It was impossible for me to put down Cherish Farrah. Especially during the last 40% I read it in one sitting I think. It’s a story about friendship, family, and love. But it’s also about obsession. If you’re a fan of thrillers, then this is a must-read. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
Seventeen-year-old Farrah Turner is one of two Black girls in her country club community, and the only one with Black parents. Her best friend, Cherish Whitman, adopted by a white, wealthy family, is something Farrah likes to call WGS–White Girl Spoiled. With Brianne and Jerry Whitman as parents, Cherish is given the kind of adoration and coddling that even upper-class Black parents can’t seem to afford–and it creates a dissonance in her best friend that Farrah can exploit. When her own family is unexpectedly confronted with foreclosure, the calculating Farrah is determined to reassert the control she’s convinced she’s always had over her life by staying with Cherish, the only person she loves–even when she hates her.
As troubled Farrah manipulates her way further into the Whitman family, the longer she stays, the more her own parents suggest that something is wrong in the Whitman house. She might trust them–if they didn’t think something was wrong with Farrah, too. When strange things start happening at the Whitman household–debilitating illnesses, upsetting fever dreams, an inexplicable tension with Cherish’s hotheaded boyfriend, and a mysterious journal that seems to keep track of what is happening to Farrah–it’s nothing she can’t handle. But soon everything begins to unravel when the Whitmans invite Farrah closer, and it’s anyone’s guess who is really in control.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: gore, self-harm
I was so excited for Cherish Farrah before it even began. But then I began reading and I became obsessed. Morrow’s book is an intimate and intense look at the intricacies of friendship. How we let our families and friends see pieces and jagged edges of us. The lives we conceal from others. Cherish Farrah is about the masks we make in order to stay in good graces and survive. Morrow delivers fascinating and intriguing character dynamics from the very beginning. All the little ways we create an image of ourselves and calculated chaos.
I cannot spoil too much of Cherish Farrah for you, but just know that I was moved, alarmed, and fascinated all at once. There are layers upon layers of secrets, hints of unreliability, and simultaneous wants and dangers. Throughout the book, I lost sight of exactly who was in control. These calculated phrases and retractions, statements and accusations. Cherish Farrah manipulates truth and perception.
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This is a must read if you love thrillers and character dynamics where you aren’t sure who is the cat and who is the mouse. It links love and pain, struggle and strength in a psychologically twisting gripping read. Find Cherish Farrah on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.