Book Review – Bad Mommy – I Can Be A Better You by Tarryn Fisher

I Can Be A Better You : An shocking psychological thriller
Yeah… I think I’m gonna 5-star it, ’cause I really loved it. It was EXACTLY what I was in the mood to read, it sucked me in, didn’t let me go and then spit me out in PURE Tarryn Fisher glory. This was slightly dark, slightly creepy, over-the-top… and yet totally believable. And I found that ending quite clever… and possibly telling. 

Or not.

This was the old cover and title. I loved it just as much… maybe even more.

My lips are sealed on that aspect. Although oh BOY I wanna talk about it!!! LOL!!! Especially with the author.

For the most part, the title, the blurb, and that awesome cover, feel true to the story. P.S. That is one of the most awesome covers I’ve ever seen. It entices us into the story (and the right one) in just one glance, without even reading that awesome creepy blurb. Beautiful and eerie. Pure genius, and if there’s a book cover award, this one should get it.

But it’s the story that steals the show, taking us on the exact ride we think we’re going on, with subtle twists and turns as we go, and told in a very clever way. Because, while I don’t always gravitate to multiple POV’s, this one is done EXACTLY right. My perfect preference, as we experience only ONE POV at a time (this story is told in three parts), and each POV introduces absolute surprises that we didn’t see coming at all, as we got to “know” each character through another’s POV. Fascinating. And fun.

THIS (to me) is how you tell a story in multiple POVs. No confusion. Just total enlightenment. Or illusion. Or disillusion (as this, at times, proved to be). I LOVED IT!!!!!!

So what’s it about?

Fig (yep… that’s her name) sees a preschooler, little blonde girl on a playground one day. And fixates on her. Somehow… she’s had an epiphany, and this child is HERS.

As soon as I saw her I woke up from a very long slumber, bones creaking, my heart beating with renewed strength. I closed my eyes and thanked the universe for delivering this gift to me. Then I lifted my phone and took another picture of her because I wasn’t going to be a sh!tty mother.

Their souls are connected.

I added up the dates in my head again. Two years, two months, six days. Could this be the child? I felt certain it was, but there was always that nagging doubt. I’d seen a psychic after all the bad things happened. She told me that I’d stumble across the soul of my child one day, that I’d know it was her.

And she must make, and maintain contact. And so “Fig” follows this little girl’s gorgeous, solid family. Their routines. Learns (or attempts to learn) who they are. What makes them tick.

Was he whistling? Happiness in his shoulders, happiness on his lips, happiness in his step. None of what he’s doing is real. I wanted to reach out and warn him that it’d all be taken from him one day. It’s just the way of things.

And then the perfect opportunity arises. The house next door to this perfect family that she’s obsessed with, comes up for sale. And she buys it. And she attempts to assimilate… er… into them.

They looked like the perfect family, like happiness came easily to them in their grey house. I could already tell she didn’t deserve it.

Bad Mommy.

Becoming the perfect (albeit strangeish and quirky) neighbor. Until she’s just… always there.

That’s what life was all about. Making others want to be you.

And I’ll let you read the rest. ‘Cause not everyone is concerned about Fig. And those that are… might be concerning in their own right. Just sayin’

I was simply delighted by this disturbing story. I LOVE a social study on human nature and sociology and the like. Especially if it’s a “love” story (or an “in-love” story… or an obsessive-love story), no matter how… downward spiraling. Or uplifting. It’s all relative, you know. Things behind closed doors, and all that.

I’d forgotten to take care of myself. That’s what happened when you were sad. All it took was one person to really see you and suddenly you could spring to life. When I got home, I hummed “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins…

I LOVE figuring out who the psycho is… and who the true psycho is. And if was completely wrong, all along. Or not.

This one’s not that hard though. But it is surprising. Totally a la “Tarryn Fisher”.

I really don’t have any complaints. I mean, the writing was incredible, the story-telling, too. Maybe, I was a bit confused about “George”. I found he wasn’t as “fleshed out” as I expected him to be. But no matter… maybe he’s just a component, you see. Again… I’ll let you figure it out.

Good luck to George and his cold heart. I wasn’t going to be his mommy anymore. I was a mommy to a real little girl, and I’d found her again, hadn’t I? Of all the billions of people on the planet, there she was, just five blocks away. It seemed too good to be true.

And it was a little “gentler” on me than I expected it to be. Things I was imagining would happen… didn’t. And things I didn’t even see coming… did. It was so real and therefore, not so outrageous as I expected it to be. And yet, in reality? It was outrageous!! 

It’s hard to explain and so I won’t. ‘Cause it’s all in the delivery, and I’ll let the author do that.

A woman’s heart was an awful curse.

Wow. Just wow. I want to get that tattooed on me. And yes… that would make me one of the “fans” in this book.  So?!! *blink blink*

But I did love that ending. I read it twice to be sure.

5 FREAKING CRAZY STARS

P.S. Thank you to the author for sending me a review copy. That said, I would have one-clicked this one SO HARD on my own. This is right up my alley, and so is Tarryn’s story telling. She GOES there.

Where? You’ll see when you get to the end.

Tagged as: 5 stars, dark reads, infidelity, psych-thriller, psychological thriller, Tarryn Fisher, the other woman