thisbookrox's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
2.0
this was not it for me. i really didn’t relate to Allison at all, and i hated the ending.
throughout the book, Allison would do things, while thinking and knowing she shouldn’t be doing them, and continue doing them. from beginning to end. it caused me to have zero sympathy for some of the things that happened to her. (not the head injury because we don’t victim blame, but literally everything else.) the book was also SO repetitive. the author could have saved like 50 pages if they didn’t repeat that there was a hurricane & she had brain surgery over and over. also why was Allison irritated by every noise she ever heard? i get she had a head injury but she also noted that she was that way before the injury as well. also the storyline where didn’t have a resolution so it didn’t make sense.
overall i really didn’t like this…the only things i enjoyed were the sweet-ish moments with her brother and nephew, and her love of swimming and water. if i hadn’t have been listening on audio, it probably would have been a DNF.
Spoiler
the way she put herself right back where she started at the cameraman’s house at the end really made me mad. it wasn’t even a satisfying revenge plot. at least she saved the cat.throughout the book, Allison would do things, while thinking and knowing she shouldn’t be doing them, and continue doing them. from beginning to end. it caused me to have zero sympathy for some of the things that happened to her. (not the head injury because we don’t victim blame, but literally everything else.) the book was also SO repetitive. the author could have saved like 50 pages if they didn’t repeat that there was a hurricane & she had brain surgery over and over. also why was Allison irritated by every noise she ever heard? i get she had a head injury but she also noted that she was that way before the injury as well. also the storyline where
Spoiler
she thought she was pregnantoverall i really didn’t like this…the only things i enjoyed were the sweet-ish moments with her brother and nephew, and her love of swimming and water. if i hadn’t have been listening on audio, it probably would have been a DNF.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical trauma, Xenophobia, and Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol and Drug use
suzyreadsbooks's review
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
3.0
gifted to me by knopf!
a good beach read. it really hits the ground running. weird, choppy, propulsive despite the lulls in plot. really funny moments, really tender moments about grief and family, lots of ridiculousness. you can easily breeze through it all, even the parts veering on horror, because Allison’s narration jumps all over the place due to her very recent brain injury.
but i am tired of authors deciding to prove a character’s unlikeability by having them make random microaggressions! and let's stop using mental illness as the antagonist’s motivations!
a good beach read. it really hits the ground running. weird, choppy, propulsive despite the lulls in plot. really funny moments, really tender moments about grief and family, lots of ridiculousness. you can easily breeze through it all, even the parts veering on horror, because Allison’s narration jumps all over the place due to her very recent brain injury.
but i am tired of authors deciding to prove a character’s unlikeability by having them make random microaggressions! and let's stop using mental illness as the antagonist’s motivations!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Body horror, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Medical content, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Drug use and Racism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
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