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Plaything
A tense and compulsive novel of unnatural fixation
Anna is smart. Smarter than you, probably. But when she falls for the beautiful, enigmatic Caden, her need to get under his skin, to truly know him becomes overpowering.
Anna’s new life in Cambridge is full of promise – she’s the top student in her PhD cohort, she has great friends and she has met an exhaustingly attractive man – but something is a little off. Perhaps it’s the routine violence of her lab work with animals, or maybe it’s something to do with her boyfriend’s icy reserve but it seems there is a kind of menace hiding beneath the Cambridge dream.
When Anna and Caden's lives become tightly entangled, her obsession with Caden’s seemingly ever-present ex-girlfriend reaches a dangerous pitch… Just how far will she go to satiate her curiosity?
Anna is smart. Smarter than you, probably. But when she falls for the beautiful, enigmatic Caden, her need to get under his skin, to truly know him becomes overpowering.
Anna’s new life in Cambridge is full of promise – she’s the top student in her PhD cohort, she has great friends and she has met an exhaustingly attractive man – but something is a little off. Perhaps it’s the routine violence of her lab work with animals, or maybe it’s something to do with her boyfriend’s icy reserve but it seems there is a kind of menace hiding beneath the Cambridge dream.
When Anna and Caden's lives become tightly entangled, her obsession with Caden’s seemingly ever-present ex-girlfriend reaches a dangerous pitch… Just how far will she go to satiate her curiosity?
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 27, 2024
18 people are currently reading
1535 people want to read
About the author
Bea Setton
2 books125 followersBea Setton was born in France and spent her early years in the Parisian suburbs before moving to the USA to study Philosophy. Upon graduating, she relocated to Berlin, and the city became the inspiration for her first novel.
She currently divides her time between London and Cambridge, where she is studying for a PhD in the Anthropology of Religion.
She currently divides her time between London and Cambridge, where she is studying for a PhD in the Anthropology of Religion.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
February 18, 2024
It is important to note that most of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the book's subject matters & those detailed in my review overwhelming. I suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters that contain reflections on the death of an animal, infidelity, suicide, substance use, sexual image-based abuse (i.e. nonconsensual pornography), theft, & others.
The tingle of a promise, ominous, loathsome, looming, renders the threat ticklish, gruesome, & exciting. When a promise is not kept, when something is hinted at, only to be forgotten, one is sunken in quicksand by the angelic hands of a friend. Literature that engages the tonal shift of enticement, one that lingers just outside of the deliberate letter, twinges inside the iris of the reader; the next page will hold something more; the scene that follows shall make clear what the smog has cloistered. Yet, the writer whose tone escapes them, like a mime who screams out in terror, leaves readers with disappointed spittle soaking their bib, where the saucy delight of broken ribs should have been.
The author & I have met through her work in the past. When I first read Setton’s work “Berlin” (2022) I hoped to find the delight of oddity. The promise that lingers in the synopsis of Setton’s works breathes air into rotting lungs. Readers, like myself, who enjoy a challenge will be deflated upon completing the windmill-style turn through her plots but, readers who are unlike me will revel & gloat at the feet of the feast she presents them.
Both of Setton’s books appeal to a reader who is looking for a challenge. These readers are not seeking out Plato’s “The Republic” (375 BC) or Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita” (1967), nor are they coyly ruminating on Yiyun Li’s “The Book of Goose” (2022). Rather, these readers enjoy the bizarre colours of a palette left unused; enough to make them tongue-tied when reality seeps its curious fingers into the spine & paralyzes the story where it stands.
These readers are fond of the odd as long as it remains caged; they long for the horror that can be seen through the screen of a protective visor; they are habituated with the heart’s murmur after a branch snaps in the woods. However, they do not seek to go outside the confines of their comfort. I do not begrudge them for this, in fact, I applaud their self-awareness. Setton writes for them & I am sure their hunger will be appeased by her second novel.
In essence, this story follows Anna as she pursues her PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2020. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread its wings & altered her inflated egotistical approach to life; she meets a handsome man & they have sex; her friends are smart & vapid all at once. The story follows her throughout the banal realizations that she comes to. She meets herself head-on, watching her actions in reflective services & in the whites of the eyes of the men she covets & yet, in the end, another woman is the magnificent beast that towers over the castle & castrates the love she seeks to possess.
Of course, this is an oversimplification. Anna sees a car crash, she has her diamond earrings stolen, & she is responsible for the death of a cat & multiple members of the rodent family. Anna is also a person who is allowed to make mistakes. She invests all her time with a beautiful man because he is beautiful & she is not. This makes her feel of value when all along she claimed to be better than women who were granted the blessing via their genetic code. The purpose of the narrative seems to encourage readers to empathize with Anna while also degrading her for the harm she causes those around her.
The semi-automatic format of this story left me disappointed & winded. I had succumbed to the enthusiasm granted to me in the opening scenes; a dual car crash, a chase in the roadway, pounding fists of violence, a runner, & first responders who never arrived. Yet as the novel roared onward, these scenes—my promise of horrors set to be unearthed like the ravenously broken jaws of a corpse—never gave the reader, or the story, more than what they had at their introduction.
The cars were driven by Caden & Jack, brothers who sought out Giselle, the woman turned monster as a consequence of having everything. The absence of first responders was nothing but a fluke & if you live in a city not unlike my own; this ominous fiction is also an unfortunate reality.
For reasons I cannot quite explain, I read this entire book hoping that Setton would return to her work. The pause of the tone of malevolence that she incorporated early on was all but abandoned, as though the woebegone banality of a woman self-declaring herself smarter than others was worth all the pages she dedicated to her. I suppose that at some point I decided that the crudely boring nature of the seesaw was something I could masticate; it was no loss to me to spend a few hours waiting in the wings for Anna to become the villain I knew she could be.
I have been clear-cut with my disdain for the lack of direction in tone & trajectory in this story. However, I did read the entire book. As I have said, there are reasons for this, some of which I might not be able to discern but, should I take a moment to reflect, it is no secret to me that the primary reason I was able to do so was because Setton’s writing is easy to digest.
There is no depth to the vernacular that is employed, even when the characters are expressing the depths of their theologies. This is not something I find fault in, rather it is helpful to approach this style of story with monotonous language that engages every reader; one need not be a theologian or astrophysicist to comprehend the underbelly of the women’s studies at Cambridge.
On the other hand, the links that formed between subjects explored, both among the characters & the flow of the story could have been allowed to seep further into the plot. That being said, I am not certain that Setton wanted to write a devoutly amoral & overall heinous story.
My conclusion is that she wrote the story she had in mind; I appreciate her efforts & her success in doing so. This leads me to ruminate on feelings of vexation; I know she could have done more.
This book is a prime example of what it means to attract a person who is unlike the self. I know I am not the target reader & I would be hopeful in stating that Setton might agree. There is a part of me that longs to encourage her to go deeper, to drive home the homilies of terror that linger just outside of her spider’s web but, this is not what she has wanted to do.
This review should not act as a call to action; the author has written out page after page about a character who can be forgiven by the right audience. Setton’s story is about a woman who is still very young. The main character is twenty-three & as someone who was once this age, a moon or two ago, I understand how very juvenile a person of this age is, in reality, now that I am no longer shooed in this very space by birthdays & sentient holidays.
