livlamentloathe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a very long book, and I wasn’t interested at turns. I put Baby Teeth down for the very reasons I didn’t enjoy the start of Sundial. But this story swerved past the ease of mom and daughter dislike each other. It kept going and going and going. When you think you know the truth, there’s still more buried. And ya know, isn’t that just the way (of people)? We’re all more complex than what others see us as. Callie doesn’t know everything about Rob, and Rob doesn’t know everything that is Callie, or Jack, or even Annie. The only simple thing is Irving. Trust a man to be violent and predictable.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Self harm, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal death, Infidelity, and Physical abuse
Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Murder
annie_reads_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Torture
Moderate: Drug use, Confinement, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, and Gore
audreyesp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Miscarriage, Gore, Violence, Racial slurs, Murder, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Torture, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Animal death, Physical abuse, Blood, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death
keen'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Murder
Minor: Drug abuse, Self harm, Trafficking, and Child death
klr0'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
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Abandonment, Blood, Confinement, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Drug use, Torture, and Trafficking
reggiethebird's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Animal death, Confinement, Death, and Trafficking
Moderate: Trafficking, Bullying, Gun violence, Self harm, and Vomit
leahopkins'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
5.0
The characters are all very fleshed out and layered, they are all pretty unlikable (except maybe Mia), and literally none of them are good people. Still, you can understand why they do the shit they do (to some extent at least), so that made me hate them less.
There are so many themes/images used again throughout the story (mirrors, maggots, clocks) which made the whole writing very cohesive. The author was also very good at leaving small clues everywhere (especially in the Arrowood chapters), but mixing them up with red herrings. I was so captured, putting tabs on everything I thought was important to the plot, and writing down all my new theories. Most of them were wrong. But I loved going through all of my notes again and understanding what they were really alluding to.
Most of the twists were very surprising, but made so much sense at the same time (I said "ohhhh" way too many times). The only twist I really didn't like was the last one (
Spoiler
aka Annie being the evil child and not CallieSpoiler
Also I have a theory I will not budge on and that I just need to put out somewhere: Callie kept talking about Rob touching her eyes as if adjusting contact lenses, even though she doesn't wear them. And in one chapter, it says something about Rob thinking about getting coloured contacts and just continue living as Jack. I don't care what anyone says, I think Rob is actually Jack who just pretends to be Rob, because Rob was killed by 23. I will die on that hill.PS: please note the content warnings because there are a lot!!
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Miscarriage, Infidelity, and Mental illness
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Panic attacks/disorders
bxnnny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Trafficking, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Violence, and Pregnancy
thegayestghost's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Violence, and Animal death
Moderate: Addiction, Vomit, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Cursing, Gaslighting, Blood, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Death
antimony's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Drug use, Mental illness, Pregnancy, and Infidelity
Minor: Miscarriage