Bad Fruit by Ella King is a novel about toxic and dysfunctional family relationships and intergenerational trauma.

A great debut novel.

Original and well written

I wasn’t sure what to expect the synopsis was interesting and caught my eye.

A great read

17 year old Lily's mother is from Singapore and her father is English, she is clever and has gained a place at Oxford University but is caught in a toxic co dependent relationship with her exacting mother. Lily's mother suspects her husband is having an affair and to assuage her mood Lily brings her mother a glass of orange juice that has to be caught at just the right amount of sourness before it turns too bad, she also arranges her mother's teddy bears on the bed just so and wears the clothes her mother likes. The bad fruit her mother likes to drink may also reflect the Bad fruit that the family has produced as over the course of a hot London summer dark and devastating family secrets are revealed. This is a great story, although the subject matter is quite grim and depressing. It ttook afew chapters to gel with me and I am glad I perservered as the narrative soon became compelling.. A great debut.

The Reality Bites..
Lily is a mama’s girl. Isn’t she? The trouble is mama is on the edge - in more ways than one. This slow burn, character led suspense explores a dysfunctional family dynamic. Tense, heartbreaking and often emotionally exhausting. Characters are incredibly crafted and the reality bites. Hard. Dark and devastating.

Bad Fruit is so well written that it’s hard to believe that it’s a debut novel. I will be watching out for more by Ella King, who has a beautiful style despite the grim subject matter.

Lily is 18 and after the summer holidays she will be starting at Oxford university. Until then she must be the perfect daughter to keep her mama happy and on an even keel. The ways she does that are disturbing (altering her skin colour, eye colour, wearing colours that her mama likes, testing her food and many more), but no matter how much she does to remain mama’s girl, there is no pleasing her. The tension is palpable, but you are pulled in to Lily’s world and unable to look away.

There are lots of topics covered that may trigger anxiety- rape, child abuse & child sexual abuse. Nonetheless, I recommend this book if you are looking for a disturbing thriller which explores the psychological ties that bind controlling mothers and their daughters. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my free advance copy in return for an unbiased review.

BAD FRUIT

⭐️⭐️⭐️

⚠️⚠️SLIGHT SPOILERS ⚠️⚠️

Thank you netgalley for this free copy.

SYNOPSIS

Lily is waiting to start at the University of Oxford to start Law. However, when Lily's mum, May thinks that her husband, Charlie is having an affair with his ex daughter in law, May becomes more volatile. Lily starts to get flashbacks which are not hers. Can she find out what the flashbacks are about?

Looking at reviews, I'm going to be a minority here. I did enjoy the book when I understood what was going on. I got massively lost and confused with what was happening in the book for about 60% of the book (the start and end). The other 40% of the book, I was gripped and I could not stop reading. I think one reason why I was getting confused is because Lily is really part of a dysfunctional family. I understood the main storyline, but I got confused at the end with where Julia (Lily's sister) and May's relationship was at. I was also confused about Charlie (not saying anymore because of spoilers).

There are massive triggers for this book such as domestic abuse, child abuse and rape. I was surprised at just how many triggers there were for this book. If you want to read it but aren't sure, message me 🙂

Somehow this was both delicate and powerful - a book I couldn't put down and highly recommend. Very unique and I will definitely be reading more from Ella King.

I don’t know what I was expecting with this book but it wasn’t that. .
Its a novel exploring the complex web of family, lies and cycles of abuse. It started off fairly light and then all of a sudden it was very dark and heartbreaking.
The character development of Lily was amazing and I really rooted for her no matter what she did.
Ella King’s writing style is excellent and I’ll be excited to see her future works. The book was clever and complicated right up until the final 20% where everything came together. I devoured this book.
Thank you Netgalley and Harper Fiction for the opportunity to read and review this gripping book.

When I went into this book, I wasn't 100% sure on what I was signing up for, but what I do know is that what I got was no match on what I thought could have possibly happened.

