Sierra’s Reviews > Fruit of the Dead > Status Update

One of the campers, Spencer (prob like 8 or 9 years old), got very close w Cory over the summer. Spenser’s dad, Rolo, is rich, owns a pharmaceutical company, invites Cory to lunch when he picks Spenser up, also has a toddler named Fern.
Rolo is weird right off the bat, analyzes Cory when she tells him a little abt herself- makes assumptions that she doesn’t know what she wants to do w herself but doesn’t wanna go home ( like every 18 year old girl🙄) - she’s like oomg this guys knowsss me 😂
He offers her 20k to work for him as a nanny for the next 4 weeks before the kids go back to their moms- they’re separated.
He’s so shady- tells her she can’t tell anyone, not even her mom, has to sign an NDA & like immediately! Pulls it up on his phone & she stupidly signs it!
They don’t even go back to camp to get her stuff, he’s super nonchalant & acts like she doesn’t need any of it.
Cory thinks this is a cool opportunity, could change her life, the money is a crazy offer- doesn’t question any red flags lol just goes along straight to his house from the diner…

Corys mom, Emer, is in China for work. She texts Emer lying that she got an internship & won’t be home for a month, has bad service & can’t text her details- her mom is obviously very worried.

We learn that Cory started going down a bad path when she befriended a senior during her sophomore year named Leon. She admired him but also had a little crush on him.
Jase, their mutual friend, had a crush on Cory so when they started dating, it was clear Leon was getting jealous. He’s also the one who introduced her to weed & alcohol.
During a party one night, Leon brings Cory up to his room & shares his secret stash of hash w her. Everyone’s drinking too so she gets too messed up & he forces himself on her when she says no to sex…
He tells Jase that she was forcing herself on him & he pity-fucked her! Jase dumps her & everyone feels bad for him, thinks she’s a whore.
It takes her 6 months to finally tell her mom..when she does, Emer says nothing..just walks out of the room & they never speak of it again.

Rolo drives them hours away from camp, to a ferry that takes them to his giant estate on a private island. After a tour of the mansion, Cory finally asks what he does lol he tells her he runs a very successful pharmaceutical manufacturing company, is working on a new drug currently trying get it FDA approved. He shares that it’s a pain killer, super safe- he even made cocktails at his work party w it lol called them Fruit of the Dead.
Cory says she wants to try it…

The next day one of the employees show her where she’ll be staying- in the pretty glamours shed that’s been renovated into a room.

We get Emer’s POV, she’s in China on business. She runs an agricultural project- they create rice seeds, outsource the farming & take the rice to countries in need. Currently the seeds her company has created are faulty, when meeting w farmers they tell her nothing will grow.
She finds a parallel between her frustrations w work & her daughter- it doesn’t matter how much you take care of something, nurture something while it grows, the outcome is not guaranteed to turn out how you want, your creation could turn on you or become a failure.

We learn Emer’s dad was just a short fling, wasn’t in her life, they hooked up in the garden at a party & saw each other briefly after, before Emer got pregnant.
When Cory was born, Emer felt empty, less beautiful, not super connected to her.
When she opened up abt being r*ped, Emer was angry! She says by that point she was too cold hearted to feel much sympathy for her daughter, angry she didn’t listen to her warning abt how evil & shitty men are…

Cory-
She is there for days, Rolo makes her a fruit of the dead cocktail everyday, she’s just drugged up & living her best nanny life out there.

Rolo’s true colors show when Cory is invited to a party w staff members on a little island by the property, she puts the kids to sleep & goes without telling him. He’s been very busy & stressed w work.

There’s service on the island, Cory doesn’t call her mom tho or return any of the 20-something worries messages she’s sent. Instead she calls her on the boat ride back, they can barley hear each other, Emer is even more worried now before Cory drops her phone in the ocean lmao

When she returns she finds him waiting for her, kinda drunk. He explains to her that the only reason the kids are there is cause he agreed to take them while their mom adjusts to her new baby, that her only job here is to make sure they’re kept away from him so he can work.
He regrets agreeing to take them for so long, tells Cory that he doesn’t care if they’re safe, happy or not, just keep the kids away from him…yells at her for fraternizing w other staff members.

