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kadtide's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, and Torture
Minor: Infidelity and Gaslighting
maryellen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
laurajones's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Torture, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Abandonment
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Time for the sequel check! This entry relies heavily on knowledge of the first three books in a way that sometimes is wrapping up hanging threads, and sometimes is transforming our understanding of things we thought were resolved already. It does have a storyline which starts here and wasn't present previously, and the most major one was introduced and resolved within this book. It's not the last book and it specifically leaves a bunch of things to be answered later because they're too much to wrap up neatly here. The MC didn't change, and her voice is consistent with the previous books. This is the first time in the series where I can definitely say that it won't make a lot of sense without having read the previous books. It's a "series so far" climax, relying heavily on events from the first and third books, and lightly on the second. While the main plot could make sense without the other volumes, the tension won't be as high and the resolution won't be as satisfying without knowledge of ROSEMARY AND RUE and AN ARTIFICIAL NIGHT, at minimum.
There's still random sprinklings of ableist language, much less than in A LOCAL HABITATION, but not quite gone yet. I've heard it gets better on this front, so I'm watching for that turning point.
As an individual story, this one is fine, but as the next entry in this series it feels very pivotal. I'm very excited about certain interpersonal developments in Toby's various friendships and found-family relationships, and the resolution was satisfying as well as indicating a clear thread for later books to follow.
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Self harm and Blood
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, and Vomit
CW for ableism, confinement, vomit, blood, self harm, violence, murder, animal death, major character death, death.