Spotlight & first impressions, #BlogTour – Stay Mad, Sweetheart by Heleen Kist

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Title: Stay Mad, Sweetheart

Author: Heleen Kist

Published: 19^th of November 2019 – Red Dog Press

Format: Digital – 330 pages

Hello Hello! How are you?

Today I am thrilled to be bringing you a spotlight and a first impressions review of Stay Mad, Sweetheart by Heleen Kist which came 3^rd place in the 2020 BBNYA competition. I am yet to finish this book because my hectic life got in the way, but I’m halfway through and looking forward to finishing it in the next days.

I received this book to read and review as part of the BBNYA 2020 competition and the BBNYA tours organised by @The_WriteReads tours team. All opinions are my own.

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BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors.

If you are an author and wish to learn more about the 2021 BBNYA competition, you can visit the official website here, or our Twitter account, @BBNYA_Official. If you would like to sign-up and enter your book, you can find the BBNYA 2021 author sign up form here. Please make sure to carefully read our terms and conditions before entering.

BBNYA is brought to you in association with the Folio Society (If you love beautiful books you NEED to check out their website!), and the book blogger support group The Write Reads.

GOODREADS 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 THOUGHTS SO FAR…

I read the first 10k of Stay Mad, Sweetheart last year during the second round of the competition and I was actually quite surprised by it. Having read the blurb a few times, I wasn’t really sure what to expect at all, and I just went along for the ride. I have to say that the first 10k are very heavy and they have quite a few trigger warnings, one of them being one of my own, but not too graphic thankfully.

I’m currently about 50% of the way into the book and I am quite enjoying it. I am a little bit worried about the morality behind some of the characters’ decisions and thoughts, but I am sure that the author will have an intelligent way to depict what will happen next.

So far, I am really enjoying the writing style which is engaging and makes me want to keep reading. I also love the fact that the chapters are short and jump from one woman to the next because it keeps me in the story and I want to learn more about everything that is happening.

I am also enjoying the character of Laura the most because she is the one I can definitely identify with. Claire and Suki are also both interesting characters that I am excited to learn more about.

I think that I will end up liking this book, but as I said, I’m worried about just how far the revenge narrative is going to go. I’m not a fan of the revenge trope so I am hoping that it will still be reasonable – however reasonable revenge can be anyway. I will hopefully finish reading this one soon, so stay tuned for my full review!

Trigger Warnings: suicide (hanging), bullying and cyber-bullying, sexual assault and harassment, sexism, misogyny and racism.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – HELEEN KIST

“I’m Heleen and I love writing novels. If this sounds like an addiction, that’s because it probably has become one. I’m Dutch and I live in Glasgow with my Scottish husband and our two kids.

My debut crime novel IN SERVITUDE came out in 2018. I’m very proud of its success in various awards + reviews. STAY MAD, SWEETHEART is my latest novel: a dark yet empowering feminist thriller that’s getting rave reviews already.”

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Heleen’s Links: Website – Goodreads – Twitter

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This list includes some affiliate links. If you decide to purchase a book from one of my links, I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

If you would like to purchase this book, you can find it here:  Amazon UK – Amazon FR – Amazon US – AbeBooks – The Book Depository – Waterstones – Barnes and Noble – Blackwell’s – BetterWorldBooks

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed reading this post, see you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx