possibly would enjoy this more if i hadn’t already read the lesser bohemians, conversations with friends, insatiable, luster, and cleopatra and frankenstein - all of which explore a young, depressed girl beginning an extremely toxic relationship with an older man.

this is possibly my fault for reading even when i knew the premise wasn’t especially unique, but i’ll be honest the instagram hype just got to me and had to see for myself. if you’re someone who absolutely loves the books i listed above and have no problem reading multiple literary fiction books exploring the power dynamics in unbalanced relationships then you would most likely really enjoy this — good prose, solid characterisation, realistic dialogue, themes of mental health/substance abuse — however if you weren’t especially crazy about the previous books (as i wasn’t except for the lesser bohemians which i loved) then probably give this a miss.