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.


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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.

Really enjoyed this new offering from Emma Healey, it’s clear from previous books that hooks are what this author excels in and SWEAT definitely delivered. I especially enjoyed the slow unraveling of the main character; at first I was on her side, what she went through was clearly terrible and inexcusable, but then her methods of revenge aren’t exactly above board either. I loved the slow revealing of the last, I thought narratively it was very clever how the author uses little prompts from Cassie’s current life and surroundings to prompt the flashbacks.

Overall I found this a really enjoyable read. Cassie’s reactions seemed overblown at points but I think this was.a deliberate showcase of how her mental state was plummeting. Would definitely recommend.

I'm not quite sure how to describe this book. It's a difficult read for a number of reasons - trigger warnings for coercive control; emotional abuse and eating disorders for starters. The story is told through the present as seen by Cassie, the protagonist, and also by flashbacks to the earlier relationship and experiences of Cassie with Liam. I didn't like Cassie at the start, when I didn't know some of her back story. I found her vindictive, petty and quite hateful. This made it a slow start for me and I left long gaps between reading, Then, all of a sudden about a third of the way through, I was transfixed and couldn't put it down. I wanted to know more of the history and I wanted to know how far Cassie would be willing to go in her 'revenge'. There's so much personal unravelling in here which makes it really difficult at times, but I've also found it very thought provoking and reflective about women who do experience this type of abuse and the lack of understanding and support which (sometimes) they find in friends and family. I find myself thinking about this book even though I finished it a day or so ago and have already started my next. Did I enjoy it? I'm not sure that's the right description here, but it did make me empathise with Cassie, and all the partners in the same position as her.

I couldn't read this fast enough to see how it played out where the abused became the abuser.

This is quite a dark and twisted storyline. Neither of the MC's were likeable. I did strangely feel a small amount empathy towards both of them as it revealed what the other had done.

It's not what I call an enjoyable read. It made me feel sick, horrified, and cringing at what happened, but I couldn't put it down.