This is a perfect summer read - think Creation Lake but then a bit simpler.

Severine Guimard is 17 - precocious, arrogant and wanting nothing else than to become a movie star - when she is kidnapped by Corsican independentists.

I coincidentally read this in the week the criminal who helped inspire 'Stockholm syndrome' theory died. Which is what happens to Severine, and things quickly spiral out of control.

The writing is pretty good, things are kept light and breezy, and it's important not to be too critical of the plot or the emotions of the main characters.

Works perfectly on audio.

3,5 rounded up

Explosive, gripping, and packed with intrigue 💣🕵️‍♀️. The Bombshell delivers high-stakes espionage, thrilling twists, and a fierce protagonist you’ll root for. Darrow Farr crafts an addictive, action-packed story with political drama and emotional depth. I loved the sharp writing and fast-paced plot. A perfect read for fans of spy thrillers and strong heroines.

A vivid and politically charged debut that caught me completely off guard in the best way. Set during a time of political unrest, it tackles privilege and how it can be used (or weaponised) with a surprising amount of nuance.
Severine, is bold and brash and often irritating (as much as an eighteen year old will be).
The fact that she climbs to lead a terrorist group purely through pure gumption and audacity is both hilarious and fascinating.
The relationship and dynamics between the group at times could even be called sweet, considering the foundations they are built on.

Farr’s writing is sharp and cinematic. My main critique is that the final section felt unnecessarily bloated and slowed the pacing, slightly dulling the impact of an otherwise gripping narrative.

Still, this was a surprisingly strong read, I went in with no expectations and came out impressed.

4/5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Overall I really enjoyed this book about girlhood, rebellion and privilege. Set during a time of political unrest it questions loyalty and how far you would go for something you love and believe in. The characters were very well written and had me changing my mind about them throughout. The ending is why it isn't a 5 🌟 read for me it was fine but not as good as the rest. But overall would recommend.

During a scorching Corsican summer in 1993, seventeen-year-old French-American Séverine is amusing herself by toying with boys' affections and dreaming of her future career as an actress: 'So far, she'd taken the virginities of four boys... She liked the idea of being never-forgotten, a landmark. She liked the feverish tremors they emitted when she ignored them in the hallway afterwards.' But Séverine is the daughter of a politician, and her summer takes an unexpected turn when she is kidnapped by a radical splinter group fighting for Corsican independence from the French mainland, Soffiu di Libertà. The three men who take her, however, soon realise they have bitten off more than they can chew; Séverine is not an easy captive. Desperate for entertainment in their base in the middle of the maquis (wild shrubland), she starts avidly reading both Franz Fanon's Les damnés de la terre [The Wretched of the Earth] and a biography of Jane Fonda, who advocated for peace in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Séverine is enthralled by both Fanon's postcolonial theory ('Fanon was saying [violence] was a coping mechanism, a way to feel independent and human in the face of degradation') and Fonda's style: 'pouty and gorgeous in a suede trench coat and shag haircut, handcuffed, radiating a sensuality unsuitable for the occasion of arrest'.

Séverine's transformation into the militant face of Soffiu di Libertà is so compelling because Darrow Farr refuses to make it simple. Yes, she falls for Bruno, the leader of the three men, but Bruno is a bookish theorist who prefers to think about revolutionary violence rather than enact it. Yes, she's much more interested in becoming a guerrilla star in black eyeliner than in the hard work of building a new society, but she also enjoys engaging her intellect for the first time as she reads Fanon, Marx and Guevara. She's an incredibly satisfying protagonist because she doesn't fit our ideas about teenage girls as vulnerable and victimised; instead, she wreaks havoc on others. The Bombshell manages something difficult that I'm increasingly seeking out in fiction. It has a serious core but a real lightness of tone, a jauntiness to it that fits Séverine's devil-may-care attitude to setting up bombings. Farr never forgets that there are real social and political questions behind Séverine's manipulation of Soffiu di Libertà, but she lets the reader engage with them on their own terms rather than trying to put forward a message, or forcing Séverine to be either a brainwashed object of pity or a heartless cow. The perfect beach read for the anarchist at heart. 4.5 stars.

