Sugar is a 1970s acid soaked fever dream about love, death and deceit. We follow Satara who uncovered an illicit affair her husband Dean was having with her best friend Lilah. Satara is no stranger to disposing of men’s bodies once she’d done with them, but having Lilah on her case itching to expose her, Satara must surpass others to keep her secrets safe. Searching for meaning in the leftover pieces of her life she seeks help from a Love Witch. With her newfound powers at play she’s working on manipulating those around her for her own personal gain. She quickly learns that sometimes her heart doesn’t always get its way. 

Sugar is a dark dreamy tale of what happens when feminine rage calls the shots, when women let their most primal urges bubble to the surface. With immersive writing that showcases how trauma and abuse shape the way we love. Full of horrific twists and turns ensuring you that you’ll never guess what will happen next. 

This book packs a punch! It has so many moving pieces to it that at times, it does seem a bit much. The timeline and jumps were unclear at first and really took me out of the story in places. Satara’s demeanor in some of her flashbacks bewildered me a bit. The penultimate chapters reveal proved to be a bit problematic to me. But that ending drew me back in, in such an electrifying way! I’m interested to read more by Ballard and hope she continues working on projects like these. 

I would recommend this book to readers who loved Gone Girl, Maeve Fly, Go Ask Alice and Girl Interrupted. Thank you to Netgalley, Galaxy Press and Mia Ballard for the arc!