CARE FOR ME

 

SYNOPSIS

When Amira takes her mother Afrah to Ravenswood Lodge Care Home, she thinks they will both be safe. But the past is just around the corner . . .

Amira is struggling to look after her mother, Afrah. So when they arrive at Ravenswood Lodge Care Home, beautiful and imposing against the background of the Scottish Highlands, she hopes it is the right decision for them both.

But soon Afrah insists her belongings are being stolen, her photographs, her jewellery, her pill boxes, Amira and the staff are convinced it's just Afrah's imagination, it's just her memory.

But Afrah knows Ravenswood Lodge isn't a safe place. Could it have something to do with the past? She remembers newspaper clippings, hazy images of a fire years ago, a memory she's spent years forgetting and now she just wants to remember.

Someone wants her gone. But first, she needs to convince Amira of the truth.

Title: Care for me

Author: Farah Cook

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication date: October 21, 2021

REVIEW

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐

A few months ago I was given the chance to read the first couple of chapters of Care For Me and then I thought it showed great promise, a psychological thriller with the ultimate unreliable narrator, an elderly woman with dementia. The synopsis made it look like a really twisty story and after reading the book I think it was a bit misleading. Yeah, all the things explained there happen…in the last third!

My main issue with Care For Me was the pacing. More than halfway through nothing really exciting had happened yet. The first half was more a story about the struggles of people with dementia and those of the ones who have to take care of them. Granted, the portrayal of Alzheimer’s and the toll it takes in the families of those suffering from it are magnificently done, showing clearly the research the author must have done, but it just became a bit too much. I needed for the suspense plot to start moving!

Afrah’s chapters managed to make me really anxious. The fact you can’t really know if what you’re reading is really happening or just in her head was quite unsettling. Her chapters in the Care Home had a particular oppressive feel.

The last third had all the twists and turns lacking in the first two. Some were surprising but some were a bit predictable and required too many coincidences.

A good debut that could have been great if the pacing was more even all throughout the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

PD: how is it possible that a character writes on a diary entry from 1986 that they wanna go see “Thelma & Louise” when that movie wasn’t released until 1991? 🤔