Scan barcode
msappear'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
3.75
I also wasn't a fan of the therapy sessions at all. Adrianne is too cold and uncaring to be a therapist. It felt like she was only there to logic her patients out of serious mental illnesses. It's clear the author has never actually been to therapy.
Adrianne especially annoyed me every time she mentioned a study or statistic. There was one passage about gender roles on page 168 that was so out of left field wrong and annoying I almost DNFed right there.
But I didn't DNF. For all of the flaws the book has, the story itself made up for it. I really thought I had it all figured out, but the author did a great job of having you look in one place while the magic was really happening elsewhere. I enjoyed the big reveal and I especially enjoyed how it ended.
Not a perfect book by any means, but I had fun and it fooled me in the best way.
Graphic: Mental illness and Murder
velsbooknook's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Death, Stalking, and Murder
maggiemichael'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? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Mental illness, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
christinewashere's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Blood, Mental illness, and Stalking
Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy
mikaylamills's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Mental illness
Moderate: Pregnancy, Stalking, and Vomit
theinstabookworm's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Cancer, Murder, and Death of parent
isabelleborc's review against another edition
4.75
Minor: Murder
renegaderoxi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I’m giving 2 and a half stars in acknowledgment of the fact that the “whodunnit” towards the book’s end was twisty and did catch me by surprise. But the characters were, for me, so unbelievable and unlikeable that I couldn’t even bring myself to care. Perhaps the twists would have hit much harder if I could have.
The beginning felt very repetitive to me with Tricia’s declarations of how wonderful her new husband was, and certain details of the story that were hammered home again and again. Now that I’ve read the end, I understand that these details were repeated on purpose to draw your attention to a particular place, and make you think one thing was going on, while it was really a wholly different thing altogether, a bit of literary sleight-of-hand, if you will.
Although, I give stars because McFadden pulled it off and I didn’t guess correctly, in part, this was because the characters’ actions just seemed so far fetched. Even if you account for the fact that extreme mental illness and psychopathy could account for seemingly incomprehensible and over-the-top courses of action that result in a domino-effect of terrible events, surely not all the characters in the book are this disturbed.
It seems the book wanted to venture into the premise that all human beings are capable of terribly dark acts given the right circumstances. Perhaps this is true, but the circumstances that caused these characters to give in to their worst impulses were, in my opinion, fairly low-stakes. (This was not the case for all of them), but was so often enough for me to find it highly unlikely and therefore lacking believability.
That said, it was a quick read. I was able to finish it in one afternoon with plenty of breaks taken, so if you’re looking for a fast-paced, thriller read covering the themes of psychology/Psychiatry, mental illness, a grand spooky house in the middle of nowhere, a stalker and blackmail and human beings behaving at their worst, then this book just may be for you, and hopefully you’ll like it more than I did.
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Mental illness, and Death
chelseamayxxx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Murder and Death
Moderate: Death of parent
bookedandbusy'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
Graphic: Stalking, Murder, Death, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Moderate: Ableism