Camille hasn’t been the same since her teenage daughter was raped and murdered five years ago. Although she has a graphic design business, she spends much of her time obsessing over the young man who was accused of, and then exonerated for, her murder.
When she captures the attention of the Collective, a secret group of grieving mothers who come together on the dark web to share their stories, their all-encompassing grief, and their rage toward those unpunished for their children’s deaths. The women talk about their desire for revenge, for enacting retribution in specific, grisly detail.
She thinks this is just an exercise in group therapy, but the more time she spends among these women, she starts to wonder if they are actually enacting the revenge scenarios they discuss. Suddenly she feels free of the burdens she’s been carrying.
“I’m willing to commit to this role-play, to believe in it when I haven’t believed in anything at all for the past five years. I’m willing to work my hardest to get every one of these steps to-the-letter-right because of the way this all makes me feel—as though my rage has a purpose. As though I have the power to kill, and I’m no longer alone.”
The deeper she gets in this group, the more she questions whether revenge is actually justified. But once she’s in the middle of it all, can she extricate herself from the group or will that prove dangerous?
I’m a huge fan of Gaylin's writing, and this book was both addicting and thought-provoking. I didn’t love the ending, but I couldn’t get enough of the story. Thanks to William Morrow Books for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!
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