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kayes's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Incest, Miscarriage, Rape, and Pandemic/Epidemic
holyteeth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I devoured it. Finished the whole thing in less than a day. The writing style was engaging, and I was really, really curious to see where the plot was going. The answer is... nowhere much.
THE PROS:
I enjoyed the world building. I was immersed in it quite easily, without too much exposition, but by being gently enveloped in it through the context itself. Very well done. To me most of it was solid and made sense. The way people behaved was very neatly tied in to the society they lived in and I could tell exactly the ways it had influenced them and why they did most things they did.
The characters were enjoyable and easy to love, and I found myself deeply invested in their stories. It was a difficult read, absolutely, considering the subject matter, but I found it handled mostly with thoughtfulness and an approach to children characters I don' t often see from books of this nature.
The handling of a child's POV in general was well done. I often found myself sharing in their joy and enjoying the way they viewed the world, which made it all the more effective when I was ripped out of it by adult understanding of what was unfolding. I especially enjoyed the approach to how the teens and tweens viewed puberty- almost like a horror novel in the physicality of it.
THE CONS(?):
Starting from the simplest things: This book is difficult to read if you're a disabled person, which I am. This is not a judgement of the book as much as it is a warning to other disabled people. In the context of the society portrayed, the way disabled children and the concept of disability is approached makes a lot of sense, and ties in with the rest of the themes. It's still difficult to read about as a disabled person, so I want to have it out there.
Most of the characters had the same voices regardless of whose POV it was, which made it difficult to keep track of who was who, especially early in the book with so many names being thrown around and so many characters having the same last names. It could have definitely benefited from some more differation between voices.
There was virtually, in my opinion, no character development. All characters, by the end of the book or of themselves, were pretty much psychologically/mentally at almost the exact place they started, just more dead or traumatized.
And the biggest one... what was the point? Don't get me wrong, like I said, I enjoyed the story. But it seemed to rapidly jump back and forth between hopeful and pessimistic, and by the end I was left feeling... almost a little robbed. Maybe that was the point, now that I think about it.
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Sexism, and Suicide
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Abortion
chuckyinspace's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
whatzoreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, and Pedophilia
potsnpots's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
ifoundcallie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Excrement, Vomit, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
nottoolate's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Beyond that-I can only imagine the author is inspired by the many insular fundamentalist Christian groups in America. It is a multiple pov story, with each character giving away small pieces that paint a horrifying picture of the society these poor girls live in. A dark but compelling story I couldn't stop reading.
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Gaslighting
twistykris's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
Some might call the writing "flowery," but I found it to be beautiful and engrossing. The descriptions of the children running freely during the summers left me feeling nostalgic and entranced. The descriptions of the horrors made me sick to my stomach.
I appreciate that all of the perspectives are told from 4 girls, ranging from 13-17. This is their story, their journey, their sorrows and trauma, their love and triumphs.
There are very disturbing references to normalized, societal incest in this book. I struggled reading certain sections depicting overt abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual) of girls, young teens, and women. When reading disturbing content like this, I often wonder how the author could possibly get such imagery, and I wonder if it's for "shock value" more than anything. But after reading about Jennie's experience working with traumatized and sexually abused children, it made me understand that this was not "shock value" content, but a deep understanding. Jennie is knowledgeable of what she is portraying and does it well.
An uncomfortable read that will stick with me for a long time. Rating may be updated in the future.
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming and Bullying
This book has references to child abuse and incest between fathers and daughters. While it isn't overly graphic and a lot of the abuse is implied, it is an integral part of the story and can be very difficult to read. The author, Jennie Melamed, "is a psychiatric nurse practitioner who specializes in working with traumatized children. During her doctoral work at the University of Washington, she investigated anthropological, biological, and cultural aspects of child sexual abuse."whatvictoriaread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
lovefromhannah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment