Scan barcode
tabookish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
jelkebooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have been really curious about this book because it has gotten such mixed reactions. I'm very glad to report that I had a great time reading this book. The beginning is a bit slow, but still very captivating. There's just quite a lot of flashbacks, and character's backstory at the start that kind of feel pointless. However, there's this undertone that makes you keep reading because it can't be that all this info was for nothing. I think this book does a great job at that, keeping you curious about what's going on. Therefore this was an incredibly quick read as well.
Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Grief
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Child abuse, Misogyny, and Suicide
There is a scene were the characters get drugged. Roza’s backstory involves discussions of world war 2 and the holocaust.violetvulptex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Confinement and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Excrement, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation
araowl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Medical trauma
Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Excrement, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Outing, and Gaslighting
readingwithcoffee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
The main protagonist despite being thirty has a maturity of teenage girl and never seems to take almost maiming even if accidentally another author so she can’t write seriously but we’re expected to treat being ghosted by a friend as remotely a similar grievance especially as she imagines the woman as horrible friend any way but feels entitled to the woman never ending the friendship on terms different from the protagonist. It’s incredibly immature that we’re expected to both sides. Also the only black woman is constantly stereotyped and feels like she’s there to be the clan and collected characters and constantly associated with Africa, and slavery from lion necklace to someone who’s family is from Senegal saying her family came over the trans Atlantic slave trade when that’s African Americans. I genuinely think the majority of her on screen dialogue had the book discussing her in association with Africa or slavery more then anything else or having her awkwardly accuse the other white women reducing her to angry black woman that instead of critiquing racism in white liberal spaces felt the non black author feeling incredibly self conscious about her own black character and almost entirely white cast.
Also I’ve enjoyed books within books before but while the one here is related to the events in the book it reads like bad historical fiction.
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
yuyuv's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
sylvestra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Gaslighting
Minor: Toxic friendship
kris386's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Antisemitism
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Alex is struggling in her personal and professional life when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime invitation to attend an exclusive writing retreat hosted by her favorite author...but the invitation may not be all that it seems.
This book has an exceptional premise, and the vibes (winter locked room thriller with an And Then There Were None type plot) were outstanding. I’ve heard so many good things and went into this read extremely excited—especially because it was a BOTM pick and I usually have great luck with their choices.
Unfortunately, this one ultimately fell a *little* flat for me. It wasn’t bad (as evidenced by my 3.5 stars) but I found the plot a bit too unbelievable, and felt like the ending was very out-of-character/didn’t fit with the rest of the story. I also wanted more of a twist or reveal—everything seemed pretty predictable the whole way through.
All of that said, I do want to emphasize that I’ve seen some amazing reviews of this one and you might like it a lot more than I did! And, the writing is generally good and engaging—I’ll definitely still be giving this author a future try for whatever she writes next.
Recommended if you like: locked door mysteries; women’s wrongs; books about books
CW: Kidnapping/confinement; blood/death/violence; toxic friendship/emotional abuse/gaslighting; sexual encounters involving questionable consent
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, and Excrement
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, and Cultural appropriation