Published By: Datura
Pages: 400
Released On: 13/05/2025
Beth is a new mother struggling to find her place in the world. She is exhausted, mentally and physically, but her anxieties are not simply the fears of a first-time mum. A terror burns in her, fuelled by a secret past she is lucky to have escaped. When a letter arrives, bearing only the infinity symbol, Beth knows immediately it is from them. And that her past is finally catching up with her…
Ten years earlier, on the heels of a messy breakup, Beth meets the effervescent Marissa who introduces her to “Elixir” – a health and wellness organisation that she promises will change Beth’s life forever. She quickly becomes intoxicated and convinced it is the solution to all her problems. No task is too great, even as the gruelling exercise classes become more frequent, even as the therapy sessions become more costly, even as their ‘requests’ become ‘demands,’ Beth convinces herself this is what she wants.
Then, when she falls for the brand’s enigmatic leader, Tate, she can’t imagine life without Elixir. But as Beth’s star begins to rise, Marissa’s starts to fall. And though Marissa tries to warn her of the darkness lurking beneath the brand’s gleaming exterior, Beth finds she cannot let go.
*****
Thanks to Datura for the gifted proof of this title in return for an honest review.
I’ve read a surprising amount of ‘cult’ books over the years and they’re all very sensitively done. I can see why cults can be attractive and suck you in. Lizzy has got the fear level right here, that subtle fear, always looking over your shoulder. I think that can often be scarier than all out terror.
It’s split between the “then” – before the cult and during – and the “now”, ten years later as a mother and with a family. All the to-ing and fro-ing between time periods can get confusing but it feels very natural here, like it’s the perfect way to tell the story.
Did I like Beth? Well, I didn’t dislike her, but I wasn’t fully enamoured with her, there was just something off about her, which does make sense in the context of the whole book. But I didn’t really mind that I wasn’t a huge fan of hers, which I know sounds weird considering in my previous reviews I’ve said how much I prefer character over plot. But for me, this is less about the character herself, and more about the psychological impact past events have caused.
There are a lot of other characters, some more prominent than others, and some more “goodies” and others “baddies”. There might be a lot of them, but there wasn’t a wasted one amongst them.
I love how Lizzy has depicted the postnatal issues you might have – tiredness, boredom, pain, loneliness, and how that can affect your mental health. You’re forgetful, suspicious, tired; your mind can play tricks on you.
There is so much depth to this, so many layers, it’s very impressive. Given the intense topic I thought it might be a hard book to get through, or a bit of a longer read, but I read it in less than 24 hours, it was so addictive.
Given the genre and topic, I was expecting a twist or two, and yet they still caught me off guard. I didn’t see any of them coming, and I wonder if I reread it knowing what I know now, if I’d read it differently.
I have a copy of Lizzy’s Nanny Wanted but I haven’t read it yet, but it might just have to go to the top of my list now.
Books By Your Bedside 