chireadsandchill's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Self harm, Addiction, Child death, Death, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Moderate: Body shaming, Physical abuse, Blood, Sexual content, Vomit, Abortion, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
kmaron's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Abortion
tashadandelion's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The twists pack wallops and there is absolutely no way to predict most of them, because too much information is withheld along the way to make that possible. However, as lurid and heart-breaking as some of the backstory is in this novel, I found it compulsively more readable the further I got into it, until I was sneaking a page here and a page there before work, at lunch, and right after work. Always a good sign. I do want to point out that this book contains some particularly awful child death, so if you don't want to be exposed to that sort of sorrow, it would be best to skip over this one. For those who can handle it though, this reminded me of the murky squalor and shame of Dark Places by Gillian Flynn in all the best, creepy ways, though this story is almost ludicrously unrealistic in comparison (you just have to go with it, IMO; this isn't a Booker Prize contender; it's a page-turning thriller).
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Kidnapping, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Child death, and Child abuse
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