Her mistakes are quite horrible & her decision to remain engaged in a rumpus dull relationship with Caden is boring but, Anna is still growing. The world has yet to open itself to her. When she speaks about her childhood & the nature of her family dynamic, the reader will note no horrific trauma; there exists only the sullen nature of a rainy day & parents too egotistical to care.
Do not mistake me, I firstly do not wish for anyone to be traumatized, it is a rather despairingly drunken state to live in. Secondly, the minutia of Anna’s experiences are not ones I seek to diminish. Rather, I highlight her family life, her upbringing, & her character as markers of a person who has not necessarily had the opportunity to be faced with the terrible things that do exist, in plain sight.
Anna’s father is a beast, like many men—many women, if we are being honest—he wants his wife to be thin, he has opinions that are always correct & he cannot accept the nature of nuance that exists in the human species. Anna’s mother is frail & angry, she does not seek to escape her cage as it defines her as a woman of the house; a kept flower in the forest burnt to a crisp.
Neither parent is particularly spectacular. Feeding your children wet dog food ranks rather uncomfortably as a nasty thing to do. However, Anna has an inflated ego as a result of the comfort of her home & therefore is poorly prepared to deal with the ferociously complicated nature of real life.
During the earlier parts of the story, I found myself displeased with Anna & entirely uninterested in what she had to say. She covets the nature of her superiority as though readers have not walked the streets of life, once, if not twice. I found her character entirely dull & yet, she was the narrator. From some point in the future, she felt within her a challenge & desire to tell us a story. This same story ends when Giselle, Caden’s ex-girlfriend, follows her down the path to what one might assume is her death. This leads me to the nature of the secondary & tertiary characters.
Setton fleshed out her characters well. By nature, this story is not profound & does not explore the depth of the situation at play. It will not come as a surprise to readers such as myself that the story ends on a distinctly ambiguous note.
As I read, I wanted to have the story told to me by someone who would be honest. I did not trust Anna to be able to be clear with her thoughts or her experiences. She transformed everyone around her into villains. Perhaps, Caden did commit suicide & perhaps, Giselle is riddled with regret for the pain she caused. The reader will never actually understand the parameters of what is truth as Anna does not look to speak it.
Truthfully, I did not hate this story. I will seek out Setton’s work again. However, I did not like this story either. I did not want to accept that there was nothing more to this story than a peculiar triangle meshed with sodden lake water & drowned in disregard.
There is a scary story that can be found awaiting the curtain behind the nature of reality that is often cocooned within bulbously tepid stories. Anna toyed rather romantically with death on more than one occasion & she felt it her due to live on. Her pleas to die were to the void, something she knew would never answer her. Would it be cruel to say she is a coward for calling into the Dark Matter to have a desire fulfilled while she is aware that it cannot deliver?
Ultimately, the body of this text is dull because it altered the course I wished to run; I wanted servant’s bodies & biblical slices of clay & skin to render my hands into anguished clusters. Instead, I was met with a monotone girl who is blonde & thin; she is educated & well-off; her goals are achievable & people will forgive her cruel naivety because one time she cried alone.
How utterly unforgivable it is to forget that Anna is also a person who engaged in sexual image-based abuse. Therefore, forget, the reader shall not. In life, forgiving & forgetting seems to be done in tandem & maybe Anna will be able to bloom into a person, unlike the one we met in this book. However, one must not forget that consequence is often the lingering encourager behind change.
I peruse the muddy river & those early rising who breathe a mist that flows from the mouths of the silent people in Cambridge like a ghost, haunting the very streets that hide bombs underneath. A narrator’s cool temperament does not excuse a boring tale. No lore can reinvigorate the tonsils extradited from the cavity of the mouth, so one must therefore choose whether to speak or remain silent.
Were the diamond earrings worth hiding in plain sight? Was the secret worth keeping that killed the cat who sought out the warmth of a cave of wonders, Anna could not invade? What is certain is that the freedom to leave off here is mine to hold & yours to accept & so, with these words we part ways, possibly never to meet with this sordid tale of fictional sadness, ever again.
Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, & Bea Setton for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
The tingle of a promise, ominous, loathsome, looming, renders the threat ticklish, gruesome, & exciting. When a promise is not kept, when something is hinted at, only to be forgotten, one is sunken in quicksand by the angelic hands of a friend. Literature that engages the tonal shift of enticement, one that lingers just outside of the deliberate letter, twinges inside the iris of the reader; the next page will hold something more; the scene that follows shall make clear what the smog has cloistered. Yet, the writer whose tone escapes them, like a mime who screams out in terror, leaves readers with disappointed spittle soaking their bib, where the saucy delight of broken ribs should have been.
The author & I have met through her work in the past. When I first read Setton’s work “Berlin” (2022) I hoped to find the delight of oddity. The promise that lingers in the synopsis of Setton’s works breathes air into rotting lungs. Readers, like myself, who enjoy a challenge will be deflated upon completing the windmill-style turn through her plots but, readers who are unlike me will revel & gloat at the feet of the feast she presents them.
Both of Setton’s books appeal to a reader who is looking for a challenge. These readers are not seeking out Plato’s “The Republic” (375 BC) or Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita” (1967), nor are they coyly ruminating on Yiyun Li’s “The Book of Goose” (2022). Rather, these readers enjoy the bizarre colours of a palette left unused; enough to make them tongue-tied when reality seeps its curious fingers into the spine & paralyzes the story where it stands.
These readers are fond of the odd as long as it remains caged; they long for the horror that can be seen through the screen of a protective visor; they are habituated with the heart’s murmur after a branch snaps in the woods. However, they do not seek to go outside the confines of their comfort. I do not begrudge them for this, in fact, I applaud their self-awareness. Setton writes for them & I am sure their hunger will be appeased by her second novel.
In essence, this story follows Anna as she pursues her PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2020. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread its wings & altered her inflated egotistical approach to life; she meets a handsome man & they have sex; her friends are smart & vapid all at once. The story follows her throughout the banal realizations that she comes to. She meets herself head-on, watching her actions in reflective services & in the whites of the eyes of the men she covets & yet, in the end, another woman is the magnificent beast that towers over the castle & castrates the love she seeks to possess.
Of course, this is an oversimplification. Anna sees a car crash, she has her diamond earrings stolen, & she is responsible for the death of a cat & multiple members of the rodent family. Anna is also a person who is allowed to make mistakes. She invests all her time with a beautiful man because he is beautiful & she is not. This makes her feel of value when all along she claimed to be better than women who were granted the blessing via their genetic code. The purpose of the narrative seems to encourage readers to empathize with Anna while also degrading her for the harm she causes those around her.
The semi-automatic format of this story left me disappointed & winded. I had succumbed to the enthusiasm granted to me in the opening scenes; a dual car crash, a chase in the roadway, pounding fists of violence, a runner, & first responders who never arrived. Yet as the novel roared onward, these scenes—my promise of horrors set to be unearthed like the ravenously broken jaws of a corpse—never gave the reader, or the story, more than what they had at their introduction.
The cars were driven by Caden & Jack, brothers who sought out Giselle, the woman turned monster as a consequence of having everything. The absence of first responders was nothing but a fluke & if you live in a city not unlike my own; this ominous fiction is also an unfortunate reality.
For reasons I cannot quite explain, I read this entire book hoping that Setton would return to her work. The pause of the tone of malevolence that she incorporated early on was all but abandoned, as though the woebegone banality of a woman self-declaring herself smarter than others was worth all the pages she dedicated to her. I suppose that at some point I decided that the crudely boring nature of the seesaw was something I could masticate; it was no loss to me to spend a few hours waiting in the wings for Anna to become the villain I knew she could be.
