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tifftastic87'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
5.0
Naomi, Liv and Cass have been friends since they were five and Cass decided they would all be friends. The summer when they were all eleven everything changed with Naomi near fatally stabbed and her and her friends putting away the serial killer that did it. The story jumps forward to Naomi, now 33, still dealing with her trauma and returning to her home town and her friends. We unpeel the layers slowly and go back in time to relive that summer and experience what really happened through Naomi's eyes. Small town drama, PTSD, and lies stacking on lies shape the tale we experience.
Without spoilers this was the most twists in a book I have experienced in a while. I thought I knew what was happening and then I thought I was wrong and then I thought I was right again and then it turned out I was half right. I hit a point where I would have died or killed for Naomi. The story was constantly moving to the next plot point but still giving us a full feel of the characters involved. It was a perfect balance that I really enjoyed.
Trauma and PTSD were handled really well and with care. I appreciated how themes were discussed in a way that wasn't self-indulgent or just straight up trauma porn, actually Marshall seemed to call out authors who are solely focused on that through the use of Naomi's boyfriend in the beginning. We get this sentence, among others about him, that allowed me to instantly know who he was.
The trouble was he’d mistaken drama for virtue and suffering for art, and felt impoverished by his own good fortune.
He, Mitch, spends his spare time writing stories using Naomi's trauma as the center of the story. He is convinced she needs to use her trauma to sell her art instead of photographing weddings and this results in some pretty heated arguments. She says he was an asshole, she knew he was an asshole and so did he. But she was only comfortable dating assholes, someone she could never attach to - been there girl. But when she goes home to gather her things in the middle of the book there is a scene that reveals his true nature, and some of hers.
What the hell just happened? I should have just fucked him so he could feel like he was helping.
When she doesn't allow him to sleep with her, he kind of loses it and kicks her out. After he promised her he wouldn't try anything. So, he's also that kind of asshole. One of the best parts, for me, was her overcoming these choices. She never shies away from it being why she does it:
Every man I’d slept with had been a mistake of one kind or another. The mistake was the point. You couldn’t let someone in without it breaking you, but you could choose the way you broke.
But she seems finally ready to move on from that. It just kind of made the story for me. We got so much of the character development inside this twisted story where you never know who is good and who is bad and the main character herself is morally gray and unreliable.
Hard recommend, but check the content warnings first.
Some more thoughts on little girls being absolutely feral forest goblins: https://youtu.be/AMY_324xjfQ?si=d5ABP_BHxWypgJOs
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Medical trauma
Minor: Biphobia, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
chasingpages1'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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Addiction, Biphobia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism
cheye13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I tend not to like thrillers. They usually either rely on nonsensical shock value twists or broadcast their twists through foreshadowing and result in a 'what's the point?' reading experience for me.
Then there are thrillers like this, which build a whole story with full characters, that let you see things coming but maintain tension, that have you gasping when you figure it out a few pages before the reveal but still anxious to see how things will play out.
I do think the synopsis is a little misleading; the situation is a bit more complex than the three girls share the secret that they lied about the attacker. Reading that, I had assumed they were all aware of the same sequence of events during the attack, and were all harboring the same secret. It's a bit more nuanced than that, and questions I expected to be answered quite quickly stretched out a bit. However, the structure of the book and the sequence of events makes for a much more compelling read than I had expected. The thriller girlies are right about this one.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Suicide
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Blood, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship
detailed description of an adult groping an 11yo; discussion of repeated sexual relations that began when the girl was underage, vehemently denied as a "relationship"; discussion of a neglectful alcoholic father; human remains involved in chilren's play; heavy involvement of an unnamed mental illness implied to be OCD, including intense delusions; sex as self harm; stalking resulting in physical assault; a brief image and implication of death by drowning; discovery of a recentlly dead bodyedgaranjapoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment