About the Book
Welcome to Wisewood. We’ll keep your secrets if you keep ours.
Natalie Collins hasn’t heard from her sister in more than half a year.
The last time they spoke, Kit was slogging from mundane workdays to obligatory happy hours to crying in the shower about their dead mother. She told Natalie she was sure there was something more out there.
And then she found Wisewood.
On a private island off the coast of Maine, Wisewood’s guests commit to six-month stays. During this time, they’re prohibited from contact with the rest of the world—no Internet, no phones, no exceptions. But the rules are for a good reason: to keep guests focused on achieving true fearlessness so they can become their Maximized Selves. Natalie thinks it’s a bad idea, but Kit has had enough of her sister’s cynicism and voluntarily disappears off the grid.
Six months later Natalie receives a menacing e-mail from a Wisewood account threatening to reveal the secret she’s been keeping from Kit. Panicked, Natalie hurries north to come clean to her sister and bring her home. But she’s about to learn that Wisewood won’t let either of them go without a fight.
My Review
I also read Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel and it was a book club pick for the one I run, so I was curious to dive into this one. From reading the synopsis I would not have guessed that a main part of this novel goes into graphic detail on horrific child abuse, so if that is not something you can handle, I would advise you to skip this one. Some scenes had my stomach rolling and I had to put the book down to get my emotions under control. Rebecca shows readers how generational trauma comes to exist, growing up under the hands of an abusive father and finally escaping – only to then play her own games with others’ lives.
We also follow sisters Natalie and Kit. Natalie becomes worried when her sister Kit decides to take a retreat on Wisewood – where she is completely cut off from the rest of the world on a private island. When her sister is gone for longer than Natalie thinks is normal, she takes matters into her own hands and goes to Wisewood herself with intentions to bring her sister home. What she stumbles upon instead is a deeply disturbing scenes filled with sociopathy and narcissism – all at the hands of Rebecca, who now has Kit deeply under her spell.
Natalie works to save not only her sister, but others that are on the island and have given up their life – and majority of their basic rights – to please Rebecca in almost a cult-like manner. This novel is highly disturbing and relentless at that – my muscles were taut when I was reading, just waiting for another horror to be uncovered. The writing was strong and quite descriptive, and while the content was shocking at times, I never became fully invested in the story. Could be because I had to take so many breaks that it read a little choppy for me, but also not a lot of the characters were likeable. I could sympathize at times, but especially with the ending I was a little like – oof. It wasn’t my particular cup of tea, but it was a clever albeit highly tense read.
3 stars
