Title: The Heiress
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Source: DRC via NetGalley (St. Martin’s Press) in exchange for an honest review
Publication Date: January 9, 2023
Synopsis: Goodreads
Purchase Link: Amazon

Other books by this author
As Rachel Hawkins:
The Villa
The Wife Upstairs
As Erin Sterling:
The Ex Hex (The Ex Hex #1)
The Kiss Curse (The Ex Hex #2)

Why did I choose to read this book?

When I read the synopsis of this book I was drawn in by the dark secrets and whispers, and I needed to know why the adopted son Camden would reject his sizeable, life-changing inheritance. I’m not usually a gossip hound but the description of this book made me sniff at the air like a cartoon lady floating towards a freshly made pie.

What is this book about?

Ruby McTavish is kidnapped and returned to her family when she was just a child. Her family has the kind of money that controls towns, buys judges, moves mountains – and Ruby was the heir to all of it. The story centers around her past told side by side with her adopted son Camden’s present to show how he came to inherit the McTavish riches and why he might have wanted to reject that legacy. It’s about what family is, what right and wrong might be, and when the ends might justify the means.

What is notable about this story?

I did not see the twist coming. Rachel Hawkins had me the entire way through this book and even made me think I had experienced the twist, when the true one was waiting to slap me across the face when I was looking the other way. This is always something I find notable because I am very difficult to trick or string along. And not only was the twist well disguised, but it made the entire story even more fucked up than it already was, and it’s pretty messed up.

There is a LOT of murder in this story. I mean, I don’t mind a story with murder but my goodness. Money really can buy anything if it was able to hide all this goddamned murder. Woof.

Was anything not so great?

I found it difficult to believe that no one in the direct McTavish family was remotely normal. Not a single human with a conscience in the bunch? It took the adopted kid to bring normalcy?

One of the murders made me so mad I wanted to stop reading the book. Hawkins does not shy away from illustrating the cruelty of the main character Ruby and it is showcased abundantly, almost to the point of disbelief. It was difficult to believe that one person could be so manipulative and cruel; it took me out of the story quite a few times.

There were several moments where the book got a little bit soap opera-ey and made me roll my eyes, but it got dark again quick so I didn’t have to deal with it very long.

What’s the verdict?

4 stars on Goodreads, but it would be 3.5 stars if I could. You’ll read the entire thing, there aren’t any places where the narrative drags or gets bogged down, but the story is dark, manipulative, and murderous so read with the lights on! Go get it!

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