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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
vi_holmes's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I loved this book so much...until the ending. Leno does such a great job of making you feel Jane's paranoia and her spiral. I was so immersed in the story! To the point that the predictability of the twists was very forgivable. But I can't forgive how blunt and pointless the ending is. It feels like there's a whole 3rd act missing.
TLDR: Scary, but the ending -- or really lack thereof -- took a lot away from it.
TLDR: Scary, but the ending -- or really lack thereof -- took a lot away from it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder
Moderate: Self harm and Suicide
themes of paranoia, anger management issues due to mental health, and feelings of growing insanityilaxaria's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide and Alcohol
limdurlu's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicide and Murder
madkatrob's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Murder
llyrian's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was going to be a 4.5 to 4.75 but the ending was really weird and rushed imo, I didn't like it.
It was beautifully written and atmospheric, and when I get goosebumps and a prickle on the back of my neck from a horror story it really means something,
but I saw the plottwist coming very early on, and the ending, like I said, wasn't great.
It was beautifully written and atmospheric, and when I get goosebumps and a prickle on the back of my neck from a horror story it really means something,
but I saw the plottwist coming very early on, and the ending, like I said, wasn't great.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol
booksofautumn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
readingpicnic's review against another edition
2.5
It felt like nothing was happening most of the book to move the story forward, but I did really love how fucked up the ending was. Also loved the book eating as a former paper eater.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
annajoybooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Grief, and Murder
uraveragelesbianreader's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book did everything it was supposed to do. I dont read a lot of horror so I cannot speak to its quality relative to other books in the genre but I honestly enjoyed it. The twists and turns feel earned and I liked putting the pieces together. I will admit the ending felt quite a bit fast and although it did feel like putting together a puzzle, there werent that many pieces to put together. There were however many moments I audibly gasped when things were revealed as those few pieces did come together. I think if the book was a tad longer and the last 50 pages occurred across 100 pages it would help make the timing feel a little bit less janky and thats why it gets a lower rating from me. That being said, I think this writing was intentional. The whole end of the book kind of reads like a downwards spiral that starts going faster and faster and faster till its all over in a big bang. So if that style of writing is something you enjoy you will enjoy this book. It definitely does a good job building the horror slowly and the foreshadowing is obvious but relevant and not overwhelming. Side note here, if one of your reading pet peeves is authors who havent been or spoken to a teenager in 20 years trying to write teenagers and failing miserably, this book IS NOT for you. As a final note, if you like answers, you will hate this book. The one thing this book does have going for it is re-readability, I could see myself rereading this and finding new details each time, although I assume this is par for the course in the thriller genre. I would recommend grabbing this book from the library or in a discount
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Murder and Pregnancy