I am honestly not sure what I read. Described as Get Out and My sister is a Serial Killer this read like a fever dream. With the words manipulation and control haunting me over and over this book has left me thinking about it long after I finished.
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17 year old Farrah is one of two Black girls in a country club community. The other Black girl, Cherish is her best friend and raised by white parents. When Farrah’s parents lose their job and house she moves in with Cherish and her parents. She loves her best friend….even when she hates her.
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Something seems wrong in that house though. Fever dreams, mystery illnesses and a battle over who really is in control.
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This ending had me reread it several times to see if I legit read it correctly. I’m not sure if this one is for me but I know others who have loved it and I am still thinking about so that definitely says something!
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Thank you #dutton for an advanced copy.

I definitely did not know what to expect when getting ready to read Cherish Farrah. For me, this was definitely a page turner. I love a good thriller. I started getting "Get Out" / Jordan Peele vibes about 50% of the way through. I will admit, I was pretty confused for the first half of the book - like, where is this going? I don't know what to believe! I saw a description of this book label it as a "social horror", and I would definitely agree. It really gave readers an interesting view into race, class, and friendship. I loved the way Farrah narrated this book; there were so many metaphors and sentences with a deeper meaning that really made you think more about being in her shoes. I will even admit, Farrah's train of though scared me a bit because she would continuously self-describe as a monster. And like recognizes like, when she starts getting suspicious of her surroundings. I was fully not expecting the ending, but I really enjoyed this slow-burn thriller!

“Cherish Farrah” by Bethany C. Morrow was my first foray into social horror, and I will be eagerly watching both the author and this genre 👀

Thank you to Dutton Books for a gifted eARC of “Cherish Farrah,” which came out Feb 8.

Cherish Whitman and Farrah Turner are Black teenagers and longtime besties. Farrah likes to say that Cherish is “white girl spoiled” — Cherish’s adoptive parents are rich white people. When Farrah’s parents lose their home to foreclosure, Farrah moves in with the Whitmans. That’s when the horror show starts, as weird things start happening, like mystery illnesses and injuries.

I honestly think this blurb from the publisher sums it up the best: “Told in Farrah’s 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.”

For me, the sense of impending doom that hangs over the book kept me reading. I enjoyed this one, because I really like dark books. Farrah’s inner voice is brutally honest, and I think this would be a fantastic audio book, too. Just remember that it is a slow burn! There are also some gross scenes — elements of horror for sure.

While I think this book could have been a tad shorter/more edited, the story was absolutely fascinating! Books don't often scare me, but this one did! I couldn't read it alone! And the commentary on race was an interesting element that I don't always find in horror.

On this episode of Everything is Canon, Steve speaks with author Bethany C. Morrow all about her latest novel Cherish Farrah, which is described as, “From bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow comes a new adult social horror novel in the vein of Get Out meets My Sister, the Serial Killer, about Farrah, a young, calculating Black girl who manipulates her way into the lives of her Black best friend’s white, wealthy, adoptive family but soon suspects she may not be the only one with ulterior motives. . . .”

For the full interview with the author, click the link below...

https://www.cinelinx.com/off-beat/shows/everything-is-canon-cherish-farrah/

This book is a difficult one to review. On the one hand, it had the level of intrigue that made me desperate to keep reading. But on the other, there were a lot of things that meant that I didn’t enjoy this as much as I’d hoped to.

First of all, it’s a slow burn thriller about an intense friendship with fairly lengthy chapters. And the bulk of the weird stuff doesn’t kick in for a long time.

The POV is from one of the teen protagonists and I get that she’s alluded to as being some kind of monster throughout but I struggled to fully understand that. I was kind of hoping that would be addressed towards the end especially as things got a bit more unstable in terms of the imagery in Farrah’s head but I couldn’t make sense of it.

That said, I can see why this is marketed as a social horror. There are a few instances of graphic violence and body horror that made me a bit squeamish. Again, if that’s what you’re after then you really need to be prepared to wait for it because it does takes a while to get there.

I was very drawn into the description of this book and being compared to a movie and a book that I really enjoyed. However it's not working for me - and may be a case of just picking it up at the wrong time. Looking through reviews, I see this is a slow burn and that may be why it isn't working for me. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance reading copy.

This is a haunting thriller about two best friends. I was immediately immersed into the setting and story that Bethany C. Morrow created. I could not stop reading as I tried to puzzle out what was happening. The storyline moved quickly as both friends explored what it means to support each other, especially through one of their big life changes. I finished this book days ago and I am still thinking and processing it! Thank you to Dutton books and NetGalley for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Holy cow, what a deliciously dark read! This is quite a dark, disturbing read, so if that isn’t your thing, I would not recommend. But if you’re like me and the more dark or disturbing, the better, than this book is for you! I think I was like others and thought this was a YA book, but if it’s labeled as such, I don’t think it should be, as it’s intense! Well written, with amazing character development, although the beginning was too slow and almost made me give up on it. Would definitely recommend to those whom love the dark, brutal reads, but be sure you have no triggers, as this may not be for you, if you do!

