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sad_eldritch's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Addiction, Rape, and Vomit
theoceanrose's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cancer
tonstantweader's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
This Might Hurt tells the story of two sisters estranged since their mother’s death. Natalie’s sister Kit went off to Wisewood, a retreat on an isolated island, where she was pledged to not contact anyone for six months. But then Natalie gets a letter threatening to tell Kit the secret she has been keeping from Kit.
There are chapters interwoven featuring a young girl being horribly abused and seeking to escape via magic. She becomes fascinated with Houdini and the idea of being an escape artist. In time, she comes to found the Wisewood retreat. I don’t know who is to blame for it, but I spent a good portion of the novel thinking that this young girl was one of the sisters.
Natalie goes to the island to see Kit. It seems as though there is a conspiracy to keep them apart. There is, but it’s not the conspiracy she thought it was.
A book that confused me from the beginning cannot help but be disappointing. Even if the confusion is my fault because I read it late at night, the error should have become obvious to me long before it did. But then, this book was so much about misdirection. Though I guess the person you provided the most misdirection was not the magician.
I thought the ending was nonsensical and did not see the motivation for Kit’s behavior nor did I see Natalie’s secret as the big appalling bad thing. Her secret was a disappointment. Kit remains inexplicable and the book was disappointing.
- This Might Hurt at Berkley | Penguin Random House
- Stephanie Wrobel author site
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2022/03/24/this-might-hurt-by-stephanie-wrobel/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Violence