Cherish Farrah is a twisted psychological thriller type book. It's the first novel I've read that is classified as "social horror". I think I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I picked up this book.

Cherish and Farrah are best friends. Farrah considers Cherish to be WGS (white girl spoiled) even though she is a black girl who was adopted by an affluent white couple, the Whitmans, who dote on her. Farrah is the only daughter of a black couple who has recently run into financial troubles and the Whitmans have graciously offered to keep Farrah at their home while her family gets back on their feet. And then the trouble starts. Or so the reader assumes... there is something sinister about the Whitmans and something seriously twisted about Cherish and Farrah's relationship.

This is a slow burn type of book and sometimes I have the patience for it if the end of the book redeems itself. Seeing as this is not typically a genre I usually read, this book just wasn't for me. The social commentary on racism and white privilege seemed to be buried under the implausible plot line and unlikeable characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this advance e-copy of the novel. This review can also be found on Goodreads and on IG @maria.needs.to.read

Thank you to NetGalley for an eArc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Cherish and Farrah are the only Black girls at their private academy. Farrah's parents are Black, while Cherish's parents are white. And Farrah describes Cherish as WGS, White Girl Spoiled. After Farrah's mom loses her job and their house gets foreclosed on, Cherish's parents, the Whitmans, take her in and allow her to live with them.

This book was a mindfuck. It's obvious in the beginning that Farrah is very manipulative and isn't afraid to do things to get her way. I just wasn't sure what the endgame was. There were a lot of things happening between the characters that were ominous. Towards the end it was more apparent and explained what was going on. If GR had partial stars, I'd rate this as a 3.5. I'm also not necessarily the target audience for this book, which I try to consider when I'm rating YA.

Farrah absolutely has a lot of inner demons that she is facing and throughout the book you, as the reader, are actually trying to determine who may be manipulating whom. I didn't particularly enjoy this story, but as a white adult, I understand their may have been nuances as well as character experiences that would not apply to me. I gave it 4 (3.5) stars because I know I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.

This book is unlike anything I've ever read, and it gave me a lot of feelings. Every few pages, I would stop and say to myself "I am so confused/outraged/freaked out/all of the above! This is unbearable!" and then I would dive right back in. Cherish Farrah couldn't be more different from So Many Beginnings, my only previous experience with Morrow's work, but wow, they are both masterful. I will be thinking and talking about this book for a long time (assuming I can figure out how to do so without spoilers).

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

intelligent. sassy. smart and sexy. i loved the main character in this one. so great and a book that will pull ou out of a reading slump. it did that or me.

DNF at 16%.
Writing style is one of the most important parts of a book for me. A good one will be able to carry me throughout a poorly thought out plot, and maybe even get me to like boring characters. The premise of Cherish Farrah was what interested me the most, yet I find myself unable to power through it because the writing style is so odd.
Every motion seems mechanical, every new information chewed up and fed directly into the reader's mouth, yet it also seems unpolished in a way that it often reads as confusing, as if we are missing vital content that isn't shown. Repetition is a thing I can't stand in books, and this one's full of it. The main character and narrator, Farrah, only wants one thing: control. And Morrow will not let us forget it.
To be fair, part of the emotional detachment of the writing style is certainly due to Farrah's own detachment of the people around her, but that doesn't make it any better. Editors should've been harsher.

Cherish Farrah by Bethany C Morrow is an enthralling social horror aimed at the New Adult market.
Farrah and Cherish are seventeen year old best friends, the only young Black women in their community, as close as sisters since childhood. At first glance they seem very similar but in fact their lives are quite different, and are about to diverge even more. Cherish was adopted as an infant by her white parents, who have devoted their lives to giving her everything she has ever wanted or even thought about wanting, leaving her what Farrah calls White Girl Spoiled. Farrah's upper class Black parents have never coddled her to that extent, and now they have lost almost everything. Farrah is determined to manipulate her way into Cherish's family, no matter what it takes because Cherish may be the only person in the world she truly cares about, and she is not going to lose her. At first it seems like her plan is working to perfection but the longer she stays with her new "family" the more strange and unusual things she starts to notice, until her whole world starts to unravel.
This book had me completely gripped, at first I was entranced by the character of Farrah , her motivation and the machinations and manipulations she set into motion. Then as the story unfolded I was hooked as I tried to figure out what was really going on, and I have to say I found the pay off to be totally worth the wait.
This is a book that left me thinking long after I turned the last page and is easily one of the best I've read this year.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

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!

