Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

The Ingenue is a slow-paced revenge thriller about reliving and addressing trauma. Normally I prefer books that move more quickly, but the pacing of this was perfect for the story. I also loved the way the fairy tales started each chapter, which I think added some lightness to a rather dark read.
 
Check content warnings before reading

 Wooo! So, this was a quite a ride especially towards the end. I did not expect the book to go this way. I must say that I saw the first plot twist coming but what the MC did towards the end? 🤯 Oh. My. God.

We follow Saskia as she goes back to her childhood home for her estranged mother's funeral. We fast learn they had a complicated relationship and Saskia was never made aware that her mom was sick. Being in that house brings back a ton of memories so we travel back and forth between the past and the present.

Saskia was a child prodigy. She played piano like no-one else but that also meant she had no time for social life. The house has always been in the family and Saskia is supposed to inherit it. That's until the will is read and that the house is gifted to Patrick, a much older man from Saskia's past. Not in a good way. She now has to fight to understand what made her mom give away the house to that man.

Before reading this book, please check TW as there are implies and mentions of grooming, major age gap with a teenager (not to say the P word) and drug abuse.

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for a review.