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filmnoirz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Drug abuse and Stalking
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and War
sundaybookclub's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Medical content, and Car accident
mary_do_12's review against another edition
- 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? No
5.0
Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Stalking
rowanelisa's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
merle98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
ejsimpson'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? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Suicide and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, and Alcohol
christinewonder's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug abuse and Drug use
brianna2811's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Medical content, Dementia, and Stalking
loyloy_bluesky's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.0
I have a mix of "this is meant to be voyeuristic and is a commentary on the hypocrisy of the neighbours boys and their delusions of "knowing" the Lisbon girls" and "this is a very creepy view of teenage girls that lacks depth and ultimately dehumanises and oversexualises them".
i expected the book to be from the perspective of the girls, so was intrigued at the start when i realised it was from an unnamed neighbour's point of view, but then by the end i really wished it was from the girls' points of view. my favourite moments were the little shows of the girls' real nature - the chattiness at the dance, Therese's radio conversations, the sharing of music over the radio. So probably these moments made me enjoy the book, but there weren't enough of them.
I found myself getting bored of the long descriptions of the characters being interviewed who would never be brought up again, and disappointed that there was no "conclusion" or even an explanation of the reasoning of the interviews - were they just being nosy? did he grow up to be a detective? why would people (especially the parents) answer these questions if it wasn't an official thing?
Also, there was so much attention on Lux (obviously as the most outwardly sexual and therefore easiest to sexualise), but i really would've loved more on the other sisters, especially Mary and Therese. it's quite creepy that only cecelia, bonnie and lux, as the youngest sisters, got attention - possibly a commentary on oversexualising young girls? but again i think this book lacked a Moment or Epiphany that showed it really was a commentary on society rather than another piece of the society itself.
one last thing, there's not really any payoff by reading the book. you don't get any deeper understanding of the girls, why they did what they did etc., and you know even before reading it what the ending will be, and they keep mentioning throughout how the girls will be dead by the end, so it sort of felt unnecessarily long considering you know whats gonna happen. i saw a review though that said it was meant to put you into the perspective of the neighbours who also had no idea of the details, which is a better way of looking at it, but again probably too long of a book (and it isn't even that long, only 240 pages)
The writing was very flowery which was nice at times, i found myself wanting to underline descriptions that stood out to me, but sometimes it was over the top and became hard to read. Mixed feelings and unsure of what rating to put but i will stick with this for now and it might change once i have mulled it over a bit longer
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
i_love_b00ks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Alcohol