Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! I love books about dysfunctional families so this sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately this was just okay.

I can understand why people would love this for the same reason I can understand why people love Normal People by Sally Rooney. This is marketed as a “horror” on Goodreads and although, yes, what is happening to Lily is absolutely horrifying, this is more of a character study. For me to engage with a character study I have to connect with the characters themselves and I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters in this book. Lily has essentially been stripped of all independent thinking and lives in fear of her mother so obviously she doesn’t have room for a personality of her own. That’s why I’m saying it’s more of a me issue with this book rather than the book itself because the main character is accurately portrayed as an abuse victim who has been slowly chipped at for years and years.

The writing is stunning and this author is incredibly talented. I just felt that a story like this should have made me feel more emotionally impacted. Lily is narrating the story but we see more inside of her mother’s head than her own and I would have preferred to see more of Lily’s thoughts and feelings. This was released back in 2022 and I was sent the ARC in 2023 so this has been out a while if you are still interested. Please check your trigger warnings though.

"Bad Fruit" by Ella King is a gripping rollercoaster ride through the tangled vines of family secrets. Meet Lily, whose seemingly normal life starts to sour as whispers of hidden truths swirl around her. King's storytelling is as bold and juicy as the titular fruit, drawing you in with every twist and turn. With each page, you'll find yourself peeling back layers of deception and discovery, unable to resist the pull of this haunting narrative. "Bad Fruit" is a beautifully told tale that will keep you hooked until the very last bite, proving that sometimes the sweetest families can have the sourest secrets.

This is a deeply disturbing book about an incredibly dysfunctional family. I read it fairly quickly, but partly because I wanted to leave this world behind. It was challenging to read about so much pain and upset.

I did enjoy the book, but I'm not sure I‘d rush to read it again. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

I picked up this one because of the intriguing title and synopsis and I wasn't disappointed. It's an edgy thriller on family dysfunction and dynamics.

The book is a slow burn and takes some time to dive into as it sets the context. It took me a few sittings to read it due to the content which tends to get a bit dark at times. Would definitely recommend this though for the way it is written and the plot.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for this e-arc in exchange of my unbiased review.

"Bad Fruit" is a very insightful and interesting exploration of the experience of trauma with its' believable aftermath if traumatic events remain unaddressed. This wasn't in any manner pleasurable and light read, but an important one.

Ella King masterfully pins how one person's untreated trauma may affect their development, and as a consequence their actions, but the systems around them, too. "Bad Fruit" explores the tragedy of what happens when people fall under the spell of very charismatic, yet very wounded individual, to the point that they lose their ability to gauge what's acceptable and normal. It also shows what children are able to endure just to experience the rare glimpses of love and belonging.

Even though the story is told solely from the protagonist's perspective, the snippets of other character's experiences shine through, showcasing how the same family system affects different members in various ways, resulting in co-dependency and CPTSD, and how roles of victim and perpetrators mix.

I enjoyed this book, but it was a bit of a slow burn to really gel with the characters. It's definitely a dark, twisted story about some really out there family dynamics.

This is a harrowing tale of disturbing domestic abuse. It is so gruesome and dark. I found bits too intense to read without a mental health breaks. It needs to come with a trigger warning!

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book!

I really enjoyed Bad Fruit, although it was quite tough to read at times, very emotional and raw. It deals with emotional abuse and familial abuse, particularly in relation to a mother and daughter so please do check trigger warnings before you read. I found the storytelling really captivating and overall I would recommend this book!

In this book we meet teenager Lily about to go off to University. Her mother is displaying cruel and erratic behaviour which appears to be spiralling out of control. She relies heavily on Lily, who does everything she can to keep the peace.

This is a dark and disturbing domestic drama. Dysfunctional family is an understatement with this story.

I struggled to like any of the characters at the beginning although Lilly did grow on me.
A very tension filled and super dark read, I just found this book too disturbing for me.

A gripping but very disturbing read about one seriously dysfunctional family. Lily's mother is a nasty piece of work whose cruel and erratic behaviour is spiralling out of control. She relies heavily on her youngest daughter Lily, who tiptoes around her and does everything she can to keep the peace and to please her mother, but it’s never enough. Following her mothers latest outburst when she discovers her husband has been sending love poems to their ex-daughter in law, Lily starts having “flashbacks” which make her question her past.

At times I just wanted to climb into the pages and free Lily and her siblings from the hell hole that was their life!!

A really compelling but very, very dark read. One that is at times rather hard to digest, I found myself having to take regular breaks to breathe and hug a cat for my own sanity. This is a book that will stay with you for some time.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this gripping read.

This is a hard read at times. Very raw and visceral and defintely not for the faint hearted. I felt so much for Lily and had to keep reminding myself it was only a novel. Truly chilling at times, and very well written.

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This story follows main character Lily and the toxic mother daughter relationship she has.

Well this is one seriously disturbing read and it is safe to say I had read nothing like it before. It doesn’t have as many twists and turns and ups and downs as a traditional thriller but it’s still an excellent read.

This is one I’m going to be thinking about for a long time, in years to come and was an amazing debut from this author.

A dark story of dysfunctional family which is disturbing yet addictive.

Lily, eighteen year old, lives with her Singaporean mother and her white British father in London. Lily has siblings, Julia and Jacob, however Lily is the only one has the ability to soothe her emotional volatile mother. As much as Lily can soother her mother, mother May holds a big control to Lily - forcing her to wear make-up and dye her hair so Lily can look like Chinese.
Lily is experiencing weird flashback, but she's just not sure where the flashback came from, whether she experienced memory loss from the past, any trauma from her past.
I was not too sure about what's exactly happened while reading this book, but I have the urge to keep going and wanting to know what's on earth is wrong with Mother May and what's going to happen.

This book explores about abusive codependent parent-child relationship.

Lots of traditional kueh of Peranakan Malaysia mentioned in this book, make me craving of them.