Rating: 4 out of 5.

This book is a trip! It’s written by the author of The Hunting Wives and is so, so messy. The characters are absolutely despicable – it’s total popcorn fun! I especially liked it because it was set in the 1980s.

The book is told from the prospective of four main characters – Charleigh, Nellie, Jane, and Jackson.

Charleigh is the wife of the richest man in town, but grew up poor and clawed her way to the top. She never forgets how hard it was to get where she is and is determined that her daughter Nellie won’t have the same problems she does. Charleigh is selfish, shallow, ruthless, and will do almost anything to keep her standing in town.

Nellie is a spoiled brat and a truly awful person. She only cares for herself and actually delights in other people’s suffering, particularly if she’s the one that caused it. Nellie’s place in the social hierarchy is threatened by the appearance of Jane, part of a poor family living on the outskirts of town that live the trad life.

Jane’s father is a carpenter and her mother creates oils, soaps, potions and stuff. Jane gives the appearance of a sweet, wholesome, naive girl that the locals instantly welcome into their social group, ticking Nellie off. But Jane isn’t as wholesome as she appears and she’s got secrets of her own she wants to hide from the world.

Jackson is a gay interior designer and best friend to Charleigh. He resents how much she takes advantage of their friendship but is beholden to her for his livelihood and connections. He is suffocating in the small Texas town and yearns to find a nice man and fall in love – and he thinks he may just have found it.

The book is full of jealousy, rivalries, pettiness, secrets, and gossip, with the adults just as bad as the kids. The book has all the soap opera juiciness you could want. It occurs over the course of a short period of time, but a lot happens. You can tell that nothing is at it seems, but can’t figure out what is wrong. What starts as a typical petty jealousy quickly escalates to people being hurt and lives being ruined. Just when you think you’ve got things figured out, the book takes a twist into something you didn’t expect.

The book is fast-paced, tense, and riveting. It will suck you in and you won’t be able to stop. The ending is shocking and abrupt, which was a bit frustrating. I read somewhere that the author is planning a sequel, so hopefully that will ease some of my frustration.

I received an early audio of the book from Sourcebook Audio. The narrators did a fantastic job portraying their characters. They captured the pettiness and cruelty of the characters perfectly. The male narrator that portrayed Jackson and Jane’s father was so good. The voice he used for Jane’s father was silky and smooth. It was equal parts sexy and creepy, and left me wondering if this guy was just a player or something more sinister. The female voices were lively and expressive. I felt like I was eavesdropping on conversations and they kept me hooked on the story.

If you like riveting stories about messed up people doing messed up things, you need to read this one.