July 6, 2021
NetGalley invite, publisher invite, fiction, suspense, book series, arc,
Original May 2020 translated from Swedish
Book 2: Faye Adelheim (Faye's Revenge)
Knopf Publishing
320 pages
Fiction, suspense, arc, digital
ISBN: 9780525657996
7/26/21-7/26/21
The Golden Cage (book 1) 2020
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3182313050
Abby Endler
Publicist | Alfred A. Knopf
I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher invite and NetGalley. This review is my voluntary and unbiased opinion.
This novel continues the story of Faye Adelheim from book 1, The Golden Cage. This book really needs to be read in sequence in order to completely understand the plot of the suspenseful plot.
Trigger warning as topics of rape, abuse, and sex are discussed.
From The Golden Cage, we learn about Faye Adelheim who lives the luxurious life that most could imagine in their dreams. When she met Jack Adelheim at the School of Economics she was instantly drawn to his charisma and confidence. She was a top student when she left school to help support Jack and his friend Henrik Bergendahl become successful entrepreneurs of Compare. She had been instrumental in their success which she had hoped someday to receive recognition. Instead, she passively took satisfaction in being a mother to their daughter, Julienne.
Faye loved the life they had built amongst their affluent community. It was a far stretch from where she originated and to which she never wanted to return. She sacrificed a lot to reinvent herself from her traumatic childhood. She vowed to do anything she needed to keep her past hidden including never opening the letters from her father in prison. She found it easier to explain she was orphaned when her parents died in a car crash. After marrying Jack, it felt like her life was complete until Jack becomes more domineering and demeaning to Faye.
Craving the love and attention she never received as a child, Faye held strongly to her desire to ensure her husband was happy. Although she had helped build the business Compare which Jack and Henrik ran the shares holders had her sign a prenuptial agreement. She never worried since she never imagined what would eventually happen.
In the aftermath of the her husband Jack being sentenced for the murder of their 7 year old daughter, Julienne, Faye Adelheim leaves her life of fame in Sweden, wanting anonymity in Ravi, a small village of 200 people in Italy. Ultimately, Faye and her trusted friend, Kerstin, to build Revenge into a name brand in the cosmetics industry. They built the company of women as “revenge” for the disastrous events back in Sweden which makes it difficult not to provide spoilers. The description of this book does disclose that Faye flees to Italy to keep Julienne and her mother Ingrid safe since they are believed to be dead. Traveling back and forth to Sweden exposes Faye to compromising situations where maintaining secrets becomes a challenge. She is faced with confronting her abusive upbringing in Fjällbacka while trying not to let her guard down when approached by investigator Ingvarsson.
It is a salacious, hard to put down book with a strong female protagonist who needs to be careful who trusts. The story alternates between the present and the past providing insight into the main character’s personality, motives and ambition. The story ends with an indication of what lies ahead in book three.
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