When We Were Monsters by Jennifer Niven

A group of hopeful writers is given the chance of a lifetime, but how far will they go to achieve their dream? I was hooked by the first line of this book - it promises moodiness and atmosphere and twistedness, and that's everything I want at this time of year when it's getting colder and darker.

So the story is mainly told from the perspectives of Effy and Arlo (a bit of enemies to lovers going on here), who are both selected, along with a few others, to attend a writing mentorship programme called Jan Term. It's run by the controversial but prestigious Meredith Graffam, who has the mentees do all sorts of dangerous initiation tasks, like jumping into icy waters and standing in oncoming traffic, while shouting out their deepest fears, secrets and desires. It's dark, but the mentees want to push themselves to find their best stories. They trust Meredith Graffam, but should they?

This is a great book if you've ever felt like you've betrayed yourself to impress someone else. It's about listening to, and trusting, your gut feelings, even if a person in authority is telling you otherwise.

This is a book for #trustingyourgut and #questioningauthority

Video review here.