Scan barcode
khanyisile13's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This was so nearly a five star book! So close! The writing is insanely clever, for one person to think up this story? Insanity. I don’t know what I expected going into it, but certainly not this. The story is really good at manipulating even the reader’s feelings. I was gobsmacked to find out the main twist. The dual timeline worked really well in the story’s favour, and I think the characters were believable. I even think Emma’s dedication to victimhood is believable, even though it was the biggest plot twist that scrambled my brain for a good hour or so. It made me realize that it’s entirely possible for people to think this way, because they do. And often white women, like Emma, get away with it. Because it’s all just a game to them. Manipulation is a game they’re so good at winning.
The reason it doesn’t get a five stars is because of its depictions of Black people. There are only two obviously Black people in this story, and they’re both stereotypes of what white people have typically expected from Black people. And I think that’s a shame. Then the second reason is that I understand that thrillers have a history of pinning things on mental health disorders, and driving a fear of people experiencing mental illness, and I think that’s problematic. I think it would be fine and dandy to just explain that these are terrible people. Because they are. Delaney didn’t have to add that aspect into it, or he could have found a way to add it in while still being cautious of what the reader will take away. He’s a talented writer and if he could think up THOSE twists, he could easily find a way to make sure that the reader doesn’t find people with mental health disorders inherently dangerous.
Overall, a really excellently told twisty story. I read it in a weekend, which is insane because I’m a slow reader.
Overall, a really excellently told twisty story. I read it in a weekend, which is insane because I’m a slow reader.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder
simkei's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Murder
Minor: Body horror and Blood
latham9's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Eating disorder, Suicide, and Stalking
Minor: Abortion
timbookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Rape
shereadsmysteries's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Eating disorder, Vomit, Abortion, and Abandonment
Ableism: Discussions of keeping/terminating a pregnancy where child could be disabled; Abortion: discussion only; Child death: Stillbirth; Rape: False rape allegationsthenonbinaryc's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Would be four star but spoiled it with ableism and eugenics. Incorrect language used to refer to people with Down Syndrome.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy
marisa_thorne's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Eating disorder
peppers_books's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
0/10 would recommend. I am convinced that every person who rated this above two stars is reading a different book. I heard some negative things but saw that it has an average of 3.7 on goodreads so I decided to give it a go. Yikes.
The premise of the story sounds really interesting and unique, but when executed felt really unrealistic and flat. This was really disappointing as the beginning was relatively strong - it went downhill exponentially after the first fifty pages. Also, absolutely none of the characters were likeable. They were tolerable at best, and outright irritating at worst. At points I was so annoyed with Emma's character that I would've literally roundhouse kicked her if given the chance. I also really disliked how her sections were written without quotations. Like?? why?? And I just never understood any of the character's decisions and actions. I felt like a majority of the book had no purpose, like it contributed nothing to the plot and was just a space-filler.
On top of the whole mess that is this entire book, I felt the way that certain topics were discussed was really crass. How sexual assault is used as a plot device, how the only criminals in the book are Black and poor, how abortion and disabilities are discussed. Just a giant mess. And I absolutely HATED how we are made to sympathize with Emma's character and her trauma only to find out she lied. Not only does she lie about the sexual assault once, but again when she is asked to write a statement, and again when asked to identify the assailant. Then she immaturely passes the blame onto the detective, saying it was his fault that she continued the lie by requesting a formal statement thing. And THEN she lies to her HR department. She was petty and extremely childish and a pathological liar. I could barely stand to read her sections.
Anyways, I am furious that I spent five bucks on this book as well as precious time not only reading it, but thinking about the terrible characters after the fact. -10/10 would recommend. I have never felt this strong of a dislike towards a book.
The premise of the story sounds really interesting and unique, but when executed felt really unrealistic and flat. This was really disappointing as the beginning was relatively strong - it went downhill exponentially after the first fifty pages. Also, absolutely none of the characters were likeable. They were tolerable at best, and outright irritating at worst. At points I was so annoyed with Emma's character that I would've literally roundhouse kicked her if given the chance. I also really disliked how her sections were written without quotations. Like?? why?? And I just never understood any of the character's decisions and actions. I felt like a majority of the book had no purpose, like it contributed nothing to the plot and was just a space-filler.
On top of the whole mess that is this entire book, I felt the way that certain topics were discussed was really crass. How sexual assault is used as a plot device, how the only criminals in the book are Black and poor, how abortion and disabilities are discussed. Just a giant mess.
Anyways, I am furious that I spent five bucks on this book as well as precious time not only reading it, but thinking about the terrible characters after the fact. -10/10 would recommend. I have never felt this strong of a dislike towards a book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Ableism, Eating disorder, Medical trauma, and Abortion
Minor: Cancer and Drug abuse
bbsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? Yes
2.5
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I couldn’t put it down. I’m not usually a fast reader but I read this within a week. I enjoyed the mystery, the twists and turns and I definitely didn’t expect the ending.
I really enjoyed how this book explored psychology and why certain characters were driven to do the things they did. It made me question the intentions of other characters as well.
However, there were elements to this book that made me really uncomfortable and probably not in the way the author intended. First of all the sexual scenes were really cringey, as was a lot of the writing. “Yes daddy yes” made me want to throw up in my mouth. I’m not trying to kink shame at all but something about that really didn’t sit well with me, maybe because I knew it was written by a man? I also hated when they wrote “so he’s like” before a character’s dialogue, it just didn’t work for me.
Another thing that made me really uncomfortable was the opinions on abortion and disabled children portrayed through this book. I think it is Jane who refers to abortion as “cowardly” but later decides to terminate if her baby is diagnosed with Down’s syndrome. I know this book came out a few years ago now but those opinions just felt outdated and unnecessary.
Emma’s character really grated on me, especially as she started to unravel and I was put off reading the book a couple of times by the thought of having to read more about her.
I wish they had ended the book with Emma’s letter, that last chapter from Jane just felt unbelievable and fell flat.
Overall a good mystery book that will keep you guessing until the end, if you can put up with the annoying characters throughout.
I really enjoyed how this book explored psychology and why certain characters were driven to do the things they did. It made me question the intentions of other characters as well.
However, there were elements to this book that made me really uncomfortable and probably not in the way the author intended. First of all the sexual scenes were really cringey, as was a lot of the writing. “Yes daddy yes” made me want to throw up in my mouth. I’m not trying to kink shame at all but something about that really didn’t sit well with me, maybe because I knew it was written by a man? I also hated when they wrote “so he’s like” before a character’s dialogue, it just didn’t work for me.
Another thing that made me really uncomfortable was the opinions on abortion and disabled children portrayed through this book. I think it is Jane who refers to abortion as “cowardly” but later decides to terminate if her baby is diagnosed with Down’s syndrome. I know this book came out a few years ago now but those opinions just felt outdated and unnecessary.
Emma’s character really grated on me, especially as she started to unravel and I was put off reading the book a couple of times by the thought of having to read more about her.
I wish they had ended the book with Emma’s letter, that last chapter from Jane just felt unbelievable and fell flat.
Overall a good mystery book that will keep you guessing until the end, if you can put up with the annoying characters throughout.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Rape, and Murder
Moderate: Abortion
parttimerarebookdealer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Medical content