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rosiefpb's review against another edition
3.0
A peculiar novel. I hate when you don't get a decent resolution to a story but otherwise it was fairly good.
londadbk's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was such a hard to book to review that I did something I usually avoid like the plague: read others’ reviews before writing mine. It’s an interesting conundrum. It’s a really well written book with some quotes that genuinely made me pause at times and reflect on how good they were. The themes are some of my favourite: the intricacies of female friendship and the “search” of one self. And at times, these themes felt really well explored, mostly in the first two acts of the book. The third act however, felt slightly unfinished. I don’t know, it felt like something was missing. Some reviews said that the mystery of Pamela’s disappearance is left unanswered or ambiguously answered for a reason but I don’t know if I agree. And what happened to that Desmond guy? Why was did that arc feel so unanswered? It also felt like the main character was stifled; it never really felt like she grew up or changed, she just left. And maybe that was the point but the way it happened frustrated me to no end. I really liked Aiden’s character arc though. For some reason, I remained convinced that he didn’t do anything until his outburst which took me by surprise and that to me is such a great show of how so many men hide being the facade of being “good guys”.
One thing I did enjoy the author touching on was male-female relationships and how it seemed like there was just this never ending cycle of abuse that went unnamed.
All in all a really good book that I thought for sure I was going to mark more until that third act.
One thing I did enjoy the author touching on was male-female relationships and how it seemed like there was just this never ending cycle of abuse that went unnamed.
All in all a really good book that I thought for sure I was going to mark more until that third act.
annarchy_'s review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- 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? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
karmela's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
laurenramsden99's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I finished reading Penance by Eliza Clark a few weeks ago and the characters here really reminded me of the characters in Clark novel: realistically deeply unlikable. I like the mystery aspect of the novel with the ambiguous ending, it kept reminding you (in an on the nose way) how toxic this small town environment can be. I do agree with some of the reviews I’ve read that the main character doesn’t really seem to have a change in narrative thought or maturity from when she’s 15 to in her twenties. I think to some extent that highlights the power Evelyn had over her and how insecure her attitude made her. Truly a horrible character. Other than that, I thought her choices were stupid but entertaining for the plot.
honestlyholly's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It was Ok! I kind of wanted justice though? Did he get arrested? Was the teacher a groomer, or???
kerry1009's review
3.0
I felt frustrated so much by this book. The relationship between the girls was intriguing to begin with and I wanted to see it evolve but I found that the internal dialogue from Katie didn’t really develop or mature as she got older and I found it hard to get on with the book because of this.
There was also the Pamela storyline which wasn’t really resolved and left a lot to the readers interpretation.
There was also the Pamela storyline which wasn’t really resolved and left a lot to the readers interpretation.
blueseadragon's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
zsh's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0