Read this book suspicious of everyone and everything because I knew something sinister was afoot. I do wish that I didn't read the synopsis first because it had me on high alert for suspicious activity (of which there was a lot of).

What did I think of this book?

Very much "Get Out" social commentary horror.

Very much "you in danger, girl" but the question is who is the girl that is truly in danger.

Very much important message laced with a dark and sinister themes

I loved the perspective of this book, it’s honestly what made it most interesting and nerve-wracking. Farrah’s perspective is controlled and dark, it’s full of angst and anger, and even though we know from the start that something is wrong with her, I still found myself rooting for her since she was the one telling me the story. I loved everything this novel touched upon; from family dynamics to the different experiences people have based on their skin color and their status. I think this was a great read and a heart pounding journey.

the writing is okay but the story is ludicrous. the characters act in such a juvenile and spoiled way as to be completely unbelievable.

Bethany C. Morrow’s recent foray into adult fiction is a smashing success. Her new book, Cherish Farrah, follows two 17-year old Black girls growing up in a privileged white-girl world. The only two Black girls at their private school, Cherish and Farrah naturally gravitate toward one another. As the girls grow closer, so do their families.
When a financial downturn befalls the Turners, The Whitman’s offer to help. With the girls almost like sisters, it seems natural to the Whitman’s to offer to allow Farrah to live with them while the Turners look for new employment and a new home.
Farrah is quite mad at her parents for messing up her life. She is happy with the Whitman’s and tries to guilt her parents into leaving her with them, perhaps permanently. Although knowing how manipulative Farrah can be, Mrs. Turner decides having the two girls together would be the best solution at this time. At first everything seems to be going Farrah’s way until events begin to happen that make Farrah realize she is not the one in control her destiny.
This book has cross-over appeal so I think teens would like this book as well as adults. Although the two girls here are privileged, the book also touches on race, class, and poverty. Cherish Farrah is a smart work of fiction and the surprise ending will shock most readers.

Robyn Heil, Buyer for Brodart Co.

I couldn't get through the second chapter. The author's writing style is hard for me to follow, making the character's train of thought and the chain of events really hard to concentrate on. It almost feels like stream of consciousness to me, separated into sentences. I couldn't get into the story because it felt like too much work to follow.

Well written and quietly terrifying. Also some truly gross moments. This book was too creepy for me to love. Best for teens who like very dark books.

Cherish Farrah is pretty dark and delivers on the tension. But the synopsis had me thinking I'd be reading a story with a different feel from what I actually experienced. I don't even mind how slow it was like so many others seem to. What I got from it overall is 'meh' and 'messy'. It's more like a 2.5 star rating for me. I did like it but...

I will say the story is unique and could've been great. But being in Farrah's head became so tedious and frustrating. I don't know if another point of view would've helped. Maybe if Farrah had a little more going on in the personality department. I get that she has issues, that is very clear. But she sees everyone's words and facial expressions as moves in a game everyone is playing with her and changes her opinions accordingly and that got old fast.

I'm left with lots of questions, wondering if most of what happened was even necessary to the plot. Also, no one acts in a realistic way. Suspend disbelief and maybe it would be really good? Maybe I'm just not the right person for this story. I do appreciate what Cherish Farrah is trying to say, just not how the story was executed overall.

Thank you Dutton Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC.

WHEW what a ride. This book is a slow burn, but worth every moment. This is my first Social Horror and it won’t be my last. The friendship between Farrah and Cherish is one you can’t seem to look away from or figure out completely. The conversations about race in this story are ones I will be unpacking for a long time.

I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately, I don't think Bethany Morrow's writing style works for me. I find her sentences tend to wander around and circle back and I have to keep rereading them to understand what she is trying to say. I also thought this one was a bit too heavy handed with its portrayal of Farrah as calculating. I would've rather her calculated-ness be shown through her actions, and not have her continually tell the reader again and again that she is calculating without evidence. The synopsis claimed that Farrah manipulates her way into Cherish's house; I did not think there was any manipulation involved and it seemed like the situation was a product of Farrah's family's circumstance. Overall, I was just not convinced by Farrah as a character and found her character development lacking.

This has been pitched as “Get Out” meets My Sister the Serial killer and I think it is fairly accurate as far as the central themes.

Like the sisters in My Sister the Serial Killer, Cherish and Farrah have a very unique, complicated, almost unhealthy relationship with each other. Cherish is one of two black girls in her wealthy community. She was adopted by a white family. She has everything her best friend Farrah wants. Farrah’s family home is foreclosed on. As her parents work to get back the luxurious life they had, Farrah is invited to stay at Cherish’s house.

Almost immediately you can see the unique, co-dependent relationship between the girls. As you progress through the book, it just gets weirder and weirder.

I liked this book. Although it wasn’t what I expected, I thought it was a unique story and I flew through it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc

Cherish and Farrah have been best friends since they first met at school as the only Black girls. Cherish was adopted and raised by her very rich, very white parents that doted on her every need. When Farrah’s parents lose their house to foreclosure, everyone agrees it’s best that Farrah moves in with Cherishs family for the time being. But what is the significance of one two three four five?

3.5 stars. Wow. This book was so fucked up. I’ll start by saying this is a slow slow slow burn. I started to get a bit frustrated when I reached 75% and still not a lot was happening. That said, the last quarter of the book I could not put down. The friendship between Farrah and Cherish was such an interesting dynamic especially when you added in all the parents relationships. I don’t want to say any more and give anything away. Overall I enjoyed this book.

