This book absolutely did my head in, but in the best way.
We follow Natalie Heller Mills, a picture-perfect influencer selling the dream: sourdough, sunshine, a million kids and a spotless farmhouse. But behind the scenes it’s all curated. When the mask starts to slip, things spiral fast and then suddenly she wakes up in a brutal, old-school version of the very life she’s been glamorising. There’s no power, no help and no filter, just survival.
What starts off feeling like a quirky time-slip turns into something way darker and sharper. It’s biting satire on influencer culture, religion, traditional values and the whole performance of being a perfect woman online. Every character is a bit unbearable (except for the kids) but that’s kind of the point, no one’s fully innocent, no one’s fully the villain.
The twist was shocking. Like, stare-at-the-wall-for-a-minute kind of shocking.
Uncomfortable, clever, and wildly addictive, I could not put this down!
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Publisher: Fourth Estate
Format: eBook, 390 pages
ISBN: 9780008742782
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Here’s the synopsis
‘My name is Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive…’
Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and her followers are sick with envy. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What her followers don’t know won’t hurt them.
Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children―they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn’t her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible.
What Caz Read 