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sallytiffany's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Murder
kelisabeth's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
julietteshore's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Graphic: Drug use and Murder
Minor: Infidelity
lemonwrlds's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
2.5
Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
vedpears's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
However, the book completely got muddled up because Penner decided to use that awful story telling element - drama ensues because characters refuse to say one simple line that would clear up the whole misunderstanding! I hate this with a passion, so automatically loses 2 stars for that.
Another star is lost because Caroline doesn't make sense/is not well written and she takes up half the pages. She is passionate about history so when starting her life over, she decides to pursue... literature? Police are cautioning her to better safeguard toxic substances and she instead worries about how she doesn't have a child to worry about poisoning? It seems Penner was hinting that James was manipulative and employed gaslighting and emotional abuse when interacting with his wife, so Caroline should be written with that in mind. She was angry and was sharp with James. When he said "you're the one who tore up your college application," Penner should have had Caroline react how a woman in that relationship would have reacted at that point. If she is fighting to get away and divorce him, she would be arguing with him or making him see that he made it into an ultimatum. In regards to her relationship with James, Caroline was simply not fleshed out enough. She was angry enough to flee the country just to get away from him. She would definitely still have that anger and react accordingly upon seeing him. Poor writing.
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Vomit, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Classism
sharlapeggy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
bellebooks'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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Drug use, and Murder
Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
navayiota'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
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
foreverinastory'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
CWs: Graphic: Abortion/forced miscarriage (against characters consent), alcohol consumption, death, drug use, gaslighting, grief, infidelity, misogyny, murder, sexism, suicidal thoughts, toxic relationship. Moderate: Blood, child abuse, pedophilia, pregnancy, rape, sexual assault, vomit.
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, and Pregnancy
v171's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
On paper, this book ticks all the boxes of an excellent story. Great construction, good writing, great pacing, and good character development. However the themes of the book were just so heavy handed that it was almost boring to read despite doing everything else fine. The overall theme of the book is women supporting women. All the women in the book were either great or redeemed, and all of the men of the book were pretty much trash. That's great, I love that. I can get down with that. However, it seemed that just about every chapter it had to be spelled out how important it was for women to support women. For some reason the author felt it necessary to both show and tell this central theme over and over again. It required no critical thinking of the reader. I found my eyes glazing over as I took in all of the information at face value. I didn't need to think about it twice, and at the end of the book I thought to myself "well that was nice."
This is a good story, but what you see is what you get. Don't expect anything particularly thought provoking because what you're supposed to think is spelled out for you in the pages over and over again.
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Terminal illness
Minor: Incest and Pedophilia