Cherish Farrah by Bethany C. Morrow

Happy Book Birthday Week to Bethany C. Morrow whose latest, Cherish Farrah, released yesterday!

As a Black girl, Farrah knows everything is about control. And she prides herself on her level of it. She's even bested her mom, her most worthy foe. Which is why she's living with her best friend's family after her home was foreclosed on.

It was always supposed to be temporary in her parents' minds. But living with Cherish is what Farrah wants. It's what Cherish wants. And, thanks to Farrah's work, it's what Cherish's parents want as well 

Cherish is what Farrah calls "white girl spoiled." Her parents are white but Cherish is Black. And yet, she's never lived exactly the kind of life Farrah has. She'll never be in danger of losing her house. Her parents have fallbacks if something happens to one of their jobs. 

But still, Cherish is Black. And when she and Farrah meet, it means neither of them is the only Black girl anymore. They have each other and, as far as Farrah is concerned, that's all they need.

But things aren't as perfect at the Whitman home as they seem to be on the outside. Farrah has been sick almost since she arrived. And while she's sick, she overhears things she can't be sure are real at all. What's more, Farrah isn't certain that she's fully in control of the situation anymore. And control is the one thing she cannot lose. 

This is a super voice-y character driven mean story! And by that I mean, it is definitely horror and it is definitely adult but it's more subversive and quiet than you might suspect going in. 

And there's a really telling part that sets you up for everything else to come that would be so spoilery if I were to reveal it, that I will keep my big mouth shut!

So Farrah has lived a comfortable middle class life. She attends a private school, she has a middlish sized house with a swimming pool—definitely not as big as the Whitman home, but respectable enough that it exists in the same neighborhood. And it's a real shock to Farrah to learn that her parents have been living so close to the edge of their means that when her mom loses her job and doesn't find a new one quickly enough, they lose their home. 

And it's jarring for her to say the least. She actually sort of demands that her parents fix it and get their house back! And when they can't, she's fully ready to let herself basically be adopted by the Whitmans.

Even more interesting, the Whitmans seem open to it. Farrah is convinced that they've started to see her as their own daughter. That she and Cherish can be sisters in a real and formal sense!

But there's a thread of nastiness that runs through the story. Farrah herself is very manipulative. She aims to get exactly what she wants at any cost. And Cherish is the person she loves the most, so that means she'll do anything for Cherish—and to keep Cherish—as well.

Cherish Farrah is a clever book that gets under your skin. With Farrah as the narrator, you're completely in her head, experiencing the story every step of the way alongside her. And it makes for a really immersive and fast read!

And boy, when you have the dawning sense of where this book is actually going...it becomes a really wild ride!

Order a copy from your favorite indie via Bookshop!