While I know this isn't the most glowing review I will say that Ella King has tremendous talent and a very bright future ahead of her and I very much look forward to see what she comes up with next. 3 stars! With searing writing, Ella King charts how abuse in a family affects everyone in it. […] The richness of detail and depth of understanding that King gives each character is quietly masterful.” Ella King opens up the fraught space between mother and daughter to reveal both the unbearable weight of inherited traumas as well as the uncontainable desire of a heart reaching for life. Bad Fruit cuts away the skin of a family as if a daughter could be a knife slicing through lies, pain, and fear. The heart hidden beneath all the secrets is sweet. The heart hidden beneath the secrets is hers. Breathtaking.” I don't know, I just feel like I should have felt something tugging at my heartstrings and I didn't. I just could not get immersed in this story no matter how sharp the actual writing was. I know her mother experienced horrific abuse but I'm not a believer in that being any justification for abusing her own children but I say that as someone who grew up with loving and supporting parents. What do I know? On this subject, thankfully, very little. A compelling debut that fizzes with tension from start to finish, blending the subtle erudition of literary fiction with the drama and suspense of the very best thrillers. Masterful in its evocation of the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, this is a darkly fascinating, tightly plotted narrative from a writer to watch.” —Harper’s Bazaar(UK)

If you’ve struggled with abuse relationships of any kind then be wary before diving into this masterpiece, this could be triggering for you. the premise was interesting and the novel started off strong. it hooked me from the very first line and i was so intrigued by the story that i read the first act in one sitting. the writing was good, too, and the story was executed well.

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With shades of Mommy Dearest, the hangers stay in the closet, but words and manipulation are wielded to maximum effect with disturbing results. I was in turn unsettled, angry, and hopeful with other emotions in between. true that the mother-daughter relationship was nuanced, as were the main character's other relationships, and the author excels at writing the duality and complexity of their dynamics. yet, it still did not pull me into the story. i was not invested at all, which was probably why i was able to fall asleep three times. really, i don't have anything particularly bad to say about the book because i was simply bored. it just didn't do it for me. Mesmerizing, dream-like and darkly suspenseful, Bad Fruit captures the damaging love and loyalty that children can bear towards abusive parents who are suffering from and passing on their complex trauma.” I just couldn’t stop reading Bad Fruit, there were more than a few moments where my heart was in my mouth and it’s been a while since I so desperately wanted things to turn out OK for the lead character – but Lily grasped my heart.

This unforgettable debut follows 17-year-old Lily and her complex relationship with her troubled mother. A riveting novel exploring how family ties can both make us and break us.” Beautiful, disturbing, impossible to put down. Bad Fruit heralds a seriously impressive new talent in Ella King.” Having little knowledge of things Singaporean, I loved the cultural descriptions too. Food shopping, preparation, and cooking were almost characters themselves and I chortled a bit with the mention of calamari in particular. For fans of My Dark Vanessa and Celeste Ng, Bad Fruit is an unforgettable portrayal of a toxic mother-daughter relationship and a young woman's search for truth and liberation. I wish to express my gratitude to Astra Publishing House via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this debut novel. All opinions expressed are my own.Despite the heavy subject matter, the novel, at least initially, is prevented from feeling truly gloomy by Lily’s narration and her support network.

The story is dense but not completely dark. It’s lightened by Lily’s engaging character and the author’s unique writing style. It was a pleasure to read fresh and sophisticated wording and my literary appreciation was balanced with the weighty subject matter. Our main character Lily is on the brink of attending her dream college in the fall. She only has two remaining months to survive her mother’s moods and catering to her demands. She wants and needs to get away! King is unflinching as she examines the hard questions about family. What defines belonging? Looks, care,secrets? How do you understand someone who loves you and hurts you? In Bad Fruit, guilt, hate, and love mingle powerfully.” Overall, this is an incredibly well written novel that has you full of questions from the start and you do get answers. The pace is pitched extremely well and I genuinely couldn’t put it down as this is a psychological thriller that has you in its grip throughout. Highly recommended. OOHHWEEE my therapist is gonna get an earful when I see her next. I don't want to reveal too much about my family life—I mean I'm wearing a ski mask in my profile pic so that should give you an idea of my desire to be incognito—but this particular story was difficile to get through.

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Without revealing too much, we view the story from the point of view of Lily, a girl about to go off to Oxford. She struggles with the idea of leaving her close relationship with her mother behind, particularly as we gradually see the twisted dependence between mother and daughter. Would Lily's 'mama' function without her daughter, her 'doll'? The 'Bad Fruit' of the title is not just the referring to the mother's taste for soured juice, but giving us a metaphorical insight into the impact parenting can have on the trajectory of children's lives from generation to generation. We are left wondering what really lies at the heart of this strange family and how any of them can escape the destructive cycle of dependence and anger we bear witness to. Books like this typically hit me right in the heart. How can they not? The idea of a child being abused by anyone much less their own parents that should love them unconditionally is heartbreaking.