”Sometimes I think illness sits inside every woman, waiting for the right moment to bloom.”

Camille Preaker, a journalist of an unsuccessful newspaper, moves back to her hometown to cover the case of two girls who have been found strangled with their teeth pulled out. As she attempts to find information about the two girls, she has to face her complicated relationship with her mother.

This was a very disturbing read to say the least. I think the prose was very fitting for the story, and the author succeeded at creating an unsettling atmosphere. The pace starts off very slow, only to rapidly pick up at the end when things started falling into place.

Where do I begin with Camille? She’s still pretty fucked up from her childhood; the death of her little sister and her mother’s dislike of her. I did really feel for Camille. She wears emotional and physical scars from her childhood, and she’s forced to return to her hometown where everyone still live the same lives and play the same roles as when they were young, only Camille returns as an outsider; re-experiencing it through new eyes.

I think Amma was a really interesting and unsettling character. Cunning and manipulative, enough so to play the adults around her, and yet she’s deeply hurt by her mother just like Camille; only her scars manifested in a different way. “A child weaned on posion considers harm a comfort.” I wish we got to know more about Amma.