The Book:
Fierce Little Thing by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore
Published July 27th 2021 by Flatiron Books
Date read: July 24, 2021
The Characters:
Saskia
Xavier, Issy, Ben, Cornelia
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Saskia was a damaged, lonely teenager when she arrived at the lakeside commune called Home. She was entranced by the tang of sourdough starter; the midnight call of the loons; the triumph of foraging wild mushrooms from the forest floor. But most of all she was taken with Abraham, Home’s charismatic leader, the North Star to Saskia and the four other teens who lived there, her best and only friends.
Two decades later, Saskia is shuttered in her Connecticut estate, estranged from the others. Her carefully walled life is torn open by threatening letters. Unless she and her former friends return to the land in rural Maine, the terrible thing they did as teenagers—their last-ditch attempt to save Home—will be revealed.
From vastly different lives, the five return to confront their blackmailer and reckon with the horror that split them apart. How far will they go to bury their secret forever?
The Twist:
The big secret was that Saskia and her friends had killed Marta. Marta had stomach cancer and was dying, but Abraham convinced them to kill her faster to get the inheritance to save Home (Abraham was Marta’s son). Abraham was still alive, and wanted them to kill him.
Saskia had killed Will and blamed her father. I suspected this was the big buildup, since it didn’t make sense how else the father would get up to the roof to kill the boy when he and the mother were arguing on the first floor. Saskia did it to protect her mother from her father’s abuse; she knew her father would go to prison if Will died.
The Ending:
Issy and Sekou move into Saskia’s grandmother’s house with her.
The Review:
I really enjoy books about cults, and Fierce Little Thing was no exception. We follow the story of Saskia, who spent some time in a cult called Home as a teenager. The book jumps from the present, 16 years after Saskia left Home, to the past while she lived there. It alternates each chapter, which may not be every reader’s cup of tea, but I believe this method did an excellent job of building suspense. Some chapters are just a couple lines long, making the reader want to jump ahead to see what happens.
The best part of Fierce Little Thing is its atmosphere. The author does an amazing job of describing the scenery of the lakeside camp and the woods Saskia would explore. She also successfully builds suspense and tension with each interaction between the characters, both in the past and the present timelines.
This thriller is not fast-paced, so if you’re a reader that needs constant action the middle may feel a bit drawn out. There is a lot of buildup before we figure out what is happening in both timelines. While some secrets are revealed along the way, there’s no big twist until we get to the ending.
Fierce Little Thing is perfect for readers who are interested in books about cults, or those who love tense, atmospheric thrillers. This is definitely one to add to your summer TBR!
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