Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of The Kids Are Not Okay in exchange for an honest review.
Nora Rourke has spent years making herself indispensable to Cassandra Rainsford, the matriarch of one of America's most powerful families. She is already tangled up with the Rainsfords in more ways than one, but when Cassandra suddenly dies, Nora's carefully secured place within their world becomes a lot less certain. When she is invited to join the six Rainsford siblings at their remote family estate for a week-long grief retreat, Nora sees it as an opportunity to prove that she still belongs. Unfortunately, the Rainsfords have their own traditions, including something called The Hunt, and unsurprisingly, things go downhill from there. Apparently this family cannot just grieve like normal people.
I flew through this. The plot kept me gripped and constantly second guessing what was actually going on and, more importantly, who I could trust. I really enjoyed the character development, particularly the feeling that nobody was quite who they claimed to be. The relationships between Nora and the Rainsford siblings added another layer to the story because there were so many secrets, questionable motives and complicated loyalties running underneath everything. Basically, not one emotionally healthy person in sight.
The supernatural aspect was also really cleverly done. It could very easily have tipped over into being a bit ridiculous, but it never did. Instead, it remained unsettling and strangely plausible within the world of the story. The writing flowed really well, thus making it such an easy book to get completely absorbed in. I noticed one or two small spelling errors, but nothing that affected my enjoyment and they were the sort of things that could easily be picked up before the final publication.
This was such a strong debut. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys supernatural thrillers, dysfunctional wealthy families, morally questionable characters and books that keep you wondering what on earth is actually going on.