Bad Fruit is so beautifully written, but I did find myself becoming bored a bit here and there, and it might be because I don't tend to read books with such serious subject matters, but I also thought that it was quite a slow paced read which took a while to get fully immersed into.

I had to keep reading though, and I'm glad I did. I just had to know what was going on with Lily and why her family dynamic came to be so screwed.

I did end up enjoying it in the end, even though it wasn't near what I expected.

(Will update with blog and social post information when live)

What a thrilling story! Really loved the characters and how they developed, definitely big part of my liking to the story.

Often captivating in its grim depiction of a dysfunctional family, but I found the relentless misery a bit wearing.

I would struggle to be able to review this book due to issues with the file/download. The issues stopped the flow of the book. The issues are:
- Missing words in the middle of sentences
- Stop/start sentences on different lines
- No clear definition of chapters.

Not sure if it was a file/download issue but there were lots of gaps, stop/starts which really ruined the flow. I would love the chance to read a better version as the description of the book appeals to me.

i LOVE lily's character. she was such an intriguing and captivating one to follow. the plot and the writing held me hostage and i couldn't put it down at all. my only note would be sometimes the writing was too flowery or was trying too hard to be impactful and good but it just made it a little awkward. the ending was good and i really liked it. overall, an excellent book to start the month with and i can't wait to read more books from the author.

Strangely addictive story of a very dysfunctional family.
With a 17 year old and toxic mother at the heart of it.
For me there were some real cringe moments that just had me squirming.
Tension a plenty.
Fantastic writing.
I almost couldn't put it down.
Unfortunately, work made me.

Ella King has a wonderful way of writing – it was gripping and there was definitely something about this that haunted me.

I will say it took me a little while to get into at the beginning, but I think that's because it's not a book I would ordinarily pick up and it took some adjusting to. But once you read more, you'll find there's something horrifying but unputdownable (is that a word?!) about it.

It feels like Bad Fruit is the definition of a dark thriller, so if that's the kind of thing you like to read then I'd say this is definitely one for you!

This is a great read. It is well written with a compelling storyline that deal with hardhitting issues such as abuse and the feelings and trauma that ensues, but this is done very sensitively and empathetically. The characters are well developed and relatable and I found myself really becoming invested in them as I read the book.
I was completely gripped by this book it was fast paced, and increased in pacing even more as the tension of the plot increased. It was twisty, suspenseful and unpredictable and I was kept guessing right until the end.
I loved it.

I started reading this book as I found the synopsis intriguing- however I found it triggering for me and reluctantly had to stop reading it.
In all fairness I cannot leave a review based on the limited amount of the book that I did read.
One star but only because I was unable to continue reading it.

#BadFruit #NetGalley
ENGROSSING.
Every evening she pours Mama a glass of perfectly spoilt orange juice. She arranges her teddy bears on the bed, just so. She puts on the matching pink clothes that Mama likes her to wear.
But Mama’s love flies so close to hate. And as her behaviour escalates, as she starts to unravel, so do the memories that Lily has kept locked away for so long. She only wanted to be good, to piece Mama back together. But what if instead .. Lily tears her apart?
I really liked this book. Very well written debut novel.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction for giving me an advance copy.

Gripping and devastating, from a new voice that cuts as sharp as a knife, this is an unforgettable debut about a family gone bad. Atmospheric, haunting and superbly paced.

Ella King’s writing is great - moody, dark, alienating and trippy. It matches the tone of this thriller perfectly. But that’s where my praise ends, I’m afraid. I have a personal dislike of flashbacks, and this book is full of ‘em. I didn’t gel with or care about any of the characters, and it seemed like a lot of the more shocking moments were shoehorned in just for the sake of it. I feel like a bit of a twat whenever I dislike a book, because I haven’t written one so who am I to judge?! But.. I just really did not enjoy this one at all (sorry!!!).