Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Bunny

What starts as a cross between Heathers and Dead Poets Society with Daria-esque characters, turns into a mind-twisting tale where you’re not quite sure if you’re in a waking nightmare or not. Samantha’s unfortunate family life and outsider-ness lends itself to the underlying theme of “if you could create the perfect companion, would everything really be fixed?”
There’s so much to this book. I think I’ll revisit it. This feels like a Donnie Darko rewatch where you’ll find something new on each read.

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erinoconnor's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Oh I loved this. It was twisted. It was surreal. It was weird. I found myself wanting to know more and hoping the protagonist put herself in danger to do so. 😬 Normally I’m like, “no don’t go in there” but this book was so intriguing I kept hoping she’d go where she shouldn’t.

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blueowl2ivy's review against another edition

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challenging funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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alexiconic's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

well-written thriller, i really enjoyed the writing style and the mystery and twists. it was a very engaging book, and i enjoyed the unreliable narrator that samantha was. the vibes put in by the book, and the writing style, put in enough doubts early on that the twists feel just unexpected enough. the mysteries and weirdness really worked for me, and that was a huge surprise. the setting of creative writing majors in a pretentious college writing a final work worked so well, it was fascinating and relatable because i, too, am starting my final thesis.

but that was also frustrating. we got so lost in samantha's mind (which is an impressive writing feat, so clearly masterfully done), that it was incredibly hard to find the "point" of the story. the book feels like it has so much to say, so much that it can say, and i wish for there to be a "point" to it all. for the book, or the author, to tell me how to read it, how to interpret it. but maybe the beauty is in how multi-interpretable it is, in the end, and maybe the fact that i feel this frustration only means the writing is that good, because this is a book that i keep coming back to and re-thinking about.

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