Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Tell Me an Ending by Jo Harkin

8 reviews

clairebau's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was very conceptually similar to Silvera's More Happy Than Not, which I of course love. This was done just as well. Exploring the idea of a memory erasure procedure through the perspectives of many people feels obvious now. It did a lot to build out the world and the implications of something like this. I was equally invested in every perspective, which never happens.

Ending was a little disappointing. Just a little. The book felt like it was building to something larger than it did. Noor spent the duration of the story investigating a mystery with a payoff that was just... eh. Yeah, the point is that each character is morally gray and that multiple instances of so-called wrongdoing were enacted by different entities, but the reveals didn't pack the punch I wish they would have! I would also have loved more wrap-up to Finn and Mirande's story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, and Medical content

Moderate: Addiction, Gore, Incest, and Alcohol

mediatrikcxs's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this book slapped. i absolutely love a speculative fiction book that's built out this thoroughly, with consistent rules that are explained in ways that compound the drama of the plot so that all exposition feels natural. A delight to read. I felt like the author could have gotten a little darker with it; a lot of the memory reveals ended up being much less scary than the characters had imagined. I guess that's partially the point, but I kind of thought there would be some way more traumatic memories revealed. I also didn't like "the point is the questions" as a theme– of course life contains tons of mysteries we can't find the answers to, and in some cases we can find the answer, but might choose not to. But the wording of "the point is the questions" implies that that uncertainty is always a good thing, when actually some characters in the book do find that getting the answer is the right choice for them. Also it just sounds a bit trite and childish. All in all a delightful read, and I would also have enjoyed a slightly more grown-up version.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Incest, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia

jacquatch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Car accident

Minor: Child death, Incest, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

I feel like this book could have been cut by 1/4 and have been much better. And I felt like there was not much that surprised me. I got bored, but I also wanted to finish just to see how the author wrapped it up.

sarah984's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I was so excited for this book because the memory removal concept holds so much potential, but almost nothing in this book worked for me. The most interesting chapters were Noor's because they explored what working in the clinic was actually like. Most of the characters were disagreeable in uninteresting ways and every time there was suspense it was resolved in the most boring way possible. The ending dragged on way longer than it needed to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Car accident

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Islamophobia, and Abandonment

ceciliamirelly's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

If you’ve had a traumatic experience that you carry in your everyday life and had the chance to remove the memory would you?

A book inspired by Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind and Black Mirror, Tell Me an Ending explores the lives of people who’ve had memories removed and are dealing with something called traces and a doctor who suspects something more sinister is happening at the clinic. 

This book was so close to being incredible. The plot and story idea are brilliant, the characters are flawed so they feel real. They have real motivations, fears, complicated family matters, suspicions, jealousies and they are fleshed out.

I adored Noor’s character development and the moral vs. ethical dilemma that the book poses. I also loved how the characters are incredibly separate at the beginning and by the end have intertwined in some form or another.

I’m also very curious for my own sake about what happened to Elena and what she knew about her bosses’ murder.

My biggest issue was the length of the book. Through portions of the book it felt very dense with information which at times can be repetitive. 

Overall, the writing is immersive, detailed and gives the reader a semblance of what each character is feeling. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest

deezy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest, Forced institutionalization, and Stalking

nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I could see this one being a fabulous HBO miniseries 👀

I really liked the slow development and revealing of facts like a mystery novel. The different characters and bits of the story we received in each of their sections immediately hooked me. For some reason, some of their memory reveals felt anti-climatic, but I think the theme that different people process memories/moments/events differently and they can have a catastrophic impact on individuals' lives and seem unimportant to others was nuanced and layered.

Character writing was complex and nuanced, and I especially liked seeing how Louise fully crystallized with different perspectives falling into place. I also liked the tiny overlaps as each of the characters encounter one another in different ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Incest, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

rebekahg876's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Incest, and Mental illness