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styxx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Car accident, and Death of parent
fkshg8465's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
mikathereviewer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
"‘Don’t worry, Annie, I’m not going to murder you.’
‘I appreciate that, Saxon,’ I reply. ‘I’m not going to murder you either.’ And then we both smile, because this is such a strange thing to say ten minutes after meeting someone for the first time."
There is no way that this book actually had over 500 pages. I started it yesterday and already finished and no I wasn't addicted to it. But I was addicted to some quotes in this book.
+ Funny scenes and interesting plot (I mean, a woman getting more and more crazy about her fortune telling? Sign me up!)
+ Really nice and cool quotes (or maybe I'm biased since one is about chess)
+ Alice in Wonderland reference (one can never do anything wrong with this, I'm a huge fan)
+ Toxic relationships (I have a soft spot for drama and yes — I like to torture myself by reading sad stories)
+ The main character WAS NOT stupid! (Can you believe it?!!)
+ Relatable moments (‘I can’t face Mum’s basement again without backup. Last week when I was cleaning it out there were spiders. Huge ones.’
- Mostly flat characters (more murder mystery and plot than anything else)
- No explanation for things or stuff that was confusing. Example; We get told that Frances isn't the forgiving kind, but in her diary entries we see something different. And also the way another person confirmed it too by saying she is quite forgiving while others wouldn't in the same situation. What is she now??
- Boring ending (wasn't hard to find out who the murderer was and the ending was kinda meh)
- Too many repetitions (we get it who your prime suspect is and we don't need a re-telling of the diaries about one hundred times, just try to advance the plot!)
- Sometimes felt too slow (see above for reasoning)
- Even though the idea was good it felt like nothing special. Average the most. There just wasn't anything that made the book feel special. While reading I had the feeling (except the fortune stuff) that it wasn't anything new from most thriller and mystery books.
- Sometimes we get new info, just for it to be superficial and not go into depth than it could be. There were so many other things that were interesting too while our MC tried to find out who the murderer is but unfortunately they are left again as fast as they were discovered. Why didn't we get to see more of the alphabetical sorted files and the bad stuff each person did. And we never got an explanation for Sam Arlington. The MC just decided it's not important and that she doesn't need to see other files or in general explore deeper.
Only 2 stars as it didn't feel as exciting as I hoped for it to be and it's less than average for me as most things were superficial and we got flat characters which is quite dislike. The ending was predictable too which made me bored for the last 15% to 20% that were left.
If you don't have high expectations for thrillers or in general don't think much about who the murderer might be this might be fun to read. For me who seeks books that are standing out from the rest and really hates it when the murderer is some obvious person I couldn't quite enjoy it as much as I hoped to.
02. September 2024
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Grief, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, and Alcohol
disguisedposer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Dementia
teetasse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, and Gaslighting
bibliomania_express's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I had a lot of fun with this book. Annie cannot resist a mystery, and she finds plenty to solve. I liked that she was curious and intelligent without being infalliable. Her medical fear also worked with the mystery and was consistent throughout the book. I also enjoyed her interactions with Detective Crane as they tried to solve her great-aunt Frances's murder.
This book really explores interpersonal dynamics through its present day investigation and the past timeline diary entries. It also looks at how much we can invest in something beyond ourselves, and how that can change your whole life.
I don't want to talk about the plot too much, but I love how Perrin basically weaves together two mysteries to explore friendship, family, obsession, and the ways people can or can't change. There's two closed circles of suspects (past and present) and they overlap in interesting ways.
I do wish we spent a bit more time getting to know some of the secondary characters and the village of Castle Knoll. Some of the diary entries were a bit long. On the other hand, I had suspicions but did not guess the murderer before the reveal.
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death and Infidelity
Minor: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
goldenlake's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, and Alcohol
purplepenning's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism
needles, includingeperetz's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Body horror, Gun violence, Sexual content, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism