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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
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
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
morganperks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity, Murder, and Gaslighting