lady_valhella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Grief, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Suicide attempt, Violence, Abandonment, Body horror, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Murder
jesssicawho's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Child death, Grief, Torture, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Mental illness
tiffanielle'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Self harm, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Suicide, Child death, Death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Mental illness, Vomit, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicidal thoughts
support_lesbian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Maybe this was the point or just me in particular but I really don't think calling this a horror novel really does this book any favors unless the point of labeling it as such was to subvert expectations of common abelist horror tropes, but even so it still feels bad waiting for a punch in gut that may or may come for you. I don't know if its something to think about or not.
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Mental illness, Child death, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, and Murder
cait_henry56's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Death, Grief, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
kt2e56's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
alba_marie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
lilias's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The first 50 or so pages of this book just seemed full of misplaced whimsy and weirdness. I don’t like it when something, a book or a film, goes out of its way to be weird just for the sake of being weird. But nothing grabs my attention like a mystery. And when little reveals started to peel away the silly veneer that was, when it came down to it, author Catronia Ward speaking in (infuriating) riddles, I was hooked. I wish I had been so invested in the entire book, but, still, this was a really good reading experience for me, overall.
Graphic: Death of parent, Torture, Confinement, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Fatphobia, Suicide, Death of parent, and Self harm
kassiebee'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
3.75
i went into this book not knowing a thing- not even the synopsis. i saw the creepy cover (with the cat) and i thought “this looks spooky…lets do it”.
as i read the first few chapters, i was fully expecting a mysterious, killer-catching, revenge having, story. until the
Spoiler
D.I.D implications started. i caught on pretty fast, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. I was intrigued but, I’m not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed too. the mystery of Girl with Popsicle really got me in the mood to figure out how, when, and where Ted pulled this all off. and SO excited to read a thrilling escape by Lauren and Olivia. I didn’t care if it didn’t make sense that Lauren could understand cats. (a flaw on my part)BUT… after my excitement wore off, and changed my expectations… i was glad (accepted) where the story was going. As i read on, i found myself intrigued by the explanation of it all. it all really, really made sense. And i enjoyed it. i LOVED how Ward was able to make me feel icky about Ted at the beginning, to making me happy for him in the end. love that.
All in all, the slow reveal of Ted’s psyche for us to figure out was fun- you can tell that Ward did her homework.
Now on to what I didn’t like…
Spoiler
Dee, Dee, Dee… had so much potential. i didn’t care for her. i appreciated and understood her role in the story, but her death did not affect me as much as I hoped/should have. and bug man?? that incident in the bar/store was just bizarre, how he was just kinda left there and not really mentioned again. that’s a bookish pet peeve of mine ‘‘v.v …Lastly , unpopular opinion, but i did not enjoy Olivia’s chapters …. oops. i found myself rushing through them to get to Lauren and Ted, even Dee. It took a while for her chapters to get interesting even though they had really important tidbits and clues. love this cute gay cat but i just idk…
would i re-read? nah
am i glad i did? yeah
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Death, Self harm, Child death, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Addiction
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Murder, Torture, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Homophobia
Minor: Religious bigotry and Abandonment
killmoore_'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
Best book I have read all year, and in the top 5 for all time. I cannot express how much I loved this book.
It will make you feel all the things, drop you on your skull and do it all over again. 10/10 will be recommending to anyone who enjoys the genre.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Stalking, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Torture