I have been clear-cut with my disdain for the lack of direction in tone & trajectory in this story. However, I did read the entire book. As I have said, there are reasons for this, some of which I might not be able to discern but, should I take a moment to reflect, it is no secret to me that the primary reason I was able to do so was because Setton’s writing is easy to digest.
There is no depth to the vernacular that is employed, even when the characters are expressing the depths of their theologies. This is not something I find fault in, rather it is helpful to approach this style of story with monotonous language that engages every reader; one need not be a theologian or astrophysicist to comprehend the underbelly of the women’s studies at Cambridge.
On the other hand, the links that formed between subjects explored, both among the characters & the flow of the story could have been allowed to seep further into the plot. That being said, I am not certain that Setton wanted to write a devoutly amoral & overall heinous story.
My conclusion is that she wrote the story she had in mind; I appreciate her efforts & her success in doing so. This leads me to ruminate on feelings of vexation; I know she could have done more.
This book is a prime example of what it means to attract a person who is unlike the self. I know I am not the target reader & I would be hopeful in stating that Setton might agree. There is a part of me that longs to encourage her to go deeper, to drive home the homilies of terror that linger just outside of her spider’s web but, this is not what she has wanted to do.
This review should not act as a call to action; the author has written out page after page about a character who can be forgiven by the right audience. Setton’s story is about a woman who is still very young. The main character is twenty-three & as someone who was once this age, a moon or two ago, I understand how very juvenile a person of this age is, in reality, now that I am no longer shooed in this very space by birthdays & sentient holidays.
Her mistakes are quite horrible & her decision to remain engaged in a rumpus dull relationship with Caden is boring but, Anna is still growing. The world has yet to open itself to her. When she speaks about her childhood & the nature of her family dynamic, the reader will note no horrific trauma; there exists only the sullen nature of a rainy day & parents too egotistical to care.
Do not mistake me, I firstly do not wish for anyone to be traumatized, it is a rather despairingly drunken state to live in. Secondly, the minutia of Anna’s experiences are not ones I seek to diminish. Rather, I highlight her family life, her upbringing, & her character as markers of a person who has not necessarily had the opportunity to be faced with the terrible things that do exist, in plain sight.
Anna’s father is a beast, like many men—many women, if we are being honest—he wants his wife to be thin, he has opinions that are always correct & he cannot accept the nature of nuance that exists in the human species. Anna’s mother is frail & angry, she does not seek to escape her cage as it defines her as a woman of the house; a kept flower in the forest burnt to a crisp.
Neither parent is particularly spectacular. Feeding your children wet dog food ranks rather uncomfortably as a nasty thing to do. However, Anna has an inflated ego as a result of the comfort of her home & therefore is poorly prepared to deal with the ferociously complicated nature of real life.
During the earlier parts of the story, I found myself displeased with Anna & entirely uninterested in what she had to say. She covets the nature of her superiority as though readers have not walked the streets of life, once, if not twice. I found her character entirely dull & yet, she was the narrator. From some point in the future, she felt within her a challenge & desire to tell us a story. This same story ends when Giselle, Caden’s ex-girlfriend, follows her down the path to what one might assume is her death. This leads me to the nature of the secondary & tertiary characters.
Setton fleshed out her characters well. By nature, this story is not profound & does not explore the depth of the situation at play. It will not come as a surprise to readers such as myself that the story ends on a distinctly ambiguous note.
As I read, I wanted to have the story told to me by someone who would be honest. I did not trust Anna to be able to be clear with her thoughts or her experiences. She transformed everyone around her into villains. Perhaps, Caden did commit suicide & perhaps, Giselle is riddled with regret for the pain she caused. The reader will never actually understand the parameters of what is truth as Anna does not look to speak it.
Truthfully, I did not hate this story. I will seek out Setton’s work again. However, I did not like this story either. I did not want to accept that there was nothing more to this story than a peculiar triangle meshed with sodden lake water & drowned in disregard.
There is a scary story that can be found awaiting the curtain behind the nature of reality that is often cocooned within bulbously tepid stories. Anna toyed rather romantically with death on more than one occasion & she felt it her due to live on. Her pleas to die were to the void, something she knew would never answer her. Would it be cruel to say she is a coward for calling into the Dark Matter to have a desire fulfilled while she is aware that it cannot deliver?
Ultimately, the body of this text is dull because it altered the course I wished to run; I wanted servant’s bodies & biblical slices of clay & skin to render my hands into anguished clusters. Instead, I was met with a monotone girl who is blonde & thin; she is educated & well-off; her goals are achievable & people will forgive her cruel naivety because one time she cried alone.
How utterly unforgivable it is to forget that Anna is also a person who engaged in sexual image-based abuse. Therefore, forget, the reader shall not. In life, forgiving & forgetting seems to be done in tandem & maybe Anna will be able to bloom into a person, unlike the one we met in this book. However, one must not forget that consequence is often the lingering encourager behind change.
I peruse the muddy river & those early rising who breathe a mist that flows from the mouths of the silent people in Cambridge like a ghost, haunting the very streets that hide bombs underneath. A narrator’s cool temperament does not excuse a boring tale. No lore can reinvigorate the tonsils extradited from the cavity of the mouth, so one must therefore choose whether to speak or remain silent.
Were the diamond earrings worth hiding in plain sight? Was the secret worth keeping that killed the cat who sought out the warmth of a cave of wonders, Anna could not invade? What is certain is that the freedom to leave off here is mine to hold & yours to accept & so, with these words we part ways, possibly never to meet with this sordid tale of fictional sadness, ever again.
Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, & Bea Setton for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2024
‘Hinc lucem et pocula sacra’ From here [we derive] light and sacred draughts. Cambridge University motto.
Anna is very clever, way smarter than you or me,most probably. She’s currently on her way from Dorset to Newnham College, Cambridge, having been awarded a scholarship for a PhD in Science. Her life is full of the richness of promise, though the drive to the university is dramatic, in a close shave kind of way, perhaps a harbinger of doom. She’s mysteriously fearful, maybe that’s to do with the research she’s about to undertake or perhaps to do it to do with the handsome physiotherapist Caden who she will fall for. Whatever it is, there’s menace lurking beneath those Gothic arches and gargoyles as she treads the aspirational cobbles. This is a novel of the balance of power, of obsession and tangled lives against the backdrop of academia. Will Anna’s Cambridge dream become a nightmare, not least as Wuhan is coming, and though this is not a Covid novel, it does play its part.
There is a discordant chime at the very beginning of the novel, but meeting fellow students Ji-Woo and Vicky sets the storytelling off in a positive way, that is until enter Caden. This is a character driven novel and the characterisation is excellent, especially of Anna‘s portrayal, though it’s very hard at times to get a handle on her. I can’t say she’s especially likeable, she’s definitely smarter than the average bear, and she’s certainly ambitious, which is clearly not a bad thing. She can be arrogant yet at the same time she can be humble, she puts on a show (the Anna show) to cover moments of discomfort, and then I warm to her, especially her clumsy attempts. However, you can also feel sorry for her too, her uncomfortable family dynamics have given us so many hangups, it’s a wonder she can get up in the mornings as she can be so insecure. Caden is a conundrum too, and there are clear warning signs and off notes, especially with regard to his ex Giselle, and so your concern for Anna grows. The most likeable character is Ji-Woo , who it would be very hard to dislike.
