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mizareads13's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Abandonment
aparnaprab's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Self harm and Forced institutionalization
there was so. much. blood.golden_hanne's review against another edition
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Self harm
melhara's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
1.5
The premise of a mysterious outbreak that affects and mutates all the wildlife as well as all the students at the all-girls boarding school on the island was quite interesting but poorly executed in this case. With limited food being sent to them from a nearby naval base, and mutated monsters prowling the island, the girls have to fight for survival with the hopes that they survive long enough for a cure to be developed.
First of all, the girls were all unlikeable and I couldn't grasp why they liked each other. Perhaps the strange circumstances (being quarantined and stuck together on an island while suffering from strange symptoms and mutations in solidarity) made them stick together out of some strange sense of loyalty. It was never clearly explained or demonstrated why these girls should even care about each other.
Then there was the romance and betrayal thrown into the mix that I just didn't care for it - the relationships and characters just weren't fleshed out enough to make me care.
Also, while I don't mind horror, I do hate gore and there were definitely some cringey and nasty gore-y scenes.
Lastly, there was the terrible way the book ended, which just leaves the reader with even more questions and zero answers.
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
lv_ct's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Pros:
- This storyline felt incredibly unique to me, as it is a different take on the "area becoming infected by a mysterious virus" trope that is common in media. And considering that this book was published in mid-2019 right before the pandemic, it felt very ironic and almost timely.
- I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of things such as the landscape and the mutations the girls went through as it helped me envision the constant terror and horrors these young girls were facing. It helps to put the reader in the shoes of the characters, rather than just telling the reader what was happening.
- Queer, and specifically sapphic, relationships in the midst of a dystopian, survivalist world.
- My favorite point in this book - all of the characters is morally gray. We want to root for them because you see how brave they are and vulnerable they can be. However, it's their flaws that are really noticeable. They are selfish out of self-preservation, only caring about themselves and their closest friends. It makes the reader want to scream "but you're the hero, you are supposed to save everyone." But ultimately, it is a real human thing to do.
- First-person writing is truly difficult, and it is hard to do it in a manner that does not come off as amateur writing. This said I think there are some really well-done parts in the book where Power nails the POV writing, and other times where it falls flat and becomes victim to "Tumblr-Esque" writing.
- I really wish there were better explanations of the other characters OUTSIDE of Hetty, Byatt, and Reese. The reader is given glimpses of the other characters, but not as much as I would have liked there to be. At times we are only given the ages of characters, and nothing more.
- Following this, among the characters we are given descriptions to, there did not seem to be much diversity in terms of phenotypes in the characters, minus the mutations.
- There was a good amount of different personalities amongst the characters, so that good job on that aspect.
I really wish that Hetty and Reese's romantic relationship was delved into a bit deeper rather than tied in the last 100 pages. I am glad they got together because throughout the book it was an obvious question of "something is going to happen, but what?" Nevertheless, their relationship with each other is never fully fleshed out. Especially with Hetty killing Reese's dad, I wish I could have a little more background substance to their relationship before that heavy blow. - The explanation of what happened in regards to the Tox on the island truly only comes out in the last 50 pages, and still did not feel very cohesive. The reader is thrown bits and pieces of an explanation before the acknowledgments are indicating the closing of the book. It really feels like the book should have been either 1. longer or 2. had a second part to it.
Conclusion:
I personally really enjoyed this book. It is the first book I have read for fun in a long time, as I am either working or in school. I have been recommending this book to people constantly recently and I do recommend for anyone looking through these reviews to read it yourself - if you are okay with gore, blood, grief, and violence - cause it is a great read.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Murder
tinnuben's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
rubymitchell14's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
greenglass67'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
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
mfrisk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the build up of the Tox and how that shaped Raxter and those within it. The scenes with the deer and one of the character’s parents were particularly chilling in their descriptions. The dual perspective was done fairly well though I think I was waiting for more from Byatt’s side in terms of her backstory and what drove her to lie.
Things I didn’t love were the seemingly out of nowhere nature of the romance. While there were some touching moments it was a bit confusing and didn’t feel fully realized.
And finally the ending was a huge disappointment. While you think the ending would at least give us more information about the navy and cdc involvement or about the tox or even what happens next we instead are led to an ending where we determine what happens. It felt like a chapter was missing and while I wasn’t expecting a happy ending perfect wrap up I definitely didn’t expect what we got.
I hope to read more from this author as I overall really enjoyed this book but there were definitely some aspects I just wanted to see be pushed further given the darkness of the story.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit and Toxic friendship
sifairi's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Self harm, and Torture