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nicoletiff's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
rita_mybooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Cheguei à conclusão de que este grupo de amigos é, em geral, completamente louco. E as minhas personagens favoritas foram a Heather e o Doug.
Graphic: Violence, Stalking, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
rmperash's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: War
Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Outing, and Sexual harassment
undertherowantree's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, and Abandonment
kimveach'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
writer_egreene'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
hauntedboi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Classism
erkane'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
4.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Self harm, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Drug use and Violence
Minor: Vomit
lina_petrina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Eating disorder and Self harm
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
🌟🌟🌟✨
🦌 The plot: A group of friends who met at Oxford University many years ago goes to a remote Scottish loch to celebrate New Year. On the surface, it's all fun and games, but in less than 24 hours, one of them will be dead, and as the authorities struggle to get there through the snow, one thing becomes certain: the murderer is still among them.
I don't read a lot of thrillers, but this was lent to me by a friend and proved to be an accidentally festive read as I read it over New Year!
The story is narrated from multiple perspectives across five characters: three of the friends who visit the loch, and two of the people who work there. (Interestingly, they're all told in first-person apart from the one male narrator - there's probably an essay on female subjectivity in there somewhere)
You don't find out who the murderer or their victim are until right at the end, and while in another book this might have annoyed me, here I thought it worked to keep me suspicious of everybody, especially in conjunction with Foley's characterisation.
While some books I've read make rich characters into caricatures, usually with some version of "I'm better than you, peasant" popping up in the dialogue to show that Yes, They're Bad, I thought this one did a good job of showing the different shades of ugliness and entitlement that are possible in characters like these. This heightened the drama because really, any of these people might have been capable of hurting each other - not because they were supervillains, but because they were spoilt or vain or desperate or all three.
I didn't see the murderer's identity coming until the last moment and they turned out to be such an interesting villain, too - I was really impressed! My only gripe is that after a really carefully-paced and -written main arc, the story wrapped up in a rush. It didn't seem that the emotional fallout from the murder was actually that big - [REDACTED]'s murder actually seemed quite convenient for a lot of the group - and I'd have liked there to be more reflection on what was actually lost in the course of the novel.
🦌 Read it if you're not usually that into thrillers (me neither - but I liked this!) And want something atmospheric with a critique of privilege and some really strong group dynamics between characters!
🚫 Avoid it if you prefer darker or more elaborate crime stories as this isn't that twisty. Also, it goes without saying, check TWs before reading
Graphic: Murder and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Self harm, and Suicide attempt