Damn. This book was amazing from page one until the final page. Narrator Farrah's voice was unique and fascinating (and sometimes incredibly disturbing), and it fully sucked me into this claustrophobic, cloistered world of (newly) self-aware privilege. The overall commentary on race, the insidiousness of white privilege and violence, and Black girlhood was great, and adeptly blended with an A+ thriller plot (that is very much a slow build, so be aware of that for sure). The characterization is truly fascinating and unique, and while both Cherish and Farrah are cosseted in certain ways, their portrayal still seemed 'realistic' in the context of this heightened world. And that ending!! I adored it, and it was super unapologetic and really added to the overall commentary. This book is NOT for the faint-hearted, or the earnest soul who can't deal with some dark, perverse teen girl relationships. While stylistically it might go down super easy, thematically it's sharp , it's jagged, it's angry, and it's SO GOOD.

I seriously enjoyed this book! The premise of this story was unique and well plotted. I would highly recommend to my fellow psychological thriller lovers.
Check this one out everyone!! Looking forward to.more from this author.

I really enjoyed this one. It’s a psychologically twisty story about two best friends who have an unhealthily close friendship, and you don’t really know which one is the villain of the story, or if they both are. A great choice if you want to be surprised.

Four words: slow burn mind f*ck

I can't think of anything else to say that doesn't give it all away. The intrigue is the draw. Even as an adult, I could see things coming but I couldn't quite grasp the shape of it all. The slow burn will entrance some teen readers and turn off others, but the ones who stick with it will obsess.

This was a great book! I have to admit that when I first got approved, I read a few reviews and was wary but I ended up really, really liking this! I won't say too much because I know that going into a thriller/socially based book knowing less is always a bit better. I think that the theme of control present throughout the novel was rendered so incredibly well and was visceral--I could really feel the tension and internal conflict. I also thought that the examination of the intersection between race and class was well done, and relevant. Most of the characters were grating, on purpose I am assuming, but were so compelling that I couldn't stop reading. This is my first work my Bethany C Morrow and I will definitely be checking out her other work! 10/10 would recommend! Thank you so much to Netgalley and Dutton for the opportunity to read and review this work!

This was just a strange, strange book. I felt that the main characters acted much younger than their actual ages and were very immature, which made the book not enjoyable. The codependency was over the top and unnecessary. Overall, it just felt very unrealistic (which is probably a good thing) but not in a good way.

Cherish Farrah started off a bit slow, then all of a sudden took off like a rocket. A little different than what I usually read but it was so dang good! Great writing and such compelling and likeable characters! What an ending to boot! Definitely one to recommend!

Cherish Farrah is a bone-chilling social horror novel that kept me reading into the night. The comparisons to Get Out and My Sister, the Serial Killer, are entirely apt.

Farrah Turner is obsessed with control. She analyzes every word and action directed at her. Farrah calculates her every action to keep everyone under her thumb. Farrah lets her mask down for no one, including her best friend, Cherish Whitman, whom she loves as much as she hates.

When her parents fall into financial trouble, they decide it’s best that Farrah stay with the wealthy and white Whitman family. The Whitmans adopted Cherish when she was a baby. Farrah often calls Cherish White Girl Spoiled because her parents humour her to no end.

Being thrust into this position without consultation, Farrah feels the need to reassert her coveted control over the situation. She decides it would be better to become part of the Whitman household than join her family on their new trajectory. It’s not long before things start getting weird and terrifying, and Farrah has to wonder who is actually in control.

Note: I’d recommend not reading the book’s synopsis because it reveals most of what transpires.

This book examines the inequalities and intersectionality of race and class.

The first half is pretty slow and is very introspective. Farrah’s head is a dark and joyless place to be.

While most of the characters were unlikeable, they all had enough depth to make them thoroughly compelling. The way the author was able to up the threatening atmosphere while simultaneously keeping some characters oblivious to it was just excellent.

This book is not for the faint of heart. Everything gets wild and grisly around the midpoint, and the tension does not let up.

