k1mar1e11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism
mamadimo'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual content, and Death
shyleek'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? No
4.0
As you piece together what has happened to the girls who have gone missing you realize the town too many secrets for these children to be bearing alone.
A lot of potential triggers in this one but worth the read if those won't bother you.
Graphic: Addiction, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
smkelly1997's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Violence
alymahob'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content
rosesofthespring'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? It's complicated
5.0
Jess Lourey writes with an anger that demands answers. Why are men allowed to act with violence in response to the same injuries that women are expected to swallow and smile through? Why are the hopes, futures, and very lives of girls an acceptable loss in the face of men's desires?
"Does that sound like the kind of guy who would abduct a girl?"
If your answer is no, what would it take to change it to a yes?
I didn't grow up in the 70s, when this book is set, but the echoes of a midwest girlhood resound through the decades. Parties you know you shouldn't go to. Friends pressured and stifled simultaneously, growing up way too fast. Men and boys who think you owe them something. This is an absolute powerhouse of fiction.
If I had one genuine criticism of this story, it would be that everything wraps up a little too cleanly. However, given what Lourey has been through in her life -and what she puts the reader through in her book- maybe that's a catharsis we both deserve.
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Cursing, Death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, Drug use, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Gore, Murder, Kidnapping, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pedophilia
Moderate: Infidelity, Stalking, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Vomit, Domestic abuse, and Suicide
Here I'll try to expand on cases where the content is explicit, but does not take up that much page space. With regards to pedophilia: