tiamariatamera's review against another edition
5.0
Honestly one of my favourite books of all time. Literally read the entire book in a day, as it kept me gripped and needing to know what the heck happens. The concept is captivating - the death of a girl in a mysteriously crafted house, hyper minimalistic architecture (literally destroyed any chance of me getting a minimalistic, modern styled house in the future) with an interesting architect. I loved following the two perspectives of the girl before and the one whom currently resides in the house, unaware of its gruelling history, and watching both of their stories unfold - leading up to how the girl before died, and how the current resident unravels her death and gets quite close with figures from Emma's (the girl before) past.
It was quite confronting at times, but the grit of the events in the novel contributed to the overall three dimensional effect of the story, along with amazing character development, in which you never know who a person really is, even when reading from their POV.
It was quite confronting at times, but the grit of the events in the novel contributed to the overall three dimensional effect of the story, along with amazing character development, in which you never know who a person really is, even when reading from their POV.
tashas_bookcase's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
readingwithlibby's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
thesustainablebookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
This book is... Different. It was engaging, and the storyline was definitely unique. I very much appreciated the minute, high-culture details that created Edward. But, there was a cringing point, about halfway through the book, where I physically wanted to erase the book from my memory. But if you can deal with not just the topic of stillbirth, and the grief process behind it, but the gruesome root cause behind it, then by all means, this is one you won't be able to put down until you solve its mystery. Personally, I related a lot to the second protagonist, and feel good about how it ended. I'd give it 3.5 stars, so I rounded up to 4.
zaramjg's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
elle_loves_reading's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! What a book! A totally addictive read with plenty of twists and turns as the story comes to an explosive end. I thoroughly enjoyed this one!
audreyliz964's review against another edition
2.0
I was disappointed with this book. It had the chance to be a good book, and I stuck with it, giving it the chance to live up to my expectations, but it didn't. Why? There are several reasons.
The book started out with great potential. I was very intrigued by the murder mystery part of the story line, and in fact, if I disregard everything else, that part alone was quite good. It had some good twists and I didn't expect the culprit to be who it actually was. That said, the things I was disappointed with overshadowed my intrigue with the murder mystery part of the story line.
For one, the voices of the two main characters often felt way too similar to me. Often, I would forget whose head I was in and have to turn back to check. Tacking onto this, I would also frequently forget which things happened to which girl. By the end, the events were different enough for me to distinguish whose perspective I was reading without having to look back, but it definitely took me a while.
The second, and also the main reason I ended up not liking this book a whole lot was the man, Edward. I couldn't stand him. He's very, very controlling and not a good guy at all, and yet somehow, both of these women were falling over themselves for his affection. Having dated someone who was very controlling, I couldn't stand the way this horrible man was painted in such a good light, as if this is the type of man who should be desirable for women. I'm sorry, but they're wrong.
Overall, this book gets an "eh" rating from me.
The book started out with great potential. I was very intrigued by the murder mystery part of the story line, and in fact, if I disregard everything else, that part alone was quite good. It had some good twists and I didn't expect the culprit to be who it actually was. That said, the things I was disappointed with overshadowed my intrigue with the murder mystery part of the story line.
For one, the voices of the two main characters often felt way too similar to me. Often, I would forget whose head I was in and have to turn back to check. Tacking onto this, I would also frequently forget which things happened to which girl. By the end, the events were different enough for me to distinguish whose perspective I was reading without having to look back, but it definitely took me a while.
The second, and also the main reason I ended up not liking this book a whole lot was the man, Edward. I couldn't stand him. He's very, very controlling and not a good guy at all, and yet somehow, both of these women were falling over themselves for his affection.
Spoiler
I kept waiting, thinking that by the end of the book, he would get what he deserved and the women would realize how terrible this man is, but THEY NEVER DID. They were both still head over heals in lust over him until the very end, and that, ultimately, is the main reason I did not care very much for this book.Overall, this book gets an "eh" rating from me.