girl_in_the_books'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
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Child death, Dysphoria, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Miscarriage
booksbythemile'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
1.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Murder, Abortion, Toxic relationship, Injury/injury detail, Blood, Mental illness, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Death, Miscarriage, Child death, and Child abuse
ashfantastic98'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
4.5
Graphic: Violence and Blood
chooper454's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Abortion, Pregnancy, Murder, Miscarriage, and Grief
Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Medical content, and Blood
Minor: Suicide attempt, Injury/injury detail, and Car accident
purplesteffi's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Child death, and Blood
Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, Death, Car accident, Drug use, Abortion, and Suicidal thoughts
joanacoutinho's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Car accident, Blood, and Grief
jfield351'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
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Vomit, Blood, Sexual content, Chronic illness, and Child death
Moderate: Mental illness, Medical trauma, Injury/injury detail, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, Body horror, Blood, Abortion, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Vomit, Grief, Cursing, and Car accident
Minor: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Cancer
camdentomlinson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexism, Blood, Miscarriage, Injury/injury detail, Toxic relationship, Death, Car accident, Child abuse, Grief, Child death, and Vomit
criticalgayze's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
A part of me wants to say that I now at least have an understanding of the CoHo craze, but this is her only thriller, and I truly cannot imagine reading a book by her that was just the romantic parts of this one.
I fully intended to give this book 1.5-stars because I am absolutely sick of the trope of painting PPD as some kind of villainous trait in women, but I think that, while the narrator is still disgustingly judgmental of the kind of psychological trauma pregnancy and childbirth can put a woman through, Hoover herself seems (maybe?) to have mostly redeemed her own complicity in the trope with the book's ending. (Although I am largely as confused as the narrator as to whether this is actually the case or not)
Speaking of the ending, talk about rushed. I felt like, throughout the book, the order of escalation was out of whack, there were largely spurts of tension in amongst the drudgery of straight white horniness as opposed to well built and sustained suspense, and that the culminating scene was over largely before I even realized it had begun.
tl;dr: Not good writing, but I tore through it in two days, so maybe there's something to be said for the Hoover phenomenon.
Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Terminal illness, Blood, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Cancer, Confinement, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Car accident, Death, Alcohol, and Death of parent
l_myers'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? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Sexual content, Mental illness, Abortion, Violence, Child death, Injury/injury detail, and Grief
Moderate: Car accident, Cursing, Injury/injury detail, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Blood