kimziemae's review against another edition
Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Murder, Death, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Confinement
texas666'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
1.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Murder, Physical abuse, Child death, Confinement, Abortion, Car accident, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Toxic relationship
coyotes_tiptoe'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
3.5
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Child death, Child abuse, Abortion, Miscarriage, Death, Injury/injury detail, and Infidelity
Minor: Fatphobia
lauren717's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Blood, Pregnancy, Grief, Abortion, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, and Sexual content
Minor: Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Abortion, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Blood, Cancer, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Car accident, and Child abuse
poetsofsweetpea'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
2.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Violence, Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Death, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, and Pregnancy
mavensfavoritehoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Vomit, Child death, Body horror, Violence, Car accident, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Hate crime, Blood, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
Some people felt nauseous reading this book and actually ended up vomiting.groovyshay'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Medical trauma, Blood, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Murder, Vomit, Abortion, Cancer, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Child death, Grief, Injury/injury detail, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Violence
cassi_dancer'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? No
2.0
Moderate: Car accident, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Grief, Child death, Infidelity, and Medical trauma
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
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