I blitzed through this book over the weekend as I just could not get enough. Light and witty I enjoyed every second. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For me ,the driving force of picking this book up every minute I could,was to try understand the relationship between the main character and her mother.
It was a mystery,that played almost in the background,that was the highlight for me.
I saw flashes of how powerful the dictators wife could be,and enjoyed working out how innocent she was,or wasn't,but she didn't dominate the story as I'd expected her to.
A very enjoyable read.

When I read the synopsis for this I got Eva Peron vibes from it and I was totally in. I found this book gripping I couldnt put it down and when it ended I was both devastated that it had finished and immediately wanting to reread it. The writing was great, it was beautifully done, the characters were well developed and relatable- some more than others,
I have always had questions about the wives and children of world leaders and figures throughout history that have held distatorships but none more prominent in my mmind than how much did their wives really know and/or agree with their policies and reigns of terror and for that reason this book was so thought provoking and intrinsincly fascinating. There were moments that were truly heartwrenching and yet there were also moments of love.
At times the book was claustrophobic and gave the reader a truly dark restricted atmosphere that really added an extra layer of slightly experiencing the opression and horror of a dictator regime. It was both completely terrifying and captivating in equal measure.
I honestly couldnt put this book down and I think it would be a contender for best book I have read this year. I loved it

Inventive, fascinating, and gripping - I stayed up late to read this and Berry did such a great job with the worldbuilding of Yanussia. It all felt so real and I can't wait to see what Berry writes next - I can only compare her to one of my favourite authors, Ottessa Moshfegh.