27 October 2024

Guillotine by Delilah S. Dawson REVIEW

Summary:


Thrift fashionista Dez Lane doesn't want to date Patrick Ruskin; she just wants to meet his mother, the editor-in-chief of Nouveau magazine. When he invites her to his family's big Easter reunion at their ancestral home, she's certain she can put up with his arrogance and fend off his advances long enough to ask Marie Caulfield-Ruskin for an internship someone with her pedigree could never nab through the regular submission route.

When they arrive at the enormous island mansion, Dez is floored - she's never witnessed how the 1% lives before in all their ridiculous, unnecessary luxury. But once all the family members are on the island and the ferry has departed, things take a dark turn. For decades, the Ruskins have made their servants sign contracts that are basically indentured servitude, and with nothing to lose, the servants have decided their only route to freedom is to get rid of the Ruskins for good . . .


My Thoughts:


Dez is a poor student on a scholarship majoring in fashion, which her mother is not very happy about - it's not a guaranteed job that will pay the bills and let them live comfortably. When Dez keeps getting rejection letters from internships she applied for, she decides to go out with Patrick Ruskin, a rich man who she would rather not be around, to try and get an internship with his mother. She gets into their family vacation, hoping to meet his mother, but things there are strange. Dez has to sign an NDA, is not allowed to speak or acknowledge the servants, and feels out of place with the odd traditions of the family. When the servants rise up against the Ruskins, Dez must make a choice - side with them or not make it off the island alive . . .

It took me a little while to get into the prose of the book, as it is very different from what I am used to reading. I like the fast-paced writing, and Dez being the reader-insert of looking into the lives of the rich. While I very much love the twists and reveals in the story, one seemed out of place - Dez's unknown father being a rich man. There is no hint towards the beginning of her not knowing her father, just mentions of her mother. There is also no part where Dez asks her mother about her father either. I think that this could have been done well if we knew more about her life before the plot of the story took place. Overall though, I would recommend giving this book a read.


My Rating: 4 stars

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