I look forward to reading more from the author. I see there is a nice backlist to explore.

Thank you to Dutton for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

We follow the friendship between 16-year-old Cherish and 17-year-old Farrah when Farrah's family is going through some difficult times and she has to stay with spoiled, happy-go-lucky Cherrish. Farrah yearns for control of her life and everyone around her but lately some strange things are starting to happen.

This book... I really get the comparison between it and Get Out, but whereas the movie even though had a "supernatural" concept, the world and the characters were still grounded on reality, having real emotions and reactions, this book does not.

First, Farrah didn't read as a 17-year-old, mainly because of the stilted way the author decided to write her inner monologue and we spend a lot of time in her head. It's extremely difficult to care about a character that keeps the reader at a distance. Her reactions to everything that is going on are extremely unbelievable and the assumptions she makes about all the adults around her are grounded on nothing. I couldn't understand why she had the kind of relationship she had with her parents and why she would latch on so fiercely to Cherrish's parents. Cherrish is simply forgetable, she is more a prop than an actual character. She needs to exist for the plot to move along, but she is nothing more than a plot point. And by the end, what she does is extremely unbelievable and unfounded. I hated the ending because it is just not believable enough especially for her character to do what she did.

For the actual plot, once again how everything is set up doesn't make sense. The whole motivation for the plot twist is simply not there, when the explanation comes it's completely bonkers because it's not followed through. It's just happening because it's happening but the author did try to explain it, but it doesn't make sense.

My problem with the book it's not that concept is absurd or far fetched, it's that how every single character acts and reacts is too unbelievable and unrealistic, preventing the story to make sense. And also I didn't like the writing, it's too stilted and it didn't flow.

Thank you Netgalley, author, and publisher for the ARC.

Farrah's best friend is Cherish, who she loves even when she hates her. Throughout their friendship, Farrah has become deeply entwined within Cherish's family to the point she starts considering them her own. Most of Farrah's life is about control, she's always reading people and understands their intentions and the meanings behind every sideways glance or stiffened shoulder. She is Cherish's and Cherish is hers. When she begins a longer stay at Cherish's home with her parents, the control Farrah thinks she has over them all begins to unwind, and leaves reader's questioning who is really in control?

Cherish Farrah a social horror, containing themes of racism, economic differences, and social injustice. Morrow's writing is beautiful, she has created a strong voice for her main character which goes beyond her words and actions, but into the deepest depths of her psychology. Farrah is a complicated character, one I'm still not sure I fully understand. There are so many layers to this book, it can feel dense at times as you sift through the social constructs to try to discover what is going on.

This is a book which is very different than what I usually read. I can't say I enjoyed this book, I think it is well written but it was not my thing. It is suited for readers who enjoy slow burning, psychological mind games and reading between the lines. I will say, once you start it you will feel obligated to finish it up to the completely shocking conclusion. It's a story you have to know what happens because it leads you with a trail of bread crumbs. If you are in the mood for getting the rug pulled out from under you, pick up this book.

I'm going to start this by saying...I...Was...Not...Ready! From beginning to end, this book was a mindfuck. I bit my nails from beginning to end, nodded at the points where Bethany was preaching, got angry when some tone-deaf or demeaning things were said and yelled at my amazon fire quite a few times in the last 25% of this book. It was so intense but I didn't want to put it down nor did attempt to skip moments that I normally would have in horror movies! This book was so much but worth every moment spent reading it! Bethany C. Morrow DID.THAT with this book!

I did not like this book at all and felt Farrah was mistreated the entire book. Although I felt some connection and empathy with Farrah, I did not like the overall characterization throughout this book. I liked the idea of this story but it moved too slowly and had too much of an inner dialogue. I really wanted to like this book and was actually rooting for Farrah to feel more comfortable in her own skin, but her story was not executed well.

Cannot recommend this. Did not like it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Bethany C Morrow, and Penguin Group Dutton for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 2/8/22

I'm a huge fan of Bethany Morrow and the way that her books are all so different from each other. This is her adult debut and it's absolutely riveting.

This book is a slow burn but it's still so incredibly tense. I spent most of the book unsure of what exactly was going on and who, if anyone, could be trusted and when the reveal happened, I was absolutely stunned.

This is a must-read. Highly recommended.