Welcome to my stop on the Blog Tour for Stay Mad, Sweetheart by Heleen Kist. The premise intrigued me and I wanted to be a part of the tour when I found out about it.
Synopsis
THERE’S A FINE LINE BETWEEN INNOCENCE AND GUILT. AN EVEN FINER LINE BETWEEN JUSTICE AND REVENGE.
Data scientist Laura prefers the company of her books to the real world – let alone that cesspit online. But when her best friend Emily becomes the victim of horrific cyberbullying, she makes it her all-engulfing mission to track down the worst culprits.
Petite corporate financier Suki is about to outshine the stupid boys at her firm: she’s leading the acquisition of Edinburgh’s most exciting start-up. If only she could get its brilliant, but distracted, co-founder Laura to engage.
Event planner Claire is left to salvage the start-up’s annual conference after her colleague Emily fails to return to work. She’s determined to get a promotion out of it, but her boss isn’t playing ball.
As the women’s paths intertwine, the insidious discrimination they each face comes to light. Emboldened by Emily’s tragic experience, they join forces to plot the downfall of all those who’ve wronged them.
But with emotions running high, will the punishments fit the crimes?
A pacy and suspenseful novel with its feet firmly in the #MeToo era. 9 to 5 meets Suits with a dash of Black Mirror.
My Rating
My Thoughts
As I read it, I made a Twitter thread to keep my thoughts in one place. Here it is.
The starting was a little slow for me but the emotion building was still there.
The book has been called a modern day #MeToo thriller and that was what intrigued me about it in the first place. I am glad to say I was not disappointed.
The sexism at work that the book portrays is all too real (I am in the world of Finance and I am speaking from experience here) and I totally get what Suki would have gone through.
The Emily bit gave me a pause as I had not previously considered the impact social media posts may have on a person as I do not give it any weightage in my life. This story showed me another point of view which gave me a little pause and to think back if I had ever caused anyone distress like that.
I like the idea of how the women banded together to dish out justice without actually causing the person in question damage that they could not recover from. I like the idea that even with the comeuppance dished out, a person can still reform and get his or her life back on track. Only if they are contrite about their actions, will they succeed though.
Heleen Kist has done an amazing job with the character building as Justin and Suki are two characters who turned out to be totally different than what I had imagined when they were first introduced.
The story, though, predictable to a certain extent, kept me hooked on to it because of the thrill all around.
I’d say these kind of stories are needed in today’s world to make people realize what they are doing that is incorrect. What they may be doing because that was an accepted practice. This kind of story shows that one may not malicious intent but actions could still have severe consequences.
One thing is for sure, I am reading the book Kist published before this one and I am keeping an eye out for more of her work in future.
To end with, I’ll jot down a few things due to which this book gets a 4 star rating from me and not a 5 star.
- The first person narrative: I believe it was not really required in the grand scheme of things as that was not the only narrative in the story.
- Religion: One particular religion was highlighted within the talks of terrorism and extremism and I believe that is uncalled for because that is not the only religion that has had people killed in the name of religion by people who don’t actually understand the religion.
Highly recommended.
That’s all folks!
Hina Loves To Read 
Thank you very much, Hina! Knowing you worked in finance (like I have) I was very interested to know whether it would also resonate with you. Glad I kept you guessing on the characters.
Your religious concern was in the context of Laura ranting about how the police are currently inappropriately fixated on those types of events (therefore agreeing with you) and it’s where gullible people are encouraged to do bad things by extremists with ulterior motives. Having said that, I’m happy to take on board that it could be read as singling one out.
That’s for giving the book a rikshaw ride, also!
Kind regards, Heleen
LikeLike
Your points make complete sense here about the religion bit. What say we do something in real in the world of Finance to rid us of the sexism that’s prevalent there?
LikeLike
The rikshaw ride was kind of depressing as it ended on the most sad note in the story. I am not going to put any spoilers here.
LikeLike