minimicropup's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Fanatical, sanguine, peculiar
Our MC, struggling with their life of loneliness and instability, finds solace in true crime podcasts. When their favourite host stops posting, the last bright spot in their life is gone and they fear the worst has happened.
🇺🇸 Set in Happy Camp and a nearby ranch in Northern California, USA
🐺Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags🐕
😃 The present tense narration directed exclusively at the podcast host added to the creepy elements and drew me in from the first chapter. I did not want this book to end and there were multiple times where I thought "where could we possibly go from here?"
👍😃 If you aren't big into true crime I think this would still be an interesting story, but if you are a fan or regular consumer, it's enhanced by references to common tips and actual 'infamous' true crime cases paired with fictionalized ones that seemed so plausible I found myself looking them up. Each chapter starts with a blurb from a case that hints at the theme and event to come.
🥺 The character development (respectfully) plays in the area between highly sensitive neurodivergence and completely unhinged delusional danger. At first I was there for all the cringe Sera brings to the story but then I started to care for her. It isn't contrived or convenient, but she was still annoying so you may struggle with this if you don't like think-yelling things like "what is WRONG with you?!" and "No, no do NOT go over there and say those things!"
🤪 Creepy small town isolation with an odd family done right. Each character is 'off' in their own way and we go back and forth about trusting them and their explanations for what is going on. The isolation comes from not knowing where the safe spaces are anymore and being too invested to leave...but still being able to.
😳 I wish there was a ranch map at the start. The ranch has all these well drawn out regions where we spend a lot of time and I kept misplacing them in relation to others.
😍 The suspense comes from the eerie undercurrent, figuring out who to trust, getting invested along with the MC in what is going on and if anyone is even in danger and if so, who? There are times where nothing much happens but I love that in stories as long as it's used to build more suspense and mystery and is paired with good character, plot, or world development.
🤷♀️ This is the kind of story where you can predict what happened because we are consistently getting clues (and lets face it, our MC is rather dense), but possibilities are varied so even if you guess the 'big bad', there is still the mystery of why and how. The ending felt too chaotic and rushed at one point, but it evened out.
📺 I want this to be a mini-series. It reminded by of Bloodline on Netflix (vibes, not story).
🐺Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags🐕
😃 The present tense narration directed exclusively at the podcast host added to the creepy elements and drew me in from the first chapter. I did not want this book to end and there were multiple times where I thought "where could we possibly go from here?"
👍😃 If you aren't big into true crime I think this would still be an interesting story, but if you are a fan or regular consumer, it's enhanced by references to common tips and actual 'infamous' true crime cases paired with fictionalized ones that seemed so plausible I found myself looking them up. Each chapter starts with a blurb from a case that hints at the theme and event to come.
🥺 The character development (respectfully) plays in the area between highly sensitive neurodivergence and completely unhinged delusional danger. At first I was there for all the cringe Sera brings to the story but then I started to care for her. It isn't contrived or convenient, but she was still annoying so you may struggle with this if you don't like think-yelling things like "what is WRONG with you?!" and "No, no do NOT go over there and say those things!"
🤪 Creepy small town isolation with an odd family done right. Each character is 'off' in their own way and we go back and forth about trusting them and their explanations for what is going on. The isolation comes from not knowing where the safe spaces are anymore and being too invested to leave...but still being able to.
😳 I wish there was a ranch map at the start. The ranch has all these well drawn out regions where we spend a lot of time and I kept misplacing them in relation to others.
😍 The suspense comes from the eerie undercurrent, figuring out who to trust, getting invested along with the MC in what is going on and if anyone is even in danger and if so, who? There are times where nothing much happens but I love that in stories as long as it's used to build more suspense and mystery and is paired with good character, plot, or world development.
🤷♀️ This is the kind of story where you can predict what happened because we are consistently getting clues (and lets face it, our MC is rather dense), but possibilities are varied so even if you guess the 'big bad', there is still the mystery of why and how. The ending felt too chaotic and rushed at one point, but it evened out.
📺 I want this to be a mini-series. It reminded by of Bloodline on Netflix (vibes, not story).
Mood Reading Match Up:
- Plot and themes around true crime (podcasts and listeners) and domesticity
- Missing person that reads like a true crime case
- Slightly ‘off’ broken narrator + creepy everybody
- Eerie isolated small town and secretive ranch world building
- Stuck together/forced proximity romance
Content Heads-Up: Obsession. Mental Illness (anxiety, panic, sleep disorders). Gaslighting. Loneliness. Vomit. Animal death and cruelty. Sexual content (consenting). Alcohol use (self medicating, addiction). Childfree by choice rep. Car accident.
For animal death and cruelty:
For animal death and cruelty:
Spoiler
some of it is just what come from being surrounded by nature and living on a ranch with wild animals around, some of it is cat and horse murder, and the rest is cruelty where livestock are harmed because of human inaction to prevent itFormat: Paperback
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content and Car accident
outsmartyourshelf's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Sera Fleece loves true crime podcasts, especially one by a host named Rachel Bard. Rachel's podcasts are about women & girls who go missing, & when Rachel suddenly goes silent, Sera thinks she has disappeared too. Sera uproots her life & heads off to where Rachel lived/lives but when she reaches the nearest town, Happy Camp, the locals are unfriendly & try to warn her off going to the ranch. Rachel's parents, mother Addy & father Emmett, are strangely unconcerned about Rachel's whereabouts. They hire Sera to look after the horses & start getting the camp quarters into shape for summer visitors. In her free time & the evening, Sera tries to find out what happened to Rachel & why everyone is so tight-lipped about the women who have disappeared over the years. Can Sera find out what happened to Rachel before Sera disappears too?
