emcheym's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Child death, and Rape
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness
catherine_lyerly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
4.0
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Mental illness and Addiction
quillreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Spoiler
My main problem with the ending was Anna’s character. How am I supposed to believe that one of the world’s most evil people somehow becomes a good person by endlessly cycling through time loops in a setting that is described as “poisonous” in its immorality and corruption?One other thing that bothered me considerably was the fatphobic language. The language Turton uses to describe a fat character is unnecessarily cruel.
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Medical content, Classism, Body shaming, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Infidelity, Torture, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Blood, Child abuse, Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Rape
Minor: Cursing, Sexism, War, Colonisation, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Self harm, and Sexual content
greatexpectations77'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? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Physical abuse, Stalking, Blood, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Bullying, Classism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Abandonment, Mental illness, Alcohol, Grief, and Infidelity
Minor: Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual harassment
Avoid if you don't like: torture, trying to remember about 24 vaguely similar characters, or telling instead of showing.maeverose's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
Cons:
Third, going off the last one a bit, there’s zero diversity. Everybody is straight, cis, white, and most of the important characters are men. Evelyn and Anna being obviously important to the story but they’re hardly in it compared to the men. None of Aiden’s 8 hosts are women. On top of that, a lot of the people we’re supposed to dislike are described as ‘ugly’ or disfigured.
Spoiler
Fourth, what was the deal with Aiden loving Anna? Even before the reveal of who she was at the end, I didn’t understand why he was so protective of her. He hardly spent any time with her, he didn’t even know her, he knew he couldn’t trust anyone, and he was straight up told she would betray him, and yet he was determined to save and protect her. He actually loved her, even after finding out who she was and what she did to his sister. I don’t understand how he could care for her after learning that, even if she had changed. That whole thing was just so weird to meGraphic: Blood, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Mental illness
Minor: Excrement, Grief, Racism, and Sexual content
Implied rape, memory loss, poisoningsmkelly1997's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Blood, Murder, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Suicide, Child death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Torture
kaleewinterbottom'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
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Fatphobia, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking
whatathymeitwas'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? It's complicated
5.0
This reminded me a bit of the play/TV film "An Inspector Calls." Not necessarily for any real direct reason other than they're both examples of very unique ways to approach a mystery, but that alone must have made the connection. I'll be very excited to watch this whenever they finally get it in series form.
Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Murder, Grief, Gun violence, Rape, and Stalking
dustghosts'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
4.0
+ Satisfyingly cyclical, repetitive but full of just the right twists and turns that you want to keep reading to figure out what the exact same scene and setup looks like through a different set of eyes
+ Super exciting exploration and expansion of how to use POV to invoke emotion, tell a thrilling story, and string everything together
+ A very charming cast of absolutely unbearable little bastards; feels like you gain an evolving and empathetic understanding of each character with each new day
Spoiler
+ Despite the author’s sort of muddled/overly neutral comments in his own commentary, I find the book to be a pretty compelling allegory for and argument against the carceral state. The text itself feels distinctly poised against both the current prison system and the future potential for “mental imprisonment”.- Some really egregious fatphobia that feels uncomfortable and gross to read, especially for a contemporary book. Not really skippable, either— while this character has other values to the narrative, fatness is treated as a debilitating moral failing reflective of character.
- So extremely British—
- Near the end, starts to feel as though things are being wrapped up too quickly, not quite as immersive as the rest of the book.
Spoiler
For example, I think we’re supposed to interpret Annabelle before Blackheath as as heinous as Daniel, whose villainy we’ve watched develop and worsen throughout the week. But whoever she was before feels too simply and vaguely summarized in comparison to the blunt relaying of Daniels crimes throughout the rest of the book. I wish we could spend a little more time remembering WITH Aiden, though I suppose the pacing might suffer for that.Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Suicide, and Torture
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Addiction, Classism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Rape, Vomit, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury
davidrb'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
Points deducted for being kinda slow to start (took me a few tries before I got into it) and a weird, prolonged section of fatphobia.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence