Bad Fruit

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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. 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! 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.”

It's genuinely taken the breath out of me, this book - I love it, but I'm definitely going to need some recovery time after the gutpunches in that ending. The conceit is so smart, taking generational trauma and making it literal, and the way the author writes characters you'll care about and then shows you the full extent of their trauma - brutal even as a reader who knows it's fiction, but that's the genius of the writing. Lily is the youngest of the three children of May who is Singaporean and Charlie who is British. The story is told from the viewpoint of Lily, 18, who has been offered a place at Oxford and just wants to survive the summer at home. She feels it's her duty to play the family peacekeeper between her volatile mother and the rest of the family. The dysfunctional (and abusive) relationship between Lily and her mother is the focus, but the rest of her family doesn’t fare well either. In addition, other hidden issues surface during the course of the story. This is an exceptional novel about a toxic mother-daughter relationship and I found it extremely difficult to put down. It's definitely psychological in nature but I don't know if I'd call it a thriller. More like fiction or literary fiction as another reviewer noted. I'm not going to say much more because I don't want to give anything away. I'll just say that I was emotionally wrung out by the ending which I really liked by the way.

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Bad Fruit occupies that liminal space between psychological thriller and horror,beautifully written and incredibly disturbing. In thislushly poisonous tale, we follow a teenage girl on the cusp of freedom from her tyrannical mother. Things take a turn towards the supernatural when she gains access to intergenerational memories and begins to finally understand her family’s strange behavior. Perfect for those who enjoyed Natsuo Kirino’s underrated mishmash of thriller and body horror, Grotesque.“ 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. 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.”

However, the foundations of their relationship are crumbling and we’re right there with Lily as she finds out exactly why… Another really engaging thread to this book is Lily’s interest in etymology. As a parallel to exploring her own roots, Lily’s love of the origin of language is woven throughout by giving us lovely descriptions like this: 'The Latin root for ‘hallucinate’ is irresistibly beautiful, alucinari, something you would name a Victorian child.' 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.” Bad Fruit is brilliant, taut and explosive. Ella King deftly explores the toxicity of generational trauma while being unafraid to confront the racial tensions that can simmer below the surface. A bold new voice.” A beautiful, bewitching, unsettling and unputdownable dream of a book . . . .I genuinely loved this, it will stay with me for a long time’ LISA JEWELL Best book I have read in a long long time. Intelligently written, really well paced. I devoured this’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ IF YOU HAVE A DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR MOTHER OR FATHER OR BOTH, CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED. If you don't have the coping mechanisms to deal with being #triggered by family abuse, don't self-harm by forcing yourself to read this. Mental health >>>>>>

The writing was just okay—a lil too try hard in some areas, but damn she nailed that plot and the ending. I'm glad it was a positive ending. I don't think I could've taken any more sadness tbh. And I loved how the author included two characters that actually cared and helped. You need people outside of your situation to get you out the other side.Bad Fruit blew me away with its powerful and absolutely immersive look at 17-year old Lily’s life. This psychological thriller explores a complex and dark family dynamic: what do you do if the most toxic relationships in your life are with your immediate family? It was important to me the author is Asian because I'm TIREDT of white people only including Asian women to be petite, trophy wives to fat, rich white guys. I loved The Darkest Web—but literally the only POC in the entire book was a shrewd Asian woman mooching off her lawyer husband. NEXT. And since this book got deep with it and the way culture influences family dynamics, understanding that on a genetic level is necessary. Now, I'm not saying all Asian moms are like this, or only Asian moms can be like this—but let's just put it this way, if you know, you know. And Ella King KNOWS. 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. I don’t think I have read any fiction carrying a dysfunctional family theme with this bunch of mental health issues before. This would be the first, and it amazes me on how I actually enjoyed it a lot— although I would say, it was stressful, harrowing and quite blistering too.

Bad Fruit is a truly memorable debut novel. A cleverly layered story of inherited trauma, a complex and damaged family dynamic, identity, trust, growth and a young woman understanding that the hardest thing she can do might just be the thing that saves her. Disturbing, poignant and memorable all at once- an exploration of a very dark relationship between a daughter and her mother.” 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.”The story also sees Lily develop a friendship with an older man, Lewis, who lives near her. On paper, this is the dangerous relationship but Ella King subverts what is expected when it comes this, heightening the impact of Lily’s relationships with her family. 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. Beautiful, disturbing, impossible to put down. Bad Fruit heralds a seriously impressive new talent in Ella King’ CHRIS WHITAKER At once an addictive thriller with a mystery at its heart and an erudite reflection on the challenges unique to a multiracial family, this is an ambitious debut from a writer to watch.” The story builds to become one that you just can't stop reading. I was walking around the flat, feeding the cat, making my lunch, brushing my teeth and my Kindle was with me while I just had to keep reading.