Cambridge is a terrific backdrop to this messy story, there are some very atmospheric settings and scenes that are so well described, they’re easy to visualise. You definitely get a flavour of what life must be like in one of the best universities in the world. Although there are some funny moments as a consequence of awkwardness or clumsiness, this is an uneasy, painful and messy story, it’s dark in tone, at times it’s disturbing, the atmosphere can be very tense, because the ingredients include jealousy, manipulation, loss, cruelty, in addition to obsession. As the novel reaches its brutal, revengeful climax, there is a very good unexpected twist. There’s a circularity to it, and a chilling ultimate end.
However, it does have its moments where it’s a slow moving as the River Cam and it feels a bit like you’re waiting in SloMo for the car to crash. It’s drawn out and it might even be more effective as a short story.
Overall though, it’s a fascinating character study, especially of flawed Anna, and a turbulent love story which is rich atmosphere. The cover is brilliant.
Trigger warnings - Anna’s university research involves animal euthanasia, also suicide warnings.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
Anna is very clever, way smarter than you or me,most probably. She’s currently on her way from Dorset to Newnham College, Cambridge, having been awarded a scholarship for a PhD in Science. Her life is full of the richness of promise, though the drive to the university is dramatic, in a close shave kind of way, perhaps a harbinger of doom. She’s mysteriously fearful, maybe that’s to do with the research she’s about to undertake or perhaps to do it to do with the handsome physiotherapist Caden who she will fall for. Whatever it is, there’s menace lurking beneath those Gothic arches and gargoyles as she treads the aspirational cobbles. This is a novel of the balance of power, of obsession and tangled lives against the backdrop of academia. Will Anna’s Cambridge dream become a nightmare, not least as Wuhan is coming, and though this is not a Covid novel, it does play its part.
There is a discordant chime at the very beginning of the novel, but meeting fellow students Ji-Woo and Vicky sets the storytelling off in a positive way, that is until enter Caden. This is a character driven novel and the characterisation is excellent, especially of Anna‘s portrayal, though it’s very hard at times to get a handle on her. I can’t say she’s especially likeable, she’s definitely smarter than the average bear, and she’s certainly ambitious, which is clearly not a bad thing. She can be arrogant yet at the same time she can be humble, she puts on a show (the Anna show) to cover moments of discomfort, and then I warm to her, especially her clumsy attempts. However, you can also feel sorry for her too, her uncomfortable family dynamics have given us so many hangups, it’s a wonder she can get up in the mornings as she can be so insecure. Caden is a conundrum too, and there are clear warning signs and off notes, especially with regard to his ex Giselle, and so your concern for Anna grows. The most likeable character is Ji-Woo , who it would be very hard to dislike.
Cambridge is a terrific backdrop to this messy story, there are some very atmospheric settings and scenes that are so well described, they’re easy to visualise. You definitely get a flavour of what life must be like in one of the best universities in the world. Although there are some funny moments as a consequence of awkwardness or clumsiness, this is an uneasy, painful and messy story, it’s dark in tone, at times it’s disturbing, the atmosphere can be very tense, because the ingredients include jealousy, manipulation, loss, cruelty, in addition to obsession. As the novel reaches its brutal, revengeful climax, there is a very good unexpected twist. There’s a circularity to it, and a chilling ultimate end.
However, it does have its moments where it’s a slow moving as the River Cam and it feels a bit like you’re waiting in SloMo for the car to crash. It’s drawn out and it might even be more effective as a short story.
Overall though, it’s a fascinating character study, especially of flawed Anna, and a turbulent love story which is rich atmosphere. The cover is brilliant.
Trigger warnings - Anna’s university research involves animal euthanasia, also suicide warnings.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Transworld for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
June 28, 2024
Bea Setton’s atmospheric, bordering on claustrophobic, novel centres on a Cambridge graduate student Anna. As a narrator Anna’s both difficult to like and likely unreliable. Her research revolves around lab work that requires her to kill and dissect still-breathing, small animals on an almost-industrial scale. Inside her lab she’s competent but socially she’s adrift, insecure, the possible legacy of growing up in a dysfunctional family: throughout it’s suggested Anna’s actions stem from unresolved childhood issues. By chance Anna meets Caden, an almost-unbearably beautiful man, one Anna considers technically out of her league. To her surprise they begin a relationship that finds them together during the first Covid lockdown. But there’s something Anna can’t fathom. What happened with Caden’s previous girlfriend Giselle? And is he really over her?
Setton’s narrative gradually turns into an intense portrait of obsession and self-delusion. Her depiction of Anna’s fascination with Giselle reads like a play on Rebecca: Caden’s home’s strewn with Giselle’s former possessions, his friends seem to be comparing Anna to Giselle and finding Anna lacking. Anna’s bond with Caden starts to seem more about Anna and Giselle than Caden himself – in fact beyond his looks it’s hard to understand why Anna’s attracted to him at all. Her account of his personality makes him seem vacuous and naïve. But Caden’s also concealing a wealth of emotional turmoil, something which only becomes clear when jealousy drives Anna to commit an appalling act of revenge.
Setton’s Cambridge is well-realised and convincing, based on her time there as a student. Her writing’s fluid, packed with pleasing turns of phrase and vivid descriptive passages. There’s also a tantalising, if underdeveloped, philosophical undercurrent building on Nietzsche among others, in keeping with Setton’s academic background. Setton draws interesting parallels too between Anna’s ethical confusion, her increasing distaste for the everyday slaughter that underpins her doctoral work, and her ability to detach herself from, or delude herself about, her personal interactions. The narrative itself often reminded me of Sally Rooney but less disciplined, even meandering at times. For me it’d definitely have benefited from a more ruthless edit. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the final twist/reveal either. Despite its initial promise, and numerous intriguing stretches of writing, I found my attention wandering particularly during the middle sections. Overall, this didn’t really come together for me, far less so than her debut.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Doubleday for an ARC
Note: Apart from the animal slaughter in the lab there’s also a graphic description of the death of another animal.
Setton’s narrative gradually turns into an intense portrait of obsession and self-delusion. Her depiction of Anna’s fascination with Giselle reads like a play on Rebecca: Caden’s home’s strewn with Giselle’s former possessions, his friends seem to be comparing Anna to Giselle and finding Anna lacking. Anna’s bond with Caden starts to seem more about Anna and Giselle than Caden himself – in fact beyond his looks it’s hard to understand why Anna’s attracted to him at all. Her account of his personality makes him seem vacuous and naïve. But Caden’s also concealing a wealth of emotional turmoil, something which only becomes clear when jealousy drives Anna to commit an appalling act of revenge.
Setton’s Cambridge is well-realised and convincing, based on her time there as a student. Her writing’s fluid, packed with pleasing turns of phrase and vivid descriptive passages. There’s also a tantalising, if underdeveloped, philosophical undercurrent building on Nietzsche among others, in keeping with Setton’s academic background. Setton draws interesting parallels too between Anna’s ethical confusion, her increasing distaste for the everyday slaughter that underpins her doctoral work, and her ability to detach herself from, or delude herself about, her personal interactions. The narrative itself often reminded me of Sally Rooney but less disciplined, even meandering at times. For me it’d definitely have benefited from a more ruthless edit. I wasn’t entirely convinced by the final twist/reveal either. Despite its initial promise, and numerous intriguing stretches of writing, I found my attention wandering particularly during the middle sections. Overall, this didn’t really come together for me, far less so than her debut.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Doubleday for an ARC
Note: Apart from the animal slaughter in the lab there’s also a graphic description of the death of another animal.
