Layne Fargo | TEMPER

Plot (via Goodreads):

After years of struggling in the Chicago theater scene, ambitious actress Kira Rascher finally lands the role of a lifetime. The catch? Starring in Temper means working with Malcolm Mercer, a mercurial director who’s known for pushing his performers past their limits—onstage and off.

Kira’s convinced she can handle Malcolm, but the theater’s cofounder Joanna Cuyler is another story. Joanna sees Kira as a threat—to her own thwarted artistic aspirations, her twisted relationship with Malcolm, and the shocking secret she’s keeping about the upcoming production. But as opening night draws near, Kira and Joanna both start to realize that Malcolm’s dangerous extremes are nothing compared to what they're capable of themselves.

Review: 

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I found the movie Black Swan to be good, but not terrific. Maybe it was the anxiety of the great writing or Natalie Portman's fantastic acting, but definitely not a movie I could watch for a second time. When I heard about the novel Temper by Layne Fargo and its comparison to Black Swan, I was intrigued and a bit unsettled. I love a debut novel and I love something a bit disturbing, so I had to look into it. I'm not familiar with the theater scene, but this plot just kept finding its way in my mind. I was so curious and as much as I love thrillers and suspense, I kind of felt adventurous in maybe reading something I wouldn't normally pick up. I would definitely consider this a blessing because Layne Fargo sent me a copy and I knew that I was in for a treat. 

Temper to me is a literary psychological thriller. Fargo's writing is captivating, effortless, and thought-provoking. Her way of capturing the essential characters and ability to have their personalities so present early on in a novel is both remarkable and astonishing. But, she doesn't stop there - the descriptives in this one are sensational. I could smell the theater, I could hear the actors movements, and I could cut the tension with a knife; and that is only the beginning. 

I think when you read a novel, sometimes the most frustrating thing can be when so many characters are just thrown at you and you have no clue who is who or why they are in the story. With Temper, everything is precise and razor-sharp. We have two female characters telling their story, a third male character who is the lifeline of their narrative, and a handful of secondary characters that provide essential parts to the story. I couldn't get enough. As different as Kira and Joanna are, I really couldn't pick which one I enjoyed reading more if I had a gun to my head. While Kira is dreamlike and obsessive, Joanna is neurotic and possessive and both are very, very enjoyable to read. I felt like the pacing with this one was timed so brilliantly. Things start to heat up more toward the end of the novel, but throughout it is just a really timeless psychological thriller that creeped me out and kept me fully invested the entire time. I loved that it was more or less about these three key characters and kept it at that. There were no distractions or moments of me feeling like I needed to skim the pages. I was feverish and in a trance at the same time - until the very last page. Like waking from a coma, I was snapped upright, chewed up, and spit out. And, it was awesome. Bravo, Layne Fargo...and thank you. 

Special thanks to Layne Fargo for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Rating: 5/5