Sweat by Emma Healey - Review

I bought this book on Amazon for 99p, I think at the recommendation of my friend Janet? It seems likely. I haven't read Emma Healey's other book but I've heard good things about it. But this one didn't really land for me, so I wouldn't be in a rush to read the other. Still, you never know these things until you try them.

It is absolutely weeks since I read this so I'm having to cast my mind back a bit. I do know that I only gave it three out of five. It was trying to be something that it didn't quite manage to be. 

It's about Cassie, who works as a personal trainer in a gym. She's working one day when her ex. Liam, walks in. She tries to avoid him but realises he is now blind. Fuelled by anger over what he did to her in their relationship, Cassie poses as her colleague Steph and begins to guide Liam through weekly sessions. She runs into his friend, who I think is called Daniel, who tells her that Liam has a brain tumour which has caused him to go blind. He wants Cassie to reconnect and reconcile with Liam, because no one really understands what went on between the two of them. Cassie refuses, but she feels like someone is following her, so she starts to follow Liam, playing with him, to see if he's faking his illness and playing with her. 

It almost feels like this revenge thing would be not understandable, but acceptable, because there are flashbacks to when Cassie and Liam were together. Bit by bit, little by little, he played with her self confidence, wore her down, and abused her domestically. It started ouff innocent and innocuous, with like getting her to go out for a run and persuading her to give up alcohol, stuff like that, but it ended with the fridge locked and her unable to contact anyone. This was a really good portrayal of how domestic abuse starts and spirals. I also thought that Cassie's parents reaction to the abuse when she finally tells them about it is that he's 'just looking after her' and only wants the best for her, etc etc. I really liked this bit.

But the ending just didn't quite work for me. I'm not sure what I wanted to happen, but this didn't get there for me. As I said, three out of five.