Wow this book…..I’m kind of at a loss for how I feel about it. Social thrillers and social horror usually just leaves me feeling emotionally exhausted, drained, and generally feeling meh or sometimes worse. This book is creepy and I love creepy, but I’m not sure if this is good creepy. Something is definitely wrong with Farrah. That girl needs some serious psychological intervention. Reading the book in her chilling voice definitely made that clear to me. This is a well written book which is what I expect from this author. She’s great at making you feel what you’re reading. Though this book disturbed me, I couldn’t put it down and had to know what would happen next. But I’m still sad to say that this book was a disappointment for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Cherish Farrah
by Bethany C. Morrow
A Review by Jamilla @LandsAwayBooks on Wordpress.

I very much liked the idea of this, an adult social horror. I was excited at the prospect of a delicious, creeping tension and a grand unraveling. But I found that I really couldn’t get into this story, into these characters. Which is unfortunate because I think the point it’s trying to make is an necessary one.

And the exploration of privilege and class here was indeed fascinating! I think that this is the type of book that would be perfect for a book club group discussion, and I’m the future I will be giving it another try.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I enjoy reading social horror and can appreciate what this book was getting at, but I really struggled to get into it, and it took me forever to finish reading it. I kept waiting for something to happen - there was definitely a ton of tension building throughout, but the burn was tooooo slow, and the story felt disjointed, so when things finally did happen, they didn't make a whole lot of sense. This is the book for someone, but that someone was not me.

This was a little hard to get into at first but definitely worth the read! I loved the idea of social horror and I did not want this book to end!

“Being a spoiled white girl when you’re Black is literally my favorite thing ever. It confuses very literally everyone.”

Cherish Farrah is a delicious slow-burn thriller that is an absolutely brilliant portrayal of two friends, Cherish and Farrah, and the effects of classism – among other things! The atmosphere is THICK in this and I am talking sinister and insidious but just a tad to the north of what you can put your finger on. A niggling sense that something isn’t quite right with a captivating, complex plot that is just so f-ed up but in the most hideous and glorious way possible. Hard not to spoil this one so that’s it! Highly recommend this!

My thanks to Penguin Group Dutton and Netgalley for the gifted DRC.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Dutton, and Dutton in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at about 18%. I LOVED Morrow's YA novels so I was really looking forward to reading an adult fiction social horror, but at the point where I called it quits, nothing had really happened and it definitely wasn't reading like a mystery/thriller or a social horror. It was just a story about a toxic and uneven friendship. Between the story not being what the synopsis leads you to believe and the writing style (which is different from Morrow's other novels) I just could not get into CHERISH FARRAH and was not enjoying reading this.

There is a reader for every book, I'm just not the reader for this one.

I am a sucker for books that promise to hold me spellbound looking for clues. Books that make a reader stay up all night, if needed, to find out how things will end. Cherish Farrah promised to provide a “chilling, unforgettable voice and weaving in searing commentary on race and class, this slow-burn social horror will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page.”

Advertised as a slow-burn, I hung in there expecting the evil twists to pull me into an all-nighter. Instead, I found myself easily distracted and having to reread sections to stay on track. Staying inside Farrah’s head began to drive me crazy. Bored actually.

After reading fifty percent of the book, I really wanted to put the book down as a DNF. I hung in there, hoping to connect, hoping to begin to see a twist coming, praying that something would cause that “what the devil” moment.

The second half of the book was better but still not addictive. I did feel there was a strange tension building in all the characters that was leading somewhere – evil. Cherish’s parents began to feel and act creepy. Farrah’s parents began to make appearances that came and went like pop up pictures. But, in the end, it just didn’t feel like a WOW. I sure didn’t see THAT coming. And I found myself asking, “Are you going to leave it here?”

In fairness, there was a decent discussion about racial inequality and the struggles that black families face when trying to integrate into all-white social settings. The discussion about the masks we wear to protect our inner thoughts and feelings was worthy of reflection. There were no ramifications for injustices by anyone in the two families; perhaps that was the point. Life ain’t fair. Breeching social classes is nigh unto impossible. Turning a blind eye doesn’t solve a problem.

In the end, I did finish the book, and there were moments in the second half where I found myself “into the story”. Not a bad book, just not a knock-out thriller. I give it 3 stars for trying something different and off-beat.
I thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and to offer my honest review and opinion.

I'm not sure exactly what my expectations were regarding Cherish Farrah since its described as "social horror" . The book starts off pretty slow - maybe to the 50% mark but be patient as there is a lot of character building in those chapters even though not a lot is happening yet. Farrah was a bit of a tough character to like - She seems like such a brat that wants everything her way and everything to revolve around her - From time to time I actually thought - "Girl you have a lot to learn". The story takes a dark turn and I'm actually still here thinking about it. It is very well written and I am thankful to netgalley and the publisher for chance to read an advanced copy. I'm looking forward to hopefully reading discussions about the book in the future. Its always interesting to see what others take away from the story that I may have missed. Loved the book - I look forward to reading more from Bethany Morrow. .

3.5

The story is about best friends Farrah and Cherish. They are the only black girls in their exclusive country club community. Cherish was adopted by white parents, Brianne and Jerry. She is what Farrah refers to as "white girl spoiled." Farrah spends extended amounts of time at Cherish's house, especially since her mom lost her job and their house. Farrah has a cold and calculated way of viewing the world, placing the need to be in control of all situations as her top priority. Things start getting strange at the Whitman house however and she is left to wonder who is really in control.

I would classify this as a thriller/social horror, but want to warn that it does have a slow first half. I think plausibility is a bit of a shallow criticism, and this plot is more on the unrealistic side. BUT I think if you suspend your disbelief the metaphor there is very interesting, and I would like to dig into it more. I also very much enjoyed reading from Farrah's perspective, she had a very hypnotic way of telling the story.