Sweet Water

by Cara Reinard

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Sweet Water in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Cara Reinard's latest novel, Sweet Water, is a disturbing and thrilling tale, one that weaves in family horror with mystery and thriller elements.

Sarah Ellsworth had a dream. The perfect husband, the perfect family. A huge home. The works. She even got that dream, only to learn the hard way that dreams never capture the full detail. Or the darker sides that can come with it.

Her son, Finn, seemed like a boy with all the potential in the world. So you can imagine how much her world is rocked when it appears that he may have murdered his girlfriend. And that her husband's entire family is willing to work together to cover it up...

“Please,” I beg to the starlit sky peeking through the trees. “Let her be breathing.”

Much like Finn, the teenage son, Sweet Water is a novel full of potential. Thankfully, it didn't let us down in the same way that boy did! This was a dark and thrilling tale, one that was unafraid to raise uncomfortable questions about family and loyalty.

A few things worth addressing early on in my review: this is not going to be a book for everyone. It's tense and uncomfortable at times, and the description alone should make it clear what sort of subject matter we're dealing with.

Likewise, the tone seemed to change suddenly over the course of Sweet Water. It went from this tense build-up to something else. Personally, it felt to me like the change was to try and redirect the attention to a different element of the story. But I can see how it would be off-putting to some.

All things considered, Sweet Water is a novel that held my attention right through to the end, with plenty of dark twists, and even darker implications. If you're a fan of family drama/horror infused with thriller elements, odds are good that you might just enjoy the hell that Sarah Ellsworth is about to go through in Sweet Water.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks