I really wasn't sure what to expect with this but it's a novel which, gripped me. It's a story of psychological abuse and eating disorders. Cassie has been dating Liam for a number of months having quickly moved in with him. What transpires during their time together is a catalogue of horrendous abuse as he puts her on a fitness regime and strict diet; no more than 500 calories a day which have to consist of the right nutrients. He slowly tears her away from her close-knit female friends making her dependent on him.
She manages to escape however only for him to turn up one day at her current gym where she is a PT. Liam has a tumour which has made him blind unless he has an operation.
The gym happens to have a cut-price offer for those with 'needs" and Cassie is assigned to him. Over the course of 10 weeks she devises equally abhorrent ways to punish him for his torture of her. At times you actually feel sorry for him as he accepts Cassie's dangerous methods of training until Healey cleverly switches back to focus on what he did previously. At times it was difficult to empathise with either of them as we are taken down the rabbit hole of Cassie's mind, which is seriously damaged. Despite this however, as a reader I was fully invested and had difficulty putting this down.
About three quarters of the way in you realise that Cassie has a serious problem with her own body image. It is her who restricts herself, pushing herself through rigorous training and watching what she eats. Her close friend Tanya feels she is judged on her body shape having given birth to two children. It is quite shocking.
The end is one I didn't see coming but felt that it was right. Healey managed to knit everything to perfection, as hints we never questioned became important observations.
I have to give this a 5* rating and thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read it ahead of publication.

I am not sure how I felt about this book as I found it quite a difficult read. I just wanted Liam and Cass to get on, but I guess that wouldn't make a gripping story.

It shows how two people supposedly to be in love can do such damage to each other.

I felt the ending to be a bit odd.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC.

Trigger warnings - abuse, coercive control, disordered eating, exercise OCD, food control, attempted murder.

(Unfortunately) I could relate to the main character, Cass and her relationship with Liam. This made the book a hard read at times, but definitely worth it.

The author has brilliantly captured some absolutely brutal scenes. How she has managed this and then found a balance of moving on to something else is amazing. She has really shown the depth of what can be reality for some, and how it can be misconstrued or excused.

I love how the book is told on two timelines, I think this really gives you a chance to get to know Cass & Liam.

I really didn’t enjoy Cass’ mum & dad as characters - although maybe this was intentional, I just felt like they could have been better. Would have loved to have seen them develop more and get more involved.

One thing I couldn’t get past was Liam not knowing Cass’ voice, even with the accent change. Maybe this is just something I’ve honed in on too much. But it’s definitely one of my main reasons I’ve not given the book 5 stars. Sorry!

This book was a real page-turner for me, but I was disappointed with the ending. It felt really rushed and an anti-climax after what was such a descriptive, tense book.

I have to say this book is like nothing I’ve read before - in a good way! I think it has covered some really important topics, in a very realistic and relatable way. I’m glad that I got the chance to read the ARC and I would definitely recommend. I’ll be looking out for this author now, I’m very interested in her other work.

Thanks NetGalley!

Sweat BY EMMA HEALEY

Two people that have issues come together and use forms of control on each other and themselves to put meaning and self worth in their lives.
They are abusive to each other.
The abuse gets deeper and more warped as time goes on.
Did the original abuser create the other?

When two people come together and feed on each other’s insecurities and bring out the very worst in each other.

Toxicity at its finest.

Fancy a read?

Cassie split from her boyfriend Liam a while ago as he was obsessive and controlling and whilst she liked the transformation of her mind and body, he took things too far. She now works at a gym as a trainer and they have just opened up to be more inclusive to those with disabilities. She is taken aback to find her first of these clients is none other than Liam who now claims to be blind, something Cassie doesn't quite believe at first. She changes her name when around him and her intonation to disguise her voice and does occasional things to check if he is really blind. We find out more about how controlling Liam was and what lengths he would go to, to spy on Cassie.

This is a story about a control and in parts an abusive, toxic relationship. Cassie has managed to take the step to freedom and is now torn between doing the right thing and getting revenge. There are two timelines, one of the relationship in the past and the current one where Cassie is training the blind Liam. It's clever, it's twisty and for anyone who has been in such circumstances a reminder of how powerful coercive control can be and that when in such a relationship it's often hard to see the wood from the trees, what is the real normal and what you think it might be at the time. A very enjoyable, different read.


For more reviews please follow me on Twitter (X) @nickisbookblog
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What a stressful book! Why did Cassie have so many awful people in her life? Obviously there's a clear baddie but I would gladly give her mum a smack.
I think this is my favourite Emma Healey book so far, even though it made me tense and angry.

I loved this book! I loved the author anyway so knew I would get on with this one so this was an easy choice to make and I devoured it.

I really wanted to like this book, but just couldn't get into it, despite trying a couple of times. I just seemed to get lost with the characters.

Sadly, this book wasn't for me, but I will try again another time.

Thank you for the opportunity.

I love Emma Healey’s writing - her clever plotting, deft characterisation and the way she tightens the tension beautiful. This novel is a great example of all of these.

A well written tight thriller, taut with tension throughout. This is a disturbing tale of fitness/nutrition addiction wrought with twisted manipulation, revenge and obsession.

I was keen to read this as I had previously enjoyed “Elizabeth is Missing”. "Sweat" however, is a very different read to her previous work. It’s a gripping thriller about the dark sides of abusive relationships. Cassie, a personal trainer, tries to rebuild her life after leaving her controlling ex-boyfriend, Liam. When Liam, now blind, returns as her client, Cassie sees a chance for revenge. The story shifts between past and present, showing the abuse Cassie endured and her fight to regain control.

