Adored Taddeos “three women” so this was a highly anticipated read for me. There is no question that the powerful writing of Three Women is very evident again.
The lead character Joan is unapologetically damaged and is leading as she herself says a depraved life. Jumping into unsatisfactory relationships with married men with little care for the families she devastated, we come to learn that her own childhood trauma may hold the secret to this.
The sex is raw, real and graphic, and at times truly unpleasant. There are certainly scenes in this book that truly shocked me and were utterly uncomfortable to read.
And fiction should be like that at times. Like Three women, Taddeo does not shy away from uncomfortable and painful reading. As a result this book would not be for everyone. And it would be remiss if me to widely recommend it as I think it needs the right audience. And this book certainly has that audience.

I have been thinking for a day or so how to review this book, or more accurately, how I felt about it. Because it's not very straightforward.
I loved the writing, the language, the sentence construction. The beginning was incredible and I felt like I'd never want to put it down. I read it in a day.
However, I didnt enjoy reading it. Its obviously accomplished and written by a bestselling writer. I feel sure this will be another bestseller for Taddeo and probably receive prizes. But I didn't like any of the characters (this is deliberate I'm sure, the protagonist introduces herself as depraved), I didnt understand anyone's motivation and everyone just spoke so terribly to everyone else. I kept reading so I could find out the big secret about her parents death. Then towards the end of the novel is a horrifying scene....no spoilers but it involves coyotes attacking a dog....that genuinely made me feel sick and it felt so out of place. Like the whole book took a turn there, then there is a (super gross) murder. My reaction to the coyote scene is probably coloured by personal experience but I am interested to find out other readers reaction because honestly I hated it.
So I definitely have mixed feelings about this one. Lisa Taddeo is obviously a brilliant writer. I read the books quickly and there were parts I found moving and memorable. But overall I also did not enjoy reading it and wouldn't enthusiastically recommend it to every reader.