Cherish Farrah (brilliant title!) can best be described as a mix of Get Out and Us and would pair excellently with both of them and make a great program to go along with a discussion of the book.

The book is a little slow to get started as the plot is obvious from the get-go, but once it kicks into gear it's a great look at white privilege and how it's abused and a searing indictment of systematic racism and how people buy into even as they claim no knowledge or worse, "good intentions."

Though Cherish Farrah is an adult title it is definitely applicable and will find a home with teen and YA readers.

Searing and powerful, Cherish Farrah is a must read!

If asked to describe what this book was about, I’d really struggle to do so. I’ve seen some comparisons to this being a literary comparison to “Get Out”. If there is a societal message that readers were supposed to take away from the book, I was not clever enough to spot it. It starts off with descriptions of best friends and their respective familial structures having me thinking it would be needed to understand the further action, but that action never really came. Little things happen which seem to foreshadow something more ominous, but we don’t quite get there with this book. This is a rather bizarre book and unfortunately really didn’t leave me with much satisfaction. 2 stars ⭐️. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy for review.

Two teens girls who have an odd overly close and manipulative friendship that seems to be spinning out of control. This book seemed very YA. I found the plot pretty unbelievable especially that Farrah’s parents would give up that much control of their daughter. I was also kinda confused near the end. Maybe teens would like this better than I did.

So creepy! The point of view in this book really gets under your skin because she is so odd. Is social horror a new genre? It is really interesting and topical yet so creepy you can almost see it actually happening.

I do think the book was a bit of a slow burn, I wish it was just a little quicker-paced in the beginning because while I liked it, it didn't really pick up at first and was a little stilted until it hit its stride.

That said, it was an interesting idea but very convoluted writing and story choices and they gave away the “twist” very early on. Imagine if in a murder mystery the main character is given a book called “The Butler Did It” and in the end was murdered by their butler. That’s literally what happened here.

Who spoilers their own book?? Did they think no one would be familiar with the story? We have Google now.

I feel iffy on any books labeled as YA horror, but I'm happy to see that Cherish Farrah didn't hold back! And while it does have some effective shock factors, it could never hold my full attention. Interested in this author though, definitely a more interesting novel that pulls no punches.

The Swim Fan and Single White Female fan in me could not wait to read this new take on a social thriller.

I will admit it took me a while to get into this book. I tend to like my thrillers fast but the slow burn of this book makes the payoff and ending worth it.

The book follows Cherish and Farrah two black girls who belong to the same country club. Cherish was adopted by a white family and eventually Farrah is sent to live with them due to her own families financial struggles.

As someone who loves a good unlikable protagonist I found Farrah to be fascinating. Farrah is your typical unreliable narrator who is taking the reader on as much of a journey as other characters in this book.

To say more would be to spoil the book but if you like dark social thrillers that also focus on race and friendship this book is for you as I was for me. I have not read anything like it in a while and cannot recommend more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for my complimentary copy.

This was dark as hell. It is about teenagers but it is not YA. It was a quick read and had me guessing at various things of what was actually going on. I was not correct and what was actually going on was completely horrible. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Penguin Group Dutton, Bethany C. Morrow, and NetGalley for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review. I do want to say that the cover is stunning and immediately caught my eye. Unfortunately this book did not work for me. My favorite part of it was the social commentary but the writing style was not something I enjoyed and I found it extremely vague (I know this was intentional) and hard to read. The only reason I kept reading to the end was because I was provided an arc and wanted to see if there was a big twist at the end! The big twist unfortunately wasn't worth reading this book for. I think if someone really enjoys social horror novels and is not bothered by extremely vague and slow burn horror, this would be for them. The whole time it is clear that something very unsettling is happening and in movies I enjoy this but it must not work as well for me in book form.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for gifting me a digital ARC of this novel by Bethany C. Morrow - 3.5 stars!

Farrah is a young Black girl who manipulates her way into her best friend's home and family. Cherish, a Black girl was adopted by wealthy White parents, who give her a life even Farrah's wealthy parents can't. When Farrah's parents hit a financial downturn, Farrah moves into Cherish's home. But things start happening beyond even Farrah's strict control measures.

This one was tough for me - it was very slow, especially in the beginning. The topic of racism and classism were interesting and there was also a horror vibe throughout. I was probably not the right audience - I liked the writing and suspense but ended up feeling somewhat confused at the end.

I missed something in this book that apparently a whole lot of other people caught. It felt like way too much build up and way too much whiny teenage girl angst. By the time something actually happened, I didn't care anymore. It felt overly contrived and when I got to the twist I couldn't muster more than an "oh, okay, so that is what it is. huh." Not exactly a ringing endorsement. But, not every book is for every person and some others whose opinions I value really liked this one. Just not me.

Cherish Farrah is well written, and the characters are vibrant and realistic. Ultimately, what fell short for me was the plot I wanted to love it, but ended up mostly confused and thinking that I had missed something. After consideration, I think that maybe social horror isn't one of my preferred genres, which leads me to conclude that this is probably a fantastic book for some readers, but just not for me.