Bad Fruit: A Novel

Bad Fruit is a story about a young adult named Lily and her volatile relationship with her Asian mother. In fact, the relationship is so scary that at one point I thought I was reading a Japanese or Korean horror novel. Lily’s mother makes Lily change her natural looks so that she looks more Asian because Lily looks more like her Caucasian father. It is not until Lily starts having daytime hallucinations that seem like flashbacks that she realizes there is something really wrong with her mother. She doesn’t know what these visions are about but as she has more of them, she realizes she is seeing real life events.

This book had me entranced from cover to cover. The way Lily’s mom acted was so psychotic and intense. The way Lily stands by her and even taste tests juice that has gone bad so that it is exactly how her mother likes it is cringeworthy and really abusive. This book, however, does show the pattern passed from generation to generation which is really interesting. If you like books that have a creepy domestic vibe and good, strong-willed characters, you will love this book.