Londoner Sally is a survivor. Now living in New York, she’s seen her share of the damage caused by some men and is wise to their moves. When she meets Harry on a dating app, it’s all going so well. Until after the third date, when she wakes up realising she’s been spiked and all her savings are gone.
Not one to take this lying down, she is determined to get payback. To not only get her money back but to make sure Harry doesn’t pull this on anyone again.
While the main story is about title characters Sally and Harry, they’re a catalyst for other women taking back control of their narratives. Along the way, Sally ends up forming a group with other wronged women waiting to reclaim their own lives and deal out justice that has long evaded the men causing the damage. Seeing the strength that the women gain from opening up to each other and sharing their stories makes the novel an enjoyable read. Each of the women are from different backgrounds, but find a commonality in how they’ve been treated, and as a reader, it’s easy to root for all of them.
I don’t know if Sally would normally be a character I could relate to. She’s bold and brash and uncompromising and outwardly confident; sassy and snarky, occasionally reckless. But great fun nonetheless. As Roth peels back the layers, we see begin to see why she is the way she is, making her more likeable than she maybe ought to be. Roth is excellent at writing flawed characters with heart; no one is perfect and we’re all fighting unknown battles, and shouldn’t be judged for them. Sally’s loyalty to her friends and her fierce readiness to defend any woman being hurt by a man is second-to-none.
What I did like was Sally’s empathy. She’s focussed on taking her own revenge, but in forming the support group, she doesn’t take over as “Leader” prioritising her own problems. Sally’s confidence and determination to get even is contagious, emboldening the others in the group to take their own futures in their hands and to no longer be defined by the things done to them.
If you read this, and I hope you do, try to be around soft, unbreakable things because some of the women’s experiences will make you want to scream and throw things. It’s even worse because nothing the women in the novel have gone through is far-fetched. It’s all too believable and relatable. And even when the media focusses on these types of stories, the focus is often on the male perpetrators. As Roth notes, “Like, we’re nobody in our own stories”. Sally knows this has to change and she’s determined to be the one to spark this change.
This is a sharp, brilliantly written, addictive revenge thriller that is so easy to get hooked on. It’s also so much fun to read, even if some of the observations are a lot more real than they should be,
Thank you to the author, the publisher Avon and NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel for review.
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