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riverrliam's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a sloooooow book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Infidelity, Confinement, Kidnapping, Stalking, Violence, Sexual content, and Bullying
Moderate: Car accident, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Fire/Fire injury
avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
4.5
Grace goes on vacation to Wyoming, and stays at Calvin's house where he's renting out a room as an Airbnb, but neither one of them is what they seem.
Wow! The ending did surprise me, and they both ended up being very screwed up. I could have used it without all the animal death, blood, and gore. That got a bit extreme at points.
It was a very twisty thriller and not what I expected. But it kept me engaged.
Narrator Rating: 5 stars!
Both narrators were amazing. Great with the voices and tonal shifts.
Extra ratings: Fluff - 0/5 Heartfelt- 4/5 Helpful -NA Horror -1/5 Inspiration -NA Love aka Romance- 2/5 Mystery -3/5 Predictability -2/5 Spice-2.5/5 Suspense -4/5 Tear- 3/5 Thrill -5/5 Humor-0.5/5
Wow! The ending did surprise me, and they both ended up being very screwed up. I could have used it without all the animal death, blood, and gore. That got a bit extreme at points.
It was a very twisty thriller and not what I expected. But it kept me engaged.
Narrator Rating: 5 stars!
Both narrators were amazing. Great with the voices and tonal shifts.
Extra ratings: Fluff - 0/5 Heartfelt- 4/5 Helpful -NA Horror -1/5 Inspiration -NA Love aka Romance- 2/5 Mystery -3/5 Predictability -2/5 Spice-2.5/5 Suspense -4/5 Tear- 3/5 Thrill -5/5 Humor-0.5/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Car accident, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Gore, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Sexual content, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, and Cursing
h_sloan's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Death, Murder, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Death of parent
kay_chan's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This was a weird one. This one has been on my TBR since it came out, and I'm glad i didnt take it on vacation with me because if would've given me the huge creeps while i was also at a remote Air B&B. So, PSA with that...
I listened to the audio because I LOVE Andi as a narrator. She is wonderful.
The twists of this book forever kept me guessing, but almost in an annoying way because every time I thought I would know who was trust worthy or who would be a reliable narrator something happened. So having no character to be a trustworthy POV made this a tough read where I just couldn't connect because I couldn't trust anyone's perspective.
Not a bad read, but also could've been better. The ending just seemed like the build ended up flopping because the entire book was a giant build with too many elements and twists that fizzled out. Also, the last chapter feels like it came out of nowhere, so I feel like that final reveal could've been better transcribed. I didn't trust Grace or her story from the get go.
I listened to the audio because I LOVE Andi as a narrator. She is wonderful.
The twists of this book forever kept me guessing, but almost in an annoying way because every time I thought I would know who was trust worthy or who would be a reliable narrator something happened. So having no character to be a trustworthy POV made this a tough read where I just couldn't connect because I couldn't trust anyone's perspective.
Not a bad read, but also could've been better. The ending just seemed like the build ended up flopping because the entire book was a giant build with too many elements and twists that fizzled out. Also, the last chapter feels like it came out of nowhere, so I feel like that final reveal could've been better transcribed. I didn't trust Grace or her story from the get go.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Death of parent and Car accident
bambicat234's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I am usually good at guessing endings... but this twist got me. I'm impressed. And chilled
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Animal death, Sexual content, Violence, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, and Kidnapping
Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, and Domestic abuse
sarahmae531's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I enjoyed this book. I did see the twist coming from a mile away, but it was at least somewhat entertaining leading up to it. Can’t say I particularly loved, or even liked, any of the characters, which usually I need in a book. Overall a good book and a good way to start off October.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Kidnapping, Animal death, Murder, Death of parent, Torture, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Confinement
jry's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Rape, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Domestic abuse
stephanieluxton's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? No
1.75
I almost gave this one star but I didn't because I did like the first 20% or so, and I didn't hate the process of reading it. The ending was pretty campy and predictable, which doesn't always ruin a book for me if I enjoy the ride but it did kind of ruin this book.
A friend of mine once told me that you don't know if you're in a rom-co or a horror movie until you've made at least one bad decision and thats basically the concept of this book - which I enjoy! The pacing was decent. The setting was interesting. I enjoyed the isolated ranch. It could be seen as romantic or spooky. I don't hate the writing as a whole.
The problem is that this book feels like it was written by aliens or AI because PEOPLE DO NOT ACT THIS WAY. First of all, no woman would stay in an Air BNB in which the owner is also staying there the whole time sharing the space, and there's not even a lock on the room. There's no way. Bad things start happening to Grace super early on and she just brushes them off. For example, at one point she slides into a random pit onto a dead animal full of maggots and she's basically just fine with that. Theres a few scenes where she comes close to being seriously injured and she doesn't go home.
Calvin is a weirdo and no guy in real life would think the thoughts he thinks - especially not a hot guy. There's no way. He's simping for Grace immediately and he talks in so many similes and metaphors that it's just ridiculous. The amount of time he talked about Grace's "blue blue eyes" was exhausting. I think it would have been better if the book wasn't half written from Calvin's perspective. It would have maintained a but more mystery.
Also I have beef with the author because trying to create twists is silly when the book is written in first person omniscient from both Grace and Calvins perspectives. It's hard to keep secrets from us when we are in your characters heads. The ending felt cheap. Maybe it's supposed to be a like a dumb Lifetime movie but JEEZ. Wasted potential. It was low-key better when it seemed more like a romance.
