The Family Condition

Bennet is drowning his sorrows one night at Night Owl bar a few months after finding his now ex-girlfriend in bed with another man. As he stands at the bar with his drink, a bold young woman tells him to move so she can get to the bar and then shoves him into the man next to him. Little does Bennet know, but the rest of his life will never be the same. From that night on, Bennet and Elodie are almost inseparable, however, Elodie refuses to answer any of Bennet’s questions about her own family even after berating him with questions about his. There is something about Elodie that brings Bennet out of his shell, and Bennet finds himself thinking less and less about his ex.

The first thing I noticed about the author’s writing style is the ability to give detail about his characters, their surroundings, and their interactions without making the story boring. This made me feel like I was in the story experiencing what Bennet and Elodie were.

As the months pass, Elodie finally gives in and decides to bring Bennet to meet her parents. What Bennet finds would leave anyone with the feeling of wanting to run far, far away. As the title implies, The Family Condition is just that, a condition that has been passed on through Elodie’s mother’s side. Alodia, Elodie’s mother, is kept in a plexiglass habitat and is also allowed to roam in the garden. This is for her own safety and Elodie’s father, Hugo, seems to love his wife very much and cater to her needs. Although the build-up to meeting Alodia and Hugo is well done by the author, I didn’t feel the book was really scary as other horror books are. The book really seemed more like a Beauty and the Beast-style romance with a role reversal. Then, Elodie and Bennet go digging into Alodia’s family history. What they find is horrific, but still not really horror.

I really enjoyed The Family Condition and felt the author did an excellent job of letting the story flow naturally, making the story exciting and its readers weary of what was to come at the same time. The love between Bennet and Elodie parallels that of Elodie’s parents, making the book one that will resonate with readers about the true meaning of love and sacrifice. I would recommend this book to fans of suspense more than horror because it kept me on edge every step of the way, as an action movie would.