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louise_lion's review
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
This wasn’t a pleasant story to read. Here are my reasons why:
- Phee’s mother was a narcissist (which we knew from Naya’s story but was fully fleshed out in this book) who was so insufferable to read that I skipped pages of dialogue and didn’t miss out on any story.
- For a short read this story was oddly slow,
Phee and Alreck don’t meet until 66% but when they do, THAT is satisfying. - Darre was unpleasant to read outside of his relationship with Naya. Which makes complete and total sense because he is, in reality, unpleasant outside of his relationship with Naya
- The whole structure of society in sector 5 is so stifling and all encompassing that it feels hopeless. Which is akin to the stifling and oppressive nature of our current reality
That being said, this is a well written book with such believable characters and dialogue that I will forever and always read any of Isoellen’s work. I love her ability to craft a story that I am usually enamored with. I think in this case she did such a good job that it was easy for me to dislike such realistic circumstances and behaviors. I really do think this book is worth reading, however, do so with whatever sort of hardened heart or mind you need to protect yourself from the aforementioned difficult parts. Also read it if you have a praise kink lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting
Narcissistic mother
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