this was odd and disappointing.

This was one strange story! But it fascinated me and I read it through to the end. It did start very slowly, but worth it to keep going. Cherish and Farrah, best friends, are the only two black girls in their community. Cherish is the adopted daughter of twp white well off parents. Farrah is the daughter of two black parents who are going through a rough time financially. Farrah refers to Cherish as WGS, white girl spoiled. Cherish has everything she wants and everything Farrah would want but Cheriesh does not have to work for anything, it is simply handed to her. I won’t say anymore because I do not know how to even begin to describe the story in between. The ending was jaw dropping!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Based on the synopsis and reviews I read, I was expecting a thrilling and horrifying story. It was advertised as a “social horror”, but it didn’t deliver on that. It was a slow burn, a story about friendship, almost a “coming of age” story about a girl, who is going through some teen life changes. When her parents foreclose their home, Farrah chooses to live with her friend and her family, growing distant from her own parents, in some type of retaliation.

This story is a slow burn, focusing on the friendship. I waited for the surprise twist, the horror aspect that didn’t come. The toxic friendship was center stage. If you’re looking for a story about an unsettling friendship amongst teenagers, this may be for you. If you’re expecting a “social horror”, it may not be what you’d expect.

The premise of this book was so interesting that I had to try it. Unfortunately, after half way through the book, I could not get into it. It began to fall real flat and basically could not keep me interested. I had a hard time at the beginning also trying to figure out who I was reading about. The verbage on which character I was interacting with I think is what deterred me from the whole storyline because I had no clue who was who.


Arc provided by publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Loved the characters but otherwise the book was way too slow of a burn. The big reveal was wildly far fetched to the point of ridiculousness. Yet I still enjoyed it, and would read the author’s next book.

I honestly don’t even know what to say about this book, I was confused and couldn’t follow what was happening but I kept reading as I just wanted so much to I understand. I can’t say I liked this book but I didn’t hate it.

Thank you to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

All I have to say is wow! I have read a few of Bethany C. Morrow's books before, but I was not expecting this book at all. Cherish Farrah is an electrifying slow-burn thriller that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The plot revolves around best friends Farrah and Cherish, who are the only two Black girls in their community. Cherish was adopted by white parents, and Farrah called her White Girl Spoiled, meaning that because of her parents, she's ignorant about many of the things that Black girls face. Meanwhile, Farrah lives in a dysfunctional family where look or comment has to be psycho-analyzed. When the opportunity arises, Farrah jumps at the chance to live with Cherish. But is it the right decision?

Here is a gripping excerpt from Chapter 1:

"I’m sitting in a bedroom with the kind of vaulted ceiling I wanted in my own, in a house much larger and more extravagant than the one I can’t go back to, and the fact that I can’t enjoy it upsets me.
I feel fickle. Angsty. Defensive. Like an ordinary teenage girl, when all I’m ever doing is pretending to be one.
...
And something has to be done.
I cannot become accustomed to someone else being in control. Not just of what happens on the outside, but worse, of what’s happening on the inside of me.
I won’t allow it.
I would burn it all first."

Overall, Cherish Farrah is a chilling slow-burn thriller that kept my eyes glued to the page the entire time. I think it will become a classic in the genre and will become as popular as Get Out or Netflix's Blood & Water. Although this book starts off with typical teenage drama, it soon develops into much more. The author does what you would expect and comments on race, class, privilege, but all the while, I felt myself holding my breath while not knowing what was going to happen next. There were some seriously creepy moments in there, and although it starts off slow, this book is definitely a thriller. I feel like the author has found her niche, and I will read any other books she writes in this genre. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of thrillers in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in February!

A very solid addition to the domestic noir genre. A recommended first purchase for general fiction collections, particularly those where thrillers are popular.

I have mixed feelings about this one. The beginning gripped me right away and I loved the foreboding creepiness. The ending came together in a satisfying resolution. But the middle was very slow and didn’t progress the plot very much. I almost put it down about halfway through.

5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I would definitely be recommending this book to readers on my Instagram bookstagram account.

WOW I could not put this book down! Every time I thought I knew what was happening, my theories were dashed by another plot twist. The end was literally jaw dropping. This is the type of book that doesn’t end after the last page. Farrah’s voice and her relationships now live in my mind for the foreseeable future.

Cherish Farrah follows Farrah Turner who is seventeen and is one of the only black girls and has black parents. Farrah has a best friend called Cherish Whitman who is adopted by a white family and has money to get things that black parents can’t typically provide. She is white girl spoiled. Cherish is spoiled and there is a divide between Farrah and Cherish, lots of strange things happen at the Whitman household. It definitely has mystery and thriller elements. The writing of this novel was very good and I read the story in a day so it was compelling. I really liked the themes of this novel and would definitely recommend it.

Farrah and Cherish are both best friends. Cherish may also be black but her parents are a wealthy white family. Farrah refers to her as “white girl spoiled”. When Farrah’s family let’s her stay at Cherrish’s after a foreclosure, strange things start to happen.

This was a definite slow-burn, which isn’t usually my thing, but I kept turning the pages. The reader knows the whole time something isn’t quite right, but you’re not sure exactly what. You find out with a bang towards the end and it just gets wild from there. Please watch for spoilers with this one. You don’t want the experience ruined!

“Cherish was a spoiled white girl who also happened to be Black, and it meant that the consequence of coddling, the incompetence it breeds, was dangerous. It meant that there was a void inside her, but because she was a Black girl too, it meant that I could fill it.”

Cherish Farrah comes out 2/8.

Whoa! This book is darker than my soul who creates so many plot lines for horror scripts! Even darker than Logan Roy’s heart from Succession!

I have to warn you: this book starts tooooooo SLOW! If you are person like me saying “let’s cut to the chase” more than hundred times a day and brief conversations are the crucial thing in her life, you cannot stand the movies like Meet Joe Black which gives you more pain than root canal, this book won’t fit with your expectations at the beginning!

But my advice to you: please be patient! This is social thriller slowly makes you engage with the characters and the escalation of events, slow high tension building will definitely alert your full attention and the ending… well, it’s argumentatively jaw dropping, somewhat nonsense but it is still surprising!

The plot line was also creative: only two black girls in the country club community: Farrah and Cherish, best friends for so long with different kind of inner dynamics.

Even though Cherish denies she’s acting like spoiled white kid, adopted by Brianna and Jenny Whitman who see her as their raison d’ etre! And poor Farrah is sent to live with them because of financial struggle of her family. Well, her inner turmoil and bottled up rage, gathering her CONTROL, saving face issues are detailedly mentioned at the beginning which gave me a few yawns. Thankfully when things get more crazier, I started to understand the motives of Farrah more. Look at Cherish living in oblivion, never has to work for a day to gain things she has!

It is too tough to express my feelings about this book without giving away too much!

As a summary: this is complex plot questions race, class differences, friendship, lies, secrets.

I especially enjoyed the further chapters where things are going darker!

Overall: bleak, shocking, jaw dropping, definitely blood freezing! Just be patient, after s getting through the slow start, you’ll be drawn into the main plot and you won’t want to leave it!

Special thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP DUTTON for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.