georgie_mb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Let’s start with the positives: the descriptions are truly beautiful, and that honestly was a whole star in my rrating system. I could see The Paper Palace and it’s surrounding, it was a very sensory experience.
For some reason (and I don’t really know why), I got more into this in the second half than the first, and I’m wondering whether it was because I settled into the banter of the family. Possibly because it reminded me slightly of my own…
I do have some issues with it though. Firstly I don’t think it helped that the Audible narrator sounded like the female US Siri which made some of it come across as very cold. But I think even looking past that, some parts really lacked emotion, and almost came across as harsh. I found this particularly hard to swallow when it come to the really disturbing parts, so much so I had to skip forward sometimes.
I also found the storyline lacked purpose. I think with the beginning it set it up to be a completely different book to what it turned out to be, and I was left slightly disappointed by that. There just didn’t seem to be any clear direction, regardless of the varying time lines.
Graphic: Child abuse, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Sexual assault, Death, Incest, Infidelity, and Rape
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
elsmithies's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, and Cancer
Moderate: Death
phou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Incest, Sexual assault, and Child abuse
Moderate: Pedophilia and Death
Minor: Misogyny
brett311'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Infidelity
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Death and Cancer
eule's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
So much (!!!) emotional trauma in one book. Please check the trigger warnings, it gets pretty graphic.
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Incest, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, and Grief
absolute_bookery'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Cancer
brookac's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Cancer and Death
sunshine_2's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, Child death, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
sarahemhavens'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
2.0
“I wonder if he would love me if he could see inside my head”
(The other quote is an absolute spoiler so I will be refraining bc I like to keep these spoiler free)
I was hoping to be enveloped in this book the way I was with Malibu Rising, because it’s the same idea when it comes to writing timeframe and storytelling, but I don’t think it was done very well in this one. Though the focus of the book is supposed to be how one night changes everything, the primary focus, I felt, was more on the fifty year spread. This book gave me, personally, a whole lot of nothing. I wanted more out of it and at the same time, less of so many other things.
There was also a lot of trauma and triggering things (sa, csa/cse/csea) which left me feeling skeeved out and just unsettled.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Incest, Child abuse, and Rape
Moderate: Death
Minor: Pedophilia and Abandonment
triggeringbellarosereads'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Incest, and Infidelity
Moderate: Miscarriage, Infertility, and Suicide
Minor: Terminal illness and Cancer