Bombshell by name and bombshell by nature! This is an explosive book with three dimensional characters and a great plot. It is also an informative book which is set on the island of Corsica with its beauty and its conflicts. I wasn’t aware of much of Corsican history and struggles but this story has intrigued me and made me want to learn more. Severine, the privileged only child of a French politician and American publisher is a dilettante who is kidnapped by a new, small terrorist organisation. She becomes involved with them, initially for her own safety and gain but after long periods of enlightenment she begins to see that joining them could be the next chapter in her life. The writing is superb and the story unfolds at a satisfying pace. I think this book would be a good book to read in a book club as I’m sure it will illicit a good discussion.

This book explores how Severine charms her captors and absorbs their ideology, she transforms into the face of a revolutionary movement that leads to an explosive and high stakes conclusion.

There are some interesting elements to The Bombshell. I like the way it explores the complex motivations of the different characters, and the way people's political views and personal experiences inform each other. It also examines different forms of power and their interactions.

Severine, a young woman from an affluent and well-connected family, is both privileged and victim. Her total preoccupation with her own interests and presentation is horrific but also kind of impressive. It makes us question how people like that are often successful in public life, and the fact that we have a system that rewards them. The setting on Corsica is also interesting and adds an element of escapism to the more serious and dramatic political story.

However, I really didn't like the last section of the novel. So, overall, it's an ambitious novel that attempts to tackle complex themes but for me doesn't quite succeed.

[I have written a longer review on Goodreads which expands on my last paragraph and includes hidden spoilers.]

Rating is probably more like 3.5

Darrow Farr’s debut novel, The Bombshell, is unlike anything I’ve ever read. Set in Corsica, 1993, 17-year-old Séverine Guimard—the pampered daughter of a French politician—is counting down the days until graduation. Séverine knows she is destined for bigger things and dreams of becoming a famous actress. One evening, she is kidnapped by Soffiu di Libertà, a militant terrorist group who blindfold and drive her to a remote location deep in the island’s wilderness where she is shoved into a small closet and held for ransom.

The trio, however, are amateurs and Séverine’s kidnapping is their first major action in their fight for Corsican independence. When negotiations don’t go as planned, Séverine uses her charms to win over her captors: Bruno, the intellectual leader; Tittu, the gentle university student who has a penchant for farming; and Petru, the miserable yet unflappable sous-chef. Exposed to their politics, Bruno gives Séverine books on Fanton, Che Guevara, Mao, and Marx, leading to her becoming radicalised into their cause. Soon, Séverine becomes the face of a radical movement culminating in a summer of passion and terror.

Séverine is an interesting protagonist. She is beautiful and naïve, sarcastic and judgemental, and prone to mood swings. She is simultaneously self-assured and insecure, but has had sex weaponised against her by her peers, in addition to sexual advances from her father’s boss, who happens to be the Minister of the Interior, which has taught her how to use her natural charms to manipulate men. Séverine comes across as narcissistic in the way only a teenage girl can, but I enjoy reading characters who are strongly drawn towards a calling and have the confidence to go after it.

While Farr dances around the truth of Séverine’s motives as the character uses the attacks for Corsican revolution to target those who have wronged her, she occasionally demonstrates Séverine’s character growth. “She’d always known abstractedly that people starved, that girls were mutilated, that people were being slaughtered in places like Bosnia, but it never occurred to her that that world overlapped in any way with hers.” Farr writes. “She’d never realised that she lived in injustice, that she might even be contributing to it.”

The Bombshell has funny prose throughout which highlights Séverine’s often casual attitude. For example: “[Bruno] could have become a politician instead of a middle school history teacher and part-time terrorist.” The book has themes of political revolution, terrorism and violence, which create an interesting dialogue, but are quite tame and are secondary to the book’s central themes of youthful idealism, young love, and the transience of celebrity. Farr also explores a lot of grey areas, including terrorists as protagonists, the age difference between Séverine (who turns 18 during) and Bruno, acts of violence for a good cause, the blurred lines between whether a teenager is confusing sexual intensity for love or perhaps just safety.

The narrative does grow boring at times and there’s some lack of character development spread across all characters. It doesn’t help that’s a lack of emotional connection behind Soffiu di Libertà’s actions and why they believed they were right. There was also a lot of tell not show for Séverine’s character around the power of her beauty and sexuality around men. These things leave a hollow feeling but the last chapters—set 20 years later—do try to create a more fulfilling ending. Nevertheless, the characters remain interesting and their journey sustained my curiosity.

