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alycejanine's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Torture
Moderate: Drug abuse
annettegalbraith's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Dementia
elsuth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
karaloyd's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment
bookishbinks'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? It's complicated
4.0
definitely be mindful of the content warnings before jumping into this one, but in all honesty it didn't seem any better or worse than, like... an episode of criminal minds or law & order. (then again, i did read the slob so maybe i'm just desensitized to reading about violence.)
but the heart of the story is the fractured relationship between two sisters - claire and lydia. i was super invested in both their POVs as they navigated the mystery of their eldest sister's disappearance together. sam's letters to julia broke my heart. the grief and being unable to move on due to lack of closure was done super realistically in this novel.
as for the actual mystery part, it was... meh? as i've stated in other reviews, i am (unfortunately) incredibly good at predicting things so 60% of the plot twists i had pretty much already guessed, but again, i was really intruiged by claire and lydia's story together, so that really kept me frantically page-turning to see what would happen next.
overall, i really enjoyed this book. the graphic violence against women was a little excessive though, i'll admit.
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
misha_ali's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This started off promising enough for me with rich characterization, a couple of women who are clearly connected in some way and we'll get to peel back the layers of how, and a shocking murder. The bad news is that this very quickly veers off into a very lacklustre mystery that honestly doesn't offer much by way of twists since it's not exactly unique in its evilness.
The villain(s) are also underdeveloped or at least not revealed as particularly developed, as well. In skilled hands, a character that is so two-faced that they have a perfect facade to everyone in their lives and a second, truer face that reveals their true depravity is interesting but when we just have secondhand accounts and not much exploration, this just sounds like disjointed characterization.
There is a LOT of wasting time with the character that surprisingly not feeling any urgency and not in direct danger, which slows down a significant part of this book. Honestly, the whole last 40% was a bit of a slog, which is a bad sign for a mystery/thriller.
TL;DR: A decent start but loses stream part of the way through and not a strong finish.
Moderate: Sexual assault and Torture
ckozik1017'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder
dewoes's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
zulay's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Blood
amynichole765's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and Stalking