Got What Was Coming alternates between past and present.
Three young women, Mali, Star and Abeba, receive an email from the school they’d attended as kids. It is an invitation to the tenth anniversary of the inauguration of ‘The Second Chance Cafe’, which they’d set up to help disenfranchised kids.
It is an exciting but ultimately tragic story that covers the complex lives and inter-relationships of four teenage girls and their mothers. The book reaches its climax with the death of another girl and the realisation of the role the others all played in her death and the impact on their lives through to adulthood.
What did I think?
Since I first discovered Hilly Barmby's book, I just can't get enough of them so I was delighted to received an early copy of her new self-published novel, Got What Was Coming and it's no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
It's a very intriguing story with three main characters who are are all very different. Mali, Star and Abeba may not have started off as friends at school but they are linked by a tragic event. Via a dual timeline we find out exactly what happened in the past to make them into the women they are today.
With bullying at the heart of the story, it's often difficult to read as events play out and the tragedy is fully revealed. It's very thought-provoking to see that although a particular person may not have been an active bully they are most definitely complicit by either standing by and doing nothing or pushing another person into the bully's sights to draw attention away from themselves.
Incredibly poignant and compelling, Got What Was Coming is an eye-opening and thought-provoking story about human nature and the regrets that shape who we are today. Never has that well-known phrase 'survival of the fittest' held so much meaning and chilled me to the core. A highly recommended read and one that will stay with me for a long time.
I received a digital ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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