Reviews with content warning for Addiction - The Fake

Title: The Fake
Author: Zoe Whittall
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: March 21, 2023

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review. #Gifted #Ad

T H R E E • W O R D S

Unexpected • Tense • Messy

📖 S Y N O P S I S

In the aftermath of her wife's death, Shelby is barely functioning in her grief. Her friends and family are continuously feeding her toxic positivity, which has lead to her isolating herself. At her grief support group, she meets Cammie, who allows Shelby to express her deepest, darkest feelings. With Cammie's help, Shelby starts feeling pieces of her life return. Until one day her gut tells her that something is amiss.

Gibson is still reeling from his recent divorce, and finds himself deeply depressed. When he meets Cammie at the bar one night, a whirlwind romance ensues, and Gibson feels truly known for the first time in his life. When her introduces her to his friends, they are wary and he, too, starts to question all the drama in Cammie's life.

When Gibson and Shelby meet, they realize Cammie’s stories don’t always add up. In fact, they’re far from the truth. But what kind of a person would lie about having cancer? And what does it say about Shelby and Gibson that they fell for it?

💭 T H O U G H T S

Zoe Whittall was born in my small town, and despite not knowing her personally, I still feel a sense of connection to her roots and want to support her literary endeavors. For that reason I was interested in her 2023 release, The Fake, which also had one of the most intriguing premises I have come across for new releases.

At times this novel reads somewhat like a thriller, fraught with tension and suspicious behaviour, that I thought (on numerous occasions) there would be some big revelation. Unfortunately, that is not the case. In all honesty, not a heck of a lot actually happens and there is no real denouement. Instead, what this literary novel does is dig deep below the surface into the intricacies of human relationships and connection. Of course, that is where the real value is - in reflecting on why we connect with the people we connect with? Additionally, there is a great deal of focus on mental illness and mental health, which I commend the author for handling with care in most cases. (There is definitely some insensitive language use that could have been avoided).

When it comes to the characters, none of them are overly likeable. And that may just be because there was so much room for more character development, and certainly more space for getting into each character's story. I did feel empathy for Shelby as I, too, know the depths of partner death. Some of the sections talking about grief were extremely well penned. By the time I got to the end, I was left wanting to know so much more about Cammie - her background, her motivations, her reason for being the way she is, that I was left slightly unsatisfied.

Unfortunately, the synopsis gives away too much of the central plot. In my opinion, it would have better not knowing Cammie is a con artist from the get go, as this would have allowed more of an unveiling. It is certainly a quick and interesting read, which offered me quite a bit to reflect on, but at the end of the day it just didn't blow me away.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• anyone looking for a book with mental health rep
• readers who enjoy books filled with lies

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"It's the unknown that is truly frightening."

"There is freedom in a new friend while you're grieving. There's no expectation that you'll return to who you once where; they never knew that person anyway."

"Everyone pretends that their reality is the only one."

Content Warnings

chymerra's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Gibson is still reeling from a divorce he didn’t see coming when he meets Cammie. Immediately taken by her, Gibson doesn’t at first notice the inconsistencies in her stories. He is just happy to find someone who loves him. Shelby is devastated by the sudden death of her wife. She suffers from hypochondria and severe anxiety and is floundering until she attends a grief counseling session. There, Shelby meets Cammie, who is grieving the death of her best friend. Connecting with her on a level that she only had associated with her deceased wife, Shelby opens her house to Cammie. But Shelby and Gibson soon discover that Cammie’s stories aren’t adding up. What happens when Gibson and Shelby meet up and compare notes? How will Cammie react? Will they be able to confront her?

This book is told from 3 different points of view: Cammie (in the beginning and end), Gibson, and Shelby. Cammie gave the start and ending notes (and her explanation for what happened). But, the main focus of the book was on Gibson and Shelby. Everything that happened was seen from their POVs (well, it was 3rd person), with Cammie being featured heavily. Usually, I’m not too fond of books with multiple POVs, but it worked in this case.

Cammie was a freaking trip. From her opening note, I knew her version of the truth wouldn’t align with Gibson or Shelby. Cammie is a scam artist and a psychological liar. She went out of her way to find people who were hurting/damaged. Cammie gaslighted her way through the book, and when Gibson and Shelby backed her into a corner, Cammie freaked out. But her ending did make me pause and wonder about some of the things she told Shelby and Gibson were true.

I felt terrible for Gibson. He was genuinely struggling after his divorce, and Cammie saw that. All he wanted was someone who made him feel attractive and who appreciated him for him. Cammie’s lies started on day one with him. Thankfully, he had a good group of supportive friends that refused to allow Cammie to bring her drama and lies into their lives. He was such a nice guy that he even went to help Shelby when Cammie started getting too much for her. I liked how his experience shaped him and how he turned out.

Shelby, on the other hand, was a hot mess. I don’t even know where to begin with her. She suffered from extreme medical anxiety and extreme general anxiety. Coupled with her devastation over her wife’s death, she was a freaking mess. I was not faulting her there because I would have been too. But, the one time she decides to go to a grief counseling group, she meets Cammie. And, of course, Cammie latches on to her. In a way, Shelby got the sharper end of the stick with Cammie than Gibson. But Shelby became obsessed with helping Cammie, which drove her to a mental breakdown. Her story resonated with me the most because of her ending.

The Fake didn’t have a happy ending; in a way, for all three, it did. It was more bittersweet and reflective. It was also more Shelby and Gibson coming to terms with themselves and why/how they let someone like Cammie into their lives.

Cammie did get the last note in. She wrapped everything up perfectly and tried to spin the story her way (I loved how the author did that). As I said above, I also wondered if some of her stories were genuine. You know that there is always a kernel of truth in a lie. That may be the case here, which is why I liked this book so much.

There are trigger warnings in The Fake. They are cancer, toxic relationships, gaslighting, death, mental illness, physical abuse, addiction, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. If any of these trigger you, I recommend not reading this book.

I would recommend The Fake to anyone over 21. There are language, violence, and sexual situations. Also, see my trigger warning paragraph.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books, NetGalley, and Zoe Whittall for allowing me to read and review The Fake. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

Content Warnings

boundbywords's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I deeply enjoyed Whittal's 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 (released and read in 2016), so you can imagine my anxious anticipation to pick up her newest release. Sadly, this read like it was written by a completely different author.

Being mistaken as a thriller in more early reviews than I can count, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒌𝒆 is actually consistent with the authors' usual narrative: a multi-perspective account of characters dealing with contemporary and realistic issues like grief, loss, mental health and interpersonal relationships. The addition of a scam artist, and inevitably, themes resembling a thriller storyline, just made this one feel more forced rather than genuine for me. I would have liked to see it (the scam) be a catalyst early on, instead of the driving force of the entire book–it didn't add intrigue, just annoyance.

I felt like both the characters and I were strong-armed into suspending our beliefs about Cammie (the con-artist's) intentions and then told to react and deal with it realistically and calmly, but none of it felt purposeful? The amount of exposition in here took away from an opportunity to help us truly understand the characters, especially Cammie, which may have been the point, but ended up painting her as an entitled gnat rather than a possibly misunderstood butterfly–it made ALL of the characters feel as relatable as cardboard cutouts.

If you're looking for quick read with some insights into grief and mental health (specifically anxiety, OCD and agoraphobia), I would give this one a try.

Content Warnings

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