I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cherish and Farrah are best friends. Farrah discovers that she was chosen by Cherish's parents for a particular reason, and the friendship between the girls is threatened.

The ending is explosive.

This has been one of my favorite reads this year so far. My first time reading a Bethany C. Morrow book and I have to say that I am eager to read a lot more from this author. I have heard this described as a social horror book, and it is being compared to the movie "Get Out." That description piqued my interest right away.

Bethany C. Morrow writes in a very lyrical yet mysterious way that will leave you hooked from the very first page. In this book, the author explores the intricate friendship dynamic of two black teenage girls; Cherish and Farrah. Cherish has been adopted by wealthy white parents that dote on her, while Farrah struggles to keep up appearances with classmates at the private school both girls attend. When Farrah's parents hit a financial bump, Farrah starts spending more time at Cherish's place, and the lines of the tight knit friendship get even more blurry. Farrah strives for control above all, and she enjoys asserting this control over her gullible best friend. But as Farrah spends more time with the Whitman's and becomes more ingrained in the family dynamic, she realizes she might not have any control in this situation at all. Maybe all this time it's been Cherish and the Whitman's who have been pulling the strings.

My favorite books revolve around unhinged female friendships and let me tell you, that's exactly what this book is. Add in a dash of social horror and commentary, and I know it's only February, but this is a strong contender for my favorite book of the year.

Lots of books have been pitched as a comp title to Get Out, and this is the only one that I think really hits that mark. To me it was like Get Out meets Jennifer's Body and it is pure perfection.

This novel is a slow build with an explosive conclusion. The author truly takes their time, sharing every single thought of our mai character which can at times feel exhausting. However it leads the reader to question so much, even given the level of detail we have. The novel brings up many questions of race and class and has you guessing until the very end. Well written,

This buzzy book has been categorized in a newish-to-me genre of social horror, which I found really appealing and interesting! The comparison to Get Out is an apt one - it is a slow-burn creeping feeling that keeps you unsettled and off-balance until you realize what the heck is going on!

This is my first Bethany C. Morrow book, but it won't be my last. I'm not sure what I expected, but what I got was so much more than I thought I would get.
Scary and believable!

This excellently-crafted book is claustrophobic and terrifying. From the beginning of the story as Farrah finds out her family home is being foreclosed on, we are trapped in Farrah's intense inner monologue that centers around staying in control and "wearing a mask" to appear unfazed, something that has been instilled in her as a young Black woman. Farrah feels she has won the battle when her parents agree to let her stay with her best friend Cherish, who lives a sheltered and privileged existence with her doting white parents. Things seem great at first, but bad things start happening to Farrah, driving a wedge between her and Cherish, and blurring the lines of control.
There is a lot packed into Cherish Farrah, but the author's tight writing style keeps it from flying into total chaos, just.

This book is complex on so many levels. So dark, so strange, yet so compelling. Having been a fan of this author's YA works, this adult fiction was quite a ride!

I found the narrator to be really off-putting, making it hard for me to really want to keep reading. Her tone was at once privileged and kind of bratty, but also wanting of pity? The story of this teenage semi-friendship just didn't draw me in. DNF around 10%.

I started this book then I got sick and the main character was just messing with my head so much so I put it down lol. I'm glad I went back and finished it though.

It was not what I was expecting, it was so trippy. This had some strange occurrences happening in the Whitman's house. Though Farrah whose the only one narrating the story is in control, she's is Cherish's best friend and she is the best thing for her. Or that's what she leads us to believe.

Everything Farrah thinks is happening might be happening but there is something else going on.

This is somewhat of a retelling but I can't tell you of what without giving it away. Wow it was intense!

Thank you penguinrandomhouse and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Wow, what a dark, shocking, complex story this was! The story is a slow-burn, but definitely worth the wild journey it takes you on. Farrah has an obsession with being in control. When things start getting weird while living with her best friend’s white adoptive parents, Farrah needs to make sure she has the control.

The characters were unlikable, flawed, and well-developed. Bethany C. Morrow beautifully crafted a jaw-dropping social horror that left me on the edge of my seat.

There are very few books that fit their comps so well as Cherish Farrah.

This book gave me the emotional upheaval of Get Out (as promised) and the intensely dark inner monologue that was My Sister the Serial Killer. If I could erase my brain and meet Cherish and Farrah all over again I would gladly do so.

In two words this book provides: emotional damage.

Everyone, pick this up. That's all.

One.Two.Three.Four.Five.

THIS BOOK. Ok, I stayed up later than intended last night to finish this.... which was a surprise to me since I struggled a bit through the first half. Even *almost* DNF'd it because it's so character driven and I was a bit tired of being in Farrah's head. BUT then it started to get REALLY interesting and I'm so very happy I stuck with it.

I would definitely recommend going into this without reading the synopsis as I feel it gives away a bit too much. And I only know this because I went back to read it to see if I was missing something from this read. I absolutely love what Morrow did with this story. Racism, classism and CONTROL. I honestly couldn't figure out why this was labeled horror but then I GOT IT. All the subtle clues .. brilliant! I kind of had an idea that what I thought wasn't what it was and then got a glimmer of what I thought it could be but was definitely surprised by exactly WHY it was the way it was and this made this book for me 100%.

Farrah is manipulative and in need of control at all time. Constantly overthinking and pays attention to every single little detail. (Not gonna lie, I do this a lot too and it's NOT good for the brain!) Cherish is no better.. but she can't really even help herself. Adopted by White parents and "White girl spoiled" (as Farrah calls her), she's protected from all the things she probably should be learning about for when she actually has to get out into the real world. How this all comes together is what makes the book so delicious and I loved seeing it,

There is one scene in this book that will stick with me forever but you'll have to read this book to figure out which one it could be. 😉

Cherish and Farrah are best friends and the only black girls in their county club community.. When Farrah’s parents have their house go into foreclosure, Cherish Whitman’s adoptive white parents welcome Farrah into their home with open arms. Only the longer Farrah stays, the more it becomes apparent that something is wrong in the Whitman house.

This book was slow at the begin, and I wasn’t sure where things were going. I almost stopped reading, but I am
so happy I continued. I didn’t necessarily find any of the characters likeable, but I did think they were interesting. Once you get to about the 50% mark, the pace of the book really picks up and the book gets dark. This is my first social horror book, but it won’t me my last.

I received a copy of Cherish Farrah from NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton in exchange for an honest review.

Oh. Wow. For much of this book I was muttering a whole lot of WTF to myself and also in awe of how Marrow braids in current social commentary with a reference from the past that makes this book the most shattering of believable horror. While I will not give away the ending or too many details, what I will say this. What first appears as best friends who may appear to be obsessive to the point where Farrah convinced her recently uprooted parents (via foreclosure, out of state jobs) to let her stay living with her best friend Cherish. They share everything and have a competitive borderline love hate relationship sometimes. This borderline Euphoria level of intensity also has twists matching levels of Get Out and all other Jordan Peele storylines.

BUT — what I appreciate the most is that this sickening level of horror highlights how often we put on the pedestal things like grit, resilience etc. (🤮) How
as a white collective there is a continuing performative nature to publicly support Black Lives Matter — but only when it still keeps power and equity in the same hands. Many people need to read and sit uncomfortably with that.


I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author!!

I have never read anything by author Bethany Morrow before and this book seemed intriguing. The premise is that a teenage girl named Farrah is obsessed with her best friend Cherish, but not in the way you would think. Farrah and Cherish are the only two black girls at their private school and Cherish is the adopted daughter of a white couple. Cherish is what Farrah calls "White Girl Spoiled". Farrah's family stability is crumbling and she desperately wants what Cherish has. Farrah is manipulative and cunning and will do what she needs to in order for her life to be like that of her best friend.

I knew that this novel was a psychological thriller by the description. I was expecting twists and surprises along the way. What I wasn't expecting was the switch to horror by the last third of the book. It kept building in intensity and - WOW - I did NOT see any of that coming!! The story turned creepy in a way that reminded me of the book "We Need to Do Something" by Max Booth III. The story is told completely from Farrah's point of view, so you aren't always sure what the truth is at any given time.

I really enjoyed this book! It covered the topics of adoption, racism, class warfare, and mental illness, all to varying degrees and with unique presentation. Some issues where addressed more subtly, woven into the fabric of the story, while others hit like a slap in the face.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #PenguinGroup#Dutton for an ARC of #CherishFarrah by #BethanyC.Morrow in exchange for an honest review.

“It’s about control; it always is.”

It’s all about control. Always has been and always will be for Farrah. And she is in control of the situation, even though her families home is in foreclosure and her parents have moved into a rental home while her mother still looks for a job after being let go over a year ago. Farrah is with her best friend Cherish, living in the lavish home her adoptive white parents can afford. This is where Farrah is and this is where Farrah will stay. She knows how to control the situation and she’s been doing it her entire life.

That’s the set up. And I was fooled, bamboozled, caught off guard. Control was always an illusion and I, nor Farrah, realized until it was almost too late just how much she had been fooled. This is a masterful bit of storytelling. I was so wrapped up in Farrah’s mind, seeing things through her eyes, that I couldn’t wrap myself around what was happening even though Morrow sprinkled the clues throughout the book. I was fooled because of the love that Farrah has for Cherish, the complicated relationship Farrah has with her mom and the benevolence of Cherish’s parents. When the twist finally comes near the end, I was completely at my wits end and had no idea how the story would conclude.

