Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves is the wonderfully morbid story of two sisters, the daughters of a notorious serial killer, who find a way to fulfill all their deepest, darkest desires, and not get caught.
Fancy and Kit live in a small Texas town that is unlike the rest of the world. It's a 'gateway' town, full of doorways that take you to other places. Unwittingly walking through a doorway could place you anywhere from the other side of town, to the other side of the universe. Or maybe a different universe altogether.
Somehow, Fancy is able to access these doorways on her own, giving her a glimpse of what she calls the 'happy place'. The way she accesses this places changes over the course of the book. Initially, it's like looking through a small window, where Fancy is able to glimpse what is going on within, but eventually, it grows to allow her (and whoever she chooses to bring along) entrance. After learning how to enter the happy place, Fancy and Kit decide it's the perfect way to cover up their increasing number of crimes, enabling them to commit murder without leaving any evidence.
How great does that sound?! I'll admit I'm fascinated by serial killers and this chance to watch the daughters of a serial killer examine their inner demons seemed too good to pass up. I was initially a little wary about the mystical sounding setting, but it ultimately worked out very favorably. Rather than being a strange addition to the story, the strange town made the story just surreal enough that I 'believed' an awful lot of the unbelievable we were presented with. And I must say, although it wasn't really what I was expecting, I was not disappointed.
The only major complaint I have with this book is the 'dialect'. In almost every way, Fancy and Kit are very well spoken. But, almost every time they talk about going to do something, it's written gone — 'I'm gone do this'. It felt at odds with the rest of the writing and dialogue. Very little of their speech reads as uneducated, except the 'gone'.
Other than this small annoyance, this is a great book. A little disturbing, and a lot morbid to be sure, but great nonetheless. Fancy and Kit were fascinating. In the beginning of the book, they are seen as very close sisters, happiest when they are together. However, as the book progresses, it becomes more and more clear that their relationship to each other is more of a very unhealthy dependence and Fancy, ever resistant to change, begins to cling to Kit with a tenacity that is frightening and unsettling.
Of the two sisters, Fancy was my favorite. Kit is far more open to new ideas and willing to accept change than Fancy, and she is more open with herself. Fancy, on the other hand is very... self-contained. She keeps the important parts of herself close, withdrawing from the world to the point that much of the town thinks she's mute. She is also a perfect example of the saying, 'still waters run deep'. There is an awful lot more to that girl than you initially expect, and I warn you — don't be the one to change the way this girl's world turns!
I also loved that once the girls realized they might be making a habit out of killing people, they tried to be good about being bad. Instead of targeting neighbors, and just anybody, the way their father did, they go after the bad guys, and the criminal, abusive, and just plain bad members of society. They even give them what amount to the equivalent of a trial to see if they can defend themselves. It makes for some highly entertaining reading.
This isn't a book that I would recommend to everyone, and I will say that it's probably best for older teens, but I loved it! It is deliciously morbid, while being entertaining at the same time. If you're a little on the fence about this one, I strongly recommend giving it a shot. Dia Reeves is a writer I'll be watching for, and I definitely need to find me a copy of Bleeding Violet now. She creates great characters, likable but flawed with insane descriptions. I never felt like I was given too much or too little information, and I was always left wanting to know more.
*Disclaimer: I received this as part of Around the World Tours.