Emer-
After getting the phone call she goes full mom mode. She makes an excel spreadsheet of all the billion & millionaires who own islands, tries calling the camp, tries reporting her missing- no luck with anything- camps closed, cops say she’s 18 & can leave on her own. Emer doesn’t know what else to do, now that she’s back home from her trip to China she borrows a car from a friend & starts driving, determined to find Cory.
She drives to the camp, it’s closed, goes to a diner nearby & continently finds everything she needs. It was the same diner Cory & Rolo went to w the kids before they left camp so when Emer asks the waitress if she’s seen her daughter, waitress says she thinks so, tells her abt Rolo. It’s a small town so even the cook knows abt Rolo, says his cousin used to work for him, gives her info on where he might live.
Emer googles Rolo & sees he’s involved w a bunch of lawsuits, he’s a rlly bad guy, his business sells very addictive painkillers, targets black communities cause apparently sales do rlly well there, is facing many lawsuits over his drugs.
She online stalks his location through news articles, spends days driving from state to state trying to track him down, waiting outside of hotels & restaurant he was spotted at.
She’s completely abandoned her work, put it all on her team right in the midst of everything falling apart. The farmers need more funding to try growing the “miracle” seeds that are apparently gonna help solve world hunger- seeds don’t work, she can’t get funding, is ignoring all her coworkers so it’s not a surprise when she sees herself on the news…they threw her under the bus. The board has voted to replace her, so now she’s fired.
The news report said that the project is failing & emer is missing & in psychosis. She’s pissed, gives herself a buzzcut 😂
I guess she’s reinventing herself lol maybe Ms.girl is having her Britney moment lol

Cory-
The kids mom, Cricket, & her finance(husband?) come to pick up the kids, they spend the day on the island.
Rolo decides he wants to have a party, brings Cory up into Crickets old closet, pulls old dresses for her to try on for him. He critiques & compliments her, Cory is equally uncomfortable as she is lowkey attracted to him- he’s old & fat, gross girl.

Back outside Cricket tells Cory, when they’re alone, that she’s from the mainland, loved to sail, met Rolo when she was only 17..married by 19. She regrets giving her 20s to him but says she’s found god now & doesn’t regret anything, warns Cory that Rolo likes her & it’s easy to get swept away in all his glamour & money. Cory kinda takes it the wrong way, insists they’re not doing anything like that, he’s only her boss.

During the party Cory gets too drunk, falls on her face & smashes her nose, bleeding all over the place in front of everyone.
Rolo comes to her rescue, runs her a bubble bath, asks her to stay afterward- says Cory is his home lmao & he wants to come home to her, that she can rule the island while he’s gone on business trips. Cory agrees cause she doesn’t wanna go back to living w her mom.
The next day cricket & the kids are waiting for the helicopter to take them back to the mainland, Cory tells the kids she’s not leaving w them but staying longer- Rolo says it’s an extended vacation…
Cricket tried pulling her aside again, says that she made that same choice at her age & regrets it, that if Cory was her daughter she’d tell her to go home.
Cory is like you’re jealous & walks off feeling like hott shit, ready to enjoy her life being rolos girl instead of the nanny now.

Emer-
She drives around trying to track down Rolo for weeks to no avail until her car gets a flat, she’s taken home by 4 little girls (okayyyy random), lies abt who she is, gets along rlly well w the mom, Metta (lmao I hate the names), who takes a nap & lets this random lady she just met watch her baby(again weird but okay ig), invites Emer to church w them to after her nap.
It’s coincidentally the same church as Cricket, hears the kids singing the lullaby she used to sing to Cory. When she talks to them, they tell her she’s on an island but the only way to get there is but boat or helicopter but Cricket does apologize, says she tried telling her to go home but that she’s his ex & he always treated her very well, still makes sure she’s taken care of.
She’s able to track down the same ferry Cory & Rolo took over, hitches a ride to the ferry- the ferry captain isn’t surprised to see her, figured she’d show up to drag her daughter out of there eventually, clearly this happens a lot.

Cory-
Now that she’s not a nanny anymore, she spends her days high off rolos pills, sleeps majority of her time, explores nature on the island, lives a very leisurely life. She’s doing rlly good other than her drug addiction & her avoidance to real life lol

Rolo comes & goes from the island, he r*pes her one night when she’s hallucinating & strung out on the pills, she’s aware enough to say stop but it doesn’t matter to him.
The next morning Cory immediately vomits in the bathroom while Rolo stands outside the door pleading to get in, trying to manipulate her saying that she was into it last night & she probably doesn’t remember much…literally asks her to marry him & tells her he’ll give her whatever she wants if she stays, that it was love at first sight & he’s waited to long to be with her- ew.

In the bathroom Cory smashes a picture frame & starts self harming..then when he leaves she grabs a bunch of pills, goes into the woods & climbs a tree, almost falls out of the tree, wants her mom, tries telepathically calling out to her mom & then the boat pulls up 😂 okayyyyyy lmao I hate this book

Emer- she gets there & everyone’s kinda expecting her, they let her right in, rolos not suprised, says he expected her eventually. They go outside & start yelling for Cory- Emer literally starts whispering into the wind 🤣🤣🤣 so cringe I can’t 😭😭 Cory comes running out of the woods

Emer & Cory leave, Rolo tries to get her to stay but she says no, he gives her the check he owes her for 20k, she leaves w her pockets stuffed full of the pills.
Emer is excited they have a closer relationship now, wants to open up to Cory more now that she’s got her back. Cory is over here thinking abt the money & pills lmao ending the book w her thinking she’ll prob go back one day 😭