gabbiec's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
swirls's review against another edition
3.0
Well-written and interesting but ultimately uunsatisfying.
chimeraphd's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
bookworm_ran's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Vomit
quigleybeau's review against another edition
4.0
“It’s changed me. I can’t just be any longer. When I was at my Mom’s, I noticed I was watching her and trying to anticipate what she wanted for me. In some ways, it wasn’t that much different from when I was growing up. I realize I’ve spent most of my life watching someone, making sure I was doing everything possible to not upset her in some way. Pushing my reactions down so I didn’t add stress to the situation. Maybe that’s why college was such a relief for me. It was the first sustained amount of time I could remember when I could think about me first. When I could know who I was when I had some space.”
thegarbagecanhasmold's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Overall good read! This is a unique type of thriller that follows Lena who gets invited to do a study. With her mom being sick she can't turn down the amount of money being offered. After she visits, weird things start happening and the people running the study are very secretive and elusive. The events that happen are a good representation of what happened (and likely continues to happen) with government run human experiments and the damage it causes. There is a decent twist at the end that I didn't see coming!
kappareads's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this, I just think the last third didn't live up to the starting two thirds
lilac_sparkle's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I think this book would be a good introduction for people who want to get into unreliable narrators. Very quickly after Lena signs up for the program do things get strange, leading the reader to wonder how much of this is the program itself and how much is it Lena's reactions to the program. I also felt the ending fit with the message the book was trying to convey about experimentation on Black people,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, Medical content, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Alcohol and Chronic illness