January 8, 2024
Disappointing and messy from page 2 onwards, and not in a good way. The narrative rambles pointlessly and it's hard to understand what this book is aiming at. That fab cover drew me but nothing about the writing or the story comes together.
ARC via Netgalley
ARC via Netgalley
April 21, 2024
4.5
“Plaything” explores themes of obsession, image and self-worth. The cover captured my eye, but when I started reading, I realised I was getting so much more than I expected! I appreciate the atmosphere that B.Setton created in this book – it’s a bit unsettling, full of honesty, I was compelled and couldn’t put the book down!
Anna is smart, she’s successful in her field, she comes from a dysfunctional family. Anna meets a guy whom she thinks is out of her league. He’s so beautiful, it’s disturbing, she’s not a beaty, though she always found that it’s not that important. Anna starts to forget her value and strengths, becomes intimidated as Caden plays with her mind emphasising every little aspect she lacks. It was so interesting to see Anna’s character develop, to understand her better because of her background, to see how her unnatural fixation and obsession changes her behaviour and character, self evaluation. I was engrossed in the story – the red flags, unhealthy relationship forming between Anna and Caden – it was a page turner!
I won’t tell anything more about characters and plot as I feel it’s best to go in with as little knowledge as possible for a better reading experience. However, I would state that in order to fully appreciate the novel, it’s best to keep the non-judgemental pov about character traits or their behaviour. If you’re like me and like to get inside a fictional character’s head for the duration of a book and read about different experiences - you will be thrilled while reading this book. Also, it will work well for the fans of dark academia. At the beginning of the book, B.Setton states that it is neither campus university story nor a Covid story, but these two factors play a major role in setting. Times of Covid give a aspect of separation, social distancing and the university setting is done perfectly. The main features of dark academia plays nicely too: obsession, fixation, unhealthy relationship dynamic, isolation, misfit in a new social group, guilt, shame, not seeing oneself clearly, possible murder.
The plot progress was so satisfying, this book has the perfect balance of character and plot. I was invested in the story from the very beginning. The plot twists at the end were delicious, and one of them I didn’t guess (it’s a rare experience).
All in all, I had a great time reading the book, I was engrossed in the story, I appreciated the portraits of the characters, the way the relationship dynamics unfolded and influenced the characters.
I received ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, NetGalley.
“Plaything” explores themes of obsession, image and self-worth. The cover captured my eye, but when I started reading, I realised I was getting so much more than I expected! I appreciate the atmosphere that B.Setton created in this book – it’s a bit unsettling, full of honesty, I was compelled and couldn’t put the book down!
Anna is smart, she’s successful in her field, she comes from a dysfunctional family. Anna meets a guy whom she thinks is out of her league. He’s so beautiful, it’s disturbing, she’s not a beaty, though she always found that it’s not that important. Anna starts to forget her value and strengths, becomes intimidated as Caden plays with her mind emphasising every little aspect she lacks. It was so interesting to see Anna’s character develop, to understand her better because of her background, to see how her unnatural fixation and obsession changes her behaviour and character, self evaluation. I was engrossed in the story – the red flags, unhealthy relationship forming between Anna and Caden – it was a page turner!
I won’t tell anything more about characters and plot as I feel it’s best to go in with as little knowledge as possible for a better reading experience. However, I would state that in order to fully appreciate the novel, it’s best to keep the non-judgemental pov about character traits or their behaviour. If you’re like me and like to get inside a fictional character’s head for the duration of a book and read about different experiences - you will be thrilled while reading this book. Also, it will work well for the fans of dark academia. At the beginning of the book, B.Setton states that it is neither campus university story nor a Covid story, but these two factors play a major role in setting. Times of Covid give a aspect of separation, social distancing and the university setting is done perfectly. The main features of dark academia plays nicely too: obsession, fixation, unhealthy relationship dynamic, isolation, misfit in a new social group, guilt, shame, not seeing oneself clearly, possible murder.
The plot progress was so satisfying, this book has the perfect balance of character and plot. I was invested in the story from the very beginning. The plot twists at the end were delicious, and one of them I didn’t guess (it’s a rare experience).
All in all, I had a great time reading the book, I was engrossed in the story, I appreciated the portraits of the characters, the way the relationship dynamics unfolded and influenced the characters.
I received ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, NetGalley.
April 2, 2024
4.5
“Plaything” explores themes of obsession, image and self-worth. The cover captured my eye, but when I started reading, I realised I was getting so much more than I expected! I appreciate the atmosphere that B.Setton created in this book – it’s a bit unsettling, full of honesty, I was compelled and couldn’t put the book down!
Anna is smart, she’s successful in her field, she comes from a dysfunctional family. Anna meets a guy whom she thinks is out of her league. He’s so beautiful, it’s disturbing, she’s not a beaty, though she always found that it’s not that important. Anna starts to forget her value and strengths, becomes intimidated as Caden plays with her mind emphasising every little aspect she lacks. It was so interesting to see Anna’s character develop, to understand her better because of her background, to see how her unnatural fixation and obsession changes her behaviour and character, self evaluation. I was engrossed in the story – the red flags, unhealthy relationship forming between Anna and Caden – it was a page turner!
I won’t tell anything more about characters and plot as I feel it’s best to go in with as little knowledge as possible for a better reading experience. However, I would state that in order to fully appreciate the novel, it’s best to keep the non-judgemental pov about character traits or their behaviour. If you’re like me and like to get inside a fictional character’s head for the duration of a book and read about different experiences - you will be thrilled while reading this book. Also, it will work well for the fans of dark academia. At the beginning of the book, B.Setton states that it is neither campus university story nor a Covid story, but these two factors play a major role in setting. Times of Covid give a aspect of separation, social distancing and the university setting is done perfectly. The main features of dark academia plays nicely too: obsession, fixation, unhealthy relationship dynamic, isolation, misfit in a new social group, guilt, shame, not seeing oneself clearly, possible murder.
The plot progress was so satisfying, this book has the perfect balance of character and plot. I was invested in the story from the very beginning. The plot twists at the end were delicious, and one of them I didn’t guess (it’s a rare experience).
All in all, I had a great time reading the book, I was engrossed in the story, I appreciated the portraits of the characters, the way the relationship dynamics unfolded and influenced the characters.
I received ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, NetGalley.
“Plaything” explores themes of obsession, image and self-worth. The cover captured my eye, but when I started reading, I realised I was getting so much more than I expected! I appreciate the atmosphere that B.Setton created in this book – it’s a bit unsettling, full of honesty, I was compelled and couldn’t put the book down!
Anna is smart, she’s successful in her field, she comes from a dysfunctional family. Anna meets a guy whom she thinks is out of her league. He’s so beautiful, it’s disturbing, she’s not a beaty, though she always found that it’s not that important. Anna starts to forget her value and strengths, becomes intimidated as Caden plays with her mind emphasising every little aspect she lacks. It was so interesting to see Anna’s character develop, to understand her better because of her background, to see how her unnatural fixation and obsession changes her behaviour and character, self evaluation. I was engrossed in the story – the red flags, unhealthy relationship forming between Anna and Caden – it was a page turner!
