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: Murder, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Genocide, Death, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Torture, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Forced institutionalization, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Ableism, Vomit, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Cursing, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, War, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, and Eating disorder
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
Spoiler
reason why Raxter as a place was so toxic to the point they got all these girls dying from puberty like??? wtf is up with that???? and then the fact that they left the ending soooo ambiguous too. idk i feel like more could've been done with this storyGraphic: Forced institutionalization, Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
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: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Grief, Death, Chronic illness, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
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: Violence and Body horror
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Death, Confinement, Blood, Gore, and Vomit
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: Blood, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Gun violence, Child death, Violence, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Murder, and Kidnapping
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: Suicide, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Child death, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Gun violence, Animal death, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
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: Vomit, Confinement, Grief, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Suicide, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content
Minor: Vomit
erikwmj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Animal death, and Gore
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
apolloniablooms's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Self harm, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Gore, Body horror, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, Blood, Animal death, and Abandonment
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Violence