Oh dear. This could have been great - fan of crime podcast investigates the disappearance of the host. Instead we mostly get Sera mooching around the ranch & mooning after Jed (the stock Texas cowboy stereotype). In fact Sera is the main problem with this book, she is just really annoying. Her idea of investigation is just blurting questions out without actually thinking things through, & her insistence that she knows Rachel better than anyone else just because she listened to her true crime podcast is just weird & stalkerish. Also her knowledge that she really shouldn't trust anyone but she decides to trust Jed just because she's attracted to him. I kept reading, hoping it was going to suddenly pick up, but no - even the ending is unsatisfactory. Very disappointing.
Oh dear. This could have been great - fan of crime podcast investigates the disappearance of the host. Instead we mostly get Sera mooching around the ranch & mooning after Jed (the stock Texas cowboy stereotype). In fact Sera is the main problem with this book, she is just really annoying. Her idea of investigation is just blurting questions out without actually thinking things through, & her insistence that she knows Rachel better than anyone else just because she listened to her true crime podcast is just weird & stalkerish. Also her knowledge that she really shouldn't trust anyone but she decides to trust Jed just because she's attracted to him. I kept reading, hoping it was going to suddenly pick up, but no - even the ending is unsatisfactory. Very disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Miscarriage and Infidelity
directorpurry's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder, Emotional abuse, and Alcoholism
sweet_caroline's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Overall, not the worst book I’ve ever read but I definitely wouldn’t recommend. It’s told from a first-person POV which I find pretty tough to get used to, but that’s just my preference. It’s also an incredibly slow build up with most of the action happening in the last 100 pages. The main character is also very hard to relate to and I just overall didn’t connect well with the characters or the book itself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, and Murder
Minor: Miscarriage
nickoliver's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-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
1.0
This is possibly the stupidest thriller I've ever read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Stalking, and Vomit
Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, and Suicide
Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual content
carisamarie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Kidnapping, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Sexual content, Sexism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Car accident, Blood, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
larareads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Miscarriage, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcoholism and Kidnapping
terragoes's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Murder, and Alcoholism
sallysimply's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
It took me a while to get into this book; once I was in, I was totally hooked! The twists and reveals were really doing it for me... up until the end.
The ending feels rushed and thrown together, which is such a bummer. It does all make sense given what we know about the characters, but it left me feeling disappointed after such a wild ride.
I’ll add that, though sometimes it feels forced or heavy-handed, I was really interested in the discussion of women being seen as crazy and how easy it is for a woman to “disappear.” I didn’t expect that to be such a major theme in this book, and I enjoyed it.
The ending feels rushed and thrown together, which is such a bummer. It does all make sense given what we know about the characters, but it left me feeling disappointed after such a wild ride.
I’ll add that, though sometimes it feels forced or heavy-handed, I was really interested in the discussion of women being seen as crazy and how easy it is for a woman to “disappear.” I didn’t expect that to be such a major theme in this book, and I enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Vomit, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Gun violence, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Sexism, and Gore
Minor: Cannibalism
hookedbybooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What starts as an obsession story, it grows into something else.
A fan of podcaster Rachel, Sera goes on an investigation to find her when she goes missing. Now missing isn't the right word, per-se. As noone, including her family has filed a missing person's report. And no one else is worried, except for Sera. She goes to the family ranch, and gets herself hired as a farm hand to help with the horses, and find out more about Rachel's family as well as the missing woman herself.
This book weaves the reality of this lost woman, Sera in real world, with the idea of what she knows about Rachel and her world, and it becomes like a mind game. There are things where you cannot decipher who is who, and what is real, what Sera is reflecting of herself, and what is assumed or imagined.
What did bother me how trusty and naive Sera might have seen at times. You know when you watch a scary movie and you have that feeling that something bad is about to happen to the character.. Well for a true crime podcast obsessed, Sera didn't seem to be listening to her own senses, or having any fear at that.
The end! I had all these theories about where this story is going. And because I love a good obsession narrative, I was hoping I was right- but nope, missed it. Even though the clues are there! (they were just leading me the wrong direction).
Overall, a refreshing take. Smart, and engrossing. I loved the whole theme of disappearance, especially when it comes to the narratives, and how women are always painted.
A fan of podcaster Rachel, Sera goes on an investigation to find her when she goes missing. Now missing isn't the right word, per-se. As noone, including her family has filed a missing person's report. And no one else is worried, except for Sera. She goes to the family ranch, and gets herself hired as a farm hand to help with the horses, and find out more about Rachel's family as well as the missing woman herself.
This book weaves the reality of this lost woman, Sera in real world, with the idea of what she knows about Rachel and her world, and it becomes like a mind game. There are things where you cannot decipher who is who, and what is real, what Sera is reflecting of herself, and what is assumed or imagined.
What did bother me how trusty and naive Sera might have seen at times. You know when you watch a scary movie and you have that feeling that something bad is about to happen to the character.. Well for a true crime podcast obsessed, Sera didn't seem to be listening to her own senses, or having any fear at that.
The end! I had all these theories about where this story is going. And because I love a good obsession narrative, I was hoping I was right- but nope, missed it. Even though the clues are there! (they were just leading me the wrong direction).
Overall, a refreshing take. Smart, and engrossing. I loved the whole theme of disappearance, especially when it comes to the narratives, and how women are always painted.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Alcoholism, Confinement, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, and Sexism