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baknata's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book left me completely shaken when I finished it. It took a while to get into. It wasn't until I was close to halfway done with the book that it started flowing for me. It wasn't that the writing was bad, the book is just very heady and you have to pay a lot of attention to everything you read, which is hard for me. The plot of the book is also pretty heavy, so it isn't easy to just fly through it. When I did get past the halfway point, the book really did pick up for me. The plot at that point shifts as well, and I found the storyline a lot more engaging. The end of the book hit me like a brick. The book starts off with a hint as to how it ends, but I didn't expect to be affected so much by it. Obviously, from the beginning of the book we know something happens to Miranda. I think I knew that in the back of my mind, but the way it happened hurt so much. The way she left, or whatever, and the impact it must have had on the people around her, it just hurt. We spent the entire book seeing how much these people cared about her and how she clearly wanted to be the kind of person that they should care about, but she couldn't be well. It makes me so sad that she was never even given a chance, her story was written from the beginning and she couldn't stop her fate.
I thought the way the book was written was fascinating. The use of unusual formatting and varying POVs made the book interesting to read. I did have trouble with the way the POV shifts were written at first since there isn't any indication as to whose point of view we were reading. As I went along, it became easier to tell, especially considering the author used both first-person and third-person points of view for different people. I also thought it was super unique and interesting to have the house have a narration as well. You don't see many books where the buildings tell the story, and for this one, it definitely added an interesting view of the events.
Overall, I think my rating would be higher for a reread of this book. It's the type of book that you need to reread a few times to really pick up on all the themes and intricacies of the plot. It was very well written, and I would recommend it for fans of thrillers.
I thought the way the book was written was fascinating. The use of unusual formatting and varying POVs made the book interesting to read. I did have trouble with the way the POV shifts were written at first since there isn't any indication as to whose point of view we were reading. As I went along, it became easier to tell, especially considering the author used both first-person and third-person points of view for different people. I also thought it was super unique and interesting to have the house have a narration as well. You don't see many books where the buildings tell the story, and for this one, it definitely added an interesting view of the events.
Overall, I think my rating would be higher for a reread of this book. It's the type of book that you need to reread a few times to really pick up on all the themes and intricacies of the plot. It was very well written, and I would recommend it for fans of thrillers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Eating disorder, and Grief
Moderate: Confinement
gwynsvan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Xenophobia, and Grief
goblingirlreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There was a lot about this book that I found very interesting - the house, the twins, the writing style was beautiful. Perhaps it was the state of mind that I read it but the story itself was really wobbly and unfocused and I struggled to keep my attention and focus throughout. I had a difficult time parsing the timeline of events and focusing on what was happening. There's a lot of "what's real and what's not" going on on top of time weirdness which I'm sure is completely intentional but didn't help my focus problem and made me lose the through line and forward movement of the story. I also found the ending a bit anticlimactic and underwhelming but, like I said there was a lot to love as well that drew me in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, and Grief
theoldestbennetsister's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Eating disorder, and Grief