I’ve read several books lately where it is just best to start reading without having background info about the story, and I think this is another of those. I’m not going to go over any of the plot because there are other reviews out there where you can find good plot a run-down. What I will say is this: it’s completely crazy and twisty, and this is the second (of two) of this author’s books that have made me read compulsively until I got to the end.

I’ve seen some mixed reviews about this one, and okay, but I found it pretty compelling. Most of the characters in this story are the Southern ultra-wealthy from Charleston. Their lives are just completely…unlike anything that I know in my own life. But from what I do know, I feel like these characters’ brand of Southern wealth rings true. I get that sometimes people don’t want to read about these glamorous and dramatic lifestyles, but it really is fun to me. In this case, most of these characters are also really difficult to like. Meaning that in real life, they’d annoy me far too much to spend any time on.

But the thing that is done so well about this story (well, one of them) is that the two main characters-Keisha and Marcie-are not Southern. They aren’t from Charleston, from the South, or even from the lifestyle that they married into. So they really don’t fit in like their friends. They spend some time in the front half of the novel getting to know one another, which begins with their commiserating about having the non-Southern thing in common, and from there it gets PRETTY WILD. Everyone has secrets!!

Dead To Her has wealth, sex, mystery, and a ton of secrets. Not gonna lie, some of the male characters completely grossed me out, but I think the author wrote them really well. I love that I would feel like I was starting to get a grasp on what was happening on the pages, but then even more twists and secrets would come out and I was reading compulsively again. I love betrayals and back-stabs in stories, so this one was like candy for me. It is shocking in a lot of places, but I remember being shocked in places by Ms. Pinborough’s other stories. I like that she can do that.

I really don’t think everyone will like this one because of the Southern money lifestyle and because of some of the scandalous sex scenes, but I hung on all of the drama. I will say that there is a thread of voodoo-y mysticism woven in here too, and that is something that I never can fully commit to. But other than that, it was a twisty ride for sure. I’m sure the audiobook would be a trip!