The Recovery of Rose Gold

A story of two horribly manipulative people manipulating each other in horrible ways. I was initially intrigued by this based on it taking its premise from a sad real world story (the Gypsy Rose story). The idea Munchausens syndrom by proxy, of a mother manipulating a child into thinking they are extremely ill, whether through malice or a misplaced but real fear is a powerful one. I'm not 100% sure this telling really does it full justice though. The main issue I find in this story is just how unlikable all the characters are. What sympathy you feel towards the characters from there situation is quickly eroded by the sheer nastiness and vindictiveness displayed. I kind of get the dehumanising aspect of being made to live as an invalid, but this book is extremely dark and lacking any kind of redemption arc. Everyone here is horrible, and ultimately you end up lacking the sympathy that you need to justify what they are doing to each other.

The sad story and the real mental health issues highlighted probably deserved more than this basic revenge plot