I won’t tell anything more about characters and plot as I feel it’s best to go in with as little knowledge as possible for a better reading experience. However, I would state that in order to fully appreciate the novel, it’s best to keep the non-judgemental pov about character traits or their behaviour. If you’re like me and like to get inside a fictional character’s head for the duration of a book and read about different experiences - you will be thrilled while reading this book. Also, it will work well for the fans of dark academia. At the beginning of the book, B.Setton states that it is neither campus university story nor a Covid story, but these two factors play a major role in setting. Times of Covid give a aspect of separation, social distancing and the university setting is done perfectly. The main features of dark academia plays nicely too: obsession, fixation, unhealthy relationship dynamic, isolation, misfit in a new social group, guilt, shame, not seeing oneself clearly, possible murder.
The plot progress was so satisfying, this book has the perfect balance of character and plot. I was invested in the story from the very beginning. The plot twists at the end were delicious, and one of them I didn’t guess (it’s a rare experience).
All in all, I had a great time reading the book, I was engrossed in the story, I appreciated the portraits of the characters, the way the relationship dynamics unfolded and influenced the characters.
I received ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, NetGalley.
January 11, 2024
TW: murder, suicide, sexual assault, animal death, violence.
This was a real page turner! I picked it up because the blurb on NetGalley sounded interesting, and it really was. Anna was despicable and so well written, she was flawed and had me wanting to scream at her. Caden was equally as unlikeable, and usually I struggle with so many unlikeable characters, but somehow this worked.
I found the middle of the book a bit of a drag to read through, but it was still entertaining. The plot twist at the end came out of no where and completely shocked me, making the entire book even more compelling.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #Plaything #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
This was a real page turner! I picked it up because the blurb on NetGalley sounded interesting, and it really was. Anna was despicable and so well written, she was flawed and had me wanting to scream at her. Caden was equally as unlikeable, and usually I struggle with so many unlikeable characters, but somehow this worked.
I found the middle of the book a bit of a drag to read through, but it was still entertaining. The plot twist at the end came out of no where and completely shocked me, making the entire book even more compelling.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #Plaything #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
March 8, 2024
Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC to review
3 stars!?
It was a little bit of a maybe 2.25, but I'll bump it up for the ending.
Not gonna lie, I didn't end up getting invested into this as I had hoped. But I carried on, yeah, the characters are insufferable, and the descriptions can be much for people. But I like reading about a flawed person. It's well written, but it felt like it was dragged out at some points that weren't really needed, and that took my interest and reading flow in a different direction at times.
3 stars!?
It was a little bit of a maybe 2.25, but I'll bump it up for the ending.
Not gonna lie, I didn't end up getting invested into this as I had hoped. But I carried on, yeah, the characters are insufferable, and the descriptions can be much for people. But I like reading about a flawed person. It's well written, but it felt like it was dragged out at some points that weren't really needed, and that took my interest and reading flow in a different direction at times.
February 20, 2025
Hmm, moeilijk om punten te geven. Ergens tussen drie en vier. Sommige delen vond ik top, andere minder. Ik vond dat het einde het verhaal een beetje afzwakte. De 'fleece' in de droogkast had ook niet gehoeven voor mij, maar alas, maakte het misschien wel nog gekker.
February 22, 2024
'While I watched the videos of the person he desired, I was inside his thoughts, inside his body. And I felt I knew him more intimately than I ever had. For the first time, I truly understood him. And isn't that a form of empathy? Putting yourself in someone else's skin. Isn't that a form of love?'
Plaything by Bea Setton operates on the fumes of obsession, fixation, cruelty, desire. A novel that openly states it is not a campus novel surprisingly boasts some of the most beautiful and appealing descriptions of Cambridge, the backdrop of Covid looming behind. The protagonist, Anna, is quite mysterious, beside her constant assertions that she is undoubtedly the smartest person in the room, and has comically broad shoulders. Her character was littered with insecurity, which is a rather claustrophobic perspective to be trapped inside. However, it is this insecurity that drives her fixation with handsome physiotherapist Caden, who is equally mysterious and damaged. It is clear they are bound to end in disaster, but the details of that is reserved for the (rushed) ending.
This novel is also not for the feint of heart: content warnings include animal abuse/euthanasia, stalking, suicide, gaslighting, revenge porn, etc.
Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC!
Plaything by Bea Setton operates on the fumes of obsession, fixation, cruelty, desire. A novel that openly states it is not a campus novel surprisingly boasts some of the most beautiful and appealing descriptions of Cambridge, the backdrop of Covid looming behind. The protagonist, Anna, is quite mysterious, beside her constant assertions that she is undoubtedly the smartest person in the room, and has comically broad shoulders. Her character was littered with insecurity, which is a rather claustrophobic perspective to be trapped inside. However, it is this insecurity that drives her fixation with handsome physiotherapist Caden, who is equally mysterious and damaged. It is clear they are bound to end in disaster, but the details of that is reserved for the (rushed) ending.
This novel is also not for the feint of heart: content warnings include animal abuse/euthanasia, stalking, suicide, gaslighting, revenge porn, etc.
Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC!
June 14, 2024
2,5 stars. Not sure whether to be impressed or disappointed. I was really drawn in by the synopsis of Plaything: Soon after Anna starts her PhD in Cambridge, she enters a relationship with a man who hasn't gotten over his ex. But not in a casual "I still have feelings for her"-way, more like: he constantly compares Anna to her, does the same things that he did with her (Olivia Rodrigo is calling), his entire house is full of her belongings still. Oh, and she's allegedly "crazy". Soon, Anna feels as though there's a third person in her relationship, and she starts obsessing over the mysterious girl in her boyfriend's past.
What seems to be a straightforward story is actually anything but. Plaything moves beyond the expected play of power dynamics and embarks on twists and turns that kept me going: Huh? That's both the novel's strength and weakness, seeing as for long stretches I was left wondering if there was any purpose to the plot. Initially, the academic setting really drew me in, but once Anna encounters Caden, I found it hard to stay engaged because I couldn't figure out why she was attracted to him in the first place. Despite being the main character, I found Anna's characterization to be lackluster psychology 101 at best – not even mentioning all the other characters who were entirely two-dimensional. At times, Plaything read more like a first draft than a fully fleshed-out novel. And yet it poses really interesting questions about sexism, gendered bias, reliability, mental health, and most importantly: Can we ever truly know someone? Also, be aware: this book features the death of multiple animals, one of them especially gruesome, and includes a . Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
What seems to be a straightforward story is actually anything but. Plaything moves beyond the expected play of power dynamics and embarks on twists and turns that kept me going: Huh? That's both the novel's strength and weakness, seeing as for long stretches I was left wondering if there was any purpose to the plot. Initially, the academic setting really drew me in, but once Anna encounters Caden, I found it hard to stay engaged because I couldn't figure out why she was attracted to him in the first place. Despite being the main character, I found Anna's characterization to be lackluster psychology 101 at best – not even mentioning all the other characters who were entirely two-dimensional. At times, Plaything read more like a first draft than a fully fleshed-out novel. And yet it poses really interesting questions about sexism, gendered bias, reliability, mental health, and most importantly: Can we ever truly know someone? Also, be aware: this book features the death of multiple animals, one of them especially gruesome, and includes a . Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
September 18, 2024
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
💬 “The yearning was painful, and I thought, This man will ruin you, and I thought, If I must be ruined, I want to be ruined by him.”
