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gandalfsleftshoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
melusinedln'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? It's complicated
2.75
This book is disappointing and I don’t know why the publisher agreed to publish it as it is. When you reach the end, you’re left with even more questions than in the start, and the ending scene, like every other important scene in this book, has no impact at all. It felt like the author wanted a lazy open ending just to be able to make a 2nd book if this one sold well.
Also, the queer romance between 2 of the characters is underdeveloped despite being one of the main point used by the publisher to sell the book.
It’s generating a lot of frustration in me because the idea was really good, but it was so poorly executed. I had a nice time reading some parts of the book, and okay time reading most of them, and I was so frustrated when I reached the lazy ending.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Pandemic/Epidemic
madamenovelist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
fanboyriot'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? It's complicated
3.0
Honestly, most of what I didn’t like was the ending. We got no answers for anything really, and it left with absolutely no resolution. It just felt like it was dragged out and then it just ended. The switching POV I normally really like just didn’t work for me; they just seemed too close to one another and a few pages in I’d forget which character it even was.
(First Person POV)
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and War
Minor: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury
mizareads13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Abandonment
heathermarie08's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
_morgreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, and Murder
f2c's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
mfrisk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the build up of the Tox and how that shaped Raxter and those within it. The scenes with the deer and one of the character’s parents were particularly chilling in their descriptions. The dual perspective was done fairly well though I think I was waiting for more from Byatt’s side in terms of her backstory and what drove her to lie.
Things I didn’t love were the seemingly out of nowhere nature of the romance. While there were some touching moments it was a bit confusing and didn’t feel fully realized.
And finally the ending was a huge disappointment. While you think the ending would at least give us more information about the navy and cdc involvement or about the tox or even what happens next we instead are led to an ending where we determine what happens. It felt like a chapter was missing and while I wasn’t expecting a happy ending perfect wrap up I definitely didn’t expect what we got.
I hope to read more from this author as I overall really enjoyed this book but there were definitely some aspects I just wanted to see be pushed further given the darkness of the story.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit and Toxic friendship
stressed_daisyy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Vomit, and Grief
Moderate: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Medical content
Minor: Vomit