SYNOPSIS:
For fans of My Dark Vanessa and Celeste Ng, Bad Fruit is an unforgettable portrayal of a toxic mother-daughter relationship and a young woman’s search for truth and liberation.
Just graduated from high school and waiting to start college at Oxford, Lily lives under the scrutiny of her volatile Singaporean mother, May, and is unable to find kinship with her elusive British father, Charlie. When May suspects that Charlie is having an affair, there’s only one thing that calms May down: a glass of perfectly, spoiled orange juice served by Lily, who must always taste it first to make sure it’s just right.
As her mother becomes increasingly unhinged, Lily starts to have flashbacks that she knows aren’t her own. Over a sweltering London summer, all semblance of civility and propriety is lost, as Lily begins to unravel the harrowing history that has always cast a shadow on her mother. The horrifying secrets she uncovers will shake her family to its core, culminating in a shattering revelation that will finally set Lily free.
Beautiful and shocking, Bad Fruit is as compulsive as it is thought-provoking, as nuanced as it is explosive. A masterful exploration of mothers and daughters, inherited trauma and the race to break its devastating cycle, Bad Fruit will leave readers breathlessly questioning their own notions of femininity, race and redemption.
Bad Fruit explored the dysfunctional (and abusive) relationship between Lily and her mother. What seemed like a relationship with an overbearing parent during the first few pages of the book, soon turned more sinister as we delved into the book further.
The characterisation of Lily’s mother was skilfully done. The reader could feel a full range of emotions while grasping the manipulative and downright almost ‘evil’ nature of her mother. While her own skeletons remained in the closet for the most part, her mother did not refrain from using her words and manipulation to the maximum effect, yielding disturbing results. It was quite unsettling as a reader, which only commends King’s skill as a writer.
The author also quite perfectly captured the essence of both Lily and her mother through the means of flashbacks and memories. What came as a surprise to the reader however, was the blurred line between the two (it’s difficult to explain without spoiling ;)). While the book certainly focused on this dysfunctional relationship, it wasn’t done without keeping nuance in mind.
Throughout the novel King tried to explore the cyclical nature of abuse and the exploration of isolation within families— even siblings due to this divide.
However commendable her writing, some parts, personally felt flat. The hallucinations and flashbacks became repetitive, with predictable outcomes. The author tried to ‘show’ and not ‘tell’ yet some parts felt as if they were being explained to the reader which contrasted with the otherwise beautiful writing in the text.
Aside from a few discrepancies here and there, the novel put out a critical message, allowing the reader to explore the topic of dysfunctional families and relationships through this novel. It is also important to note, the usage of ‘bad fruit’ or rotten fruit in the novel was spectacular.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed.
kashvi!! i’m so late to this and it’s been a while but HOW HAVE YOU BEEN!! bad fruit sounds like such an intriguing read dealing with a pretty tough issue, i’m intrigued by your review. 💛
hi cherelle!! i’m so sorry for the late reply but i’m good how are you? i’ve missed you <3 and tysm for liking the review :)