This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel

 

This Might Hurt by Stephanie Wrobel.

Published 3rd March 2022 by Penguin Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

Natalie Collins always has a plan. Her troubled younger sister Kit rarely does.

Until Kit finds Wisewood, a secretive self-help retreat on a secluded island. It promises you'll leave a better, braver version of yourself.

But why does it forbid contact with the outside world? Why are there no testimonies from previous guests? Natalie fears it is some kind of cult.

Then, after six months of silence, she receives an email from Wisewood:

Would you like to come tell your sister what you did - or should we?

Who is digging into the sisters' past? How did they discover Natalie's secret? A secret that will destroy Kit. She has no choice but to go to Wisewood, to find out if this place of healing has more sinister motives. But as she's about to discover, Wisewood is far easier to enter than to leave . . .

********************

Sisters Natalie and Kit had a troubled childhood, which has caused a distance between them during their adult years. Natalie has always been the one with a plan, while the more fragile Kit has had trouble settling to anything, especially since the death of their mother. During one of their infrequent telephone conversations, Kit announces that she has decided to book herself into an exclusive retreat called Wisewood - a place that demands no access to the outside world for the duration of a client's stay, but which promises to help you find a better version of yourself. The idea of no contact unsettles Natalie, making her fear that Wisewood may be some kind of cult, but she has no power to stop Kit from pursuing her own choices.

After six months of hearing nothing from her sister, Natalie receives a strange email from Wisewood threatening to tell Kit all about a secret she has kept from her - a secret there is no way they could have found out about. Natalie realises that she has no choice but to travel to Wisewood herself and confess her secret, hoping Kit will forgive her. But what she discovers at Wisewood is far beyond her worst fears. There is something very sinister about this place and the transformation that has come over Kit. What goes on here, and what have they done to her sister?

This book encompasses so much, and somehow I have to try to tell you how darned excellent it is without giving away any of its secrets... not an easy task!

The story moves back and forth in time between pivotal moments in the lives of the main characters, and the events that play out at Wisewood. The narratives that tell the story lull you into a false sense of security right from the outset, delving deep into memories associated with overcoming fears elicited by some pretty disturbing formative episodes, and conjuring up an expectation in your mind about where Wrobel is taking you. But beware, dear reader, because Wrobel has some pretty impressive tricks up her sleeve that force you to change your perceptions time and time again as she drops in subtle revelations along the way. I have not seen this done quite like this before, and it is disorienting and completely brilliant in equal measure. There is nothing predictable about this story and it keeps you on your toes from the first page to the last!

Wrobel calls on all our own nightmarish fears in creating the seriously creepy island off the coast of Maine that houses Wisewood, which is particularly clever given that this is a book all about confronting ones fears. There is such a palpable feeling of isolation in the physical and spiritual sense, broken up with scenes of such emotional rawness and menace that you feel to the very core of your being, as the patients at Wisewood are manipulated into bending to the regime of its charismatic founder. The suspense builds almost unbearably and the whole piece scares the bejesus out of you, before leaving you with the kind of dystopian climax that will haunt you for some time to come.

But this is not just a well constructed dark mystery, because this book also asks some intriguing questions. Wrobel intentionally plays up the potentially disquieting aspects of wellness retreats to the max here, weaving in themes about the seductive pull of control, and how power can subvert. In doing so she explores what constitutes a 'cult', the kind of people who find themselves drawn to them, and perhaps most interestingly, the kinds of people that establish them in the first place. You will also find yourself pondering about the fine line between when a challenging technique designed to help us confront our fears and become stronger flips from therapy into abuse of the vulnerable. 

This Might Hurt is a compelling read that draws you in and takes you to unexpected places. It's slick, smart and terrifying... and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Michael Joseph for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Stephanie Wrobel is the author of The Recovery of Rose Gold, a Sunday Times and international bestseller that has sold in twenty-two countries. This Might Hurt is her second novel, an attempt to answer the questions: what sort of person joins a cult? And what sort of person leads one?
Wrobel grew up in Chicago but has lived in London for five years with her husband and her dog, Moose Barkwinkle.