Book Review | The Cherished by Patricia Ward

Jo never expected to be in her absent grandmother’s will, let alone be left her house and land. Her grandmother also left her a letter with a cryptic message. When Jo arrives at the property, she finds the house full of abandoned things. There is an old shack at the back locked from entry. The tenants are behaving oddly and the townspeople are treating her with suspicion. She’s also remembering troubling memories from the last time she visited. Jo fears that it might be impossible for her to leave. Because according to her grandmother, Jo belongs here.

Run! her daddy begs, but she can’t make her body work right. He’s so far away now. He’s too far. Heaviness floods her. She can’t move. She opens her mouth wide, wider – 

Jo starts awake, rigid with terror, mouth wide open.

A mysterious letter, a forgotten memory, and a house full of secrets form the premise for The Cherished. Treading on the well-worn trope of a passed-over inheritance, the book brings a unique perspective on fairy tale horror. What appears to be a simple bequeath of property turns into something more dangerous. Jo has faint memories of staying at the house with her father, only something terrible happened and she never returned. Her father has also passed, and Jo’s grief comes back in full force when she returns to the home that he grew up in. Due to unfortunate circumstances, she never got the chance to know him as well as she wanted.

The story is a slow burn with a long setup from Jo first getting the letter to traveling to the house. She’s not happy with her heavily pregnant mother or her seemingly rich, bland stepfather. The supporting characters are beguiling; especially the older, mostly silent man named Tom and an almost feral girl named Hattie. I thought it was quite frustrating that her grandmother wasn’t forthcoming and that no one would tell Jo the truth about what was going on at the farm. When the secret is revealed, it’s a sad and shocking situation that haunts not just Jo’s family, but everyone in town.

The book shows the importance of family despite different bloodlines, and it works for the most part. There’s an understanding that family can be found no matter where someone is from. On the other hand, the portrayal of mental illness comes across as outdated. Jo’s father is depicted as having a mental illness, and the way he is treated and spoken about by other characters is quite hurtful. He is also a man of colour, and there was derogatory language about his appearance. I wish that these subject matters had been treated more mindfully considering the young adult audience of this book.

The Cherished tells the story of loss, lineage, and sacrifice that was a miss for me, but fans of dark fairy tales will want to give this a chance.

I received a copy from the publisher and Netgalley for review purposes.

About the author: Patricia Ward

Cover photo by Marko Blazevic