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leexpen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- 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
3.75
ð SYNOPSIS:
Struggling with all-consuming rage, Jane North-Robinson feels chilled by more than just the autumn air when she and her mother move to her mother's childhood home, where Jane must dig up her mother's secrets to understand what is happening.
ðððđððŠĶðŧðĐâð§ðð
ððŧ RECOMMENDATION:
ð READ IF you've got nothing else, if it works for a reading challenge, etc.
Struggling with all-consuming rage, Jane North-Robinson feels chilled by more than just the autumn air when she and her mother move to her mother's childhood home, where Jane must dig up her mother's secrets to understand what is happening.
ðððđððŠĶðŧðĐâð§ðð
ððŧ RECOMMENDATION:
ð READ IF you've got nothing else, if it works for a reading challenge, etc.
ðŽ FAVORITE QUOTES:
âĒ Pg. 201
do books taste like roses?
âĒ Pg. 209-210 (TR: Mental illness, depression)
A flash of the earth with everything destroyed except this house, the last building standing, and Jane within it, trapped inside its walls, not really caring anymore whether she made it out or not.
âĒ Pg. 214 (TR: Mental illness, compulsive behaviors)
She imagined the words dissolving off the paper and sinking into her bloodstream. She imagined her body filled with words. Made up of them. Words instead of blood, words instead of organs.
ð FORMAT:
ð
ð COMMENTS:
âĒ The main characters are complex and flawed. Jane's friends are heartwarming and supportive.
âĒ Jane is frustrating slow to figure out what happened, leaping to illogical conclusions for the sake of continuing the mystery.
âĒ I mostly agree with the Booklist quote on the back, which reads, "Leno blends Agatha Christie and Shirley Jackson for a narrative that ranges from unsettling to genuinely terrifying." (I did not find the narrative terrifying but otherwise agree.)
âĒ The book starts a little too slow, and it ends a little too quickly, but the middle is well-paced.
âĒ Race is poorly represented. Some of the characters seem like they were originally intended to be POCs but were changed to white or the author used POC aesthetics. The black characters are black only in description of skin tone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism
daniellestarredpages's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Confinement
anna_23's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Child death, and Mental illness
coolmombeck's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Fast read and creepy. Leno wrote a perfectly accurate description of pica (eating of non-food items as comfort during stressors for people that struggle with specific OCD). While I truly enjoyed the book, the ending left me saddened. I thoroughly enjoyed the addition of the love of Agatha. 3/5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Violence