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megelizabeth's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
"That’s all anybody really wants, isn’t it? More than anything, we want it all to be over."
This is a haunting, devastating story of a family consumed by the grief of not knowing. It's both a tense mystery and a heartbreaking exploration of the long-term effects of horrific crimes on victims' families and communities. The latter is done extremely well in my opinion; I really appreciated how fleshed-out the characters are and how much more there is to the story in addition to the who-dun-it.
Generally the mystery element was strong too; the resolution to the main element of it definitely caught me off-guard, and I thought the ending was very well-done. However, there are a few loose ends which are never quite tied up, which frustrated me and which is my main criticism of the book. Also, whilst on the whole there is a lot of great social commentary, there are a couple of mildly homophobic remarks in the narrative, which I felt let down by and which were extra frustrating as they didn't add anything to the story and thus could've easily not been included.
This is a haunting, devastating story of a family consumed by the grief of not knowing. It's both a tense mystery and a heartbreaking exploration of the long-term effects of horrific crimes on victims' families and communities. The latter is done extremely well in my opinion; I really appreciated how fleshed-out the characters are and how much more there is to the story in addition to the who-dun-it.
Generally the mystery element was strong too; the resolution to the main element of it definitely caught me off-guard, and I thought the ending was very well-done. However, there are a few loose ends which are never quite tied up, which frustrated me and which is my main criticism of the book. Also, whilst on the whole there is a lot of great social commentary, there are a couple of mildly homophobic remarks in the narrative, which I felt let down by and which were extra frustrating as they didn't add anything to the story and thus could've easily not been included.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Self harm