The book is intense and engaging, though its heavy themes can be disturbing and it may not be suitable for those sensitive to domestic abuse content.

A thought-provoking thriller with complex characters.

This was a thought provoking book, which felt very different to Emma Healey’s previous work. I felt that Liam was very much a villain and felt completely beyond redemption for much of the book. I struggled to understand why the parents liked him when he was clearly so rude to them. The sentencing at the end of the book felt a little off but overall an enthralling read.

Formatting wouldnt translate onto my device, so couldnt read it,

So will provide positve views in remainder of questions as this isnt the authors fault!

A great story showing how challenging relationships can be and if it is really what people want to see from the outside.

A really hard read at times but potentially everyone should try this book. It covers domestic abuse and coercive control and it’s thought provoking. All subjects that need highlighting to show how hard it is to, not only be in an abusive relationship but get out of it and the damage that is left. Coercion is sadly brilliantly detailed. I lease read!

Thanks for sending me an advanced copy of this book. I must admit, it took me a while to get into it because of various things going on. However, once I actually felt more interested in the story, I enjoyed it very much. It was especially interesting to see Cassie’s obsession with Liam invading her every thought, leading to what was a surprise for me. No issues with the writing and the story at all. Great characters. Thank you.
#NetGalley #Sweat

I picked this up because I was interested in the idea that fitness -- an obsession with it -- could be the thing that explodes a relationship. It's not a far fetched concept: exercise and diet have long been used as tools to control, intimidate and manipulate. In this book, we see what happens when those abuses of power are coming from a partner who you love.
Can you, indeed, love someone who abuses you? It's the age old question and this book does not set out to answer it.

Instead, Emma Healey gives us a woman whose vulnerability and naivety lead her into a relationship with a man who is obsessed with the idea of wellness and displays his own kind of desperation for companionship.
In his hands, this perfectly normal need is twisted into a quest to carve his girlfriend's body and mind into something "good", "fit", "healthy". "disciplined" -- all the buzzwords you'll see on a brochure for the gym.

These two volatile people create a situation where there can be no winners: she's losing her grip on reality and he is allowed to let his maniacal tendencies roam to their logical conclusion.

It is difficult to find an objective party, because the cast of the book can also only have opinions based on how deeply diet culture, patriarchy, sexism and a myriad other social and interpersonal -isms allow them to. Ultimately, this is about how you could one day find yourself in a relationship that you have to survive. And what will you do then?

If Cass, the female main character, were a person in the real world, I would avoid her: she is reckless and her insecurities have turned her into a prickly person that you can't get through to. But I would still be on her side because the other thing this book shows us is how easily a woman can be destroyed at the hands of a man.

It's a tough one, and my heart was racing throughout. But I'm glad I finished the book.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book and the plot is actually quite simple in many ways, but it’s an intriguing story nonetheless. The complexities of the relationship between cassie and Liam were really well drawn and there was a palpable sense of tension throughout most of the book. Liam was a little one-dimensional at times, in that he didn’t seem to have a single redeeming feature, and the coincidence of how they meet again is a little far fetched, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Looking forward to more from the author. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I was asked to review this book by NetGalley but boy was this harrowing - I had a difficult childhood so thing like this always disturb me- abusive behavoiur, violence, eating disorders, attempted murder and suicide thrown into the mix.

Cassie is working as a personal trainer after she has left an abusive relationship with her ex, Liam. But, when Liam comes back into her life, Cassie has got the upper hand and readers see her behave in a difficult way- which readers will understand.

Told in two timelines although uncomfortable you want to know what happens.

The beauty of book reviewing is that you read books you would never think about picking up and in a way glad I did

Well written and compulsive story telling.

First of all can I just say that my star rating is just my opinion, I know that there will be lots of readers who will love this book but sadly it wasn't for me.
The story is written over two timelines and it does flow beautifully from one to the other.
Cassie and Liam are in a relationship but it is clear from the start that it is a relationship where Liam has complete control, a control that is all consuming, a control that Liam keeps with sweet gestures amidst anger and abuse, a relationship where he convinces Cassie that everything that he does is for her benefit.
Liam is a fitness freak and by both mental and physical abuse he aims to change Cassie into a person of his choosing, a person who will obey him, a person who can't exist without him, he regulates her food, he regulates her exercise, he body shames her, he pushes her way past her limits, he tracks her movements, she is totally under his control.
When circumstances change and Cassie is in control she is out for revenge and she seeks it in the most disturbing ways.
I found a lot of this story disturbing and some of Cassie's methods were quite nauseating but having said that, Liam's treatment of Cassie was beyond abusive and controlling.
The problems that I had with this story are, firstly that I didn't like any of the characters, secondly, why did Cassie stay with Liam, OK, I do know that this scenario is quite common in reality, thirdly I fail to see that, although he was blind, being in close contact with someone that you have lived with and not recognising them is beyond belief, I have worked with blind patients and they almost always knew which nurses approached their beds before they even spoke, lastly I think that Liam's abuse and Cassie's revenge went on a tad too long.
On the plus side the author has confronted controlling behaviour, poor body image, paranoia and addictive behaviour really well and has written a quite unexpected ending.
Thank you to Net Gallery for this ARC, my review is totally voluntary.