(Major trigger warnings for physical and emotional abuse)

I actually don't know what to say.

This book was weird and creepy and a little confusing.

I wasn't a huge fan of the writing style. It was fine to read, but just not my favourite. There's a lot of broken up sentences, which I guess is used to show how Trish is feeling and processing her thoughts and emotions, and I think that fit with how this story is told, but it did feel a bit jarring to read.

The setting itself was nice in a way. It takes place in Toronto, mainly Scarborough, and it was nice to have a book take place somewhere I've been before. I also liked how the main character is Trinidadian Indian. My placement preceptor in Scarborough was also from Trinidad and there are so many aspects of the culture (especially the food) that are similar to mine.

My issue is with the story itself. There's a paranormal aspect that was never explained. But I'm assuming it's more a result of the trauma Trish has been through. Her memory sort of comes back in pieces, like her brain tried to block out what has happened because of the shock. She starts to realize things slowly, but whenever she brings anything up, she's shot back down in fear by her mom or her neighbour Pammy, or her Aunt K. The soucouyant parts were actually really creepy and I'm assuming were used to show the state Trish's mental health is in and not necessarily that her mom is actually a witch. But it's hard to tell because the narrator is unreliable sometimes.

Besides that, the biggest issue I had was the abuse. Trish's dad abuses her mom, and Trish's mom abuses her too, physically and emotionally. (This book needs a lot of trigger warnings because there are quite a few scenes that just made me sit there in shock.) The abuse isn't ever questioned though. Trish recognizes that her mom has been through a lot with her dad and her new boyfriend, but the entire time she says how the abuse she faces at her mom's hands is okay because it's her mom's job to raise her this way, and how she never tries to block her mom because her mom needs to hit her. The end is even worse because instead of Trish realizing that all these lies are not right, that this abuse from her mom, her neighbour and her aunt are wrong, she goes along with the story they've come up and continues living this lie. It's just...I don't know. I finished reading this book and I don't know what to say. I didn't love it, but it was definitely an engaging book, I just don't know if it was done that well.