dennyiii's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Sexism, Sexual content, Child death, and Emotional abuse
natalie3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexual content, Self harm, Mental illness, Medical content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Confinement, Child death, and Alcohol
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual assault, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Racial slurs
beepbuggy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Spoiler
having flashbacks to when the narrator(s?) were in school to then mentioning them when they are old and grown was out of the blue, and also the use of exhibit # and there not being anything to refer to felt like i was reading detective notes but not having all the pieces and we never really get told very clearly how the girls off themselves only the first oneSpoiler
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Self harm, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
brianna2811's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, and Self harm
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Confinement
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Medical content, Pedophilia, Drug use, Dementia, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia
loyloy_bluesky's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Spoiler
I have a mix of "this is meant to be voyeuristic and is a commentary on the hypocrisy of the neighbours boys and their delusions of "knowing" the Lisbon girls" and "this is a very creepy view of teenage girls that lacks depth and ultimately dehumanises and oversexualises them".
i expected the book to be from the perspective of the girls, so was intrigued at the start when i realised it was from an unnamed neighbour's point of view, but then by the end i really wished it was from the girls' points of view. my favourite moments were the little shows of the girls' real nature - the chattiness at the dance, Therese's radio conversations, the sharing of music over the radio. So probably these moments made me enjoy the book, but there weren't enough of them.
I found myself getting bored of the long descriptions of the characters being interviewed who would never be brought up again, and disappointed that there was no "conclusion" or even an explanation of the reasoning of the interviews - were they just being nosy? did he grow up to be a detective? why would people (especially the parents) answer these questions if it wasn't an official thing?
Also, there was so much attention on Lux (obviously as the most outwardly sexual and therefore easiest to sexualise), but i really would've loved more on the other sisters, especially Mary and Therese. it's quite creepy that only cecelia, bonnie and lux, as the youngest sisters, got attention - possibly a commentary on oversexualising young girls? but again i think this book lacked a Moment or Epiphany that showed it really was a commentary on society rather than another piece of the society itself.
one last thing, there's not really any payoff by reading the book. you don't get any deeper understanding of the girls, why they did what they did etc., and you know even before reading it what the ending will be, and they keep mentioning throughout how the girls will be dead by the end, so it sort of felt unnecessarily long considering you know whats gonna happen. i saw a review though that said it was meant to put you into the perspective of the neighbours who also had no idea of the details, which is a better way of looking at it, but again probably too long of a book (and it isn't even that long, only 240 pages)
The writing was very flowery which was nice at times, i found myself wanting to underline descriptions that stood out to me, but sometimes it was over the top and became hard to read. Mixed feelings and unsure of what rating to put but i will stick with this for now and it might change once i have mulled it over a bit longer
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Confinement, Eating disorder, Stalking, Blood, Grief, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
ppp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child death, Stalking, Grief, Self harm, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Blood, Adult/minor relationship, War, Ableism, and Alcoholism
bibyabs's review
- 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
Graphic: Suicide, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Stalking, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Ableism and Racism
bookshelfhannah's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
elysianbud's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Confinement, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Drug use, and Suicide
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Ableism and Racial slurs
kibiiiariii's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Self harm, Child death, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Infidelity, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, and Stalking