Reviews with content warning for Grief - What Lies Between Us

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

What Lies Between Us by John Marrs

40 reviews

connorjdaley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.0

I read this one as May’s pick for book club. I started this one on a high, working through it fast, but then I petered out taking almost the entirety of the month to complete.

The novel features Nina, the daughter, and Maggie, the mother. The two live together, and hate each other, in perfect disharmony. The novel is always a back of forth of who is and is not telling the truth, who has the most trauma, and who is only doing what’s right. They are both withholding incredible secrets, and the novel ends every chapter with a cliffhanger of a reveal.

At first, that was what dragged me in so hard, but I feel like over time, it honestly kind of felt like someone throwing every single idea they had ever thought of into a single novel. Every twist, betrayal, misdirect, red herring, and deception ever created under gods eye is used in this one. It just started to trip me up. I also feel as if some serious condensing might actually have amped up the pressure and pacing an incredible amount. The ending is stressful and seriously packed, but it does feel tacked onto what is probably 150 pages too long.

I’m not sure how else to feel, because neither main character is right or “good” by any means. Nor is there any kind of winner, truly.

Personally a 3/5*.

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minimicropup's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Main POVs 👍: We follow the perspective of two MCs over the course of a childhood and adolescence through to older adulthood

A parent. Overprotective in a behind-the-scenes way. One of their relationships gives their life meaning and they don’t really know who they are without that person.
An adult child of the above-mentioned parent. Also overprotective. One of their relationships gave their life meaning, and they don’t really know who they are without that person.

Atmosphere 👍: Mysterious, menacing, and uneasy. Created through timelines and dual perspectives to gradually unravel why our MCs seem so “off” in their reactions to the dysfunction around them.

Set in the UK in a townhouse and the surrounding neighbourhood

Cred Rating 👍👩‍👧👩‍👦: Plausible with realistic true crime undertones

Realistic to plausible family dysfunction and personality disorders that could be a true crime case, with a touch of OTT flair.
Realistic portrayal of how family dynamics can devolve into dysfunction and the creation of adult monsters because of seemingly innocuous protective reactions.

Growls and Howls 🐺:

The mix of “past” and “present” chapters are titled and served in a way that is engaging and flows well with the reveals and twists. We don’t have to wait a long time for our predictions to be validated (or reshaped!) as we get more information about the past and present.
Prepare to mentally scream at the MCs. I didn't mind, because we get lots of insight into their minds and it was consistent with how they perceive and rationalize.
Repetitiveness on some of the current events in the last half of the book that I think could have been trimmed. The “higher stakes” discussions felt like they were drawn out for too long and I had to hold back from skimming. However, this may have been my own bias because it all involved medical content that was terrifying to me, so I may have been a little too aware of every time that topic came up.
early signs of treatable cancer that are being denied treatment
Very twisty-turny plot. Not from being unfairly “tricked” (no Scooby Doo mysteries here) or excruciatingly suspense-baited (minimal “if only they knew what I had done” writing). I predicted a handful and was stunned by a handful. It didn’t feel OTT or overdone, and even as things escalated the characters stayed true to their perspectives, so it didn’t disconnect me from the story (it drew me in…even when I did NOT want to be there!)

Reading Journey 🫢: Following some recent acquaintances in a car on a day trip and you discover they don’t check their blind spots, meander on the highway, drive way too fast on the side streets, and navigate twisty roads by speeding-braking-barely making ‘em. You are grateful to be safe and sound in your own little car the whole time.

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Twisty-turny thriller/suspense plots
Following a parent-child relationship over multiple decades
Exploration of the theory of genetic sexual attraction (not actually this but like, adjacent to or echoes of it), mother-child relationships, nature-vs-nurture, obsession, and family dysfunction
Coming-of-age elements (the dark side!)
Fight-for-your-life survival plot with a side of Stockholm syndrome

Vibes: 🤯🫢😵

Content Heads-Up: Confinement. Familial obsession. Hints of pedophilia, adult/minor relationships, and dissociative disorders.

Format: Kindle Unlimited

Content Warnings

emeraldsanto's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Well, I don't think I've ever read a story with more twists and turns than this one.

I'm usually a fan of the confined space genre (shoutout to "Never Lie" by Freida McFadden) which mixes very well with mysteries/thrillers, but this one definitely takes it a step further than most.

There's just so many layers to this plot, each one unravelling itself before you in a precisely timed manner, leaving you absolutely no time to get bored.

Marrs manages to explore the many different storylines without losing the reader in the details. This mission is especially well supported by the author's writing style, which I found to be more straight to the point than others.

Content Warnings

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

Okay I heard that the twist for this book was going to be crazy! So I made it my mission to put it on my tbr and go in blind when I finally read it. And now that I'm finished I'm so confused. What about this story was so overly shocking. Minus the ending and a few details nothing in this book was shocking to me. Was it entertaining, yes, but it was also kinda slow. I found myself just patiently waiting for this crazy twist that never happened. I still liked the twist though, but it wasn't really giving for me. Alot of things were happening and the ending felt a little anticlimactic.

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freckles_13's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

If you want a dark, twisted book with characters who have done such questionable actions due to their “love” for another, then this is the book for you.

It’s dark and heavy to read, with scenes that are so dour and sad that it physically pains you to read. No character is right, all of them are morally wrong due to their extreme ways of dealing with their past.

Content Warnings