💭 Bea Setton has fast become one of my favourite writers. Much like BERLIN, PLAYTHING was dark and atmospheric - almost claustrophobic - and I utterly adored it.
PLAYTHING centres around Cambridge PhD student, Anna, as she falls hard and fast for the enigmatic Caden. However, something feels a little off and Anna’s obsessive tendencies begin to bubble over as she becomes fixated on knowing everything there is to know about Caden, including more about his relationship with his seemingly ever-present ex girlfriend. But how far will Anna go to try and uncover what she believes is being hidden from her?
The university/campus setting is something I absolute love in these kind of creepy, tense novels. The atmosphere just suits them perfectly, and some of my favourite novels centre around them, such as STARGAZER and THE SECRET HISTORY. I wouldn’t say PLAYTHING is exactly the same as these by any stretch, but it certainly contains many of the same elements. Like, never quite know what’s going on - and perhaps never finding out - and that growing sense of unease that follows you throughout.
To summarise, PLAYTHING was certainly weird a read (and one without many answers), but if you like weird then I highly recommend it. I’d also really recommending checking out her debut, BERLIN, if you haven’t already read it.
💬 “The yearning was painful, and I thought, This man will ruin you, and I thought, If I must be ruined, I want to be ruined by him.”
💭 Bea Setton has fast become one of my favourite writers. Much like BERLIN, PLAYTHING was dark and atmospheric - almost claustrophobic - and I utterly adored it.
PLAYTHING centres around Cambridge PhD student, Anna, as she falls hard and fast for the enigmatic Caden. However, something feels a little off and Anna’s obsessive tendencies begin to bubble over as she becomes fixated on knowing everything there is to know about Caden, including more about his relationship with his seemingly ever-present ex girlfriend. But how far will Anna go to try and uncover what she believes is being hidden from her?
The university/campus setting is something I absolute love in these kind of creepy, tense novels. The atmosphere just suits them perfectly, and some of my favourite novels centre around them, such as STARGAZER and THE SECRET HISTORY. I wouldn’t say PLAYTHING is exactly the same as these by any stretch, but it certainly contains many of the same elements. Like, never quite know what’s going on - and perhaps never finding out - and that growing sense of unease that follows you throughout.
To summarise, PLAYTHING was certainly weird a read (and one without many answers), but if you like weird then I highly recommend it. I’d also really recommending checking out her debut, BERLIN, if you haven’t already read it.
June 27, 2024
I loved the dark undertones of the human psyche, which was delivered in this relatively short and fast paced novel from Bea Setton.
Whilst the author says herself this is not a campus novel, or a covid novel, both of these do make a great backdrop for the exploration of the dangers of obsession, jealously, and isolation and validation.
The controversially bleak Cambridge setting (as opposed to the idyllic university town) is very atmospheric in tone to the eerie landscape of the narrators mind.
‘Two different things wanteth the true man: danger and play. Therefore he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything.’
The twists and turns of the plot and the narrators mental state has me on edge and I’m a big fan of absolutely WILD ending!!
I was compelled to read this is one and a half sittings. This was a big anticipated release for me this year and now I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy when it’s published.
Thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Whilst the author says herself this is not a campus novel, or a covid novel, both of these do make a great backdrop for the exploration of the dangers of obsession, jealously, and isolation and validation.
The controversially bleak Cambridge setting (as opposed to the idyllic university town) is very atmospheric in tone to the eerie landscape of the narrators mind.
‘Two different things wanteth the true man: danger and play. Therefore he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything.’
The twists and turns of the plot and the narrators mental state has me on edge and I’m a big fan of absolutely WILD ending!!
I was compelled to read this is one and a half sittings. This was a big anticipated release for me this year and now I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy when it’s published.
Thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
July 21, 2024
This was … ok. It was no “Berlin,” that’s for sure. This one was just ok. I liked the setting and the characters. I think ultimately I wanted more plot than this—I mean, there is plot for sure, but it largely struck me as an off-the-wall protagonist that only has herself to blame for her problems. There was definitely drama at the end, and especially at the very end, but I didn’t get tons of satisfaction out of the whole book. It just felt like a mess of neuroticism and I’m still wondering “why…?” The readers who describe this book as “messy” with an ending coming “out of left field” are not wrong!
That said, I really appreciate Bea Setton’s characters (even though they’re neurotic), so I will definitely read her next book!
Also, this story has a little sideline plot related to Guinea pigs! It was unexpected and I’ve never seen so much Guinea pig coverage in a mainstream book! That was sort of fun (but also terrible because it related to Guinea pigs being used in labs, so definitely a dark aspect there…)
That said, I really appreciate Bea Setton’s characters (even though they’re neurotic), so I will definitely read her next book!
Also, this story has a little sideline plot related to Guinea pigs! It was unexpected and I’ve never seen so much Guinea pig coverage in a mainstream book! That was sort of fun (but also terrible because it related to Guinea pigs being used in labs, so definitely a dark aspect there…)
August 11, 2024
a novel with real hints of darkness but unfortunately wrapped up in another story of a character who we are told is a genius, but actually just has a serious case of 'not like other girls'
August 19, 2024
messy!!!
July 3, 2024
It’s as futile as banging my head against the wall; though Ji-woo once said that if you did that an infinite number of times, your head would pass through – something about the vacuum in the atoms and molecules in your head lining up perfectly.
On her way to begin her PhD in physiology at Cambridge, Anna witnesses a car wrecked in a ditch and a violent altercation between two men. She drives on, but this incident is mirrored weeks later by a sudden explosion of violence at the Eagle. Signing up to her college’s rowing team, she cycles along the river in ‘the early morning mist’ where ‘cows loomed out of the fog like ghosts’; the same riverside which is occasionally evacuated when unexploded bombs are fished out of the Cam. Plaything, Bea Setton’s sophomore novel, purports to be about the obsessive relationship between Anna and a hot physiotherapist, but feels like it’s about the destructiveness lurking beneath the flatness of everyday life. It takes about half its length to get going but once it does, it’s so worth it. As we’re warned at the start, this is not set in the Cambridge of rose gardens and King’s College Chapel but farther north along the dirty river into Chesterton and Fen Ditton, parts of the place that became familiar to me after living there for nine years but certainly weren’t when I was an undergraduate student. And Setton is an incredible, observational writer; she totally evokes Anna’s inner world, the ‘Anna Show’ she puts on to be socially acceptable and the tumbling paranoia of her actual thoughts. Because Setton is so good at tracking how Anna thinks, the occasional blip in reality when she sees something unreal makes sense rather than feeling like a writerly affectation to amp up the mood. And all of this builds to the novel’s haunting ending, when Setton both sticks the landing on a genuinely gutwrenching twist and then draws us into Anna’s growing fear, as she drives once again past the place where she saw the car wreck with the same song playing: ‘What if I’m in an infinite loop of eternal recurrence, and it’s all about to kick off again?’ Plaything doesn’t actually go meta but it’s so good on that liminal space of reality, the cows appearing from the mist, the gaps between the atoms.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
On her way to begin her PhD in physiology at Cambridge, Anna witnesses a car wrecked in a ditch and a violent altercation between two men. She drives on, but this incident is mirrored weeks later by a sudden explosion of violence at the Eagle. Signing up to her college’s rowing team, she cycles along the river in ‘the early morning mist’ where ‘cows loomed out of the fog like ghosts’; the same riverside which is occasionally evacuated when unexploded bombs are fished out of the Cam. Plaything, Bea Setton’s sophomore novel, purports to be about the obsessive relationship between Anna and a hot physiotherapist, but feels like it’s about the destructiveness lurking beneath the flatness of everyday life. It takes about half its length to get going but once it does, it’s so worth it. As we’re warned at the start, this is not set in the Cambridge of rose gardens and King’s College Chapel but farther north along the dirty river into Chesterton and Fen Ditton, parts of the place that became familiar to me after living there for nine years but certainly weren’t when I was an undergraduate student. And Setton is an incredible, observational writer; she totally evokes Anna’s inner world, the ‘Anna Show’ she puts on to be socially acceptable and the tumbling paranoia of her actual thoughts. Because Setton is so good at tracking how Anna thinks, the occasional blip in reality when she sees something unreal makes sense rather than feeling like a writerly affectation to amp up the mood. And all of this builds to the novel’s haunting ending, when Setton both sticks the landing on a genuinely gutwrenching twist and then draws us into Anna’s growing fear, as she drives once again past the place where she saw the car wreck with the same song playing: ‘What if I’m in an infinite loop of eternal recurrence, and it’s all about to kick off again?’ Plaything doesn’t actually go meta but it’s so good on that liminal space of reality, the cows appearing from the mist, the gaps between the atoms.
