fraise's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Gun violence, Murder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Stalking
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, and Incest
neverlandpages4's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
• I liked how the book immediately gets to the point. The characters, the mystery, and everything else was introduced in the first chapter and I was already suspicious of everyone.
• The chapters were short, it’s fast-paced, and almost every chapter ends with a shocking line that makes you want to immediately read the next one.
• It’s narrated in past and present POVs but you don’t actually get the full story about what happened until the very end which got repetitive because the past POV didn’t really have much other than friendship drama.
• I was really interested at first, but halfway through, almost everything was about the main character’s snowboarding career.
• Honestly, this might as well be categorized as a sports books because of the amount of details and info dumps about snowboarding this had. To be fair, I’m not in the least bit interested in snowboarding so maybe that’s why I was really bored every time the main character talked about it, but it still took over the main story. The drama and competitiveness surrounding the characters became the main focus and I really didn’t like that. There were also really weird sexist comments and stereotypes about women in sports
• I didn’t like the main character either, she used every chance she got to make sure everyone knew she’s “not like other girls” because she likes sports…
• Also, nothing the characters did made sense, you’d think they’d try everything they could to get out and get help but instead, all they did was drink and complain
• The ending has to be one of my least favorites in any thriller I’ve read. Not only was it obvious from the start, but it was also petty and childish
• I think I would’ve liked this a lot more if there was less snowboarding details and more mystery
Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexism, Bullying, Confinement, Gun violence, and Suicide
Minor: Biphobia, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
ellejo3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
The mystery and "twist" were pretty obvious early on, especially when you consider why there's a ten-year gap between the two timelines.
I didn't particularly care for the characters. It's not that Milla was unlikeable because there are unlikeable characters that I find compelling or that I'm rooting for, but there wasn't enough for me to care about her. She was grating and annoying and that wasn't balanced out either by positive traits or by anything else that would make me sympathetic for her. She's a former Olympic hopeful who didn't make it and hasn't figured out what else to do with her life until the epilogue. Not making the Olympic team isn't enough for me to feel sympathy for her, especially when you consider how much time and energy she wasted obsessing over Saskia and trying to sabotage her. What's irritating is that there could have been more. For instance, Milla was extremely competitive and couldn't ever turn a challenge down, but the reasoning behind it wasn't really explored. Not exploring more of Milla's backstory and her "emotional wound" was a missed opportunity, especially since half of the book is set in the past. I didn't understand what drove her competitive streak. In real life, when people are that competitive, there's a reason. There also wasn't a lot of character development aside from Milla realizing she's just as bad as Saskia
Spoiler
but even that was lacking because, in the epilogue, when Milla starts coaching she has two girls who are trying to sabotage each other as she and Saskia had. All she does is slyly tell the one girl, but she doesn't make a point to reprimand them or condemn it. It's also disappointing given the last line where Milla excitedly comments that she "won." She sounds like a sociopath. I think it was supposed to be this shocking last line, but it was more frustrating than an "OMG what an ending!" type of reaction.What took this from a "meh" book to a book that I disliked is its treatment of gay characters. By far, the trope I hate most in thrillers is when the only gay character is out to destroy the straight characters. Here, the only gay characters are the villains of the past and present.
Spoiler
As for Milla, while she hooks up with Saskia, she doesn't identify as bi or pan, but states that she was drawn to Saskia because everyone was allured by her.Spoiler
This book also plays into the bury-your-gays and the bi/pan character is slutty tropes.Graphic: Bullying and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia
thrillofthepage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Car accident, Cursing, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying and Medical trauma
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Suicide
stackwoodlibrary's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
If you don't like cliffhangers, don't pick this up, omg, every chapter. I thought it would drive me nuts but it had a real flow and was a very fast read.
Graphic: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic relationship