mightymeepers's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
tahayuana's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
fleurette's review
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
Interesting idea, although I'm not entirely convinced of it.
This book could be shorter. Only the second half gained some pace. And I found this part really interesting, but the first half was a bit long for me. I wasn't immediately interested in what happened to Amelia. I needed a lot of time for this and I think this book really needed a lot of pages to do it.
I don't like when a story is told from several perspectives. In some exceptional cases, it does not bother me. Unfortunately, this was not one of them. I believe that this story would be even better and more mysterious if Amelia's point of view was ignored entirely, or at least greatly reduced. In my opinion, the story would be a lot more dramatic if Kate was discovering all these details about her daughter's life. Unfortunately, I was not as interested in Amelia's POV chapters as Kate's current discoveries. Texts and Facebook entries would be enough, I didn't need all these chapters. I understand their goal was to build Amelia's character, but I'm not sure there was a place for that in this book.
With all the emotional buildup, Kate's character looks a bit flat for me. It lacks depth, I have trouble describing her personality. What defines her is love for her daughter, but other than that, I can't say much about her. To some extent, this also applies to Amelia. I've spent almost half a book with each of them, and it's still hard for me to really describe them apart from some generalities.
But overall it was a good book, especially in the second half when there were twists and turns. I did not expect an end, or in fact an explanation, why the girls at school harassed her so much.
This book could be shorter. Only the second half gained some pace. And I found this part really interesting, but the first half was a bit long for me. I wasn't immediately interested in what happened to Amelia. I needed a lot of time for this and I think this book really needed a lot of pages to do it.
I don't like when a story is told from several perspectives. In some exceptional cases, it does not bother me. Unfortunately, this was not one of them. I believe that this story would be even better and more mysterious if Amelia's point of view was ignored entirely, or at least greatly reduced. In my opinion, the story would be a lot more dramatic if Kate was discovering all these details about her daughter's life. Unfortunately, I was not as interested in Amelia's POV chapters as Kate's current discoveries. Texts and Facebook entries would be enough, I didn't need all these chapters. I understand their goal was to build Amelia's character, but I'm not sure there was a place for that in this book.
With all the emotional buildup, Kate's character looks a bit flat for me. It lacks depth, I have trouble describing her personality. What defines her is love for her daughter, but other than that, I can't say much about her. To some extent, this also applies to Amelia. I've spent almost half a book with each of them, and it's still hard for me to really describe them apart from some generalities.
But overall it was a good book, especially in the second half when there were twists and turns. I did not expect an end, or in fact an explanation, why the girls at school harassed her so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Outing and Death
Minor: Sexual content
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