luverbyrd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Violence
Minor: Suicide, Pedophilia, Torture, and Toxic relationship
booksnbrooches's review against another edition
3.0
Still, it was a fast paced thriller. I loved the writing style and would be willing to read more of the author’s work in the future.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, and Bullying
Minor: Torture, Murder, Pregnancy, and Pedophilia
pspude's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book... and I did finish it, but maaan I hated the ending. This book was essentially one big trauma dump after the next in attempt to distract readers from figuring out the mystery. Like the almost rape scene for Jack's brother Jacob?! Like why?! And Jack actually being Merry, one of the original missing girls? Hated that because she seemed so out of touch with the town... that she grew up in??? And no one recognized her or Flo?! And Wrigley was a killer..... for fun.... and enjoyed torture with Rosie? Like okay? What were the odds? And let's just throw in the religious trauma with Jack being part of the church.
I felt like this book were three major traumas loosely tied together in a haphazard ending. Tudor really paints a picture, but it was so far fetched in tying everything together that I was severely disappointed. Also, who killed the mom?! Wtf is this town.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Body horror, and Torture
singalana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, Bullying, Death, Torture, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry
saraellenme's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, and Torture
Moderate: Child death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Death, and Grief
Minor: Drug use, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Drug abuse, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gun violence, and Grief
mysterymom46's review
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Cursing, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Stalking, Toxic friendship, Blood, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Self harm, Torture, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, and Death
Minor: Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Homophobia
Spoiler
graphic scenes, even with teen characters; lots of cursing and what could be read as blasphemy to some; biblical interpretation and views shared by religious persons; ghost-like appearanceskimseokjinschild'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? No
4.0
Only negative is that some may find the book writing style and layout confusing as it shifts from present to past as well as characters point of views.
Graphic: Torture, Child death, and Murder
readingonfordearlife's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Torture
archaicrobin'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
2.5
Jack and her daughter are moved to a small town to be the new vicar. Once they arrive strange dolls, strange people, and strange bodies start to appear and soon Jack and her daughter Flo find themselves immersed in the towns’ secrets.
In my opinion there was WAY too much going on in this book for it to end well. You had burning ghosts, martyrs, rich people with influence over a small town, Jack had a dark past and secrets, her daughter had secrets, the church had secrets, the townspeople had secrets, and the initial set up for the town to be entirely in on the disappearances and strange deaths in the town never came to fruition.
Instead the last half of the book revealed a twist that just felt unexplained and random to me. I loved the first half of the book but the second half was so hard for me to get through and the ending just sucked. There was too many plot points introduced and twists thrown in that you could tell that beat the end the author was just trying to make sure she addressed them all.
I look forward to reading more books by this author but I’d say pick up Chalk Man over this one. 2.5 stars, just wasn’t enough to reach that full 3!
Graphic: Murder, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Torture
scburhans'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
3.5
** Spoilers Below **
The biggest thing I had an issue within this book was Ruby's family. It made me really uncomfortable that the first black and gay characters we get in the book are child abusers and murderers. While I don't think the racism and homophobia from this decision was intentional - I think it was in an attempt to introduce a discussion on unconscious biases - but it still did not read well at all. Having the villain of the story fake a disability also made me incredibly uncomfortable as a disabled person. There was a lot of covert, and I hope unintentional, ableism in the story. I did, however, enjoy the rest of the book, so I did decide to give the story 3.5 stars rather than just three.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Murder, Pedophilia, Suicide, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Violence, and Vomit