You Were Made for This

By: Michelle Sacks

Narrated by: Caroline Slaughter, Stephanie Willis, Jeremy Arthur

A gripping page-turner for fans of The Woman in the Window and The Perfect Nanny, Michelle Sacks's You Were Made For This provocatively explores the darkest sides of marriage, motherhood, and friendship.

Doting wife, devoted husband, cherished child. Merry, Sam, and Conor are the perfect family in the perfect place. Merry adores the domestic life: baking, gardening, caring for her infant son. Sam, formerly an academic, is pursuing a new career as a filmmaker. Sometimes they can hardly believe how lucky they are. What perfect new lives they've built.

When Merry's childhood friend Frank visits their Swedish paradise, she immediately becomes part of the family. She bonds with Conor. And with Sam. She befriends the neighbors, and even finds herself embracing the domesticity she's always seemed to scorn. All their lives, Frank and Merry have been more like sisters than best friends. And that's why Frank soon sees the things others might miss. Treacherous things, which are almost impossible to believe when looking at this perfect family. But Frank, of all people, knows that the truth is rarely what you want the world to see.

Critic reviews

"A worthy page-turner...Sacks stuffs her sentences with intrigue and terror, and her prose effortlessly weaves between each of the narrators, giving them a distinct voice that's all-too-easy to be convinced by. She keeps you on the edge of your seat as the tension ratchets up...A gripping, smart, dire family drama."—David Canfield, Entertainment Weekly

"Haunting...Sacks deftly engages the complexities of motherhood, infidelity, and misconduct in this novel. Her storytelling shines most when Merry's alleged closest friend, Frank, arrives for a visit...Sacks explores the ways in which unhealthy relationships can wreak irrevocable damage on those involved--and everyone surrounding."—Megan McCluskey, TIME Magazine

"An engrossing tale that probes the darker corners of motherhood, friendship, and marriage."—Good Housekeeping

"Riveting...Devastating and unpredictable...Michelle Sacks richly explores marriage and parenting and delivers a brilliant, unflinching look at a household under siege from itself."—Associated Press

"Sacks proves herself to be an expert of both language and atmosphere. By turns mesmerizing and horrifying, You Were Made for This confronts the dark truths behind motherhood, marriage and female friendship with disquieting lyricism...Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye meets the set of a David Lynch film in this haunting, psychological portrait that takes the dark domestic thriller into a new, literary realm."—Alice Martin, Shelf Awareness, starred review

"Beguiling and frightening.... Hard to read but also bewitchingly hard to put down-a fitting contradiction in a novel that explores the corruption at the heart of beauty."—Kirkus Reviews

"Sacks's first novel expertly portrays the dark side of domesticity and motherhood... Fans of dark and twisted psychological thrillers will be swept up in the appearance of domestic bliss and maternal perfection, only to be left off-kilter and breathless with each costume change."
—Library Journal

"Haunting...Though Sacks doesn't give readers anyone to root for, her unblinking look at beautiful people with ugly secrets has the voyeuristic fascination of a Bergman film."—Publishers Weekly

"Insightful and skillfully constructed... this will keep readers rapt to the final page."—Booklist

"The horrors of this rural paradise break free into the fresh Nordic air. A brilliant debut: crisp writing, a deliciously dark story."—Sarah Murdoch, Toronto Star

Nothing unique or exceptional

None of the main characters are especially likable. I take that back, they’re all absolutely dreadful!
The plot, the twists, the consequences all feel familiar and unoriginal.
The end was pretty dissatisfying, even after the author dropped a real kicker of a final line. If the book had been written differently, the last line would have hit different too.
All this being said, I could NOT stop listening to it! Kudos to the voice actors/narrators on that one!

Pessimistic and disappointing

This book did not have much mystery. There was no thrill to it. It seemed more like a memoir than any twist or thrill. The performance was great though, I thought. I liked how there were three readers for the voices and each one did a great job. I just wish there was a twist and not so simple and predictable.

Dark but good

The subject matter is very dark and there is child abuse. It’s a disturbing book. I think it’s well written. The characters are broken and really horrible. I don’t think you have to like characters in a book to make it good.

QUESTIONS.

This story left me with more questions than answers. certain facts were not clarified. I would have liked a few things answered.

So worth the credit!!!!

Got me right from the start!!! And continued all throughout. I couldn't put it down was one of those that you say one more chapter one more chapter. I like to stretch out my book, but I had to keep listening. Spoiler: I wish there was an epilogue. But I suppose we finish it the way we would like it to be. As is life.