tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
But I felt so frustrated by the MC (static and underdeveloped), the interview scenes (tortuous), and the ending
Spoiler
Ivy says that turning the killer in won’t be justice, but it also lets them dodge all accountability, and this killer REALLY needs to be held accountable.I don’t know if Gailey intends to return to Ivy’s world, but I don’t think I’d follow if they do.
Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent, Abortion, Vomit, Cancer, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, and Infidelity
starsnstitchin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cursing, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Stalking, Violence, Abortion, and Body horror
Moderate: Pedophilia
froggydanny's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Abortion, Body horror, Death of parent, and Cancer
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Murder
gaby_aldridge's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Gore, Cancer, Blood, Death of parent, Alcohol, Murder, Death, Medical trauma, Grief, and Abortion
aweso10's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Abortion
Moderate: Murder, Death, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
joepyeweed'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Abortion, Medical trauma, Blood, Body horror, Death, Cancer, Gaslighting, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Self harm and Sexual harassment
erebus53's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The narration in this book as brilliantly delivered. The main character is jaded and sardonic, and is a lonely woman with a tendencies toward takeout food and alcoholism. Xe Sands narrates the character expressively and playfully, especially the parts where the characters are getting more and more inebriated. An interesting narrator; I might see if I can find other titles read by her.
As far as genre goes, the story is magic-school meets murder mystery, and a romantic twist, with the emphasis mostly on the crime solving stuff. As a result it slid off me a bit, because murder mystery things aren't really my preferred genre. I did like that there was diversity in the story. There were characters of different ages, and there were several queer (gay and pansexual) characters in this story, but the main character is a woman trysting with a man. Although the characters are ethnically diverse, their ethnicity is not focused on at all in the story.
The thing that probably drove me most to distraction was the slow pace. I generally love stories that dwell on the building of relationships between the characters, but the main theme of this book was the impossibility of being able to really bond with others if you aren't prepared to be honest with them, so the relationship building aspect felt shallow and unrewarding.
On a personal note, this book does deal with the aftermath of losing a mother to cancer. It probably says a lot about how much I have grieved and coped and healed that I didn't find this subject matter really upsetting, but rather, I felt like it represented real-life everyday tragedy and the failure of a family to cope because they couldn't share their feelings openly, and support each other in their loss.
Graphic: Violence, Pregnancy, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Bullying, and Blood
Minor: Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia
meagand's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Murder and Medical trauma
Moderate: Alcoholism and Abortion
Minor: Pregnancy
sarahmanuel3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Abortion, Death of parent, Violence, Body horror, Cancer, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Death
Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
sam_is_reading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is yet another book that feels like it's written for me personally: magic exists in the real world, but only a select few are able to wield it. Everyone else... lives a normal life. But even in a magic world, murder can still happen.
The setting & characters for this are exquisite: a school for magic just 15 minutes out of town. Teenagers who are little shits with a god complex because they can do magic and the middle-aged detective sent to solve the case can't. Estranged twin sisters who want to reconnect but have years of space in between them.
The audiobook for this was so thrilling because the narrator spoke with incredible nuance: stammering and slurring when the character was drunk, her voice going high & low while she internal-monologued about the case. I definitely want to read the physical book but mostly because the audiobook was so fascinating.
Graphic: Cancer, Murder, Death, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Abortion