Farr’s novel is clearly inspired by the fight for Corsican independence (which is still ongoing) and the 1974 kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army. Hearst said in a tape-recorded message that, after being offered the choice of being released or the chance to join the underground terrorist group, she chose to stay and fight for “the freedom of oppressed people.” She was eventually arrested for crimes committed with members of the group and later said that she was raped and coerced into joining them. Her case, however, remains highly controversial regarding what actually happened and whether Hearst was telling the truth. Those familiar with Hearst may find this book to be in poor taste, but there is no denying that it’s an extremely unique story to frame a bourgeoisie teenage girl’s descent into first love and political radicalisation. Séverine’s story reflects the ambiguity of Hearst’s, which might be the book’s greatest strength and greatest weakness.

In Wes Anderson's film 'The French Dispatch', Timothée Chalamet plays a young student revolutionary called Zeffirelli. Whether you like this debut novel might depend on if you find that character amusing or just deeply irritating. It feels like a bit of a 'marmite' book.

The story is about the kidnapping of a wealthy teenage girl by terrorists/freedom fighters in 1990s Corsica. The story idea reminded me of the Netflix documentary series 'The King Who Never Was', about a murder case involving the Italian royal family in exile, and also the famous images of heiress Patty Hearst taking part in a robbery. The cover and blurb really grabbed me.

The novel introduces the teenage heroine Séverine as vain and privileged ("...Séverine had convinced Papa to pay for a nose job as a combination graduation-birthday gift..."). There's an echo of Alicia Silverstone's character in the movie Clueless (or, to get into niche 90s movies, her role opposite Benicio Del Toro in Excess Baggage playing a rich girl who gets kidnapped by mistake). There's also an echo of Gone With the Wind - especially that famous opening line "Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful but men seldom realised it". We are told Séverine "knew she wasn't beautiful... but was something to look at with her sharp cheek-bones and gold-washed hair". Her head is full of dreams of moving to LA and being a movie star.

When she's kidnapped and stuffed in a car boot, she is remarkably unfazed ("It was exactly like some clichéd action movie, the kind she considered too dumb to watch... these guys were amateurs, Séverine thought as she bit at the silver duct tape around her wrists.") Her character appears a comic creation in these early scenes which distracts from the extreme vulnerability of her situation. At 17, she is barely out of childhood, and her character perhaps deserves a tad more kindness/empathy from the teller of this tale (this is more in evidence in the final, more reflective, section of the story). However, I loved this description of her defiance: "The brightness of her own spectacular future lit Séverine from within, and she stared up at Bruno with a loathing so sublime his gaze wavered. She would not submit. Her time was not up."

This was a tricky novel to get a grip on - in some ways it felt like true crime (but it's fictional) and it featured dramatic/violent events (yet was often played for laughs - which could feel a bit amoral and flippant). One of the marketing quotes described the book as "sexy" but I don't think that's the right word - several encounters feel grim and exploitative. Then there's a surreal, yet memorable, passage where Séverine reads & critiques "a guy called" Frantz Fanon's anti-colonial classic The Wretched of the Earth ("...at times, she was actually entertained by how dogmatic and crazy the text could get.") It's hard to know where the author's loyalties lie in all this. Fanon isn't an obvious subject for comedy - though, to be fair, it's Séverine's naivete and flippant lack of respect which are perhaps the joke here. Did the author study Fanon, Chomsky et al at university? What drew them to writing this story? Do they identify at all with Séverine - is there an element of self-deprecating hindsight at a younger self? I'd be interested in reading an interview with the author - there's currently very little background to the book available online, but there might be more once it's released at the end of the month.

This book is perhaps akin to Jonathan Coe's comic novel The Rotters' Club, mixing up humour and bildungsroman with political violence and tragedy. It's a less cozy/heart-warming read than that though. Like its vainglorious heroine, this book is not easy to fall in love with, but I'm glad I gave it a try - it is a bit messy, with some rough edges, but it's original and memorable. There's a lot to be said for not being boring.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

The Bombshell by Darrow Farr is an audacious debut, equal parts coming-of-age chaos, political thriller, and razor-sharp character study.

Set in Corsica in 1993, the novel introduces us to Séverine, a seventeen-year-old who dreams of Hollywood stardom and finds herself - quite literally - kidnapped into a revolution. What begins as a hostage situation quickly mutates into something murkier: Séverine becomes an active participant in the political cause of her captors, but the novel never offers easy answers as to why. Is it love? Belief? The lure of attention? All of the above?