I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.
November 21, 2024
I was really impressed by Bea Setton's debut. I love her writing style and her misunderstood, self destructive, verging on psychopath protagonists.
Anna, like Daphne in Berlin, immediately raises your suspicions that despite her brutally negative honesty and self awareness, you are dealing with an unreliable narrator. Another unnerving read from between splayed fingers or from behind a cushion as her coming of age is punctuated with her sleep walking into terrible decisions and spiraling with the realities of her self sabotage.
Again, Setton uses her intimate knowledge of a place, in this book it's Cambridge , to great effect. The town, the college settings and the River Cam are almost personified.
I found some pacing issues with this story, and while it didn't grip me in quite the way Berlin did, I was intrigued and never considered giving up.
I like this author's style. I like that she dares us to dislike her characters but somehow makes us understand their flaws and stick by them, proving the adage that people aren't bad, they just do bad things.
Dying to see what she does next.
Anna, like Daphne in Berlin, immediately raises your suspicions that despite her brutally negative honesty and self awareness, you are dealing with an unreliable narrator. Another unnerving read from between splayed fingers or from behind a cushion as her coming of age is punctuated with her sleep walking into terrible decisions and spiraling with the realities of her self sabotage.
Again, Setton uses her intimate knowledge of a place, in this book it's Cambridge , to great effect. The town, the college settings and the River Cam are almost personified.
I found some pacing issues with this story, and while it didn't grip me in quite the way Berlin did, I was intrigued and never considered giving up.
I like this author's style. I like that she dares us to dislike her characters but somehow makes us understand their flaws and stick by them, proving the adage that people aren't bad, they just do bad things.
Dying to see what she does next.
October 9, 2024
In her early twenties, Anna starts her PhD science studies at Cambridge. While there, she's quick to make new friends and even joins a rowing club. Suddenly one day, she's injured during rowing practice and seeks the help of a physiotherapist. That person happens to be Caden, who knocks her off her feet. While their relationship seems idylic, Caden has a sick obsession with his ex-girlfriend. He doesn't give anything away but it's clear their breakup was a rough one. While the mystery works well up to this point, here it takes a weird turn. Bulk of the plot from this point is less than credible. Despite this flaw, this still works as a university relationship thriller and keeps the reader guessing until the very end.
December 31, 2024
Last book of the year!!
Plaything" is a book that presents a woman's obsession with her partner and ex.
In my opinion, it was not an obsession because she was absolutely right to do and think everything she did. Caden is literally the perfect representation of the parasite that men are when they have just ended a relationship and jump towards the first woman they meet.
I decided to read this book not only because of the plot but also because of the author. I loved Berlin and I became curious about this book. Something I have to emphasize is that the writing in this book felt simpler than in Berlin, also the theme of obsession, I don't know if I'm mentally ill but everything felt rational. Very good plotwists.
Plaything" is a book that presents a woman's obsession with her partner and ex.
In my opinion, it was not an obsession because she was absolutely right to do and think everything she did. Caden is literally the perfect representation of the parasite that men are when they have just ended a relationship and jump towards the first woman they meet.
I decided to read this book not only because of the plot but also because of the author. I loved Berlin and I became curious about this book. Something I have to emphasize is that the writing in this book felt simpler than in Berlin, also the theme of obsession, I don't know if I'm mentally ill but everything felt rational. Very good plotwists.
October 13, 2024
An exceedingly uncomfortable read. A morality tale of a toxic relationship and what happens when neither of you are willing to be honest about your feelings and your past. Great and gripping read, perfect for October in Cambridge!
Want to read
November 30, 2023OMG
July 29, 2024
OMG the last 20% what a ride!! Honestly I had to take some breaks because Anna stressed me out but I also needed to know what happened next.
September 28, 2025
iedereen in dit boek: 🚩🚩🚩 de plottwist: ✨actually it’s worse✨
November 4, 2025
DNF - on page 107, I just couldn't anymore. I hate the characters and cannot deal with the writing. At page 107 and the story was still very close to nowhere.
August 11, 2024
I loved this book!! At first was a bit confused and found it didn’t grab me as quickly as Bea Settons first novel Berlin. But as I got further into it, all the pieces came together spectacularly and I was hooked from page 150 onwards!
July 15, 2024
My brother bought me this book for my birthday (thanks Jack!). I enjoyed it and read it over 2 days so it’s definitely a page-turner and delivered on that front but I thought her first novel Berlin was better.
I liked the characters and the general storyline but it threw me that this was set during the pandemic and that wasn’t hinted at in the blurb. I was at Oxford Uni during the 2020 pandemic and wasn’t ready to relive that experience lol
I felt that Berlin could have ONLY taken place in Berlin and it really transported the reader there. This story could have been anywhere and I struggled to visualise Cambridge in the same way I related to Setton’s reconstruction of Berlin. I read Berlin in Berlin and Plaything in Oxford (so kinda Cambridge).
I liked the characters and the general storyline but it threw me that this was set during the pandemic and that wasn’t hinted at in the blurb. I was at Oxford Uni during the 2020 pandemic and wasn’t ready to relive that experience lol
I felt that Berlin could have ONLY taken place in Berlin and it really transported the reader there. This story could have been anywhere and I struggled to visualise Cambridge in the same way I related to Setton’s reconstruction of Berlin. I read Berlin in Berlin and Plaything in Oxford (so kinda Cambridge).
September 11, 2024
3.5 stars
I thought that it was a fun read, and I enjoyed the reading process (especially the annotations on my very funky fresh copy), but found that settons’ writing, characterisations and plot didn’t necessarily stay with me as Berlin did.
I thought that it was a fun read, and I enjoyed the reading process (especially the annotations on my very funky fresh copy), but found that settons’ writing, characterisations and plot didn’t necessarily stay with me as Berlin did.
August 13, 2024
The animal death themes are rank, loved the rest but my mood could not recover from the gross animal themes. This was almost hitting Berlin territory until that happened. Shame… others will enjoy but just not for me in this case unfortunately. I still look forward to Bea’s other books. Thanks Doubleday for the ARC.
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