Now to spoil it:
I have a lot of thoughts so here we go. So basically it ends with us finding out Calvin kills women who come to stay with him at his Air BNB and mounts their heads in his closet on plaques with their names. Which is kind of ridiculous because the police visited him multiple times and if they had a warrant he would be done so quickly. This actually surprised me. Calvin gets creepy towards the end but I mostly thought that he was a simp because his thoughts lead you to believe that he's totally fallen for Grace, albeit in an obsessive way. The main twist (which I predicted immediately) is that Grace is a serial killer who kills Air BNB hosts. I predicted she was a killer because she never left when bad shit was happening and she seemed creepy and comfortable around death, blood, and guts. I didn't expect her to target air bnb guests. There was a lot of additional hints that Grace was weird like when Calvins friends got bad vibes from her, she couldn't remember her name and address immediately after her concussion, her refusal to mention the weird stuff to the police, and the docile horse didn't like her - although with that logic, the horse shouldn't have liked Calvin either. I kind of pictured her to be running from the law or something for hurting/escaping someone that abused her so that she could be more likeable. Also we find out that Grace has a husband and 2 kids at home. So I find it even more irredeemable that she was also cheating on her husband on top of being a serial killer. So in the end, Grace drugs and kills Calvin then goes home to her family. The climax of the story isn't really a climax. We find everything out in a short conversation. It's disappointing. I think it would have been better if Grace found things out more organically, stumbling upon things in the basement and then the shed on the property. She finds a book with his guests names in the basement but why would Calvin keep that if it has names of people he's killed in it? And why haven't the police been looking at his ranch for ALL the other girls that died there? Plot holes. This would have been a better story if Grace was falling for the handsome air bnb host and then slowly uncovers the mystery that he or someone close to him is a killer by accident and has to play pretend while finding a way to escape. It could have had a similar vibe to the movie 'Ready or Not?' with some epic girl boss moments but instead it focused too heavily on trying to surprise the reader, ultimately falling flat and feeling disappointing. I also don't think Calvin should have wanted to kill Grace because it seemed like he actually did develop some kind of feelings for her. It seemed like the townspeople were all tight knot so it even would have been more interesting if more of them were in on it. Or it would have been cool if Charlotte and Calvin killed people together but then Calvin started to fall in love with Grace and that complicated the game. There could have been so many layers here. I NEEDED MORE. Maybe I should write a book. But writing books sounds exhausting, which is why I hate leaving bad reviews. But I hate unrealized potential even more so here we are.
This is the second book I've read by the author and I suppose it will probably be the last because I also hated The Perfect Marriage. Someone who enjoys silly popcorn thrillers may enjoy this. Or if you just want something to read that doesn't involve any brain power.
A friend of mine once told me that you don't know if you're in a rom-co or a horror movie until you've made at least one bad decision and thats basically the concept of this book - which I enjoy! The pacing was decent. The setting was interesting. I enjoyed the isolated ranch. It could be seen as romantic or spooky. I don't hate the writing as a whole.
The problem is that this book feels like it was written by aliens or AI because PEOPLE DO NOT ACT THIS WAY. First of all, no woman would stay in an Air BNB in which the owner is also staying there the whole time sharing the space, and there's not even a lock on the room. There's no way. Bad things start happening to Grace super early on and she just brushes them off. For example, at one point she slides into a random pit onto a dead animal full of maggots and she's basically just fine with that. Theres a few scenes where she comes close to being seriously injured and she doesn't go home.
Calvin is a weirdo and no guy in real life would think the thoughts he thinks - especially not a hot guy. There's no way. He's simping for Grace immediately and he talks in so many similes and metaphors that it's just ridiculous. The amount of time he talked about Grace's "blue blue eyes" was exhausting. I think it would have been better if the book wasn't half written from Calvin's perspective. It would have maintained a but more mystery.
Also I have beef with the author because trying to create twists is silly when the book is written in first person omniscient from both Grace and Calvins perspectives. It's hard to keep secrets from us when we are in your characters heads. The ending felt cheap. Maybe it's supposed to be a like a dumb Lifetime movie but JEEZ. Wasted potential. It was low-key better when it seemed more like a romance.
Now to spoil it:
This is the second book I've read by the author and I suppose it will probably be the last because I also hated The Perfect Marriage. Someone who enjoys silly popcorn thrillers may enjoy this. Or if you just want something to read that doesn't involve any brain power.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Gore, Confinement, Car accident, Murder, Animal death, Alcoholism, Blood, Toxic friendship, Violence, Death, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexism, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Misogyny
I'll tell you about the animal deaths. A deer is hit by a car, some chickens are killed via raccoon (i can't remember if they kill the raccoon?), a mountain lion is shot.readingwithbritney's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.0
While I did like the ending of this book and thought it was interesting in the end, there were a lot of unanswered questions for me. All of the characters were unlikable. The story was pretty slow until about halfway through the book, and then it started to pick up. This one was a little predictable in my opinion. I love Jeneva Rose and her writing style, but this one just wasn’t it for me. Also, I didn’t like the way Calvin kept describing Grace’s eyes as “blue, blue.” I think it was said waaaay too much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Animal death, Murder, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
itsdeenlee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, and Sexual content