NOTE: I rated this book 4.75 stars and it probably would have been 5 stars but a HP reference early on left a bad taste in my mouth. Dear authors and publishers everywhere, WE DON’T WANT THIS!!

I think this is marketed under the thriller genre and it definitely is, but it read more like literary or contemporary fiction in my opinion, it’s a good mix. There’s also a great sense of humour and a healthy dose of satirical criticism of the publishing industry thrown in.

Fruit Fly follows two characters: Mallory - an author with one hit to her name and no ideas for the next one Leo - a young man struggling with addiction and trading sex for his next hit Reddit tells Mallory the ingredients for a bestseller today are sad, gay, dark. So naturally she decides to make a Grindr account to seek out some inspiration, leading her to a party and more importantly Leo. Leo’s tragic backstory and life on the margins of society is just what Mallory needs to return to the limelight, so she goes undercover as his therapist while adapting his story for her new novel.

I love Fruit Fly because it kept me on my toes!! I could not have guessed where the story would go, largely because Mallory and Leo are both unpredictable for different reasons but both out of their own kind of desperation. Leo is living under a bridge with a crippling addiction and no savoury way to fund it, so he goes through waves of withdrawal and using that trigger erratic behaviour. Mallory feels her career slipping through her fingers and takes risks to follow this new pursuit secretly from under the thumb of her controlling husband. They are both victims of circumstance and it’s like a car crash you can’t look away from because they KEEP doing awful things! These characters are not even in the same orbit until Mallory starts living a double life and I loved watching them think they were both playing the other (is that a micro trope?? If so it’s a fave).

This book is a phenomenal deep-dive into addiction, family violence and cycles of abuse - the central theme being exploitation vs inspiration. In one word: binge-able! I have never struggled with substance abuse so I can’t comment on whether the experience Leo portrays is accurate, but it felt raw and unfiltered and didn’t shy away from the harsh reality. I think fans of any genre will enjoy and take value from this story.