Suspensful horror it is indeed. Layered with the complicated relationship between parents and their child, the love between inseperable friends when situations that you don’t know how to navigate occur and the racism that exist and is prevalent in society. It’s a thriller that gets into your head with meanings that are almost impossible to decipher until it’s too late and the full horror of the situation is staring you right in the face. Highly recommend. This is what I want in a suspensefull horror novel. Morrow absolutely delivered with this.

After reading a few too many romances lately, I was excited to switch it up to a different genre. I've enjoyed horror books in the past and love thrillers and YA novels so this seemed like a very unique and interesting premise to me - YA horror. The writing was very engaging and while I was reading it, I wasn't able to put it down because I was interested to find out what would happen. Unfortunately, this didn't quite click for me. I didn't feel like much was happening at all until the very end and then it wrapped up really quickly.

This story was very unique and the POV told from Cherise's perspective was a good choice because I was wondering if she was a reliable narrator. Cherise and Farrah are best friends and the only two black girls in their community. Cherise was adopted by white parents while Farrah's black parents' house is being foreclosed on. Farrah goes to live with Cherise temporarily while her parents figure things out. But then the story sort of meanders for a bit. Cherise gets hurt and I'm not really sure what's going on. She possibly gets food poisoning but are we supposed to question if someone poisoned her. It's all so confusing for a good bit of the book until the conclusion when things come together. So this wasn't quite the book for me. I wasn't too scared but maybe that's because it was a YA? But then it had some odd parts and I guess was more a psychological thriller? Whatever it was, just didn't pan out for me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

this was intense.

I wasn't sure quite what to expect when I picked up this book. The summary was intriguing. I think I was expecting a friends turn into rivals, with some teen angst and intrigue.

It was so much more than that.

Farrah is an intricate character. Her voice is unique and honestly chilling. Her internal monologues are so calculating and observant. She's playing a multi-level chess game in her head–with herself and with everyone around her, everyone that she considers and adversary or who may stand in the way of her achieving what she wants. She may be playing a long game but who else is?

This is definitely a page turner. I had some very unsettling moments reading this and I dreaded the final reveal, which was more intense than I expected.

There is an unsettling undercurrent throughout this whole book. You really get pulled into the story and the arc it's taking, which actually isn't going where you think it is. It weaves between the characters and the families and Farrah's observations and assessments of the dynamics she finds herself in.

Farrah and Cherish are simultaneously best friends/confidants and rivals/adversaries. It is a heated dynamic and I honestly didn't know where it was going to go until closer to the end.

I don't read much horror and I know this was labeled Social Horror but I was curious to try a new genre and a new author. The story was riveting. There is so much woven in here: parent/ child relationships, high school social hierarchy, living beyond your means, social status, white privilege, racial tension, race disparity, mother/daughter conflict, loss and financial insecurity, loyalty and conflict, emotional and physical abuse.

I found the end very abrupt. I think we needed more. It built up to this hugely emotionally charged and deeply disturbing scene and then pretty much ended.

One thing that troubled me was Farrah labeling herself a monster periodically in her conversations with her mother and her own internal monologues when thinking or having imaginary conversations with her mother. There were times in the book also where it was unclear to me if her mother was physically there or Farrah was conversing with her in her head.

The writing is good, tense and emotionally complex. Farrah is a challenging character. I found myself warming to various characters and then being unsettled by them a few pages later. The main character is an unreliable narrator but everyone around her is manipulating their own narrative as well so it's hard to trust anyone by the end. The passages where Farrah desperately seeks control are chilling. She masters herself and is so meticulous about her own manipulations and role play. it makes her hard to like, because she bursts onto the page in a full manipulative, controlling way, but so upsetting when you see where she has been played as well.

Overall some very thought provoking themes of race and privilege and class. What constitutes family, loyalty, privilege, social standing, accountability, trust, truth.

It's days later and I'm still thinking about it.


Overall I'd say 3 1/2 stars. It may be a hard read and some of it may seem implausible but it brings forward important themes that have me thinking days later. Did I like it? Hard to say. Did it make me think? Definitely.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I did not find this book enjoyable. Having a premise for a good social horror plot does not make the story telling well done the execution was poor. This book is for adults yet the character is juvenile, nothing interesting or intelligent about Farrah not matter her control. Waiting until the 90 percent to reveal the twist was a complete waste of my time, I wished I had dnf'ed this book.