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fromthewindowseat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Suicide, Stalking, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Miscarriage, Violence, and Murder
carolvsworld'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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Stalking and Pregnancy
Moderate: Miscarriage and Racism
Minor: Suicide
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
CONTENT WARNING NOTES: I have no idea why people haven't been tagging this with graphic animal death and fatphobia, both are very graphic, very detailed and very much on-page. The animal death especially was really bad as it was also pet related. Hopefully sending a quick email to storygraph overrules that and adds them to the main page as that's 2 of the biggest content warnings of this book. If you write a review and add content warnings, either add them all or none at all.
I didn't think I'd like it this much when I started, but I really grew to love the 2 main MCs and really was with them for their adventure! The only thing I'm still not too sure about is the stalking sub-plot... I don't think the book needed it in all honesty. Every time it went to Mundic's POV it just felt like I was reading the same chapter over and over.
I really liked the characters - except Mundic lmao - and despite being a bit weary at first I really liked Enid's and Margery by the end and grew to appreciate them through the book. There's really strong character development through the 2 women bonding and becoming firm friends and I really liked how their (platonic) relationship grew. I also appreciated that despite a lot of talks around past relationships and such, there's no actual on-page romance which was a very nice breath of fresh air.
Mundic was both complicated, and very 2D feeling. His whole character was this prisoner of war, PTSD troubled man and every chapter from him was just this breakdown of all his delusions and mental health just snapping. I honestly think this book would be almost perfect if he was either removed, or his chapters where removed and we didn't see his POV - I think that would have made the ending a lot more impactful... cause honestly even with his POV chapters I don't really know what the point of his character is.
The story was really good, I loved reading a realistic adventure - I can't really think of any books like this that I've read and honestly I want more! Normally when I read an adventure book, it's fantasy and mainly middle grade, so an adult adventure book seeking beetles was really quite interesting to me. Though I do wish there was more on the actual searching part, that was quite little compared to the rest, they where some of my favourite parts! The main story is just about the 2 women trying to survive, trying to work out what their true goals are and what they care most about in life. Alongside the mysteries of who people actually are....
The themes where quite obvious, it was nice to have a book a about female empowerment and friendship without romance getting in the way though. Morally grey women and impulsive actions was pretty fun to read - though I still have some questions about stuff that happened like at the very start.. what *did* happen with Marge quitting the school? Was that just a mental breakdown?
I think it's set up to have twists, but the way information is provided it's pretty obvious while reading without thinking that much who is who and who's done what. But the story beats towards the end doesn't lean that much on them being a surprise so it doesn't matter that much. I found this to be quite a quick read, I read through it in a couple sittings, it was a pretty easy read as well which was quite nice.
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, and War
sarahbook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I found the man stalking them deeply distressing; several times throughout this book I wanted to skip to the end just to see what resolution was given to him.
But I loved how strong Margery and Enid were. I was rooting for them the whole time.
Graphic: Stalking and Pregnancy
Moderate: Miscarriage and Suicide
kairhone's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death
neens_m's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Death and Stalking
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Miscarriage
betherinahq's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I love how Rachel Joyce has this way of writing such uplifting fiction without being too twee or trite. I think it’s because the main characters, while loveable, carry a sadness with them that we all do with every life experience we unlock.
Like Harold Fry, she uses the “journey” style story to get these two women, who were born in an era where women didn’t travel the world in search for rare beetles, to reconcile their pasts and become empowered.
A really good read!
Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
smdorsett's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Gun violence, Infertility, Grief, Death of parent, and Colonisation
claire_bear26's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Suicide, Stalking, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
ashlynnreadsbooks's review against another edition
3.5
Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicide, and Stalking