inirac's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Infidelity
Moderate: Abortion, Suicide, Violence, Alcoholism, Stalking, and Classism
Minor: Infertility and Pregnancy
xomandymoo'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? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Classism, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Eating disorder, Death of parent, and Body shaming
cmahoney's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Eating disorder
viwilliams's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Rape, Eating disorder, Toxic friendship, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Pregnancy, Child death, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Classism, Forced institutionalization, and Abortion
Minor: Incest, Infertility, and Death of parent
a_love35's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Gun violence
kaylamarie11's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Rape, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse
Minor: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Abortion, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Forced institutionalization
annasannotations's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Grief
twisted_luce's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
It plateaus quite quickly, I really hoped it would pick up the pace but when it did finally get into it, it was just OK and then over.
Side note - I couldn’t get past the plot hole that she tried on every pair of her knickers whilst she was picking the kids up. EVERY PAIR, as a reader we already know that this is a whole bedroom sized closet, so I could just imagine her frantically getting in and out of tons of pairs of pants like some sort of frenzied world record attempt.
Spoiler
Finally, a big “boooo” for the internalised misogyny- the idea that a woman deserves any kind of abusive treatment is not going to sit well. Granted the character was hideous but justice could have been served without horrific domestic abuse.Spoiler
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Bullying and Eating disorder
Minor: Child abuse
Trigger warning for eating disorders and domestic / financial / sexual / emotional abusivebrookeashet'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
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
hrmng's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.5
a lot of reviews mention plot twists, but I only read one (
Spoiler
that daphne finally realized what amber was up to and wanted her to ’steal’ her husbandthe writing is very bland; everything is “She did this. Then, she did that.” with no interesting figurative language. the simplicity makes it easy to speed through the book at least.
the characters are supremely boring, too. it’s crystal clear whom readers are supposed to root for/against and these people have no life outside of being virtuous/villainous and rich/poor.
the pov in part i is exhaustingly bitter and part ii is filled with tactless descriptions of abuse just to have us pity one chara and hate the other even more. this is not a deeply psychological book or character study, it’s emotional manipulation with total caricatures and major, laughable plot conveniences.
Graphic: Classism, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Chronic illness, Infertility, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Rape, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Body shaming
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Child abuse
Minor: Blood