Reviews

Honestly, this is a 5-star read if you like this sort of thing and only a 3-star read for me, personally, because it is just so not my bag.

This is such a hard book to rate because it was ridiculously well-written and it often felt more like reality than fiction, but I almost couldn't finish it. These kind of pile-ons that social media creates are horrendous and ramp up my anxiety - even if I agree that 'x' action was objectively bad, it always and inevitably devolves into this truly terrifying cruelty (like cheerleading suicides and murders) - and I don't know that I would've read this had I known that was such a big part of it. This is a lot of suspense though and suspense is definitely meant to make you feel anxious and 100% this accomplished that, but... I don't read the hate and threads and accusations and gossip and fodder and speculations on twitter (I don't even have a twitter anymore and all that is definitely a part of the reason it feels so good to be disconnected from it) because they feel like indulging the absolute worst aspects of human nature. Especially since it's happened before that it's just someone taking something out of context or using only a teaspoon of the truth to make a splash (especially on book twitter), and the retraction/explanation never makes the same waves. And even when they're completely, dead-on accurate, there are always people who take it too far because that's just the anonymous nature of the internet. It was a very intense read and well-crafted but, well, I also hated it because it's my least favorite thing, y'know?

The characters felt more like constructions than real people, which is how people you don't know in these twitter feuds feel - like an amalgamation of traits and backgrounds and deficiencies, not like actual humans, which makes hating and threatening them feel less real too. This is another reason this read so much more like reality than fiction, because you don't really know Athena or June (even with it from June's perspective, I don't have a good grasp on who she is), they're just strangers in a death spiral for public entertainment and I'm one of those people who turns away from it rather than obsessively clicks on every thinkpiece and twitter thread so this was so clearly not for me.

Basically YMMV but if public pile-ons make you queasy, I would definitely suggest giving this one a miss.

zo3xyz's review against another edition

Go to review page

medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

petitlem0n's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Decent. The first half was building up to something really exciting but couldn’t quite land towards the end, which I found to be a bit unrealistic (which didn’t flow well with how the first half was written imo)

ridern2002's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

jordanbieber000's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This book was insane. The main character was so unlikeable but in a way that made me need to keep reading. It was so good I couldn’t put it down.

More...