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the_books_music_life's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
2.25
I think I hyped this book up a little too much and was left disappointed. I didn’t care for any of the characters and while Jane is a very complex character, she reads like an unreliable narrator and I don’t particularly enjoy that trope.
The story follows Jane as she struggles with the recent loss of her father and being forced to leave everything she knew and move to her mother’s hometown, which she knows next to nothing about.
Jane is a very complex character and throughout the book she goes through so much. And a lot of it could have been avoided if people around her actually talked and told the truth about things.
I thought the story would/could go in 1 to 2 ways and it went in neither. The direction it took was confusing and unclear and it didn’t help anything that the ending was very rushed.
If I had to describe this book in one sentence it would be “Gaslighting at it finest.”
The whole ‘mystery’ of the book is dragged on forever and the pay off wasn’t that great in my opinion. The only thing I did enjoy was the depiction of grief that we get to see. Grief is never one emotion, it’s many little emotions that mix and mingle into an even biggest emotion and this book did a great job showing that and the ways Jane dealt with her grief was realistic to me.
I did not care for the haunted house/ghost story element as it was very poorly done and just plain confusing.
The ending of the book is done in an open ending kind of way and it didn’t work for this story.
Most of the ‘side characters’ didn’t even have a point in the story, they were just there as someone for Jane to talk to or as conflict. No one had depth or meaning other than being someone Jane talked to.
Overall I found this book confusing, rushed, and the ending very disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, and Suicide
Graphic depictions of pica, loss of a sibling, intense depictions of anger issues, underage drinking, forced pregnancy,sunsetcity's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting
sacrificarelepus's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I'm not really sure what to say about this book, it kept me intrigued enough to continue reading even though I felt the slow build up was a little much. almost 100 pages before I felt it become more than just a slice of life. And the surprise twist, well the world that was built up leaves me feeling that the suspension of disbelief I would have to put up to think that could actually happen. Then again this might be one of those horrors where you are supposed to think either this is actually happening OR this person is having a break with reality. And I'm not really a fan of those, I prefer to solidly know whether this is "real" or not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Grief
pseudoliterature's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.5
If there is one thing I'd like to highlight is Katrina Leno's writing, and her ability to write atmospheres and moods in her books. Each of her stories have such a distinctive feeling to them, her magical realism feels mundane in the best way possible, creating these worlds that you feel you might find just around the corner.
However, this book doesn't get the full 5 stars for one reason in particular, and that is the amount of gaslighting in it. This is a completely personal reading taste situation, where this topic in particular is very triggering for me as an individual, it built such a level of anxiety that there where parts of the book that I just couldn't enjoy, even if thought they were well written and did work as important parts of the story as a whole. I can understand the decision she made, story wise, and the anxiety she purposefully creates is part of the mood she builds with this story, it work for the content of the book, and if you don't have troubles reading some motherly gaslighting then I don't think this is going to be something that sours your experience.
Besides that, this is a great book, highly inspired by Agatha Christie (in a not so subtle way) and her frustration building techniques. I'm really excited to see what she writes next
However, this book doesn't get the full 5 stars for one reason in particular, and that is the amount of gaslighting in it. This is a completely personal reading taste situation, where this topic in particular is very triggering for me as an individual, it built such a level of anxiety that there where parts of the book that I just couldn't enjoy, even if thought they were well written and did work as important parts of the story as a whole. I can understand the decision she made, story wise, and the anxiety she purposefully creates is part of the mood she builds with this story, it work for the content of the book, and if you don't have troubles reading some motherly gaslighting then I don't think this is going to be something that sours your experience.
Besides that, this is a great book, highly inspired by Agatha Christie (in a not so subtle way) and her frustration building techniques. I'm really excited to see what she writes next
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Minor: Emotional abuse