The Beloveds (ARC)
By: Maureen Lindley
Expected Publication: April 3, 2018
Cleanliness (See “About” for scale): Disgusting (15+ curse words. Other topics to consider: extreme hate, rage, disrespect to family, jealousy, cancer, mental health, mention of sex, divorce, drugs, drinking, smoking, stealing, and murder.)
3 stars
[Side note:] This book I received is an ARC (advanced reader’s copy), and I am so totally excited. For those of you that don’t know, an ARC book is a copy of an unfinished book given to a small audience for review before the finished book is published. This is my first one to receive, and it just made me so happy! Okay, enough fangirling, on to the review!
This book … wow. This is not for young readers. It is told from the viewpoint of Elizabeth (Betty) Stash. She is an extremely warped character. I would consider her to be a high-functioning psychopath. She has the personality of a female Sherlock Holmes without a John to save her. Feeling unloved by everyone and everything, she decides to try to make everyone around her hurt, too.
There actually is one love in her life: a house. That house is taken away from her by her “perfect” sister, and that simply makes her more vengeful. I have never EVER read a book about a objectophile before. Her point of view is crazy and so interesting!
This story really shows how obsessions destroy you and your life. It was intriguing, but I won’t recommend it because A. It has an obnoxious amount of cursing. (Mostly in the second half.) B. The ending was lacking. It acts as if it’s set up for a sequel, but you can only talk about murderous tendencies of a person for so long. This book used up all that time.
Audra's Book Blabbing 