This is a propulsive, entertaining read that somehow manages to be both high-stakes and deeply personal. The revolutionary plot, complete with bombings, propaganda, and idealistic manifestos, runs parallel to Séverine’s own transformation - from a fame-hungry teen to a would-be political figurehead. It’s that duality that makes the book shine: underneath the suspense and tension is the story of a teenager navigating identity, desire, and power, armed with the confidence and delusion only youth can grant.

Farr’s commentary on performative activism is especially sharp. While the initial militants are driven by ideology, Séverine’s motives are tangled - she’s performing for love, for notoriety, for a chance to matter. And yet, she remains oddly sympathetic. She knows her strengths and how to use them, manipulating the people around her with the kind of sensual, calculating force that’s as thrilling as it is unsettling. Makes you think about the world we live in today, and how extremely easy it is to find people shouting their convictions to the world and amassing followings without much substance to back it all up.

The pacing is excellent! Even the heavier political conversations are electrified by the characters’ urgency and youthful intensity. The writing itself is incredibly rewarding without calling attention to itself - confident, clear, and cinematic in scope.

If anything, it's the ending that left me wanting more. The final section, set twenty years after the events of that fateful summer, offers fascinating perspective but felt underdeveloped - more like a narrative device than a fully integrated conclusion. Still, it’s a small quibble for a novel that held me captive (pun intended) from the first page.

This is a bold, clever, and confident debut. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Never underestimate the revolutionary potential of a teenage girl with serious main character syndrome...

I absolutely loved the first 2/3 of 'The Bombshell,' and tore through it in a few days. Séverine is a mix of a mix of Patty Hearst and Regina George -bratty, spoiled, sexy and has more than one score to settle with men who wronged her. She wraps up her desire for revenge in a revolutionary fervour fuelled by the works of Frantz Fanon and the Corsican independence gang who initially kidnap her. While you get the distinct impression that she doesn't believe any of what she's saying really, and that the Corsican independence movement is just a game to her, it's thrilling to see just how far she's willing to push a movement before it - and the people involved in it - break.

Sadly, The Bombshell is let down a bit by the last third which doesn't pack the same punch as what came before. That doesn't make it any less enjoyable, however and it's definitely one I'll be recommending to people.

Very disappointing. Very broad brush character with a real Mills and Boon fantasy heroine at its centre. Great premise just didn't really deliver.

Fails to live up to the synopsis and cover. Starts off stopping then becomes very repetitive and boring which takes away the better parts. After about 35% it was a chore to read. Shame as it has potential

Many thanks to netgalley, the author and the publisher for approving my request to read this book.

The Bombshell is a well written book. However for me after initially being quite absorbed from the first and second parts I did feel the third and final part fell a bit flat.

Nonetheless I did like this book I just didn't love it though it was an interesting idea for a story.

Thank you so much to Atlantic books & NetGalley for the ARC

2.5 stars!


The way this started off, I really liked it. But as I carried on reading I felt like this just wasn't for me. It's well written and would honestly make a great series where you can see everything unpack and witness things better as reading it felt sometimes repetitive.

Clearly its been a hit with other readers but just not for me.

This has potential but not for me, I was enjoying it up to a point but read 30% and by then I was done. It was slightly repetative and the fact it's about terrorism I just couldn't inspire an interest.

I think this would be a great movie, but for me it wasn't a great book. I didn't like the writing and found it hard to engage with. The main character felt underdeveloped and a little irritating which made it difficult for me to enjoy reading. I'm glad other people are enjoying this book but it wasn't for me!

Teenage girl - who, of course, knows everything, is kidnapped and then turns to the life of a freedom fighter because she is in love and thinks the world revolves around her. As the gang got further embroiled in their desire for revolution you can feel the more grown up members of the gang questioning the route that they are following - but they are pressed on by the younger, foolhardy members.

I felt that the last part of the book was necessary to put it all into perspective, however I hankered for a final twist - that police knock on the door she had been awaiting for all those years.

This is a cleverly examination of shifting loyalties, political awareness and the reasons why someone might adopt a radical course of action. The book opens with a terrifying kidnap and then morphs into something else. It's well written and psychologically attuned. It's a fascinating premise to consider how someone in history like Patti Hearst might have felt and why she behaved as she did

At the heart of the book is also a love story, as well as a strong and compelling character study of a singular young woman.

There were a few occasions where the political context bogged the story down a little for me but this wasn't egregious.